Bones Episode 4.25 The Critic in the Cabernet

At Bedford Creek Vineyard, SEAN MORTENSON allows a group to taste his aging wines. Each guest takes a glass filled with wine from one of the casks. Bottoms up! However, the wine is awful. Mortenson is not pleased that his wine has turned to vinegar. He yells at viticulturist BRUCE HANOVER. RACHEL GRANGER sees something in her glass. Her husband reaches in and pulls out a decomposed human finger!

At the FBI, SWEETS leads BOOTH and BRENNAN in an exercise. Booth will say a word and Brennan will respond with whatever pops into her head. The partners are reluctant to participate but Sweets gets them going. Brennan's responses to Booth include "sex," "child," "birth" and "sperm." She ultimately stops the exercise, announcing that she wants a child. "I should have a progeny. It's selfish of me not to." Perhaps Booth could be her sperm donor? Booth's phone rings. They have a case. Sweets wants to discuss this further but the partners decide to leave. As they go, Booth blames Sweets for this new turn of events.

At Bedford Creek Vineyard, Brennan justifies her decision to Booth. After all, he is always promoting parenthood. Brennan clarifies that she just wants Booth's sperm. There is no need for him to be involved in raising the child. They approach the cask that contains the remains swimming in a purple slime. Brennan determines that the victim is male as she pulls the surprisingly rubber bones from the cask.

At the lab, CAM, HODGINS, ANGELA and COLIN FISHER work with Brennan to sort through the remains. Cam notes that the victim has been in the cask for eight months. Brennan informs the Squints that she has decided to have a baby and will need a six-week maternity leave. She adds to everyone's shock by mentioning that Booth may be her sperm donor. Fisher volunteers his sperm. He donates monthly anyway. Brennan continues to work as the Squints stare in disbelief. Brennan takes a grommet found with the remains and fits it into the skull. The victim had a surgical hairpiece. This should help them identify him. Brennan heads off.

Angela follows Brennan to her office. She tries to talk sense into her friend. Brennan won't listen. She believes that her choice is rational. She is a financially secure intellectual. In all likelihood, her child will be exceptional. Angela wonders why Brennan wants to use Booth's sperm. Brennan spouts a scientific reason, which Angela translates. "So it's because Booth is hot." Brennan is only thinking of her child. Attractive people are more successful. Angela continues to grill her friend but Brennan turns her focus to the case. There appears to be a greenstick fracture on the victim's cheekbone. It hasn't healed so it must have occurred within a month of the victim's death.

At the FBI, Cam meets Booth with the victim's identity: SPENCER HOLT. He was a wine critic and has been missing for a year. Cam jumps at the chance to ask about Booth and Brennan's love child. Booth is embarrassed that everyone knows. He tells Cam that he hasn't made a decision yet but wants to help his friend.

Booth drives Brennan to speak with the victim's wife. She was pregnant when her husband went missing and is now raising the child alone. Brennan compares this to her own situation. She notes that there was a domestic disturbance report in Holt's file. Brennan tells Booth that if he is too uncomfortable to donate, she will use Fisher's sperm. Booth will NOT let this happen. He agrees to be her donor.

At the Holt House, Booth and Brennan give the news to JENNY HOLT, the victim's wife, as she constructs a wooden play set. Spencer had been missing for so long that Jenny knew he must be dead. As they speak, NELLIE HOLT starts to fuss. Brennan comforts the baby and she stops crying. Jenny wishes her husband could have seen their child. She takes the baby and Brennan asks about the injuries to Spencer's face. Spencer broke up a fight between Sean Mortenson and Charlie Dunwood. Mortenson and Charlie hate each other. Charlie makes cheap wine next to Mortenson's vineyard and won't sell out to his rival. Booth mentions the domestic disturbance. Jenny maintains it was nothing. They argued. Jenny broke some dishes but she was emotional due to her pregnancy. She would never hurt her husband.

Booth and Brennan discuss the case while driving. Booth wants to question Charlie Dunwood. He doesn't want to involve Mortenson just yet. He's rich and could tie them up with an army of lawyers. Brennan wonders if Booth would like legal protection so he knows she won't be asking for child support. Booth declines. Brennan made him an appointment at the fertility clinic.

At the lab, Hodgins and Fisher sort through the slime. Fisher notices scraping on the ribs. The victim may have been stabbed but he can't tell because of the staining. However, Fisher may have a solution. Denture cleaner could whiten the bones. It's a great idea but Fisher is uncomfortable with the positive feeling that follows.

At the FBI, Booth and Brennan meet with CHARLIE DUNWOOD in Booth's Office. Charlie liked Spencer Holt. He was one of the few critics that respected his three-dollar wine. Charlie describes the fight that Spencer stopped. Charlie shoved Mortenson after he threatened a bogus lawsuit. Charlie wouldn't sell out to Mortenson, so Mortenson was trying another tactic to drive him away. Spencer stepped in the middle and Mortenson accidently punched him. Charlie tells the partners that Spencer may have loved Mortenson's wine, but he also loved sleeping with Mortenson's wife.

At the lab, Hodgins and Fisher mix denture cleaner with the submerged bones. As things get fizzy, Cam reports that she found some inorganic agents mixed with the liquefied tissue. Perhaps that can help in determining cause of death.

At the Fertility Clinic, a nurse leads Booth to a donor room. Booth nervously locks the door and looks around. He finds STEWIE GRIFFIN on the television set, encouraging him to "make a direct deposit" with Dr. Brennan. Booth panics and turns off the TV but Stewie keeps reappearing. He finally gets the cartoon character to vanish with the remote control. What's going on?

At the FBI, Booth tries to relax when Sweets joins him in his office. Booth tells Sweets that he has decided to "inseminate" Brennan. Sweets offers his services if Booth needs to talk. Why would Booth need to talk? This is Brennan's baby, not his. He won't be involved. Booth eventually comes clean about being "anxious." Sweets tells him that thinking about baby things is normal. Booth is relieved.

At the lab, Brennan handles the cleaned bones. The denture cleaner worked like a charm. Brennan finds tiny fractures on the skull. There was a peri-mortem blow to the head. She instructs Fisher to see if it was the cause of death as she rushes off to meet Booth.

At the Mortenson House, Booth and Brennan meet with KIM MORTENSON. She carries a baby boy around their extravagant home. Brennan notes how adorable the baby is and tries to make him smile with her "dancing phalanges" routine. Booth makes her get down to business. Kim was sleeping with Spencer. At first, Kim denies it but finally admits the truth when Brennan notes that her child resembles Spencer Holt. Kim and Mortenson couldn't conceive so one night after too much wine she did the deed with Spencer. Mortenson interrupts the meeting to tell Booth and Brennan to leave. They won't be questioned without their lawyers.

At the lab, Cam and Angela compare notes. Booth wouldn't listen to Cam. Brennan wouldn't listen to Angela. At least the kid will be cute. Hodgins enters with a report about the inorganic material. It was arsenic. Arsenic is used in stains and wood preservatives. Jenny Holt works in carpentry. The concentration wouldn't have been high enough to kill but perhaps Jenny found out her husband was cheating and stabbed him, leaving a chemical fingerprint behind.

At the FBI, Booth interrogates Jenny Holt. She admits that she and Spencer were having problems. She knew that he had slept with Kim but they were working through it. Everything would have been fine once the baby was born. Booth tells her that Spencer fathered Kim Mortenson's child. Jenny is devastated but insists she didn't kill her husband.

At the lab, Hodgins reports that the injuries to the ribs contained shards of glass. Brennan has a realization. She asks Angela to connect the impact points. They form a circular shape. Could a wine bottle have caused these injuries? Brennan instructs Fisher and Hodgins to determine if a wine bottle could have caused the injuries to the skull and to the sternum. Fisher suggests they use a watermelon.

At the FBI, Booth and Brennan have a session with Sweets. Brennan could be pregnant within a month but she doesn't want to talk about things that have nothing to do with work. Sweets is flummoxed. How to deal with these two? He states that they are denying emotional considerations. Brennan chose Booth over an anonymous donor. Why? Brennan explains that she has observed certain traits in Booth, such as courage and empathy, which sperm banks do not catalogue. The arrangement is strictly business. Sweets threatens to report that Booth and Brennan aren't suited to work together because of their interpersonal issues. They'd better listen to what he is saying if they don't want this to happen.

At the lab, Hodgins has determined that the glass found in the injuries came from a Bedford Creek bottle. They proceed with their experiment, smashing watermelons with a bottle of wine. The watermelons meet a nasty end but the bottle doesn't break. Fisher gives it a try, splattering Cam with watermelon when she enters. Hodgins reports that the bottle wouldn't have broken like the glass found on the body. They have no weapon or cause of death.

At the lab, Angela speaks to Brennan. She suggests that Brennan could start a family with Booth, not just use his "stuff." Angela believes Brennan is scared of her feelings. Brennan ignores her, joining Hodgins, Fisher and Cam. Hodgins analyzed the glass found in the cask and the glass that composes a Bedford Creek wine bottle. They are different. Someone was making counterfeit wine and putting it in counterfeit bottles. Hodgins continues. The arsenic he found was from an insecticide that only Charlie Dunwood is licensed to use.

At the FBI, Booth and Brennan confront Charlie Dunwood. They found counterfeit wine in his warehouse. Spencer Holt found out and was going to tell Mortenson. Dunwood had to stop him. He had a right to sell the counterfeit wine. He needed money to fight Mortenson's lawsuits. Suddenly, Stewie interrupts. Booth finds it hard to concentrate with the cartoon baby sitting at the table. Stewie badgers him until Booth announces that he can't help Brennan have a child. Brennan escorts Booth out of the room while Dunwood sits at the table, confused.

In the hallway, Booth tells Brennan he can't father her child. He wants to be involved, which means he can't do it her way. Brennan doesn't care about that anymore. She wants to know whom Booth saw during the interrogation. Booth admits it was a cartoon. Brennan is concerned. Booth has seen a dead friend, Luc Robitaille and a cartoon. He needs a doctor.

At the hospital, the Squints sit anxiously in the waiting room. Sweets is upset and takes a minute to be alone. Hodgins realizes how fragile life is. He tells Angela that it would have been easy to stop their breakup, She agrees, but does she agree that it would be easy to start up again? Brennan appears. Booth has a brain tumor. Statistically, he should be fine but she can't hold back her tears. They are prepping him for surgery now.

In Booth's hospital room, Booth waits for Brennan as the nurses prepare him. Brennan appears and Booth smiles. Booth asks Brennan to be in the Operating Room with him. Brennan agrees to get permission from the doctor.

Brennan and the nurses bring Booth to the OR. He asks for a minute alone with Brennan. He gives her permission to use his sperm to have a child if he doesn't make it. She won't hear of it. Booth will be fine. Booth is ready. They wheel him down the hall to the OR.