‘Bones’ Recap: Season 11 Episode 17: Booth Enters Secret Service

On Bones Thursday night, a drunk man stumbles upon a body disintegrating in acid in the woods and calls the police. As he is doing so, he gets knocked out by a man with a shovel.

‘Bones’ Recap: Season 11 Episode 17

Brennan is sick but can’t sleep and is trying all natural remedies to feel better. Booth wakes up to her making tea and gets a call about the body that was found.

The body has arrived at the Jeffersonian and Dr. Saroyan, Hodgins, and Agent Aubrey begin examining it. The body would have completely disintegrated if found only a few hours later. Agent Aubrey notices a government-issued microphone clip, usually used by the secret service. As he verbalizes this, a dozen secret service agents arrive.

At FBI headquarters, Agent Aubrey introduces Booth to Agent Walker from the secret service. Agent Walker informs them that Agent Graham Roberts is probably the victim as he was last seen around Richmond where the body was found and hasn’t been heard from since. However, Walker informs them that before any investigation can start he needs assurance from Booth that being a descendant of John Wilkes Booth isn’t going to cause an issue with working to protect the president.

Back in bed, Brennan is video-chatting with the rest of the team to help with the case. Mr. Fisher makes a surprise return, now a doctor who consults for the secret service. He is able to quickly confirm that the victim is Agent Roberts. Brennan, feeling a little threatened, tries to tell Fisher he can leave but it’s clear she is still very sick.

Aubrey meets Agent Patel, someone who worked closely with the victim while protecting the president. He’s given a list of people of interest Roberts was investigating so not only could they be the suspect but they could also be planning an attack on the president as well.

Hodgins uses the injuries of the man who found the victim to try and gain some insight into the killer.

Patel and Aubrey go to meet with the last person of interest who Roberts had contact with, Neil Stockton. He had been tweeting threat-like things about the president. When they get to his landscaping business, they realize he couldn’t have been the killer because he has shoulder problems and can barely lift a shovel off the ground let alone above his head.

Brennan checks in again from home to see what Fisher is doing in her lab. Fisher has made a good amount progress in reassembling the bones and skull, however Brennan is not in agreement in his diagnosis. She instead finds that his gunshot wound to the chest was not fatal but is still an important piece to be shared with the FBI.

Booth has been cleared by the president and can officially join the case. He expressed to Agents Walker and Patel that the suspect is a trained shooter because civilians would never shoot at the chest.

Fisher shares with Saroyan what he’s discovered while reassembling the skull. Although it has fractures on top like the victim was struck, it also has fractures at the base which points to him falling from at least 20 meters onto his head. He also found an embedded fiber which will be analyzed by Hodgins.

Back at the FBI, Booth is showing Walker his plan for the president’s event which may be in danger now. They do not see eye to eye. Brennan arrives, still looking sick but claiming she’s not, begging to be of help because even though she isn’t contagious she could still contaminate the lab.

Brennan and Booth take a trip to a gun range close to where the victim was found. They are looking for a good shooter who isn’t a huge fan of the president and is a veteran. They are led to a man named Robert. Booth has his eyes on someone else entirely, a younger man named Travis.
Travis is an extremely disgruntled veteran and has strong negative feelings towards the president. Travis has no alibi for his whereabouts during the murder so he will be held for 24 hours.

Fisher has found injuries that lead towards the victim being put into a confined space after death and Saroyan takes that information to Angela. She tries to make something of the information and figure out what he was put into after death. Hodgins has found a match to the fiber in the skull, the sheets at his hotel. Hodgins thinks the victim was killed in his hotel and wrapped in a sheet before being pushed down the trash chute. That explains everything that’s been surmised so far. However it also leads to the suspect being a fellow agent.

The victim’s hotel room is now a crime scene and Aubrey informs agent Patel that it’s a closed investigation, FBI only. She’s not happy. Unfortunately, Saroyan and Hodgins haven’t found any bodily fluids or other evidence in the room yet or at the top/bottom of the trash chute. Hodgins volunteers to go down it.

Walker is furious with the new status of the case as Booth demands to meet with the top agents. Walker is hesitant since the president is leaving soon, but agrees.

Hodgins begins his trip down the chute.

Brennan pops in on Angela at the lab and Angela shows her the simulation she’s created of the victim falling down the chute. The results aren’t matching and Brennan realizes it’s probably because the skull was already damaged before going down.

While in the chute Hodgins finds blood on the chute itself and a piece of bed sheet with blood and hair on it as well. Saroyan and Aubrey want to bring him back up but he pleads to go down a little further. Just then, he falls down the chute.

The hair Hodgins found was Agent Patel’s. Booth brings her in for questioning and she admits they were having an affair. Since she never brought up the fact she was probably the last person to see him alive, Booth removes her from the president’s detail and takes her place to also keep an eye on the other agents.

Brennan is not happy with Booth’s plan and is worried about his safety. He promises to come home safely.

At the event, Booth is on the lookout as part of the secret service while Aubrey is in the crowd.

Finally back in the medical lab, Brennan and Fisher examine the reassembled skull. Brennan realizes that the victim was not hit with an object before being pushed down the chute, but a body part like an elbow which is a trademark of Navy Seals. Also, they determine the killer is left-handed. Brennan calls Booth immediately.

Booth recalls that Agent Walker was a Navy seal.

Neil Stockton is spotted at the event in the crowd and shoots at the president, killing Walker instead. Neil is shot down as well.

After doing Walker’s autopsy, Saroyan finds a bruise on his elbow matching that of what the original killer of agent Roberts would have had. She also found that he had a heart condition that was causing him brain issues that affected his speech and memory. Roberts probably caught wind of the errors he was making and wanted him to resign, so Walker felt he needed to be killed.

Angela deduces that Dr. Fisher is really a tutor for the president’s daughter.

Brennan wants to talk to Booth about what happened but knows he probably isn’t ready yet so she doesn’t push it. Booth changes the subject and they both focus on making sure Brennan is really over her flu.