12x10 - The Final Chapter: The Radioactive Panthers in the Party

[bunniefuu]

GORDY: All right, ten hours down and only three more to go. I got this. DARREN (over phone): Seriously, just pull over and get some sleep. This is crazy. GORDY: You want to know what's crazy? Letting Betty move to New York.

Not stopping the woman I love from making the biggest mistake of her life.

It actually sounds like Betty's doing extremely well out there.

I mean, it's been four years, Gordy.

Yeah, four years I couldn't stop thinking about her.

Dude, you and Betty dated for, like, a month.

If you show up on her doorstep, trust me, you're gonna look insane.

Ah, you want to know what's insane?

Letting Betty go to New York.

That's insane.

Gordy, enough.

You need sleep.

You're starting to sound like a lunatic.

Nah, that's just the sound of love, my friend.

The sweet, sweet sound of-- Oh!

What?

What's wrong?

(yells)

What's going on?

Oh, my God!

Gordy, what's going on?

(yells)

Is everything all right?

It just fell from the sky like some damn bird or something!

Gordy?

Gordy? Gordy?

Gordy!

Gordy?!

What the hell just happened?

And do not tell me that was the sound of love.

That was the sound of death.

Tell Mama I just crashed her car.

Oh, sh...

Oh...

BRENNAN: The victim jumped feet off an overpass and landed on a passing car.

BOOTH: That's gonna leave a dent.

I imagine it would and given the, uh, gravitational acceleration rate of .

meters per...

Ah, come on, Bones.

It's too early for math.

Too early.

It's never too early for math.

Anything before : is too early, anything after : is too late.

That leaves no time for math.

I don't want math.

I want math.

It's way too early.

Hey, take a look there, that's Dr. Mayer, right?

BRENNAN: Oh, Dr. Mayer, it's so nice to see you again.

Oh, Dr. Brennan, Agent Booth.

What a treat.

Please, join me.

Uh, well, we-we got some food to go, so-- I got to get Bones here back to the lab.

You're wearing your Jeffersonian lanyard.

Are you coming in to help I.D. the jumper?

Actually, I've hung up my lab coat.

I never thought of you as one to retire.

Oh, heavens no.

I woke up one morning and...

just found the passion was missing.

Well, if you're not working anymore, why are you wearing your Jeffersonian badge?

I'm studying prairie dogs with the zoology department.

Prairie dogs?

Oh, actually, they're fascinating little creatures.

Did you know their entire mating window is one hour a year?

(chuckles)

By "fascinating," you mean "sad," right?

(laughs)

Uh, congratulations on your new career path.

You seem-- you seem happy.

Sometimes it just takes a new match to get the old flame burning again.

(Booth laughs)

Tell that to the prairie dogs, huh?

(Mayer laughs)

Okay, got to go.

Let's go, Bones.

Bye.

Thank you, dear.

HODGINS: Ooh, okay, how about "Hulk Bones: "A study on the skeletal effects of incredible physical strength." That's a great idea, Hodgins.

Unfortunately, to write that paper, I would need Hulk's bones.

And since the Hulk doesn't actually exist...

Trust me, your dissertation committee, they're gonna eat it up.

It's gonna prove that you can think outside the box.

Or, that you've completely lost your mind.

BRENNAN: Mr. Bray, please catch me up on what you've discovered thus far.

Based on the size of the femoral head coupled with the strong torsion of the femoral neck, the victim was a Caucasian male.

BRENNAN: Well, excellent work, given the condition of the remains.

SAROYAN: Burnt, broken, and cut to ribbons.

Well, if he wanted to k*ll himself, he certainly accomplished his goal.

Our victim did not want to k*ll himself.

Well, according to the police report, he jumped off an overpass.

BRENNAN: The fractures on the skull are dry breaks.

Which means he was actually dead before he fall.

This was a m*rder made to look like a su1c1de.

BRENNAN: The irregular rim contour of the sternal rib ends indicates an age range of mid-to-late s.

And judging by the tobacco staining localized on the canines and incisors, our victim spent the majority of those years smoking.

Prolonged effect of nicotine exposure on long bones.

No, coccyx.

Um, sorry, I'm trying to decide what to write my dissertation about.

I recommend you choose wisely, as it will be one of the most important decisions of your professional career.

Thanks.

As if I wasn't already stressing enough.

What is it that excites you about the field of anthropology?

I don't know.

Uh, lots of things.

Your dissertation on the effects of tribalism within ancient Karakorum was certainly an early inspiration for me.

Oh, as it should have been.

It's an exceptional paper, as are the other four I've written.

You wrote five dissertations?

I was curious about a variety of topics and I couldn't decide which one to focus my attention on, so, I just wrote all five.

Bu-- (chuckles) wasn't that a lot of work?

Yes, Mr. Bray.

That was the point.

Uh, it's tough to be certain, given the condition of the skull, but there seems to be evidence of frontal bossing.

Hmm.

Aside from the tobacco staining, did you discover anything unusual about the victim's teeth?

He had a few crowns, but that's about it.

I would like to remove one of those crowns.

(squishing, cracking)

BRAY: A baby tooth.

As I suspected.

Evidence of enamel hypoplasia.

It appears the victim suffered from malignant infantile osteopetrosis as a child.

That's a pretty rare disease.

Which means it may be able to provide us with an ID.

BOOTH: Ooh.

Hey, uh, I checked with the local hospitals, found a patient matching our victim's description.

Ooh.

Uh, victim's name is Ronald Bergman, but you may know him better as the mattress king of Southeast Baltimore.

This sounds like a good case for James Aubrey, the m*rder solving king of Washington D.C.

What?

Hold on a second.

Ah.

Are you giving me lead on this?

You know what, Aubrey, if you want to be a Supervisory Special Agent, you got to get a little ASA experience under your belt.

Wow, thank you, Booth.

So does this mean that, like, I'm your boss now?

Listen, Aubrey, if you have to ask if you're my boss, you're not my boss.

Okay.

Look at that.

Oh!

Double tap-in.

RON: Whether it's riding a monster wave, taking a stroll on Mars, or...

just catching some Zs, here at Snoozeland, we'll help you achieve your dreams!

That guy seems so sweet.

It's obvious he really cared about what he was doing.

I've never seen you get so emotional over a commercial before.

Well, in this age of snark, I'm just thankful for someone with some good old-fashioned sincerity.

Then I'll save the snark and get right to the point.

Angela, I have a job for you.

Apparently, one that reeks of burnt human hair.

Thigh hair, in fact.

The victim's cell phone melted to his leg during the fire.

All right, so do you think there's enough left to pull the data?

Wow, this thing is really cooked, but I'll give it a sh*t.

Okay.

AUBREY: So, Ms. Martin, now, uh, you are the manager of Snoozeland, is that correct?

I am.

And we're actually pretty busy right now, so the sooner we can get this over with, the better.

Okay.

Sensing some annoyance.

That would be because I'm annoyed.

Oh.

We're in the middle of a giant sale and I don't have time--

(groans)

What is it?

What did my idiot ex do this time?

What?

No.

Uh, this is about your boss.

He was found dead this morning.

Ronny?

Yeah.

And we have reason to believe that it was m*rder.

I knew this was a mistake.

What was a mistake?

Ronny is a...

creative guy, full of all these wild ideas.

And after directing all the Snoozeland commercials, he decided he was ready for the real thing.

A real commercial?

Movie.

Said he was gonna be the next Gordon Welles.

Orson Welles?

Sure.

Whatever, I don't know about any of that stuff.

All I know is: Ronny wrote himself a story, took a leave of absence from work and went off to make his movie.

Huh.

This movie was all Ronny could think about.

It was going to be his Citizen Crane.

(file closes)

- So I've been going through the burnt blobs...

- Whoa!

...that used to be our victim's shoes.

Geez, Hodgins.

You cannot just roll up on me like that.

I'm in a wheelchair, Cam.

I have no choice but to roll up on you.

Fair enough.

So, so far, the only thing I've found in the victim's shoe treads are a piece of cigarette butt and some small white marble chips.

Like the kind used in decorative landscaping?

He had to have been walking around in this stuff shortly before he d*ed.

The only problem is: white marble chips, they're not rare enough to tell us where that was.

Yeah, well, wherever he was, he was in a struggle.

Looks like there are two incisions on his right forearm.

Well, yeah, the guy did fall through a windshield.

But there's no trace of glass in these incisions.

They appear to be defensive wounds.

Unfortunately, the tissue is too badly compromised to get a better description.

All right, well, let me swab, I'll see what I can find.

Come to Poppa, you nasty little piece of flesh.

This is a fairly decent operation.

I mean, it's no Bone of Contention or anything.

The one thing I learned about these guys, these creative types, they're definitely a breed of their own.

You know, I heard the guy who played Agent Andy is in rehab now.

Hey, stop with the TMZ, just focus.

MAN: And action!

Okay, I thought our director was supposed to be dead?

Well, lead, Aubrey, lead.

(women screaming)

(creatures growling)

(screaming)

AUBREY: Oh, dear God, this is like spring break on bath salts.

WOMAN: Oh!

Oh, no!

BOOTH: Excuse me?

FBI.

Who's the director here?

Uh, I think his name is Kirby or Herby or something.

I'm not sure.

Yesterday, dude was just the sandwich boy.

BOOTH: Yeah and now he's directing this.

Whatever this is.

Be careful with those guts!

They're rentals.

(woman screams)

Look out!

What...?

I'm gonna eat you!

I'm sorry, but what is this movie supposed to be?

(chuckles)

Radioactive Party Panthers from Fort Lauderdale. Thought you guys were supposed to know this stuff.

We know enough, Kirby.

Enough to be talking to you.

I like the sound of that.

And I'm sorry.

You guys are with FBI? I haven't heard of them.

Are they new?

You haven't heard of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Oh, that FBI.

(laughs)

Bummer.

I thought you guys were, like, Hollywood agents.

Real agents.

We are real agents.

Investigating a real m*rder.

So why don't you tell us why the sandwich boy is suddenly directing a dead man's movie.

Ron is dead?

Yeah.

Friggin' A.

I guess that explains why I couldn't get ahold of him this morning.

Sorry, so you thought, because you knew how to make a cheese sandwich, you could direct his movie?

Okay, I went to film school.

I know how story works.

I know why I'm a suspect.

But trust me, I didn't k*ll Ron to take control of his movie.

Why should we believe you?

'Cause he was already giving me plenty of control.

When was the last time you saw Ron?

(sighs)

Last night.

We finished sh**ting at the hot tub warehouse around : , and everyone went home.

Did you notice anything strange about him?

Acting weird?

Anything out of the ordinary?

Nope.

It was just your normal day sh**ting a radioactive panther att*ck in a hot tub store.

So, how many cameras did Ron usually have rolling?

As many as he could get.

Ron was the type of director that sh*t everything.

Oh, great.

Listen, we're gonna need to get ahold of that footage.

Sure.

Yeah.

I can also give you some of the stuff I sh*t today.

I got this great sh*t of a disembodied arm's P.O.V.

No.

We're good.

Thank you, bye.

BRAY: k*ller Klowns from Outer Space?

Aaah!

Zombies!!? Come on, you had to have heard of Sharknado. Those are all scientifically implausible.

Oh, completely.

But I think that's part of the appeal of B movies-- they offer a mindless escape.

So people enjoy these movies because they don't require them to think?

After a long day at work, don't you ever just want to go home and turn it off?

No.

I enjoy using my mind, and so should you.

Have you made any progress in determining a topic for your dissertation?

I've got nothing.

Perhaps reading my unpublished dissertations might inspire something in you.

That would be awesome.

Thank you.

There appears to be severe perimortem blunt force trauma on the sacrum, T and T , and the right scapula.

BRAY: Judging by the indistinct wound edges, and heavy amount of fracture lines, the w*apon used to create this damage had a round outline.

Maybe a pipe, or a baseball bat?

Until the skull's reconstructed, there's no telling if this b*ating was cause of death.

(whirring)

The cell phone's motherboard was partially b*rned by the fire.

So, what are you doing with the heat g*n, burning up the rest?

No.

The hot air isn't gonna hurt it.

I'm just using it to desolder the phone's primary data storage chip.

And as long as the chip wasn't completely fried in the fire, I should be able to use chip-off forensics to retrieve the phone's data.

Okay.

Well, as soon as you're done with that, I'm gonna need you to go through the film footage Aubrey's sending over.

HODGINS: Oh!

Oh...

Oh.

Can I do it, please?

I love watching campy B movies.

Of course you do.

All of them involving giant man-eating bugs.

I can't tell you how many times I've suffered through Earwig Armageddon. Have you swabbed the injuries on the victim's arm?

I have, and I found, uh, traces of keratin in the wounds.

Like, from a fingernail?

Or a razor-sharp claw.

Specifically, a razor-sharp panther claw.

So, the victim was self-financing the entire project.

At the time of his death, he'd already put up a million bucks.

Mm.

Plenty of money, plenty of motive.

Yeah.

Um, I don't know.

I-I'm thinking about maybe going a different route.

I mean, you do know that Ron was att*cked by a panther on the set, right?

You want me to bring the panther in for questioning?

No, no, no.

But the guy who supposedly trained it.

This guy right here, uh, Dwayne Hawkins.

He did five years for as*ault with a deadly w*apon, 'cause his grizzly mauled another actor on a previous set.

Right.

Another incident like that would certainly land him back in jail.

Yeah.

You know.

I'm just thinking, maybe he decides to cover up the panther att*ck, k*ll Ron, make it look like a su1c1de...

I thought that I was supposed to be lead on the case, here.

I'm just trying to help.

Appreciate that, but you keep telling me where to go, what leads to follow, wouldn't even let me drive to the movie location.

You're like a turtle behind the wheel.

You're like...

What? ...a turtle.

We would've still been in the parking lot Right, but we would've got... ...if you were driving, Aubrey.

We would've got there.

That's my point.

You know, you got to let me work my own pace, here.

Fine.

That's your case.

Go ahead.

Thank you.

Go ahead.

Walk it out.

I will.

Slow.

You're still not driving.

That is a pretty gnarly scar you got there.

Bald eagle tried to rip my eyes out during a car commercial.

Turns out they don't like wearing top hats.

Doesn't look like you got the, uh, best record with these animals, Dwayne.

You're talking about the incident with Chauncey?

Chauncey, yeah.

The, uh, man-eating bear that nearly k*lled an actor on the set of your last movie.

I take full responsibility for what happened on Captain Carnie. But I served my sentence.

Yeah, well maybe this time, you didn't want to serve your sentence.

See, we know that your panther att*cked Ron.

(chuckles)

It was a little scratch.

I don't think that counts as an att*ck.

And that scratch that had enough juice to put you back in jail.

Ron got scratched because he was careless.

That's certainly true.

He hired you.

Look.

First, the guy tells me he wants a cat, so I get him a calico.

Then he decides it's got to be a panther.

Well, all the panthers I know are working.

I scramble, but I find him one.

Just some random panther, off the street?

Pretty much.

Okay.

Which would've been fine, if I had a chance to work with it.

Ah.

So Ron got scratched because he didn't give you enough time to properly train the animal.

The guy didn't know what he was doing.

When you're in charge of a set with weapons, and stunts, and animals, and you don't know what you're doing, people get hurt.

And if anyone knows that, it's you.

Yeah.

Angie, step aside.

I am commandeering the Angelatron.

Uh, I'm actually kind of busy right now.

Trust me.

This is much, much more important.

SAROYAN: Well, it better be.

I still have a pile of cooked flesh I need to analyze.

Okay.

So I was looking through the dailies, and look what I found.

Why does that guy look familiar?

BRAY: Because that is David Faustino.

He played Bud Bundy on Married... with Children for like ten years.

I love that show.

That's a good get for Party Panthers. I'm sorry.

Is he on a roof?

Well, not for long.

RON: And action!

Suck my waves, Party Panthers!

(cackles)

(chuckles)

(yells)

(crashes, shouts)

MAN: Guys, you all right?

Oh, ow.

That sounds like it hurt.

(growling, screaming)

You son of a bitch, Ron!

You could have gotten me k*lled!

I should break your stupid little freaking neck!

(screams)

Cut!

It sounds like Bud Bundy just threatened our victim.

(giggling, panting)

Ladies.

So, Mr.

Faustino.

Uh, what am I, your grandpa?

- Call me Tino.

- Okay.

According to the Internet, you got kicked off your last movie for fighting with the director.

Okay, dude, I've auditioned to play cops before.

Okay?

I know the drill.

Just get to your point.

You got a history of v*olence towards directors, you threatened to k*ll your current director, and now he's dead.

How's that?

Okay, well.

I fought with my last director because I wanted to do action, and that slapdick only saw me as a comedy guy.

I mean, come on.

Okay?

But Party Panthers is different.

Ron let me showcase my muscles.

Let me be an action star.

And that's why I loved working with him.

Okay.

'Cause I saw the footage.

Didn't really look like you loved working with him.

Yeah.

Well, that, uh...

that stunt mishap made me look like a punk.

Okay?

I was embarrassed.

And when I get embarrassed, I get pissed.

Yeah.

Really pissed.

Like vein-popping pissed.

What can I say?

I'm a passionate man.

But ultimately, I realized the stunt was my fault.

Okay?

It was my idea.

I was the one pushing it on Ron.

I was so excited about it, I probably didn't give him enough time to properly plan it out.

Right.

Hurry up and sh**t.

That seems to be the theme of this movie.

Yeah, well.

You ever heard the saying, "Time is money?" Well, this is a low-budget movie.

Yeah.

Was a low-budget movie.

You guys are done.

Whoa, whoa.

Dude, bro.

We only have a couple scenes left.

You can't just shut us down.

Oh, sure I can.

And, uh, if I were you, I'd hold off on booking my ticket back to L.A. just yet.

Hey, Angie.

So I've been watching more of the dailies.

Uh, I don't care.

You are not taking over my monitor again.

No, no, no.

So, Faustino.

He plays this character named "Pamanther." Half man, half panther.

Why?

Because sometimes the only way to stop a panther is to become a panther.

That makes no sense.

And yet, still, it is awesome.

(chuckles)

What's going on here?

Uh, I'm sorting through some texts on the victim's phone.

Anything good?

Here's one, from the owner of Funtown Amusement Park.

Allen Peppermelt, threatening to gut Ron like a pig and use his intestines as floss.

Funtown?

Didn't we bring Michael Vincent there once?

Yeah.

It was awful.

Remember, they gave us those used stuffed animals as prizes?

Oh.

Geez.

That's right.

Hey, Angie.

Do me a favor.

Call up a picture of Funtown.

(beeping)

Wait.

Angie, can you zoom underneath the the fountain there?

Yeah.

Wow.

White marble chips.

That's exactly what I found on the victim's shoe tread.

Okay.

Let's look at the production schedule.

Yeah.

Ron sh*t there three weeks ago.

Then what was he doing back there on the night of his death?

(exhales)

Dr.

Mayer...

Oh.

I was returning from lunch and the supervisor said you'd left word.

I did.

And I appreciate you coming by.

Oh.

I'm sorry for being a Nosey Norm.

I saw the title of your paper, and I just got pulled in.

"A Study of the Devolution of the Human Species." That was one of my dissertations.

I had a lot of fun with it.

Clearly.

Your enthusiasm just jumps off the page.

(chuckles)

Actually...

that is what I was hoping to speak with you about.

How do you know?

How do I know what, dear?

When you've lost your passion for your work.

You said that you woke up one morning and realized that it was gone.

If you're used to that electricity dancing through your veins and suddenly it's not there, you notice.

What if you're not that in tune with yourself?

Is it possible to lose your drive and not know?

Absolutely.

In fact, that's what usually happens.

How many people do you know who are truly in touch with their feelings?

Well, not many.

(both laugh)

Exactly.

Here's a little test.

Think about what you do here.

Really focus on it.

Okay.

Now, how would you feel if someone took it away?

(knock on door)

Sorry to interrupt, but I've finished reconstructing the victim's skull, and I found something.

My apologies, Dr. Mayer.

Nonsense.

I believe we've answered all your questions.

I believe we have.

(chuckles)

(sighs)

Amongst the postmortem fracturing caused by the fall, I found plenty of perimortem fracturing.

The injury is severe enough to be cause of death.

However, the broad impact area leads me to believe this trauma was not caused by the same cylindrical object used to b*at the victim.

Well, it was most likely the result of the victim's skull being smashed into a flat surface with great force.

But not long before Ron's death, you sent him a text.

"Remove the fake blood from my teacups "or I'll gut you like a pig and use your intestines as floss." Oh, man.

That sounds pretty bad, huh?

Yeah.

It sounds really bad, and honestly, it's not what I'd expect from the owner of Funtown.

Just my luck.

The one time I try to get tough with someone, they end up dead.

This guy is pathetic.

We can tear him down with fear.

I know that you didn't k*ll Ron, okay?

But I'm gonna need you to help me out here.

Great, or we just do the opposite.

AUBREY: We have evidence suggesting that Ron was at your business on the night of his death.

No, I haven't seen Ron in a few weeks.

My God, he's lying, okay?

Get in his face.

Tell him that we can nail him.

Pin him against the wall.

Look, you seem like a nice guy, Allen.

So, what makes a nice guy thr*aten to gut a man and use his intestines as floss?

Well, Ron came to me about a month ago, asking if he could use Funtown as a location for his movie.

He said it was a pivotal scene about a sick boy visiting his first amusement park.

So, I gave him the park for the day.

Then I show up to see how things are going.

It was a madhouse.

There was no sick boy.

Just a bunch of blood and guts and topless women.

He duped you.

And old Allen Peppermelt fell for it.

Took me four days to clean up all that blood and guts.

I lost over a thousand dollars.

And if you k*lled Ron, you never would've gotten your money, so how did you intend to get your money back?

I was gonna sue... but then I remembered Carly.

Who's Carly?

Carly Catalano.

She works the funnel cake stand at Funtown.

She's also an aspiring actress, and I told Ron if he gave Carly a part in the movie, I'd reconsider my lawsuit.

Wow, so you sacrificed a thousand dollars in order to get one of your employees an acting job?

I was hoping it would finally convince Carly to go on a date with me.

It didn't.

So, how's it coming with the Funtown marble?

The smoothness of the grain is inconsistent with the chips that I found in the victim's shoe tread.

So, he wasn't at Funtown on the night of his death.

Nope.

Now that that's resolved, it's time to get back to the party panther party.

Or you could help me out.

Yeah, um, can that wait?

Because I'm just at the scene where the drug dealer accidentally feeds his pet panthers radioactive meat.

Yeah, so, I just finished going through the charred tissue, and found another panther scratch on the victim's neck.

Makes sense, seeing as he was att*cked by a panther.

According to hospital records, he was only treated for scratches to the forearm.

Wait, so you think he was att*cked a second time?

I don't know.

We shall swab and see, or rather, you shall swab and see and I will find out what happens with the radioactive meat.

No, Cam, come on.

You don't even like the movie.

Cam, come on now.

Cam.

(sighs)

RON: Oh, come on, Chad.

Come on.

Roar!

(meekly roaring)

Hey, hey, what happened back there?

I mean, what's the point of having me in your ear if you're not gonna listen to me?

Well, I wasn't listening because Peppermelt isn't our guy.

I mean, if I'd taken your advice, he would have shut down and given us nothing.

Worked out that way, anyway.

Actually, no...

because he gave us this.

I've collected...

What the hell is that?

You got to be kidding me.

I've confined...

(sighs)

I confiled all of the data, and the numbers seem to suggest...

This is bad, even by Party Panthers standards.

She's bad.

So, this is Peppermelt's employee, the one that he convinced Ron to recast in the female lead.

Recast?

Meaning someone got fired?

Exactly.

Well, if I was fired and replaced by...

that, I'd want to commit m*rder, too.

I was thinking the same thing, so I looked into the original actor.

This is a picture of a young boy.

Yeah.

I know.

Joey Martucci was originally cast in this role.

Um...

What?

I know, I can't explain that, but I did find out that his mother was arrested last year on charges of as*ault and battery after b*ating a man with a baseball bat.

Sounds like a woman with a lot of rage.

And how do you think Mrs. Martucci felt when she found out that her son was getting fired and replaced by her?

By my calculations, we have seven hours until the panthers merge into one giant mega-panther.

We were out at the batting cages when this man recognized Joey from a Snoozeland commercial.

The guy was clearly drunk, saying all sorts of rude things.

H-He wouldn't leave us alone, so finally...

You whacked him with a baseball bat.

And I'd gladly do it again, but this time I'd aim right for his beans.

You seem like a very protective mother, Mrs. Martucci.

You say it like it's a bad thing.

Well, I'm just wondering if that instinct kicked back in when you learned that Ron was f*ring your son from his movie.

(laughing): Oh, please.

Colead in a movie starring David Faustino.

Seems like a pretty decent size credit for a kid trying to start an acting career.

At a certain point, it just isn't worth it.

What do you mean?

Ronny came to us with this script he'd written about a sick kid who loses himself in his imagination, pretending his pet cat is a giant panther, and his-his sandbox is a beautiful Florida beach.

It was this really adorable little story.

This is Radioactive Party Panthers from Fort Lauderdale you're talking about?

It only became that after Faustino signed on.

That's when we started getting all these ridiculous rewrites.

I'm talking real bologna here.

The whole movie changed, became this big sh**t 'em up.

We weren't interested in that.

Wow.

So, it sounds like Ron was actually doing you a favor by f*ring Joey.

He was.

Ronny was a sweetheart.

He just got caught up and taken for a ride.

You got to be careful.

This industry will eat you alive if you let it.

Hey, do you need anything else, Dr. B?

No.

Enjoy your evening.

You, too.

Uh, thanks again for the dissertations.

Who knows, maybe I'll be so inspired I'll end up writing multiple papers myself.

Just focus on the one, Mr. Bray.

(chuckles)

Hey, you're still here?

Yes.

I-I used to get some of my best work done after the lab had shut down for the night.

Is everything okay?

There appears to be evidence of buckle fracturing on the angles of the right side ribs seven, eight and nine.

I meant with you.

You've been distant all day.

Angela, do you believe in passion in the workplace?

Well, given that Hodgins and I have been caught in the Egyptian room a few times...

I-I meant professionally.

Oh.

How important do you think it is for us to love what we do?

Uh, well, it, it's important, but it's not everything.

Most people don't love their jobs.

They don't even like them.

They do them because they have to.

What if they didn't have to?

If you can afford to leave an unfulfilling job, why wouldn't you?

Are you...

Just curious.

That's all.

Left side ribs seven, eight, and nine also show evidence of buckle fracturing.

The presence of these injuries suggests a substantial amount of weight having been applied to the victim's chest.

As if the k*ller sat on the victim while smashing his head in.

That sounds like a very violent way to k*ll someone.

It speaks more to a crime of passion.

I'll inform Aubrey.

I know you're concerned about me, Angela, and I really am okay.

BOOTH: Geez, I thought I was in early. Look at you.

You are.

I'm just here late.

You been here all night?

Yeah.

I'm comparing the sh**ting draft of the script with the earlier version that Barb Martucci sent over.

Uh-huh.

Wow.

These are all the changes that Faustino made when he got on?

So in a course of three weeks, he completely rewrote Ron's entire movie.

Okay, well, Ron was financing the project.

Why would he give up control like that?

Well, he gave up control the minute that he hired Faustino.

Faustino was the name that was gonna sell Ron's movie.

Right.

If he didn't have him, then he would just have an expensive home video.

And on the day of Ron's death, Faustino rewrote the final portion of the original script.

I mean, Ron's sweet little movie was officially over.

You think that was his breaking point?

Well, eventually you either give up or you fight back.

I think maybe Ron decided to fight back.

That's what got him k*lled.

Good work, Aubrey.

Look at you.

You just k*lled that one, huh?

You earned those bags under your eyes.

Cam, you were right.

The scratch on the victim's neck was from a panther.

So the trainer lied to us.

Well, no, not exactly.

May I?

So the panther claw that created the wound wasn't made of keratin.

It was made of polyurethane resin.

Wait, a fake panther claw?

A party panther claw.

So, we're gonna need to test everyone in the panther suits used in the movie.

Or just one.

See, I also found neon-orange aerosol paint particulates in the wound.

Well, great.

Which one of the actors wore the orange panther suit?

Why don't I show you?

Why don't you just tell me?

I think it'll have a bigger impact...

Hodgins, just...

Pamanther.

Pamanther wears a neon-orange panther claw.

Isn't that the character David Faustino played?

Sometimes the only way to stop a panther is to become a panther.

Man, I still got it.

I mean, look at me.

Oh.

What's the...

What up?

What's the Bone of Contention dude doing here?

You're kidding me.

We're questioning you for m*rder, pal.

Well, I must be in some serious heat if you brought in the big g*n.

Uh, actually, I'm the big g*n on this.

Uh, yeah, I know big g*ns, and you are not a big g*n.

Hey, you know I auditioned for the role of Agent Andy, right?

I mean, I would have been playing you.

How crazy is that?

Nope.

How's that for a big g*n, huh?

Techs found Ron's blood on your panther arm.

Sounds like Pamanther has a little explaining to do.

And we know that you took an axe to Ron's script, turned it into quite the turd, if you ask me.

Party Panthers was not a turd, okay?

BOOTH: Well, it was because of you, and Ron was sick of it.

So he decided to confront you, and that's when your famous temper took over.

You att*cked Ron, you climbed on top of him, smashed his head in.

Okay, Ron was the one who att*cked me.

All I did was ask for a "written by" credit.

Dude just snapped, came charging at me.

I mean, I must have scratched him while trying to fight him off.

So you k*lled him in self-defense?

I didn't k*ll Ron, okay?

I just held him down to get him to stop freaking out.

I mean, the guy was raging.

He said I ruined everything.

Doesn't sound like he was wrong.

Whatever, man.

All I know is that Ron gave me the credit, we made our peace, then he left-- that's the last time I saw the guy.

But why did you fail to mention that to Agent Aubrey last time you talked to him?

Who's Aubrey?

AUBREY: Are you kidding?

I'm Aubrey.

If people hear I got into another fight with a director, I'll be uninsurable.

My career will be over.

Please, Agent Andy...

Uh... ...this has to stay between the two of us.

AUBREY: The two of you?

Seriously?

BOOTH: I don't know.

I'm two feet away from the man.

BOOTH: I don't get this guy.

If Faustino smashed the victim's skull into the ground, he would have had direct contact with it during the m*rder.

And if he was still wearing the panther claw...

Well, actually, I think I found something on the margins of the foramen magnum. Oh, yes, the ring fracture, caused by the fall from the overpass.

I noted this injury early in the investigation, Mr. Bray.

No, uh, underneath it.

Hemorrhagic staining.

Evidence of another ring fracture.

You're correct.

It appears the victim fell before he fell.

If he landed on his head, that could have caused the trauma to the back of his skull.

Had he fallen from a height greater than two stories, we would have found extensive perimortem fracturing on the internal bones.

So the victim was whacked with a cylindrical object, then thrown off a one- to two-story building.

Unfortunately, the height of the building will not help us narrow down the search, but maybe the type of roof will.

So in addition to landscaping, white marble chips are occasionally used as surface material on roofs.

And one of those roofs is on Snoozeland.

Do we know how tall this building is?

Yeah, according to the calculations, the building is feet tall.

Roughly two stories.

BRENNAN: It's the flagpoles.

The width of the poles appears to be a match for the damage found on the victim's scapula and sacrum.

So the victim was pushed off the building, and hit the poles on the way down.

Then the k*ller threw the body off an overpass to disguise the initial fall.

The blood on the flagpoles confirms that Ron was k*lled at Snoozeland.

Ron left Faustino's trailer around midnight.

The body was thrown over the overpass about six hours later.

According to the time sheets, the only person at Snoozeland between : and : was Linda.

Linda says she hadn't seen him in weeks.

Right.

So what was he doing back there?

The guy's in the middle of directing a movie.

Look, it's like what you said.

At a certain point, either you fight back or you give up.

Okay.

So Ron...

Ron was giving up.

He was going back to where he felt that he belonged.

Look, having Ron back would only make Linda's job easier.

Why would she k*ll him?

Because it wasn't about ease.

(door shuts)

(beeps)

So Ron coming back to work meant that you were going back to being his number two.

Ron was coming back to work?

This was supposed to be your time to shine, Linda.

This was your chance to finally prove what you could do-- to finally, after all these years, crawl out from under your boss's big, looming shadow.

And all you wanted was an opportunity to show yourself, your friends, your family that you had what it took.

And here he was waltzing back in and throwing that big shadow right over you.

He was sitting up there smoking.

He said the movie was a mistake and he was coming back to work.

And I was working so hard.

I couldn't go back to being his sidekick again, and it just happened.

I just... pushed him.

Linda Martin, you're under arrest for the m*rder of Ron Bergman.

Good job, Aubrey.

♪ I'm driving to your house in the rain ♪

♪ It makes me feel alive ♪

♪ And time ♪

♪ It always seems to sync so strange ♪

♪ Makes me wanna doubt... ♪

BOOTH: You know, if we didn't get a confession from Linda, she would have walked.

AUBREY: Sometimes you just need to know which buttons to push, huh, Booth?

BOOTH: What's that supposed to mean, huh?

I knew you were messing with me.

Me?

Come on.

Yep.

Feeding bad information in my ear, throwing me off my game.

All right, okay, you got me.

But you know what, I had to see for myself if you could grab the bull by its horns and get it done.

You got it done.

- Good job.

- Thank you.

So does that mean I'm gonna get more ASA experience?

No, it doesn't.

Sorry.

But it does mean that you're gonna become a full-fledged Supervisory Special Agent.

Come on, what?

They're promoting me?

Look, the L.A.field office has been enquiring about you, so I said to myself, what better way to show them that you're qualified to do this by...

Giving me my own case.

Boom.

They're gonna offer you the job.

Oh, my God.

Booth, I've never even been to Los Angeles.

You're gonna love it.

It's a place full of schemes and dreams and pros and cons-- all about the show.

Good work.

I hear, uh, it's a little bit lacking in the pizza department.

Yeah, their pizza's really bad.

You know what, you shouldn't take the job.

(chuckles)

Thanks, Booth.

Thank you.

♪ ♪ Hey.

Just wanted to see if everything was okay.

It's not like you to miss anything on the bones.

I've had a lot on my mind today.

Actually, could you please take a seat?

Uh...

okay.

Sounds...

sounds serious.

Do you like being here, Mr.

Bray?

Yeah, of course I like being here.

I need you to answer a question, and answer it honestly.

What would you do if you couldn't work here anymore?

Uh, I don't know, I'd be mad, I'd be confused.

Wh-What is this about?

But you wouldn't stop breathing, would you?

No, of course not.

I couldn't breathe if I didn't do this anymore.

I mean, I'm speaking figuratively, of course.

Hang on, is this because I couldn't find a topic for my dissertation?

I was so excited to write my dissertations, because I loved what I was doing, and I couldn't wait to keep learning.

I just haven't found the right topic yet.

Maybe because it's not in the field of anthropology.

What are you saying?

Are...

Are you f*ring me?

No.

No, I wouldn't fire you.

But you should know that you are too smart to waste your life doing something that your heart isn't in.

I mean, you're not wrong.

I like my job, but compared with you and the other interns...

There's something bigger out there.

You need to go after it while you still can.

You guys are like my family here.

That will not change.

Wow.

(chuckles)

This is not how I saw my day ending.

This is going to be good, Wendell.

Yeah.

Is it cool if I still come over for the game tomorrow night?

Yes, yes.

I'm making my famous puttanesca.

On-on game night?

Game night is for, like, nachos and beer.

- Does Booth know about this?

-Of course.

He loves my puttanesca.

Okay, fine.

I'll bring the nachos, and you can make your weird, fancy sauce, and we'll see what everyone eats first.

Deal.

(chuckles)

And I'm bringing the beer.

Just so you know, this is not...