In this deeply emotional episode, a strong one for Boreanaz and his character of Booth, has the FBI agent, Bones and the Jeffersonian team investigating the murder of a young, traumatized black man whose remains were burned up against the tombstone of a member of the victim's unit in Iraq. What results really emotionally impacts Booth who still suffers from a past incident where he had to eliminate a Kosovo tyrant who has exterminated his own people. Furthermore, this episode addresses what war can do to those soldiers who serve and how inexperience can lead to horrifying consequences. Bones wants the remains of a potential NBA star who died under suspicious circumstances in supposed combat exhumed and all the autopsy results and crime scene photographs pertaining to his death. This opens up a whole can of worms as the Jeffersonian team find inconsistencies and problems with the evidence in front of them. Such topics as friendly fire, covering up a crime with a lie, buried torment from experiences in war, the difficulty to reintegrate back into society upon return from Iraq, and the whole meaning of serving our country and what that entails are covered in this richly layered episode. The ending gives two families closure and allows Booth to exorcise some demons by talking with Bones. Also we see how Bones' descriptions of war and the military can rub Booth the wrong way, not to mention, Hodgins' theories on invading Iraq and how such vocal feelings can polarize(particularly Angela, who he wants to impress, as they engage in a heated conversation over Iraq and the military in general).
Review of The Soldier on the Grave
