The long-running Fox procedural is saying goodbye after 12 seasons.
Warning: Spoiler alert! Do not proceed if you haven’t watched Tuesday’s Bones.
Bones set the stage for its series finale on Tuesday’s explosive penultimate episode, which, true to form for the long-running Fox procedural, combined the joy of a wedding with the terror of a killer on the loose. And everything ended with a bang.
The episode, titled “The Day in the Life,” flashed back and forward around the events of Cam (Tamara Taylor) and Arastoo’s (Pej Vahdat) reception, giving fans a chance to see the happy couple and all their friends and relatives -- Michelle! Felicia! Most of the old “squinterns!” -- celebrating their much-deserved bliss.
However, the honeymoon doesn’t last long, as the next morning Cam and Arastoo are summoned back to the Jeffersonian Institute’s Medico-Legal Lab, where, as Brennan (Emily Deschanel) puts it, “everything” has gone wrong.
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Turns out, there’s been a prison break. The body lying on the table in Jeffersonian was one of two escapees -- the other was season 12 big bad Mark Kovac (Gerard Celasco). After murdering his counterpart, Kovac -- who has already killed Brennan’s father, Max (Ryan O’Neal), in his quest for revenge against Booth (David Boreanaz) -- stole a large amount of military-grade explosives, and now he’s on the run.
The episode also wrapped up several season-long storylines, with Aubrey (John Boyd) putting his heart on the line and asking Jessica (Laura Spencer) to move to L.A. with him, only to get shot down and dumped. On the bright side, Zach (Eric Millegan) gets his murder conviction and life sentence reversed, thanks to a heartfelt character testimony from Brennan and some diligent but softhearted opposition from everyone’s favorite prosecutor, Caroline Julian (Patricia Belcher), who happened to mention the “compelling evidence” in favor of Zach’s innocence 19 times.
“She did what she had to do to keep her job and undo your conviction,” Brennan explains as she and Zach share a hug after the ruling is handed down.
“Sometimes, not often, I underestimate you Dr. Brennan,” Caroline retorts with a smirk.
In even more good news, Angela (Michaela Conlin) isn’t hungover from the wedding, she’s pregnant! The Jeffersonian’s resident forensic artist and computer expert tells Brennan about her happy surprise, even before she and Hodgins (T.J. Thyne) hear back from the doctor about the likelihood of their second child carrying the rare Leber's congenital amaurosis gene.
“Life works out,” Angela assures her BFF. “We’re gonna be OK. We’re gonna be great, even.”
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But even with all the celebratory major life events, the black cloud of Kovac’s escape looms large over the episode -- and Booth seems to be feeling it the most. After a foreboding interaction with Angela’s psychic, Avalon Harmonia (Cyndi Lauper, in one last fabulous turn) at the reception, the FBI special agent can’t shake his gut feeling that something terrible is about to happen.
With two ominous tarot cards from Avalon in his pocket -- “Temperance” and “Death” -- Booth goes to the Jeffersonian to see Brennan, and that’s when he puts it all together. Cam’s Jeffersonian ID is missing, and it was last used on the medical platform in the early morning hours, when the newlywed was nowhere near work. The team tries to evacuate the lab, but the power shuts off, leaving Angela, Hodgins, Booth and Brennan trapped inside with the explosives.
Booth finds a bomb under the platform and successfully disarms it, but it’s on a repeater, meaning there are more positioned around the lab -- and they’re out of time. The final moments of the episode show several major blasts going off, shattering glass and destroying the once pristine Medico-Legal lab. Then it’s “To Be Continued…”
Who survives? How bad is the damage to the lab? Will things ever be the same? With just one episode of Bones left in the series' prolific 12 season run, we know everything is about to change -- but how?
Bones’ series finale airs next Tuesday, March 28, at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Fox.
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