- The Jeffersonian team finds a body in a tree and Dr. Brennan discovers that the victim is practically a clone of herself.
- Brennan gets a glimpse into her own life when the body of a brilliant and career-driven surgeon is found in a rough neighborhood with multiple fractures in her skull and no indication as to how or why she was there. While the team investigates the case objectively, Brennan struggles to separate her own life from the victim's as she perceives many parallels between them the more she learns about the victim's past. Meanwhile, evidence found at the crime scene brings the team closer to solving the case, but it's Brennan's unique perspective that propels her to retrace the final events of the victim's life. With the reassurance of a new friend and Jeffersonian security guard, Micah Leggat, Brennan makes a discovery about herself and learns a lesson about taking chances.—Fox Publicity
- A bizarrely damaged skull found inside a tree is identified as the long-missing, but barely missed, loner cardiac surgeon Lauren Eames. Bones identifies irrationally with the fellow cold-analytic intellectual. Eames made no friends but enemies, such as the loves ones of patients she denied heart transplant to, including Mike Dworsky's son, but Mike has an alibi. There were heroin traces in her body.—KGF Vissers
- A savage storm rips down a tree. And what is stashed in that tree? Why, human remains, of course. What else? ])CUT to a holiday dinner attended by Booth (David Boreanaz), Hannah (Katheryn Winnick), Hodgins (T.J. Thyne), Angela (Michaela Conlin) and host Bones (Emily Deschanel). The latter performs an amusing autopsy on the turkey before getting a call from Camille (Tamara Taylor): the team has a murder to investigate.
Moments later, B&B examine the fallen tree. "The tree actually grew through the victim," Camille says. Bones notices terrific dental work on the female, Caucasian skeleton. "Athletic, well-muscled," Bones says. She then notices a ring which gives her pause. "What?" Booth asks. Says a shaken Bones: "Nothing." Hmmm. Back at the Jeffersonian, Angela notices Bones is behaving strangely. Apparently, the victim was the same size and height as Bones -- and wore the same dolphin ring. Is Bones considering her own mortality? Later, Bones discovers the victim has marks on her fingers consistent with a seamstress or medical professional who uses cutting devices.
CUT to Hodgins, who examines the ENTIRE tree, which rests in the lab. Looking at the growth rings and damage to the roots, he deduces the victim was killed about 11 months ago. B&B, meanwhile, lunch at the diner with Hannah, who did a quick Internet search and discovered a surgeon matching the description of the victim went missing a little less than a year ago. Authorities had called off the search for the body. "Single -- no kids," Hannah explains. "Outside of work, there was no one to miss her." The comment clearly hits home for Bones. Booth notices his partner's discomfort.
And it gets worse. A colleague of the dead surgeon visits B&B and explains his coworker was pursued by another coworker, Chris Markham (Gonzalo Menendez), but the romance was unrequited. Sound familiar? Bones wonders aloud how such a talented professional could be so quickly forgotten. "We don't actually fear death," Gadh () listen to the recordings. He says the voice is similar, but not the same. Either Bones has a doppelganger (that no one else can see), or the good doctor is going through some sort of breakdown. Bones then explains to Micah that the victim was stabbed a few MONTHS before she struck in the head and killed. "Some people are very adept at keeping their pain hidden," she says. The next day, B&B question Markham, who says dead Lauren had gotten into a fight with the father of a boy undergoing a transplant. He also admits the victim rebuffed his every advance. Again, Bones is reminded of herself.
Later, Sweets (John Francis Daley) warns Bones that she is "over identifying with the victim." Predictably, Bones dismisses the boy wonder. Later, Hodgins runs tests and determines the victim was bludgeoned with a weapon with a reflective surface. B&B then head out to question Dworsky (Brian Goodman), a middle-aged man who tows cars for a living. Dworsky explains he is still furious with Lauren (despite the fact she is dead) because the doctor denied his boy a perfectly good transplant heart. The surgeon said the boy was too sick with a respiratory infection to accept it. Dworsky claims the woman was too rational for her -- or anyone else's -- good. Bones then notices a large, reflective flashlight among Dworsky's equipment. "Someone beat her to death with something exactly like this," she says. Booth chides his partner for handling evidence. It's not like her. Is Bones slipping?
It would appear so. Bones is soon "talking" to the victim through her voice recordings. Micah walks in on the doctor in mid sentence -- and warns Bones not to admit she is having a conversation with a dead woman. "They'll think you've gone nuts," Micah says. Bones doesn't disagree. The next day, Booth explains Dworsky has an alibi. He also says police reports indicate a woman was stabbed by a drug dealer around the same time the victim would have been knifed. On top of that, Hodgins finds opiates in some of the leaves on the tree. The surgeon might have been a drug user.
Moments later, Booth interrogates Antony (Francis Capra), the drug dealer. He admits to seeing the victim, who was trying to negotiate a price for his drugs. Antony doesn't "do that" and refuses to sell to the woman. "I didn't stab her ... I gave her a little poke to motivate her home," the drug dealer confesses. Bones vehemently denies the victim was weak enough to turn to drugs. "You're acting as if you're the one who is being accused of taking drugs," Booth notes. Even Hannah notices Bones is somehow off.
Still, Bones presses her case so Hodgins tests the victim's clothing. It's heroin. Bones STORMS out of the lab. She is nearly in tears. Later that night, Bones continues to "talk" to the victim, who suggests she wasn't struck in the head. "You fell?" Bones asks. The skeleton doesn't answer, but Bones theorizes the surgeon was thrown against a reflective surface. It doesn't solve the heroin issue, but it is a new cause of death. Micah then arrives, declares Bones to be "sleep deprived" and leads her outside to a cab.
The next day, Sweets provides a full mental analysis of the victim. The surgeon was a control freak, so seeing death on a daily basis greatly stressed her. To deal with that, the victim forced herself "to not care." This went on for some time before Lauren began acting erratically -- intentional, according to Sweets, so she could stop "feeling nothing." Says Bones: "Like picking a fight with a drug dealer?" Exactly. "Eventually she got what she wanted: suicide by murder," Sweets says. He then assures his friend she is not unloved. "It's one of the many ways you're different from Dr. Lauren Eames."
Bones then goes to see Markham, who admits his longtime crush had suicidal tendencies. "She should have given me a chance," he says. "What did she have to lose?" Bones agrees: "It was her biggest regret." Later that night, Bones discovers a clue in the victim's files (thanks to a hint from Micah): Lauren approached the family of a brain-dead child and begged them to donate the boy's heart to the Dworsky boy. Bones then heads to the address ... and discovers a cracked reflective street marker. Suddenly, a car ROARS around the corner. It is about to hit Bones, who crouches in the street, before Booth suddenly appears and PUSHES his partner out of harm's way.
Booth has apparently followed Bones to the "bad" part of town because he has been worried about her. Bones then explains the victim bought heroin to feel something. She then approached the family of the brain-dead boy and was struck by a car and thrown against the reflective surface. "So it was the driver who buried her in the park?" Booth asks. Bones nods. "I can't prove any of this," she admits. But she doesn't have to. Naturally, Booth believes his friend.
Later, Booth gives his partner a ride home. "I made a mistake," says Bones, explaining the victim made a similar mistake by refusing the romantic overtures of her coworker. Booth suddenly grows serious. "I'm with someone," he whispers. "And she's not a consolation prize." Bones begins to WEEP. "The last thing I want to do is hurt you, but those are the facts," Booth says. Bones continues to cry. "I missed my chance," she says. Perhaps -- but at least she put herself out there and FELT something.
The next day, Bones returns to her office and looks at the photo of the victim. It is NOT her, after all.
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