A Boy in the Tree
Encyclopedia
"A Boy in a Tree" is the third episode of the first season of the television series, Bones
. Originally aired on September 27, 2005 on Fox
network, the episode is written by Hart Hanson
and directed by Patrick Norris
. The plot features FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth
and Dr. Temperance Brennan
's investigation of a teenage boy's remains found inside an exclusive private school.
brings Brennan
and her assistant Zack Addy
to the exclusive Hanover Preparatory School
, where a decomposing body has been found hanging from a tree. They retrieve the body and return to their lab at the Jeffersonian Institution in Washington, D.C.
, where they confirm that the body belongs to a teenage boy, most likely a student. Dr. Jack Hodgins
determines that the boy died 10 to 14 days earlier.
As Booth asks for a list of students from the headmaster of the school, Brennan calls to tell him of the cochlear implant
she found in the victim's ear. She informs him that they will be able to identify the victim by tracing the serial number on the device. The victim is Nestor Olivos, a student of the school and the only son of the Venezuela
n ambassador. The team finds it odd that Nestor's hyoid bone
is broken, as the hyoid of an adolescent should be flexible and almost unbreakable.
While the school's headmaster and its head of security are adamant that Nestor had committed suicide, Nestor's mother, the Venezuelan ambassador, urges Dr. Brennan to find the truth and believes that Nestor had been murdered. The central mystery of the case is whether Nestor killed himself or was murdered.
Based on the Tabinid maggots's pupal casing, Hodgins determines that Nestor ingested a heavy dose of ketamine
, a dissociative
anesthetic, before he died. However, the team cannot be certain if the boy had taken the drug involuntarily but Dr. Brennan is able to give a scenario of Nestor's death involving the ketamine. Combined with the ketamine, the choking would have caused Nestor to regurgitate stomach acids, which would have been trapped in the throat and weakened the hyoid bone. The weight of Nestor's body could then break his hyoid.
In addition to the forensic evidence, Dr. Brennan and Agent Booth find DVD recordings of sexual activities, which they discover had led to blackmail. Nestor's classmates Tucker Pattison and Camden Destry had set up a video camera facing Nestor's bed. After Tucker used a video recording to blackmail Camden's mother, he and Camden decided to blackmail Nestor as well. When Tucker and Camden learned that Nestor was going to tell the headmaster of their blackmail attempt, they drugged Nestor and hung him on a tree in order to feign a suicide. In the end, Dr. Brennan and Agent Booth were able to prove that Nestor was murdered.
and Seeley Booth
. Hart Hanson
, writer of the episode, describes Brennan as "a product of top-notch private schools" while Booth is "a product of public schools and the down and dirty education of the US Army."
Bones (TV series)
Bones is an American crime drama television series that premiered on the Fox Network on September 13, 2005. The show is based on forensic anthropology and forensic archaeology, with each episode focusing on an FBI case file concerning the mystery behind human remains brought by FBI Special Agent...
. Originally aired on September 27, 2005 on Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
network, the episode is written by Hart Hanson
Hart Hanson
Hart Hanson is an American television writer and producer. Hanson's family moved to Canada when he was a child. He received a B.A. from the University of Toronto and a MFA from the University of British Columbia, where he taught briefly...
and directed by Patrick Norris
Patrick Norris
Patrick R. Norris is an American television director.His directing credits include Chuck, Friday Night Lights, Gossip Girl, The Vampire Diaries, Hidden Palms, Related, Bones, North Shore, The Division, The O.C., Boston Public, Star Trek: Enterprise, The Twilight Zone, American Dreams, Roswell,...
. The plot features FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth
Seeley Booth
FBI Special Agent "In charge" Seeley Joseph Booth is a fictional character in the US television series, Bones , portrayed by David Boreanaz. Agent Booth is a co-protagonist of the series alongside Dr...
and Dr. Temperance Brennan
Temperance Brennan (Bones)
Dr. Temperance "Bones" Brennan, Ph.D. , is a fictional character portrayed by Emily Deschanel in the American Fox television series Bones...
's investigation of a teenage boy's remains found inside an exclusive private school.
Summary
BoothSeeley Booth
FBI Special Agent "In charge" Seeley Joseph Booth is a fictional character in the US television series, Bones , portrayed by David Boreanaz. Agent Booth is a co-protagonist of the series alongside Dr...
brings Brennan
Temperance Brennan
Temperance Daesee Brennan is a fictional character created by author Kathy Reichs, and is the hero of her crime novel series . She was introduced in Reichs' first novel, Déjà Dead, which was published in 1997...
and her assistant Zack Addy
Zack Addy
Zachary Uriah 'Zack' Addy, Ph.D is a fictional character in the television series Bones. He is portrayed by Eric Millegan. The character was introduced as Dr...
to the exclusive Hanover Preparatory School
University-preparatory school
A university-preparatory school or college-preparatory school is a secondary school, usually private, designed to prepare students for a college or university education...
, where a decomposing body has been found hanging from a tree. They retrieve the body and return to their lab at the Jeffersonian Institution in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, where they confirm that the body belongs to a teenage boy, most likely a student. Dr. Jack Hodgins
Jack Hodgins (Bones)
Dr. Jack Stanley Hodgins IV, Ph.D., is a fictional character in the American television series, Bones. He is portrayed by T. J. Thyne. Jack is introduced to the series primarily as an entomologist/forensic entomologist, but also as a mineralogist/forensic mineralogist, a palynology/forensic...
determines that the boy died 10 to 14 days earlier.
As Booth asks for a list of students from the headmaster of the school, Brennan calls to tell him of the cochlear implant
Cochlear implant
A cochlear implant is a surgically implanted electronic device that provides a sense of sound to a person who is profoundly deaf or severely hard of hearing...
she found in the victim's ear. She informs him that they will be able to identify the victim by tracing the serial number on the device. The victim is Nestor Olivos, a student of the school and the only son of the Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
n ambassador. The team finds it odd that Nestor's hyoid bone
Hyoid bone
The hyoid bone is a horseshoe-shaped bone situated in the anterior midline of the neck between the chin and the thyroid cartilage. At rest, it lies at the level of the base of the mandible in the front and the third cervical vertebra behind.Unlike other bones, the hyoid is only distantly...
is broken, as the hyoid of an adolescent should be flexible and almost unbreakable.
While the school's headmaster and its head of security are adamant that Nestor had committed suicide, Nestor's mother, the Venezuelan ambassador, urges Dr. Brennan to find the truth and believes that Nestor had been murdered. The central mystery of the case is whether Nestor killed himself or was murdered.
Based on the Tabinid maggots's pupal casing, Hodgins determines that Nestor ingested a heavy dose of ketamine
Ketamine
Ketamine is a drug used in human and veterinary medicine. Its hydrochloride salt is sold as Ketanest, Ketaset, and Ketalar. Pharmacologically, ketamine is classified as an NMDA receptor antagonist...
, a dissociative
Dissociative drug
Dissociatives are a class of psychoactive drugs which are said to reduce or block signals to the conscious mind from other parts of the brain...
anesthetic, before he died. However, the team cannot be certain if the boy had taken the drug involuntarily but Dr. Brennan is able to give a scenario of Nestor's death involving the ketamine. Combined with the ketamine, the choking would have caused Nestor to regurgitate stomach acids, which would have been trapped in the throat and weakened the hyoid bone. The weight of Nestor's body could then break his hyoid.
In addition to the forensic evidence, Dr. Brennan and Agent Booth find DVD recordings of sexual activities, which they discover had led to blackmail. Nestor's classmates Tucker Pattison and Camden Destry had set up a video camera facing Nestor's bed. After Tucker used a video recording to blackmail Camden's mother, he and Camden decided to blackmail Nestor as well. When Tucker and Camden learned that Nestor was going to tell the headmaster of their blackmail attempt, they drugged Nestor and hung him on a tree in order to feign a suicide. In the end, Dr. Brennan and Agent Booth were able to prove that Nestor was murdered.
Music
The episode featured music by the following artists: -- Miles from Montery - West Indian GirlWest Indian GirlWest Indian Girl is a rock band from Los Angeles.The band's name comes from a type of lysergic acid that was popular in the early 60s. The initials are also a reference to Robert James' and Francis Ten's previous band, "WIG"- History :...
- Sunshine everywhere - Deep Audio
- City Streets - Positive Flow
- Cold Hands (Warm Heart)The Alternative to LoveThe Alternative to Love is the third album by American singer-songwriter Brendan Benson, released in 2005. The song Cold Hands was featured on the Bones episode A Boy in the Tree and the Smallville episode "Exposed". The song "What I'm Looking For" was sampled on an iPod touch commercial, as well...
- Brendan BensonBrendan BensonBrendan Benson is an American musician and songwriter. He sings and plays guitar, bass guitar, keyboard, and drums. He has released four solo albums and is a member of the band The Raconteurs....
Production details
The episode was written and filmed prior to "The Man in the S.U.V", which was aired as the series' second episode. The story of "A Boy in a Tree" was conceived to explore the differences between the characters Temperance BrennanTemperance Brennan (Bones)
Dr. Temperance "Bones" Brennan, Ph.D. , is a fictional character portrayed by Emily Deschanel in the American Fox television series Bones...
and Seeley Booth
Seeley Booth
FBI Special Agent "In charge" Seeley Joseph Booth is a fictional character in the US television series, Bones , portrayed by David Boreanaz. Agent Booth is a co-protagonist of the series alongside Dr...
. Hart Hanson
Hart Hanson
Hart Hanson is an American television writer and producer. Hanson's family moved to Canada when he was a child. He received a B.A. from the University of Toronto and a MFA from the University of British Columbia, where he taught briefly...
, writer of the episode, describes Brennan as "a product of top-notch private schools" while Booth is "a product of public schools and the down and dirty education of the US Army."
Response
On its original airdate in the Tuesday 8:00 pm ET timeslot, the episode attracted 7.57 million viewers with 5.8% household rating and 9% household share. Fox ordered a full season of Bones after the airing of the first three episodes had Bones ranked consistently in first place among the key demographics in the Tuesday 8:00 pm ET timeslot.External links
- "A Boy in a Tree" at Fox.com