Bones – The Gravedigger in the courtroom

We’ve been slowly following the Gravedigger storyline on Bones for several years now. Early in the second season, Hodgins and Brennan were kidnapped by the serial killer and buried alive in a car, and late last season, it was Booth, abducted and left to die on a ship at sea about to explode. Both episodes gave the remaining members of the Jeffersonian team a chance to shine while working to save their friends. This week, the team had to work under the same time challenges to put Heather Taffet, AKA the Gravedigger, behind bars for good.

The echos of the horrors that the victims experienced, specifically Hodgins and Brennan, were felt throughout the episode. Hodgins couldn’t even tell his closest friends about his and Angela’s marriage because the fear that he felt (Something he eventually overcame in grand fashion). Bones’ fears manifested in a nightmare (more on that in a bit), and more insidiously, her faith in abilities as a scientist. The killer has gotten under our hero’s skin, and only time (and by time, I mean next’s finale) will tell how long that will last.

Taffet was a much more interesting character than the first episode in which we met her. At first, I actually had trouble believing she was capable of the evil that we had come to associate with this particular killer. Seeing how conniving that she was week in court, it was much easier to see her as the Gravedigger.

The nightmare sequence was surreal, and maybe a bit too much. I get the theme of not being about to help her two friends, but I wish there had been more direct parallels to the experiences she and Hodgins had together during his part of the dream. Booth’s were a bit more directly related, with the water rushing in, but I would think that the nightmare would be borne specifically out of those fears. The nightmare did finish strong with the image of Bones watching herself get buried alive. Yeah, I’ve now met my creepy quota for the month.

Alas, justice was served, at least for the little boy. Taffet will never pay for all of her deeds, but this is hopefully enough. We’re left with Taffet telling Bones that “this isn’t over.” I’m not sure that she’s right. I think tonight’s trial was a perfect bookend to the arc. Rightly so, it will have lasting affects on Bones, who’s now reconsidering her role working with the FBI in crime solving. This obviously isn’t going to be something that sticks (else the whole premise of the show would be down the drain), but I think this self-doubt will probably help push her in the direction of her partner Seeley Booth.

Notes & Quotes

• “So how’s your girlfriend holding up?” – Julian
  “Fine … She’s not my girlfriend.” – Booth
  “So those little looks between you…” – Julian
  “Nothing.” – Booth
  “I hope you are more believable on the stand.” – Julian
• “She’s not … Nobody can get between us.” – Angela (What an incredibly sweet line.)
• Can you imagine how difficult it would be to find a victim of a crime that you were intended to be a victim of yourself?
• I thought the foreshadowing was going to lead to Max killing Taffet in the final scene, not failing in the next scene.
• Frankly, I was surprised by the guilty verdict … I was expecting the worst.

Clacked by Ivey West
on May 13, 2010 @ 22:18 EST5EDT