‘Bones’ Recap: Episode 8.03 – “The Gunk in the Garage”

Quick review of last week’s episode? Bones and Booth had some issues as she was adjusting to being back to work and back at home (since she was on the run for three months). The episode, ironically enough, was about the death of a divorce lawyer, interesting right? Bones and Booth have a pretty descent fight through the episode, a not so great makeup and the audience is left wondering if our power couple is going to be okay or not. My opinion? Probably. But the show needs some drama and discord so I assume there will be problems down the road. “It’s a good thing we’re not married” – Bones said to Booth during the episode. Ouch.

What I find interesting about this episode is that David Boreanaz said on twitter that it was shot last season (Season 7). “Last nights epp of Bones was shot last season, one of four. So is that technically a Season 7 epp and not a Season 8 epp @HartHanson?” I noticed something this episode .. and don’t bash me for saying it … but Bones looked bigger than she did last episode. Like she was post-partum a few weeks. I thought it was pretty weird that she would look like she just had a baby. Thanks for the heads-up David.

Anyways – last week’s episode leads up to this interesting, and gross, episode. “The Gunk in the Garage” begins with a man walking through a parking garage (mysteriously being followed by a mystery man). When he arrives at his car, he sees a Big Gulp resting on the top and when he reaches to remove it .. the cup explodes. The explosion is pretty massive (the car then exploded, other cars exploded) as the man’s body parts are seen flying all over the place as well as broken glass and car parts. The coolest part about the scene was the flaming head that rolled away from the explosion. Pretty gross, pretty awesome. A+ from me. Here’s hoping the episode is just as great.

Bones and Booth are seen next driving and having a very cute exchange about an $800 stroller that Bones wants to buy. They are simply adorable as she gives him “puppy dog eyes” in hopes of convincing him to get the stroller. Adorable.

To the scene of the crime – Cam, Hodgins and Bones are looking at the aftermath of the explosion. The damage is pretty bad as they are finding body pieces everywhere. My favorite part is when Hodgins, who was joking about how he loves doing this and Cam calling him creepy, looks up and pieces of stomach falls on his face. Definitely another two thumbs up from me on the gross factor of this episode.

They head back to the Jeffersonian to begin figuring out what was the cause of death and identify the victim. The case seems pretty easy to solve, or so they think? Booth and Sweets are headed to the scene when Caroline stops them saying she needs to talk to him. He says he can’t because he has to go to the scene. She says they have to talk and since Sweets can’t go alone, she grabs a new agent, Agent Sparling (Danielle Panabaker) to go with him. Did I mention that said agent is a very pretty, very snarky, female agent? Oh boy. Good luck Sweets. I absolutely love how Caroline bosses Booth around in this scene. It’s adorable. Caroline then asks Booth to defend the department’s budget (leading to him getting a promotion and a raise). He seems excited until he realizes everything he has to accomplish.

Sweets and Agent Sparling go to talk to the desk clerk at the hotel. Agent Sparling is a firecracker and a bit of a witch. Sweets constantly tells her to back down and go get a warrant, but she refuses to back down and arrests him. Pretty sure I don’t like her. But we shall see. Booth and Bones talk about the new promotion and Bones doesn’t like how he will be behind a desk instead of out catching criminals. I love how Bones makes fun of Booth in front of Sweets. Angela calls and has identified the victim. Sweets and Agent Sparling head to the victim’s house to talk to his wife. When they do, she breaks down crying after hearing about her husbands death. That is .. until her husband walks up to them. The wife gets very angry that they would “do that to her” and begins kicking Sweets. Haha. It’s pretty hilarious, and also very interesting. Did Angela misidentify the victim? We will find out.

Back at the Jeffersonian, they figure out that the victim has a twin brother. Identical twin brother. They find out that they had been separated at birth and that they didn’t even know each other. Interesting plot twist if you ask me. Sweets and Agent Sparling question the alive twin to try and figure out as much as they can about him and his dead twin brother (as much as they can considering they DIDN’T KNOW EACH OTHER). He states that he needs to “talk to his wife about how much he can say. Hmmmm … controlling wife? Maybe.

Back to Bones and Cam looking at … the bones of the victim and Cam figures out that he was probably hurt by a loan shark due to his previous injuries. Hodgins comes in with a cockroach egg (and Bones mentions how everyone eats cockroach eggs every day, another gross fun fact from this episode). She notices that it is highly deformed and thus a geographical marker from where the victim is from. Sweets, Agent Sparling and Angela figure out who the victim is due to elimination based on the alive twin’s background. Seems contrived to me and unrealistic, but it is television so I’ll let it slide.

Sweets and Agent Sparling are in the car talking and she apologizes. I sense some weird sexual tension building between these two? They go to talk to “Jerry’s wife” who isn’t surprised he is dead. When they leave, they begin flirting with each other. I feel so sorry for Daisy. I just have this feeling that something is going to happen between them. I can see why this was a Season 7 episode. Bones and Booth are barely in it and they are bringing in new characters.

Angela figures out where the explosives came from and Bones and Hodgins go there to question. They find out that there was a break-in and four “sausages” aka explosives were stolen. I loved this back and forth where they talked about the “sausages” .. it was funny. The main guy at the explosives place seemed odd to me and was limping. Who knows … right? Back at the lab, Sweets and Angela figure out that both of the twins were at the hotel at the same time at some self-help conference. They then have this exchange talking about Sweets new relationship with Agent Sparling wherein Sweets defends his relationship with Daisy. Angela knows everything. It’s cute and sad at the same time.

Sweets and Agent Sparling question Carlson (the alive twin) and find out that he was going to give all of his money to the self-help group and move to Colorado. After the questioning, they have another flirt fest. Oh boy. Sweets has it bad already. Hodgins and Bones head back to the crime scene and find out that the killer was there when the explosion happened. The killer had his head as well as sustained other injuries so they try to figure out who that could be.

Sweets and Agent Sparling question go to question Carlson’s wife who immediately confesses to hiring a hit man against her husband. Wow. That was easy. She states, “My husband isn’t dead yet” and they find out that the killer is going to kill him that day. As Booth is about to go do his presentation, Sweets stops him and tells him that Carlson is in danger and Booth has to make a decision: go to the presentation and get the promotion or go save someone’s life? He decides to go with Sweets and Agent Sparling and Cam is going to do the presentation.

Booth, Sweets and Agent Sparling are at the plaza trying to identify the killer and Bones tells Booth that it is the guy from the explosion place (called that didn’t I? haha). They tell him that he’s shaky, off balance and injured. Bones gets ahold of Carlson and tells him to get inside and hold the doors shut. We see the killer with another Big Gulp cup as Carlson does just that and holds the door shut. The killer is super slow (I get that he was injured) it just seemed a little too fake to me. Booth then pulls out his gun and tells him to back down.

The most interesting, and sad part, is when Sweets acts like a regular civilian who is surprised by everything and he quickly grabs the Big Gulp from the killer. Booth shoots the killer and Sweets is victorious. That is until Agent Sparling sees that Sweets has been shot. At the ambulance, they exchange some words and he tells her that he likes her but he’s taken and in a serious relationship. She says, “I never dreamed of doing this” and kisses him. He smiles afterwards. Oh boy.

End of the episode shows Caroline telling Booth that the budget report went well but he won’t be getting that promotion. Sad? Nope. Bones and Booth are then at home, talking about his lost promotion. Seems to me that they are back to normal.

Overall, the episode was great. Lots of gross, plot twists, drama and humor. So far, my second favorite episode of the season. I’m pretty sure I ended up loving the relationship between Sweets and Agent Sparling (although I thought it was very sudden). How will this affect his relationship with Daisy? Also, will they be working together more in the future? Who knows … but this is definitely a great episode, in my opinion.

Leave your comments below and look out for the next episode, “The Tiger in the Tale” on Monday, October 8 at 8/7C on Fox.