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"The Friend in Need" is episode sixteen of season eight of Bones, the forensic drama television series loosely based on the novels and life of anthropologist Kathy Reichs. In this episode, the body of a teenager is found crammed into a suitcase.
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A Suitcase that isn't Really Pawnable
A man who looks like he's homeless gets to a pawn shop just as it's closing. He manages to get the owner to stay open, and the man has a suitcase that he found by the river that he wants to sell. The owner appears to know the man, Reggie, and doesn't want to buy a filthy dirty suitcase. He also knows that, despite what Reggie says, that the money will be spent on booze. Reggie says that the suitcase might contain treasure, so forces it open. It doesn't contain treasure, but human remains.
Brennan Displays Her Ignorance of Pop Culture Again
Brennan and Booth are having breakfast. Booth is trying to do his crossword but Brennan keeps guessing the clues until Booth finally hands it over to her. Brennan gets stuck on one of the clues, which relates to Gilligan's Island. An island she has never heard of but Booth has. Which he says is in Hollywood. Which Brennan finds implausible but plans to consult an atlas, again displaying that her knowledge of popular culture is rather scant.
Discussing Cam's Daughter
At the lab, the suitcase is making Cam think that she needs a vacation. Finn is present and Cam makes a comment about her daughter, who Finn is dating. Then Hodgins makes a comment, as Michelle has been away at school for months, and finally Brennan does, only her comments are rather more detailed and make both Finn and Cam uncomfortable.
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Stupidity as a Cause of Death?
The victim in the suitcase is a teenager and appears to have been broken up to fit in the suitcase. Brennan points out that they don't even know if the victim was murdered yet, so Cam says he could hardly have climbed into the suitcase by himself and then thrown it off the bridge. Unless, according to Hodgins, it's a Jackass stunt gone wrong. Which gives Cam a cause of death as stupidity in that case. Although that's probably not going to be true.
Not Stupidity, But Missing for Two Weeks
Booth and Sweets are going to see the boy's mother - he was identified by his dental records, was 15 years old and was reported missing two weeks ago. According to the mother, her son, Manny, was not one to do stupid stunts. The mother works nights so often only saw her son in passing. Whilst in the apartment, Booth gets a call from Cam - she says that Manny had a party drug, Special K (ketamine), in his system. Which is not the sort of thing that the mother thought her son would do. Manny had very few friends. He was last seen at a party two weekends ago.
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Lots of Cash on Hand
Manny's room is full of electronics. According to the neighbour's daughter, he was good at fixing stuff, say if the screen got broken. Sweets thinks that the boy may also have helped people go over their limit without charge. The girl, Kat, also says that Manny made money from playing video games. Booth finds a rather large wad of cash in the room though, more than would be expected from repairing electronics or playing games (unless you were really, really good at the latter, and then it would probably be electronic).
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Lots of Burner Phones Too
According to Angela, the phones in Manny's room are burner phones. One of the phones is Manny's and only two people have been sent text messages, Kat and someone else. The someone else, Nick, was in business with Manny, but not selling drugs but modified phones. Nick also last saw Manny at the party.
Looking for a Rapist?
Manny spent some of his last hours looking at photos online of the party he attended. Manny was following Kat (who he had feelings for) around, and got into an argument with a boy she was dancing with. Kat comes and speaks to Sweets about the party and says that she thinks that someone raped her at the party (she can't remember and thinks she was drugged). Manny seemed to have access to drugs and definitely had feelings for Kat. So at least some, including Kat's mother, think that he was the rapist. However, given Manny's behaviour looking at the photos before he was killed, perhaps he was looking for the actual rapist. And found him. And was killed for it.
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Personal Matters
Michelle is back in town without telling Cam because she wants to spend time with Finn. Which makes Finn very uncomfortable, keeping secrets from Cam. Which leads to a funny scene. And then gets complicated.
Bones - The Friend in Need Promotional Photos
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