'Bones' Season 8, Episode 17, 'The Fact in the Fiction' Recap

‘Bones’, season 8, episode 17, ‘The Fact in the Fiction’

A farmer (an investment banker trying to get back to nature) aerating his crops manages to run over a recently uncovered corpse, getting it stuck in his equipment. The crew arrives at the scene, and Booth and Bones argue about asteroid mining, Booth thinking it’s a great investment, while Bones says that it’s not worth it. The team determines the victim, a Hispanic male, was murdered about 5 days ago. And Hodgins agrees with Booth about the wonders and benefits of asteroid mining. Bones points out the body had been heavily scavenged, likely by coyotes, and the head is missing.

In the diner, Booth and Bones continue to argue about asteroid mining when a man walks in, disheveled and bloody. He calls for Bones, and Booth reacts by drawing his gun and telling the man to get on the ground. The man says he has something for her, and Booth tells him to slide it across the floor carefully. The man does, and a bloody skull rolls out of the bag. It’s the head of the victim. The man says he’s Bones’ new intern.

In the lab, Bones asks Dr. Saroyan why she wasn’t told about her new intern, and she says that she sent many emails about him. She asks if something’s wrong, and says that the intern, Dr. Oliver Wells is enthusiastic and quite educated with many credentials. He tracked the skull to a coyote den 6 miles away.

Bones is upset by the way Dr. Wells carried the skull, saying he could have destroyed evidence, but he defends himself by using simple physics, saying there was no risk since he was swift. He then expresses his beliefs about the afterlife, much to Bones’ dismay. Hodgins really llikes the man.

Booth and Sweets head out to an auto body shop, after Hodgins managed to trace some glow-in-the-dark paint he found on the victim to this place. They determine the victim, Benji Garcia, and his brother, Alex, worked there. Alex IDs Benji, and says that he was studying for finals, so no one would have noticed him missing. Another worker, Sidney Jouron, comes up and asks if they found the truck. Booth asks why they’d bring up the truck, and Alex says that if anyone was going to kill Benji, it would be because of the truck. Sidney says that the victim’s girlfriend, Courtney Johnson, would be the one to ask.

Hodgins and Dr. Wells clean the Bones, and Dr. Wells finds a contusion on the back of the skull, which indicates he was knocked out by a “conk to the head”.

Sweets and Booth interview Courtney. She says Benji was the love of her life… but she came in third, after his truck and love of experiments; time travel. She says she hasn’t spoken to Benji since the night he died, and they fought that night because of his truck. Outside the room, Sweets says that she could very well have killed him, as she seems to suffer from IED, intermittent explosive disorder, or fits of extreme rage.

Dr. Wells and Bones have a battle of brains, Dr. Wells boasting about his impressive knowledge. He also points out that the victim suffered from scoliosis and has perimortem fractures in his legs.

Angela finds Benji’s laptop filled with scientific facts about time travel that piques Hodgins interests. She also finds that he logged into a university website a lot, logged in as a Prof. Scott Hunter, a mathematician.

Sweets tells Booth that time travel often becomes an obsession. And he believes Benji wanted to go back and save his family from falling apart. Booth gives Sweets his rundown on Prof. Hunter, indicating he was fired for electrocuting a student, so he has reasons to want to go back in time. He also was supposed to meet Benji the night he was murdered.

In the lab, Dr. Wells tells Bones she’s hyper rational, and implies she’s narrow-minded. They find micro fractioning in the thoracic cavity of the victim, which shows that his liver was destroyed, which would cause his death. Dr. Wells brings up Prof. Hunter and how he electrocuted a student. Bones points out that electrocution could cause that same damage.

Bones and Booth visit Prof. Hunter, and he says that he’s been working with Benji for over a year. He’s offended by their implications that he killed him. They ask to see his lab. Inside, Bones finds wires connected to a 240-volt battery, which could have easily killed Benji.

In the lab, Hodgins and Dr. Wells test the battery and see if it’s possible for it to crack bones, but it doesn’t work. They propose a new experiment.

Angela tells Dr. Saroyan that someone called Benji’s phone the night he died. The call was made by a disposable cellphone. And the FBI said that Benji borrowed money from Prof. Hunter that night, and traced his ATM usage which indicated that he was leaving town. But the body was found on the other side of the town. Hodgins tests the strawberry seeds that were found in the victim’s shoes, and determines that they were grown in soil found in a town far away.

Dr. Saroyan helps Hodgins and Dr. Wells with their next experiment, to see if a gunshot was capable of cracking the ribs, and it is. They conclude that the victim was shot.

Booth and Bones head to the strawberry farm that Hodgins found. They find Benji’s truck in the barn on the property. They also find another body, a mid-to-late 40s Hispanic male, that has also been shot in the stomach. Booth points out that it’s exactly like Benji, but just 20 years older.

In the lab, Dr. Wells believes the new victim and Benji are, indeed, the same person. Bones points out that they’re more likely related. And Dr. Saroyan confirms that the second victim is Benji’s father, Felix, via a DNA test.

Sweets brings in Alex Garcia again, and he explains that Benji thought his father was dead. They told him that when he was little, rather than having him believe his father abandoned them. He hasn’t seen his father in years, and says that it’s possible his father went to Benji for money due to drug problems.

Dr. Wells and Angela try and recreate the crime scene. After Angela tells Dr. Wells he needs to be less of a douche, they determine that the head wounds on the victims were caused by their bodies hitting each other, and that they were killed by the same shot. Benji standing in front of his father.

They find Felix Garcia’s drug dealer, who happens to also work at the auto body shop, Sidney Jouron. He denies any involvement, despite the lack of an alibi.

In the lab, Bones and Dr. Wells link Sidney’s baton (found in his truck) to an injury on Felix Garcia, however, the injury was from before he died, so they can’t convict him for the murders.

Booth and Sweets visit Alex Garcia with a warrant to search Sidney’s locker, which he seems eager to comply. Booth notices that the door of the car he was working on closed at a 45 degree angle, which matches wounds on both victims that have been unaccounted for. Sweets and Booth grill Alex, and he admits to it. Felix was hitting up Benji for money, and Alex was angry because it was his college tuition. All Benji wanted to do was go back in time and meet his father…

In the lab, Dr. Wells fears that they only caught the man because of dumb luck. Bones tells him there’s no such thing as luck, and a man like him should know that.

At their home, Booth and Bones share some wine, and Bones admits that she invested in asteroid mining, because Dr. Wells told her it was a very wise investment. Booth says that it was his initial idea, so he’s actually smarter than both of them.