'Bones' recap: Brennan's Ghost

Is Bones a fundamentally tragic show? It doesn't usually feel that way, right? The soundtrack is bouncy. All the main characters -- even the one-scene suspects -- are prone to wry one-liners and witheringly-hilarious exit lines. Everyone enjoys their work. Heck, you could argue that Bones is a portrait of an ideal work family. (Like a lot of other TV workplaces, the Jeffersonian feels sort of like an internet start-up: limitless budget, attractive co-workers, no clear profit margin.)

However, you could just as easily argue that Bones is an unfolding character study of the tragedy of genius. For instance: Last night's episode began with the most quietly moving moments of the season. We saw Brennan preparing a meal in her apartment, methodically setting the table. She was welcoming dinner guests – the happily preggo-fied Family Hodgins on one side, and Booth and his beloved girlfriend, Girlfriend Girl, on the other. We could sense Brennan's particular uneasiness -- it's always strange being the one single person in a room, even if you have the unique party trick of narrating precisely how your chicken was executed. The whole scene was incisive, funny, and uncomfortable. It ended with the gang receiving a phone call, and unfortunately, Girlfriend Girl had the exit line: "Looks like somebody besides this chicken got murdered!" She's a journalist!

The body was found in Woodland, a rough corner of D.C. The skeleton was buried in a particular gruesome way: A tree had actually grown through the bones.  Brennan could tell the corpse was a Caucasian woman, and the jewelry screamed upper-class. "Rich white woman! She would've stood out in this neighborhood like a lighthouse." Brennan yelled out measurements in meters and kilograms, which Cam converted to feet and pounds for Booth's benefit. So far, so punchy. But Brennan noticed that the dead woman had a dolphin ring -- the same ring she owned. Eerie.

The team investigated. The skeleton had overworked phalanges -- the fingers of a medical professional. Hodgins figured the body must've been dumped about 11 months ago. Girlfriend Girl swung down from the treetops to announce a plot point: "Dr. Lauren Eames disappeared last November. I checked Bing!" (Oh my god, guys, first Hawaii Five-0 and now Bones. Is Bing taking over Procedural Land?)

Yes, Dr. Lauren Eames, best cardiac surgeon on the eastern seaboard, apparently died alone with no one to mourn her. Booth and Brennan talked to one of her superiors, who noted Dr. Eames had some unrequited sexual tension with one of her male coworkers: a helicopter pilot. He quoted T.S. Eliot: "I will show you fear in a handful of dust." Then he handed over Dr. Eames' file. Brennan looked at Eames' picture…and saw her own face.  She listened to a recording of Dr. Eames speaking…and heard her own voice. Yes, children, it was an Imaginary Friend episode.

NEXT: Meet Micah, the world's most talkative night watchman