Stars: David Boreanaz, Emily Deschanel, Michaela Conlin, TJ Thyne, Tamara Taylor, John Francis Daley, Carla Gallo
Writer: Dean Lopata, series created by Hart Hanson, based on the life and writings of Kathy Reichs
Director: Dwight Little
Network: Fox, Mondays @ 8 PM
Airdate: October 8, 2012
Normally, the BONES episode “The Tiger in the Tale” would merit a B. It’s a solid episode, but it has the drawbacks of Brennan (Emily Deschanel) suddenly wanting to run for President of the United States (huh?) and psychiatrist Sweets (John Francis Daley) displaying stunning blindness when it comes to the psyche of his own girlfriend, lab assistant Daisy Wicks (Carla Gallo).
However, “Tiger” is elevated by three things. First, it hinges on a real topic of concern to this reviewer, who can arbitrarily raise ratings based on such things (so there). Second, as it is something close to Brennan’s heart, it allows for Deschanel to bring up depths of fury and anguish seldom found in her character. Finally, the forensics are really intriguing, with Cam (Tamara Taylor) figuring out that the trajectory of a bullet changed its apparent size as it moved through flesh and bone (watch the episode to see how this matters to the investigation or we’ll be here all day).
When a dead body is found in the woods by a bickering couple, with the deceased’s face getting sprayed onto one of the discoverers in a particularly nice gross bit, the body is found to be a man who went from middle-class business owner to day laborer. The man’s ex-wife and her unpleasant new boyfriend are suspects, but our team deduces that the victim helped out in the exotic animal trade. This is where animals like tigers can be bought and sold as pets, or even targets in “canned hunts” (though “Tiger” doesn’t get into the latter, since Brennan might actually commit murder over this). This is why, in the real world, there are now more captive tigers in Texas than live in the wilds of Asia.
Brennan is outraged by the whole business, noting that wild animals are miserable in cages. This leads her and Booth (David Boreanaz) into a very funny discussion of when, if ever, their daughter Christine will go to a zoo. We also learn that Booth wants to get a dog for the family – and name it Gretzky.
It turns out that, while trafficking in tigers is perfectly legal, it’s a felony to sell a rare, endangered purebred Siberian tiger. The victim was mauled by a Siberian tiger, which our team tracks to an animal collector. It turns out the collector shot and killed the tiger, prompting an outburst of enraged grief from Brennan that is affecting in how genuine it feels. The murderer turns out to be a “pet fair” organizer who brokered the sale of the tiger; when the tiger scratched the victim, the organizer decided to permanently shut up his helper rather than take the man to the hospital.
Meanwhile, Sweets and Daisy are planning on moving in together. Over the course of the day, Sweets hears from everybody else that what he sees as a minor commitment, Daisy views as a logical next step on the road to marriage. When Daisy innocently confirms this, Sweets apologizes for misleading her and breaks up with her.
The breakup scene is handled with a good deal of sensitivity, allowing Daley the opportunity to be uncommonly straightforward and low-key as Sweets comes to grips with the enormity of his miscalculation and the hurt he’s inflicting, and lets Gallo show she can do serious and thoughtful (Daisy is usually self-involved and overly upbeat).
The forensics aspect is a lot of fun, with Hodgins (TJ Thyne) bringing in remote-controlled airplanes (a nice shout-out to a previous episode) and all kinds of variables, including Angela (Michaela Conlin) coming up with a variety of imprecise sketches, due to the state of the victim’s skull.
However, the topic explored, and Brennan’s reaction to it, are what make “Tiger in the Tale” especially compelling. Those who want to learn more on the topic may want to check out National Geographic Wild’s series ANIMAL INTERVENTION. Those who don’t still have a strong episode of BONES here.
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Article Source: Assignment X
Article: TV Review: BONES – Season 8 – “The Tiger in the Tale”
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