A former FBI Agent is murdered and his body hung up on a bridge and burned. This is Bones's father's way of warning other criminals not to hurt his kids. The whole thing ties back to a case in the seventies where Civil rights activist Marvin Beckett was unlawfully imprisoned for protesting the overrepresentation of Black people drafted in the Vietnam war.
Tropes
- AB Negative: Cam can rule out Russ and Bones as whoever bled out in Russ's apartment, as the blood type is AB, while the Brennan siblings both have type O.
- Book Ends: The episode begins and ends with Max Brennan burning the corpse of an FBI Agent on a bridge as a warning.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Booth judges Max as this, noting that while he robbed plenty he didn't kill anyone who wasn't threatening his own life in a confrontation he didn't start.
- Important Haircut: Zack gets a haircut near the end of the episode after getting his doctorate.
- Magic Plastic Surgery: Max has it and even his own daughter doesn’t recognize him until he lets her know by talking about the past. Somewhat downplayed in this case, as in addition to the surgery he's also around two decades older.
- Worthy Opponent: Booth and Max respect each other, even if they fundamentally disagree about the law and how to operate in the world.
