The show is back from winter vacation, and these episodes are doozies. I'll save most of my vitriol for the second episode, though, as this first one was pretty innocuous. Here we go...





The Diamond in the Rough

Episode Summary

Sweets is watching a live program where host Palmer Haston explores paranormal abnormalities. The host stumbles on a skeleton completely encrusted in gems at the base of a quarry. Brennan's excitement over the reporting of the first known case of



Dance to the Top, Hodgins and Wendell attempt to get the gems off the skeleton. Hodgins thinks the gems are actually a mixture of



Wendell finds that more gems adhered to the lingual surface of the gumline where the dental enamel was eroded. Both he and Brennan hypothesize bulimia, but Brennan suggests further histological analysis, which reveals



Booth and Brennan dance off in a fantasy sequence.



Comments

Forensic

Size of skull and arch of maxilla aren't going to tell you much about sex and ancestry.



Would the mica and calcite crystals sparkle on xray like that? (Honestly don't know, but it seems unlikely to me.)



You can't diagnose metatarsalgia from bones, as it's a condition characterized by pain. But sesamoid bone issues (i.e., sesamoiditis) can cause metatarsalgia, so perhaps I just heard wrong.

Plot

The whole part about the shorts around her ankles and it actually being maggots was a random and unnecessary part of the plot, no?



Why didn't Katarina go to a doctor before? She wouldn't notice the neurological and behavioral changes before then? Wouldn't notice she was fatigued from anemia?



One of the subplots in this episode was a continuation of the storyline that Angela wants to get back to her art. I don't get why she doesn't just quit. Her husband is filthy rich. If she hates her job, she should just leave it.

Dialogue

Brennan has an asymmetrical left iliac crest. Who knew? Sweets is watching a live program where host Palmer Haston explores paranormal abnormalities. The host stumbles on a skeleton completely encrusted in gems at the base of a quarry. Brennan's excitement over the reporting of the first known case of brucellosis is interrupted so she can take the case. Based on the size of the skull and the arch of the maxilla, she figures the skeleton belonged to a Caucasian female. The feet are in pretty good shape, and based on the bilateral healed metatarsal fractures, os trigonum syndrome sesamoiditis , and metatarsalgia , Brennan thinks the victim might have been a dancer. Angela's search of the missing persons database comes up with Katarina Wirz, a professional dancer who was reported missing by her partner, Kendrick Manteroff.While Booth and Brennan go undercover to talk to all the dancers trying out for, Hodgins and Wendell attempt to get the gems off the skeleton. Hodgins thinks the gems are actually a mixture of calcite and mica flakes, which got on the bone when the body was thrown into a shallow pool of water at the quarry. As the water evaporated, the crystals adhered to the bone. Hodgins decides to submerge the body in a mixture of ammonia and detergent, then vibrate the whole thing to knock the crystals loose. This works, meaning the Jeffersonian team can study the bones.Wendell finds that more gems adhered to the lingual surface of the gumline where the dental enamel was eroded. Both he and Brennan hypothesize bulimia, but Brennan suggests further histological analysis, which reveals lead poisoning . Further, a fracture to the second cervical vertebra and injuries to C4 and C5 suggest Katarina's neck was snapped. She was poisoned over the course of about a year, but the neck injury killed her. Booth and Brennan talk to the dance teams and figure the mother of a competitor for the poisoner, since she made her daughter's outfits and fabric dye has lead salt in it. But the daughter, Layla, confesses to the poisoning because she wanted Katarina out of the way so she could win the competition. Her boyfriend, Tommy, though, was the one who killed Katarina in the end.Booth and Brennan dance off in a fantasy sequence.

Ratings

-->C-. Identification happened very quickly. And it was clear that Smoothie Guy was the killer from the first time he was introduced.C.Doesn't seem like they ever made a positive ID (based on DNA, dental records, etc.) from the actual remains.D. You may think I'm too harsh, but that cheeseball dance scene at the end was so saccharine I thought I'd been lead poisoned. (ba dum bum!)