Recap / Bones S 9 E 4 The Sense In The Sacrifice - TV Tropes

Using a cadaver to stage a murder scene, the team hopes to draw Pelant out of hiding. However, Pelant sees through the ruse and instead murders FBI agent Hayes Flynn, who helped the Jeffersonian team set up the staged murder scene, before sneaking into the Jeffersonian and informing Brennan that he's the only person who can help the team uncover the female behind several unsolved murders. This forces Brennan to confront Pelant in an abandoned power plant, which allows Booth to track the two down and finally end Pelant.

Tropes

• And I Must Scream: Pelant paralyzed Flynn and kept him alive while removing his liver (to match the myth of Prometheus).
• Anti-Climax / Anti-Climax Boss (hopefully): For all his preparations, Pelant didn't expect Booth to show up early and for Bones to let Booth shoot him (she'd previously admitted that Pelant's genius was "beautiful" and wanted him taken alive, possibly becoming a Boxed Crook).
• Back for the Dead: Agent Flynn.
• Bait-and-Switch: Pelant pulls this on Brennan's team. They arrive at a crime scene thinking it's the body they prepared and had Flynn put out as bait. Hodgins discovers a flower that wasn't part of their plan, they take a closer look, and realize that it is Flynn.
• Failure Is the Only Option: Discussed. After the team's trap to lure out Pelant is foiled, Angela expresses the concern that their feud with him might never end.
• Killed Off for Real: Pelant, shot by Booth.
• I Need to Go Iron My Dog: Brennan shows absolute faith in Booth's judgment, so he gives her a Big Damn Kiss in front of everyone at the FBI, leaving her quite flustered.Bones: I need to go... do science things to catch a serial killer.
• Properly Paranoid: Booth is absolutely certain that Flynn was a good agent, despite the mounting evidence that he appeared to feed information to Pelant. This theory is proven true, when Pelant himself reveals to Brennan that he tricked Flynn into helping him elude the Jeffersonian team and FBI's efforts to catch him without ever realizing it.
• Senseless Sacrifice: Zigzagged. The agent who was seriously wounded in the attempt to catch Pelant helps the team by setting up a fake Pelant-style body dump only to become the body himself after being caught by Pelant. It's not a complete loss, however, when it ultimately leads to Pelant's death.
• Villainous Crush: Pelant towards Bones, because he read Sweets' report and learned that Bones can learn to like (Sweets) or even love (Booth) people she initially disliked, and unlike Booth and Sweets she does like him for his genius; she also said she likes his mind enough that she'd prefer him alive. Unfortunately for Pelant she doesn't like him that much and lets Booth kill him.