The Man in the Morgue
Encyclopedia
"The Man in the Morgue" is the 19th episode of the first season of the television series Bones
. Originally aired on April 19, 2006 on FOX
network, the episode is written by Noah Hawley and Elizabeth Benjamin
, and directed by James Whitmore Jr.
. The episode features Dr. Temperance Brennan
and FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth
attempting to recover Brennan's memories after she awakes covered in blood in New Orleans.
some time after the event with the help of Mike Doyle and Dr. Graham Leger inside a temporary morgue set up within a church. Brennan begins to autopsy
'John Doe
361' who was found covered in mud with a small hole in the front of his skull. Detective Rose Harding and Dr. James Embry assist Brennan, hoping to discover whether the death was the result of the hurricane or foul play. James discovers something lodged in the victim's mouth and Brennan sends an orderly, Sam Potter, to X-ray John Doe 361. Following this, Graham Leger asks Brennan out on a date, which she says she will consider once she receives the results of the X-rays.
There is a flash on screen, and Brennan is seen lying on a bathroom floor soaked in blood, blood on her hands, and a gash on her forehead. She is disoriented as she tries to remember what happened but is only able to recover flashes. Brennan answers a phone call from the hotel clerk, who tells her that the bus to the airport is waiting. Having been told it was Thursday, Brennan is confused and wonders what happened to Wednesday.
At the hospital, Dr. Ryan Halloway notes that one of Brennan's ears has been ripped open and her mother's earring taken, yet Brennan still has no memory of such an event occurring. While Dr. Halloway sends off the blood samples on Brennan's clothes for analysis, Detective Harding arrives to interview Brennan. The only memory she has is of Dr. Leger asking her on a date. Booth arrives and takes Brennan to a restaurant. They discuss the last thing she remembers - her pending date with Leger. After finding out from the restaurant owner, Peter LaSalle, that Brennan was at his restaurant on Tuesday night with Sam Potter, an orderly at the makeshift morgue who practices voodoo
, they head to the morgue.
Meanwhile, back at the lab, Angela Montenegro
delivers the X-rays of John Doe 361 to Zack Addy
so he can make an analysis of them. He calls Brennan and tells her that John Doe 361, who she does not recall, was 40 years old, of mixed race and was murdered.
At the morgue, Sam informs Brennan that they had spoken on Tuesday night about the object lodged in 361's mouth, which was voodoo in origin. Sam explains that voodoo is all about balance and that the hurricane, brought on by Secte Rouge
, has destroyed the balance of New Orleans. He states that the objects found in the victim's mouth, black gum and a chicken foot, can only be found at a voodoo shop, which is run by a man called Richard Benoit.
At Benoit's shop, Booth shows Benoit the evidence found in the victim's mouth and Benoit informs him that it would be the work of Secte Rouge, as it is part of an evil spell. Upon looking at the list of those who had recently purchased the objects, Brennan noticed one name in particular: Dr. Graham Leger. Booth and Brennan head to Leger's home, where they find him crucified to a wall three feet off the ground with a mojo bag around his neck. The police soon arrive, and a doubtful Detective Harding interviews Brennan and Booth. As Brennan explains, Booth notices Brennan's missing earring underneath a table and pockets it without informing anyone.
At the morgue, Brennan discovers that John Doe 361's file is missing. Back at Brennan's hotel room, Booth notices a mojo bag on Brennan's bed full of sea shells, flesh, a strip of leather and a human tooth. At that moment, Harding bursts in and arrests Brennan, having found her blood at Leger's house. Brennan goes quietly and, despite Booth's protests, reveals incriminating evidence about herself.
At the police station, Brennan is interrogated by Detective Harding, before Booth and attorney Caroline Julian enter to shut Brennan up before she convicts herself. Detective Harding leaves after Caroline informs her that Brennan will not be saying anything else. Sam Potter tells Booth and Brennan that the mojo bags are being left with Brennan to prolong her amnesia. They then find out that according to the results of the tox screen, Brennan had not been drugged.
Zack calls Brennan with John Doe 361's real identity, and inform her that he was called Rene Mouton, who was the head of a voodoo church and had offered aid during Katrina but then disappeared. Sam Potter suggests that this is the work of a sorcerer from Secte Rouge, and Brennan agrees while Booth is disbelieving. They go to the cooler, where they find the freshly killed body of Mike Doyle, with the body of Rene Mouton. Brennan suspects Mike Doyle's girlfriend for his murder, and Sam Potter scatters ashes across the body of Mouton, revealing an electrostatic charge, as some ashes stuck to the corpse more than others, revealing an emblem of a Cadillac Brougham
, the car belonging to Richard Benoit. This instantly makes Brennan suspect his daughter, Eva, as the girlfriend, and thus the killer.
At Benoit's shop, they confront him, who leads them downstairs to their basement, where Eva was hiding. In the basement, they find Eva dead, her body thrown onto a large spike fixed on the wall. Brennan and Booth search the room and find Mouton's skull and the spike used on Mouton and Mike Doyle. Sam tells Brennan that the basement was the place of a dark sorcerer and that the spike on the wall was usually used for animal sacrifices. Brennan suddenly comes to the conclusion that it would be impossible for Eva to kill herself, as the room was only 12 feet wide, and she could not have been running fast enough to stab herself the way the body was.
Sam Potter accuses Richard Benoit of being the sorcerer and killer claiming that he killed his daughter so they would stop looking for the killer of Mouton. Brennan knows there must have been a struggle with him throwing Eva on the spike and tears Benoit's shirts open to reveal a freshly bandaged injury. Detective Harding arrests Benoit.
Once back in Washington D.C., Booth and Brennan tell Angela, Zack, and Hodgins about their case in New Orleans. They discuss voodoo, which Brennan refuses to believe in, but the others are uncertain, reminding her of her memory loss. Booth finally chooses the moment to reveal the earring that he had found and secretly taken at the murder scene. This pleases Brennan because it was her mother's earring and she is glad it has been returned to her, but also with the realization that Booth had protected her by hiding this evidence of her presence at the murder scene.
, the episode "The Man in the Morgue" received a 6.6% household rating and 11% household share on its original airdate, which allowed the Fox Network to finish first in its timeslot.
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 April 19, 2006 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 Noah Hawley and Elizabeth Benjamin
Elizabeth Benjamin
Elizabeth Benjamin is a producer and writer better known for her collaborations in the TV series Bones and Law & Order: Criminal Intent.-Selected collaborations:...
, and directed by James Whitmore Jr.
James Whitmore Jr.
James Allen Whitmore III , better known by the name James Whitmore, Jr., is an American actor best known for his role as Captain Jim Gutterman on the television program Baa Baa Black Sheep , and a television director...
. The episode features 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...
and 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...
attempting to recover Brennan's memories after she awakes covered in blood in New Orleans.
Summary
The episode opens with Dr. Brennan in New Orleans, where she is taking her vacation time to help identify victims of Hurricane KatrinaHurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
some time after the event with the help of Mike Doyle and Dr. Graham Leger inside a temporary morgue set up within a church. Brennan begins to autopsy
Autopsy
An autopsy—also known as a post-mortem examination, necropsy , autopsia cadaverum, or obduction—is a highly specialized surgical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse to determine the cause and manner of death and to evaluate any disease or injury that may be present...
'John Doe
John Doe
The name "John Doe" is used as a placeholder name in a legal action, case or discussion for a male party, whose true identity is unknown or must be withheld for legal reasons. The name is also used to refer to a male corpse or hospital patient whose identity is unknown...
361' who was found covered in mud with a small hole in the front of his skull. Detective Rose Harding and Dr. James Embry assist Brennan, hoping to discover whether the death was the result of the hurricane or foul play. James discovers something lodged in the victim's mouth and Brennan sends an orderly, Sam Potter, to X-ray John Doe 361. Following this, Graham Leger asks Brennan out on a date, which she says she will consider once she receives the results of the X-rays.
There is a flash on screen, and Brennan is seen lying on a bathroom floor soaked in blood, blood on her hands, and a gash on her forehead. She is disoriented as she tries to remember what happened but is only able to recover flashes. Brennan answers a phone call from the hotel clerk, who tells her that the bus to the airport is waiting. Having been told it was Thursday, Brennan is confused and wonders what happened to Wednesday.
At the hospital, Dr. Ryan Halloway notes that one of Brennan's ears has been ripped open and her mother's earring taken, yet Brennan still has no memory of such an event occurring. While Dr. Halloway sends off the blood samples on Brennan's clothes for analysis, Detective Harding arrives to interview Brennan. The only memory she has is of Dr. Leger asking her on a date. Booth arrives and takes Brennan to a restaurant. They discuss the last thing she remembers - her pending date with Leger. After finding out from the restaurant owner, Peter LaSalle, that Brennan was at his restaurant on Tuesday night with Sam Potter, an orderly at the makeshift morgue who practices voodoo
Louisiana Voodoo
Louisiana Voodoo, also known as New Orleans Voodoo, describes a set of underground religious practices which originated from the traditions of the African diaspora. It is a cultural form of the Afro-American religions which developed within the French, Spanish, and Creole speaking African American...
, they head to the morgue.
Meanwhile, back at the lab, Angela Montenegro
Angela Montenegro
Angela Pearly-Gates Montenegro Hodgins is a fictional character in the television series Bones , portrayed by Michaela Conlin...
delivers the X-rays of John Doe 361 to 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...
so he can make an analysis of them. He calls Brennan and tells her that John Doe 361, who she does not recall, was 40 years old, of mixed race and was murdered.
At the morgue, Sam informs Brennan that they had spoken on Tuesday night about the object lodged in 361's mouth, which was voodoo in origin. Sam explains that voodoo is all about balance and that the hurricane, brought on by Secte Rouge
Secte Rouge
The Secte Rouge, also called the Cochon Gris or the Vinbrindingue, is or was a secret society in Haiti, which Zora Neale Hurston described in her 1938 book Tell My Horse. She described them as a fearsome group of cannibals who performed rites distinct from Voodoo...
, has destroyed the balance of New Orleans. He states that the objects found in the victim's mouth, black gum and a chicken foot, can only be found at a voodoo shop, which is run by a man called Richard Benoit.
At Benoit's shop, Booth shows Benoit the evidence found in the victim's mouth and Benoit informs him that it would be the work of Secte Rouge, as it is part of an evil spell. Upon looking at the list of those who had recently purchased the objects, Brennan noticed one name in particular: Dr. Graham Leger. Booth and Brennan head to Leger's home, where they find him crucified to a wall three feet off the ground with a mojo bag around his neck. The police soon arrive, and a doubtful Detective Harding interviews Brennan and Booth. As Brennan explains, Booth notices Brennan's missing earring underneath a table and pockets it without informing anyone.
At the morgue, Brennan discovers that John Doe 361's file is missing. Back at Brennan's hotel room, Booth notices a mojo bag on Brennan's bed full of sea shells, flesh, a strip of leather and a human tooth. At that moment, Harding bursts in and arrests Brennan, having found her blood at Leger's house. Brennan goes quietly and, despite Booth's protests, reveals incriminating evidence about herself.
At the police station, Brennan is interrogated by Detective Harding, before Booth and attorney Caroline Julian enter to shut Brennan up before she convicts herself. Detective Harding leaves after Caroline informs her that Brennan will not be saying anything else. Sam Potter tells Booth and Brennan that the mojo bags are being left with Brennan to prolong her amnesia. They then find out that according to the results of the tox screen, Brennan had not been drugged.
Zack calls Brennan with John Doe 361's real identity, and inform her that he was called Rene Mouton, who was the head of a voodoo church and had offered aid during Katrina but then disappeared. Sam Potter suggests that this is the work of a sorcerer from Secte Rouge, and Brennan agrees while Booth is disbelieving. They go to the cooler, where they find the freshly killed body of Mike Doyle, with the body of Rene Mouton. Brennan suspects Mike Doyle's girlfriend for his murder, and Sam Potter scatters ashes across the body of Mouton, revealing an electrostatic charge, as some ashes stuck to the corpse more than others, revealing an emblem of a Cadillac Brougham
Cadillac Brougham
Originally an enclosed carriage, drawn by a single horse, for 2-4 persons, “Brougham” owes its name to a British statesman, Henry Brougham, 1st Baron Brougham and Vaux, whose second claim to fame is having given to the sea-front drive, in Nice in the South of France, the nick-name of Promenade des...
, the car belonging to Richard Benoit. This instantly makes Brennan suspect his daughter, Eva, as the girlfriend, and thus the killer.
At Benoit's shop, they confront him, who leads them downstairs to their basement, where Eva was hiding. In the basement, they find Eva dead, her body thrown onto a large spike fixed on the wall. Brennan and Booth search the room and find Mouton's skull and the spike used on Mouton and Mike Doyle. Sam tells Brennan that the basement was the place of a dark sorcerer and that the spike on the wall was usually used for animal sacrifices. Brennan suddenly comes to the conclusion that it would be impossible for Eva to kill herself, as the room was only 12 feet wide, and she could not have been running fast enough to stab herself the way the body was.
Sam Potter accuses Richard Benoit of being the sorcerer and killer claiming that he killed his daughter so they would stop looking for the killer of Mouton. Brennan knows there must have been a struggle with him throwing Eva on the spike and tears Benoit's shirts open to reveal a freshly bandaged injury. Detective Harding arrests Benoit.
Once back in Washington D.C., Booth and Brennan tell Angela, Zack, and Hodgins about their case in New Orleans. They discuss voodoo, which Brennan refuses to believe in, but the others are uncertain, reminding her of her memory loss. Booth finally chooses the moment to reveal the earring that he had found and secretly taken at the murder scene. This pleases Brennan because it was her mother's earring and she is glad it has been returned to her, but also with the realization that Booth had protected her by hiding this evidence of her presence at the murder scene.
Music
The episode featured the following music: -- Tipitina - Bo Dollis & The Wild MagnoliasThe Wild Magnolias-History:A group calling itself the Wild Magnolias, participating in the local "Indian masking" traditions and performing New Orleans Mardi Gras music, extends at least back into the 1950s. The group's lead member was called the Big Chief, and at least three Big Chiefs are known to have headed the...
- No Scratch Blues - Zydeco All Stars
- Tee Nah Nah - Buckwheat ZydecoBuckwheat ZydecoBuckwheat Zydeco is the stage name of Stanley Dural, Jr. , an American accordionist and zydeco musician. He is one of the few zydeco artists to achieve mainstream success...
Response
Aired in the Wednesday 8:00 pm ET timeslot, directly following the broadcast of American IdolAmerican Idol
American Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...
, the episode "The Man in the Morgue" received a 6.6% household rating and 11% household share on its original airdate, which allowed the Fox Network to finish first in its timeslot.
External links
- "The Man in the Morgue" at Fox.com