A man in a Santa-suit robs a bank wearing a suicide vest only to be blown up shortly afterwards via the radio frequency put out by an angry left-wing radio show. Meanwhile, Brennan's holiday plans are cut short when her father (Ryan O'Neal) convinces her to stay and spend it with him and her second cousin (Zooey Deschanel).
Tropes
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Broken Aesop: A suicide bomber at a bank appears to detonate his bomb using the signal from an angry left-wing radio show. Booth accuses the host of spreading "poison" throughout the airwaves and causing the attack, even if he was not legally responsible. The episode ends with the radio host giving a long apology on air, lecturing on the dangers of media-stoked rage, and ending his radio show. Nobody told him, however, that the radio show didn't inspire the bombing. The only reason the show's signal set off the bomb was because it was very close to the frequency used by the actual robbers. - Creator In-Joke: Everyone keeps joking that Brennan's cousin looks like her sister. She's played by Emily Deschanel's real life sister, Zooey Deschanel.
- Distracted by the Sexy: Booth arrives on a cart, stripped to his underwear, while Daisy is collecting evidence from another bystander:
- Daisy: Oh, Agent Booth, you look... wow.
- Fanservice: Having Emily Deschanel strip David Boreanaz to his boxers and wheel him around on a cart probably qualifies...and includes a funny moment when Dr Saroyan walks in on them:
- Booth: I'm thinking of saints...
- It Never Gets Any Easier: The victim was an innocent bystander who was forced into robbing a bank while strapped to a bomb, which got detonated by sheer coincidence. Before figuring it out, Angela joked that "I won't let Santa ruin Christmas". Afterwards...
- You don't think that sometimes we forget those bones out there are people?
- Lonely Funeral: Brennan and Booth decide to avert this by showing up with the whole team at the funeral of their latest corpse of the week, a loner who had nobody in the world but his mother.
- Ripped from the Headlines: The episode has all the earmarks of the 2003 death of Brian Wells, aka "The Pizza Bomber."
- Shirtless Scene: Booth gets caught in the blast of a suicide bomber and his clothes become covered in DNA evidence. So naturally, Brennan strips him to his undies. By the time she's done Booth is being wheeled around on a cart. Merry Christmas, indeed. Also serves as a setup for Not What It Looks Like.Angela: Uh, are we doing experiments on Booth? Because if so I’d like to help.
Booth: Make fun of the naked guy. Knock yourself out. - Speaks In Shoutouts: Brennan's cousin, who speaks by quoting Benjamin Franklin.
- Trapped in Villainy: The Perp/Victim of the Week was strapped into a bomb vest and forced to rob a bank or else the bomb would be set off.
- Uncanny Family Resemblance: Brennan and her cousin, who was played by Emily Deschanel’s sister Zooey.
