- A generally disliked member of Max Keenan's bowling team's corpse is found as a decomposing mess in the cones machinery when that renovated section is reopened, but he was knocked dead a week earlier. Booth, good at the game, and Bones go undercover as new team members to study players and staff, which yields lots of grim grudges. Wendell has a hard time standing in, with online assistance, for Angela, who finally gives birth.—KGF Vissers
- The unidentifiable and gruesome remains of a male bowler are found lodged in the automatic pinsetter of a bowling lane. Brennan's father, Max Keenan, is a member of the victim's bowling team, but currently sidelined with an injury. With no clear lead in the case, Booth and Brennan go undercover and join the very competitive bowling team in hopes of finding clues about the victim. Upon meeting the victim's teammates, including an arrogant 12-year-old bowling prodigy, it becomes apparent there could be many suspects in the case. Meanwhile, a very pregnant Angela anticipates her labor at any moment, but continues to work diligently via webcam to identify the murder weapon from the hospital.—Fox Publicity
- A bratty kid at a bowling alley celebrates his birthday by whining and complaining. Just then, the pins drop to reveal a rotting, gruesome corpse. "I'll behave! I'll behave!" the birthday boy screams. CUT to the diner, where Hodgins (T.J. Thyne) and Angela (Michaela Conlin) are having lunch and discussing the impending birth of their baby (who might be born blind). Angela dumps hot sauce all over her food in an attempt to kick start labor. Hodgins has a bite and GASPS. It's very, very spicy. Pregnant Angela doesn't seem to notice.
Bones (Emily Deschanel) and Booth (David Boreanaz) arrive at the bowling alley and discover the place had been closed for the last 10 days for remodeling (it just reopened that day). The pin-setting mechanics have literally "ground up" most of the body. Gross. Back at the lab, Angela reconstructs the man's ruined shirt and discovers the name "Jeff," a member of a local bowling team. Turns out Bones' father, Max (Ryan O'Neal), is on the same team. At the diner, Bones and Booth interview Max, who can't believe buddy Jeff is dead. Max then reveals that he had a very "embarrassing physical event." Basically, he fell out of bed during sex and is now confined to a wheelchair. Booth smirks. Max theorizes Jeff was killed by a poor loser because the victim was very boisterous. So B&B decide to go undercover as bowlers.
Cut to the bowling alley, where a big tournament is occurring. Bones "undercover" outfit is awful frizzy hair and huge earrings while Booth wears a long-haired wig and a mesh ball cap. They're pretending to be an engaged couple. The pair meets Hercules, who resembles Jesus from "The Big Lebowski" and flirts with Bones. Booth's first throw is a strike. "Now that's my muffin at work!" Bones yells. They also meet lesbian Tina, elderly Alison, precocious girl Amber and tournament director Tom -- a.k.a. The Raven. Finally, we are introduced to the shoe attendant, who clearly didn't like arrogant Jeff.
Back at the Jeffersonian, Hodgins discovers the victim had a broken nose and was dead before he was ground up in the pin machine. Suddenly, something rattles in the skull. The verdict: Jeff's nose was broken so hard it dislodged pieces of his skull. The broken nose killed him. One bowling montage later, the team loses -- and Amber takes all its members to task. Max, meanwhile, notices Bones and Booth playing the "happy couple" and grins. Later, Hercules says Jeff's death was part of God's plan to put in a position to be a team hero. Dumb blond Blake (Andrew Matthews), meanwhile, tells Booth he is the "hair apparent" to Jeff's best-bowler title. In other words, the suspects are piling up.
Back at the lab, Angela, Hodgins and Wendell examine a computer recreation of the skull and conclude something with "round edges" broke Jeff's nose. It could've been a bowling ball. Angela then begins to gasp. A distracted Hodgins doesn't seem too concerned. "When my water breaks, you don't even notice?!" she screams. "It's show time!" Hodgins races for the car. At the hospital, Angela tells her husband to shush as his "voice is incredibly annoying." The next second, she is sweet as pie. Welcome to labor.
Cut to the alley, where the tournament continues. Booth rolls a strike, then is informed by Alison that Blake is a car thief and compulsive joy rider. Jeff, meanwhile, restored cars. "Isn't that the best part of bowling -- getting to meet a wide range of people?" Alison asks with a genuine smile. Indeed. Bones is then caught examining Blake's bag with an ultraviolet pen light, looking for evidence. She lies and says she wanted to make sure the other team wasn't using baby powder to cheat. The tournament director enters and breaks up the argument. "Jeff got what he deserved -- and so does anyone else who cheats," the Raven says. Max then reveals Jeff super-glued the Raven's fingers into his bowling ball a few years back. So the Raven wasn't a big Jeff fan, either.
Back at the hospital, Angela screams through painful contractions while Wendell (Michael Grant Terry), via laptop, tries to ask her advice in solving the murder. It's chaos. Sweets (John Francis Daley), meanwhile, interviews the Raven about the "prank" which ruined his career. The Raven claims to have been bowling at a lanes where nobody knows him at the time of Jeff's murder. In the meantime, Wendell and Camille (Tamara Taylor) try to figure out Angela's complicated equipment with little success. He gets back on the laptop -- and Angela SCREAMS at him not to mess with her work space. Back at the alley, Booth wins a game by rolling a seven-ten split. Everybody celebrates but Bones. "It's simply improbable," she says. Is the lane rigged?
Camille then calls with news: the murder weapon/bowling ball couldn't have weighed more than five pounds, perhaps a child's ball. Bones then looks over Amber's carefully kept bowling records and discovers a). the team usually bowls on lane 12 and b). a lot of difficult spares have been picked up there. Basically, someone recalibrated the pin settings so the pins are closer together, making it easier to bowl in that particular lane. Could Amber have been the cheat? Or maybe Jeff? Hodgins then calls, explaining bowling balls don't flake and a red flake was found on the victim. "You're looking for a motorcycle helmet with red sparkles," Hodgins says. Angela begins to push.
Back at the alley, Max tells Bones the shoe attendant rides a motorcycle. Sure enough, Bones spots the man's red helmet and uses her pen light to discover traces of blood. Booth then rips off his wig, announces he is an FBI agent and arrests the attendant. "You would have killed him, too!" the attendant says. "He never washed his feet! Look at my hands! All my fingernails have fallen off!" Case closed.
But not the episode. Back in the delivery room, Angela PUSHES. It's very close. Suddenly, the couple gets very romantic. They profess their undying love for each other. "You're going to be wonderful parents no matter what happens," the touched doctor says. Meanwhile, the entire team anxiously assembles in the waiting room. The baby is born -- it's a boy. The doctor checks the newborn's eyes ... and his vision is perfect. Hodgins and Angela begin to cry. They hold their baby Michael. It's a beautiful moment. Bones then visits a worn-out Angela -- and gives her friend a stuffed bunny as a gift.
Later, Bones and Booth walk together -- until Bones stops. "I'm pregnant," she tells her partner. "You're the father." Booth is SHOCKED and then he smiles. Bones smiles back.
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