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"The Ghost in the Machine" is episode nine of season eight of Bones, the forensic drama television series loosely based on the novels and life of anthropologist Kathy Reichs. In this episode, a body is found in a greenhouse and most of it is seen from the viewpoint of the skull.
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The View from the Skull
The episode opens with a view of wasps from underneath and a light shining through what looks like a clear sheet of plastic, before the light disappears. The next view is of a goggled Hodgins brushing the view clear of dirt. Hodgins says he has found a skull and Brennan asks if he can do something about the wasps.
The Sleeping Bag in the Greenhouse
The skull - for it seems that the view is actually through the skull's eye sockets - is lifted up and we seen Brennan, Booth and a view of the inside of a greenhouse. The skull, and some other bones, were found wrapped in a sleeping bag. The place was being put on the market when the real estate agent noticed the wasps.
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Avalon the Psychic Returns
The episode continues from the skull's viewpoint. Booth wants Brennan to make a stab as to whether the skull is male or female. Brennan is not comfortable with doing such but, after Hodgins leaves, she goes for male. A young male. A kid, thirteen or fourteen years old. Which affects Booth and Hodgins, and Brennan too, rather more than usual. The skull is boxed for transport but, at the Jeffersonian, the story continues from the viewpoint of the skull. Avalon Harmonia (Cyndi Lauper), who was originally seen in "Harbingers in the Fountain", Angela's psychic friend, arrives at the lab and says that she heard the dead boy calling to her. She says the boy has unfinished business and he's watching them (which he kind of is). Hodgins is not impressed and says of course he has unfinished business - he was murdered.
The Victim is Identified
The boy has a broken neck, which would have been fatal. He has a number of old injuries, but it looks as if they could be from sports or something similar. Rather than being beaten on. Which is definitely preferable - not that it much matters to the boy now. He's been dead for around two years now and Angela's facial reconstruction leads to a missing persons' report and a name - Colin. Which sounds rather like Avalon's 'calling.' Colin was an active and sporty individual, one whose friends were all noticeably older than him.
Colin Needs to Move On
Avalon insists that something is stopping Colin from moving on. Brennan makes a speech about how there is absolutely no proof that the soul exists.
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An Oddly-Filmed Episode
This is a rather unusual episode. Almost the entire thing is filmed from the viewpoint of Colin's skull. The skull gets carted around to a lot more places than normal, including Brennan and Booth's home and to one of the crime scenes.
Bones - The Ghost in the Machine Trailer
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