TV Review: BONES – Season 8 – “The Blood from the Stones”

By RACHEL REITSLEFF / Contributing Writer

Posted: April 7th, 2013 / 11:45 PM

Stars: David Boreanaz, Emily Deschanel, Michaela Conlin, Tamara Taylor, TJ Thyne, John Francis Daley, Patricia Belcher, Eugene Byrd, Dave Thomas, Sherman Augustus, Erin Cardillo, Khleo Thomas, Abbie Cobb, Curtis Armstrong
Writer: Pat Charles, series created by Hart Hanson, based on the life and writings of Kathy Reichs
Director: Francois Velle
Network: Fox, Mondays @ 8 PM
Airdate: March 25, 2013

The BONES episode “The Blood from the Stones” contains something almost as rare on TV – a non-svelte middle-aged woman, in this case the show’s very own Deputy District Attorney Caroline Julian (Patricia Belcher), engaging in a serious sexual flirtation with an interested gentleman, here documentary filmmaker Andrew Jursic (Dave Thomas).

Andrew is at the Jeffersonian to make a promotional film that can be shown to prospective donors. Brennan (Emily Deschanel) gets competitive about the spotlight with the more camera-friendly Dr. Clark Edison (Eugene Byrd), who gets called in on a case that starts out more weird than it ends (the corpse’s face is fully fleshed but has collapsed).

The victim, Reuben Martin, turns out to be an undercover cop. For awhile, evidence points to the deceased’s colleague, Detective Dinco (Sherman Augustus), but the murder turns out to have been committed by the Reuben’s wife (Erin Cardillo), who wanted out of the marriage without losing her widow’s pension.

Brennan is dismayed when she sees how she comes across in the documentary footage, but Booth (David Boreanaz) assures her that she is a good and likable person.

Meanwhile, Caroline and Andrew cross paths, instantly begin trading complimentary and suggestive quips, and end the episode having dinner on the way to somebody’s home or hotel room.

Belcher has done yeoman recurring service to BONES, so it’s good to see her getting to be grown-up and seductive; it’s also nice to see Thomas as a fellow grown-up who refuses to be cowed by Brennan but is bowled over by Caroline’s interest.

The murder plot, however, is a bit murkier than usual. Once we know that Reuben was an undercover cop and not a thief, it seems like his swallowing of a bag of diamonds should be more than a red herring. The episode tries hard for a personal angle, with Booth feeling strongly about the death of a fellow law enforcer, but it doesn’t get under our skin, or even his, really, since by the time the case is solved, there’s no time left for much resonance. There is a nice bit with a severed foot that turns out to belong to a still-living person, but in the end, the main takeaway is that Caroline gets a date.

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