The remains of conjoined female twins are discovered leading the team to investigate the circus where they worked. Given that the twins were discussing a possible separation procedure, everyone at the circus is now a suspect and Booth and Brennan go undercover to determine who killed them. Sweets helps Brennan and Booth understand Circus lingo.
Tropes
- Circus Episode: The remains of a set of conjoined twins are found on an oil field. When they find out the twins worked at a circus, Bones and Booth go undercover to find the culprit.
- Could Say It, But...: Understanding why he's doing so Booth carefully explains what the circus strongman will need to do to succeed at Taking the Heat while keeping it hypothetical enough that he's not actually telling someone how to break the law.
- Knife-Throwing Act: Booth and Bones went undercover as a knife-throwing act.
- Make It Look Like an Accident: Inverted. The twins had an accident walking the high-rope and the circus made it look like a murder to avoid legal trouble.
- Performer Guise: Booth & Brennan go undercover at a circus as a knife-throwing act — Booth learned knife throwing in the Rangers, Brennan is his Lovely Assistant.
- Shout-Out: Investigating the deaths of two conjoined twins that were members of a traveling circus, Booth and Bones went undercover as a Russian knife-throwing act, Boris and Natasha.
- Taking the Heat: The entire circus was involved with covering up the twin's accidental death but the strongman takes all the blame so the circus won't have to close.
- Undercover as Lovers: Booth and Brennan go undercover as married circus performers.
- William Telling: When Bones and Booth were undercover at the circus doing a Knife-Throwing Act, she made him throw a knife at an oversized prop apple on top of her head. She sprang it on him all of a sudden during the show.
