The 15 Best Episodes Of Bones, Ranked

Airing for almost 250 episodes between 2005 and 2017, "Bones" is a clever police procedural drama about a brilliant team of forensic anthropologists working under the direction of Dr. Temperance Brennan (Emily Deschanel) to solve tricky crimes by investigating human remains. Anchoring the mysteries in science gives an interesting angle to the storytelling, which helped "Bones" stand out in a crowded genre. The show offered viewers the deranged serial killers and high-stakes of "Criminal Minds," but wrapped it all up in a family-friendly format, giving it a broad appeal that seems increasingly rare these days. Plus, the spicy will-they-won't-they romance between Brennan and FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth (David Boreanaz) always kept viewers coming back for more.

With so many to choose from, compiling a list of the best "Bones" episodes is not an easy task. However, after weighing up things like critical acclaim, memorable cases, and importance to the overall storyline, we've narrowed it down to the top 15.

Like fellow cozy mystery series "Psych" did in 2007 with "American Duos," the 2008 "Bones" entry "The Wannabe in the Weeds" taps into the vibe of "American Idol"-style reality shows, which were at the height of their popularity at the time. The episode even stars Ace Young, whose 2006 appearance on "American Idol" helped him land a Top 50 Hot Adult Contemporary single as well as a spot on People's top 50 hottest bachelors list. 

The central mystery of "The Wannabe in the Weeds" deals with the death of Tommy Sour (Young), an aspiring singer-songwriter, at a local nightclub. The musical theme and whimsical spirit of the episode allows two cast members to show off their musical chops. In one scene, Zack Addy (Eric Millegan) belts out "Love is a Many-Splendored Thing." Millegan has a B.F.A. Degree in Musical Theater from the University of Michigan and already had plenty of stage credits to his name at this point, including a Broadway production of "Jesus Christ Superstar."

Later on, Emily Deschanel shows that she's also a fantastic singer (just like her talented sister Zooey, who sings in "Elf" and "The New Guy") when Brennan busts out an empowered rendition of "Girls Just Want to Have Fun." She gets cut off when the person who killed Tommy zeroes in on Booth, leading to an emotional cliffhanger in which the FBI agent is shot. It's a fun episode that also boasts some high stakes.

Directed by David Duchovny, 2006's "Judas on a Pole" brings Dr. Brennan's complicated family history into the mystery when a victim is gruesomely killed, burned, and posted scarecrow-style atop a Federal building. The episode also features a cameo from Kathy Reichs, the writer and forensic anthropologist who wrote the novel series "Bones." Reichs, who served as a co-producer on the series, appears in the episode as a member of the academic committee grilling Zack on his doctoral dissertation.

The investigation leads to Brennan's father Max Keenan (Ryan O'Neal), a career criminal initially posing as a priest. It turns out that he possesses some stolen evidence that he believes could put his children's lives in danger should it ever be revealed.

Besides giving insight into Brennan's family history, this Season 2 episode helps cement the Jeffersonian team's status as chosen family while setting the tone for future episodes. "There's more than one kind of family," Booth tells Brennan, marking one of the most memorable and heartwarming moments in the series. What's more, it hints at the future of Booth and Bones' relationship.

A continuation of the Gravedigger serial killer storyline that began in the episode "Aliens in a Spaceship," 2009's "The Hero in the Hold" sees Booth get kidnapped by the Gravedigger while on his way to pick up Brennan for an award ceremony. Captured and alone on a ship at sea, Booth is seemingly aided by the ghost of his brother-in-arms Corporal Teddy Parker (Noel Fisher), who died in combat years prior. The kidnapping is revealed to be part of a plot to get some Gravedigger evidence away from the FBI. With only a few hours left before the ship sinks, the team frantically rushes to find Booth.

This Season 4 episode sees Booth and Bones at their most heroic, and a touching line from Teddy hints at Booth's unresolved feelings for Bones. Whether Teddy's apparition was a ghost, a hallucination, or a product of the brain tumor Booth is later revealed to have would become one of the "Bones" fandom's most enduring mysteries. The fact that Teddy seems to know things Booth doesn't (like the fact that ships are decorated by children before they're sunk to create reefs) and the way he manages to retrieve certain items suggests the answer is supernatural.

2007's "The Man in the Cell" brings back the first "Bones" serial killer: Howard Epps (Heath Freeman), aka the Manipulator, the central villain from Season 1's "A Man on Death Row." After escaping prison by posing as a firefighter, Epps begins targeting Bones and her colleagues, sending Angela a human heart with an attached news article calling her "the heart" of the Jeffersonian team. Epps also shows that he could nab Booth's kid if he wanted to before nearly killing Cam (Tamara Taylor) with a poison vile hidden inside his late wife's severed head.

This Season 2 episode expands on the Manipulator's lore with details that seem pulled from the serial killer bios of Edmund Kemper and Ted Bundy. While his manipulations might seem a bit low-effort for someone alleged to be a genius, Epps makes for a fun villain and he ratchets up the tension in the show's central romance at this point; the love triangle between Cam, Bones, and Booth. Booth and Brennan's guilt over helping delay Epps' execution in his first episode is resolved when his story comes to an end with him falling to his death.

2005's "The Man in the Fallout Shelter" is a Christmas episode that finds the Jeffersonian team locked down together over the holiday. The shenanigans begin with a body found in a 1950s fallout shelter that Bones insists on checking out. Although the man appears to have died from a self-inflicted gunshot, Brennan believes an autopsy will disprove this. Not long after Booth retrieves the remains, a biological contaminant alarm goes off, forcing them all into quarantine over the holiday.

The central mystery in this Season 1 episode (which takes a decidedly theistic stance on the holiday) is secondary to the plot's rather emotional focus on character development. We learn important details about the show's main characters that help lay the groundwork for their future relationships. The overall message of connection and optimism makes for a touching tale that ranks up there with some of the best holiday episodes from popular TV shows.

2012's "The Past in the Present" pits the "Bones" team against tech mastermind Christopher Pelant (Andrew Leeds), aka the Hacktivist. It gets personal for Brennan when she realizes the victim was a troubled friend, but things get a little tricky for her when Pelant uses his computer magic to frame the forensic doc. It gets even worse when Pelant uses a ruse to lure Booth to his apartment, ultimately getting both Bones and Booth kicked off the case.

"The Past in the Present" (which ushered in an early end to Season 7 due to Emily Deschanel's real-life pregnancy) is a clever episode with a good deal of fun tech-based tomfoolery. Bones' decision to move forward with baby Christine's baptism for Booth is a highlight of this season finale. It's also good to see how well they work together as parents and partners, highlighted by the touching moment where Brennan reassures Booth that she loves him outside of their role as Christine's folks.

2010's "The Doctor in the Photo" sees Brennan investigate the death of a character whose life parallels her own, a surgeon named Lauren Eames. Like Bones, Eames was brilliant, career-driven, and viewed as somewhat cold by her colleagues. And, like Bones, Eames had an unspoken romantic connection simmering with someone. As Bones investigates Eames' death, she feels increasingly connected to the late doctor, who is almost a doppelganger for Brennan.

Brennan's mental state is brilliantly revealed through her appearance; the deeper she gets into the case, the darker and more stripped-down her look becomes. Throughout this Season 6 episode, Bones connects with Jeffersonian security guard Micah (Enrico Colantoni). As Micah never returns in the series, he has been the subject of a lot of speculation in the fandom. Some say that he is an angel, a figment of Brennan's imagination, or even a manifestation of the Jeffersonian Institute itself.

In 2011's "The Signs in the Silence," an uncommunicative, hearing-impaired teen girl is found with a bloody knife and covered in blood that turns out not to be her own. Despite the girl's clearly fearful reaction, Bones is insistent on treating her like evidence rather than a child as they set out to find Jane Doe's real age and look for any other identifying signs. Brennan's own past as a foster child and the fact that Bones has undiagnosed autism spectrum disorder — a now-confirmed fan theory — don't earn the girl any leeway until the doc discovers signs of child abuse.

Like many of the best "Bones" episodes, the emotional performances elevate an otherwise middle-of-the-road storyline. Once Brennan lets herself connect with Jane Doe, the depth of her character, aided by Deschanel's performance, makes for some of the series' most powerful moments. As one fan wrote on Reddit, "I absolutely love this episode. I've not once watched it where I didn't pure ugly cry." The dark tale of Jane Doe's childhood trauma is lightened by a sweet B-plot where Angela (Michaela Conlin) experiences false labor and Hodgins (T.J. Thyne) vows to be her "rock."

One of a handful of "Bones" episodes directed by David Boreanaz, 2010's "The Parts in the Sum of the Whole" is a flashback episode wherein Booth and Brennan correct Sweets on the bad facts in his book and then regale him with the true story of the first case they worked together. Their revelation proves dire for Sweets, who based his psychology book "Parts of a Whole" — which presents a study of the romance underlying Booth and Brennan's dynamic — on a completely different conceptualization of their first joint case. It's pretty clear that Sweets is shipping the pair hard when he suggests they should kiss because it would prove they are meant for each other.

This Season 5 episode ends with a big moment when Booth says, "I'm the gambler, I believe in giving this a chance," before kissing Bones and spilling his feelings. But the romantic payoff we've been waiting for is crushed when Bones tearfully rejects him, leading the FBI agent to declare he has to move on romantically in one of the hardest Booth moments in the series. The sad ending makes the later payoff even better, and the episode gives fans a chance to see Zack one more time through the flashback.

In 2006's "The Woman in Limbo," Brennan's world is turned upside down after a set of bones from storage (also known as "limbo") are revealed to be the remains of her mother, a fact revealed when she sees Angela's reconstruction of the victim's face. As Bones reflects on her memories of her family, Booth opens an investigation and locates her brother Russ (Loren Dean), who she feels has abandoned her. The investigation also reveals her family had taken new identities at some point, a fact that her brother knew but she did not. Coupled with the revelation that her parents were bank robbers, the news leads to a minor meltdown.

The Season 1 finale reveals a good deal about why Bones is such a loner while helping to build the relationship between Bones and Booth. It also gives Brennan an opportunity to process the pain of feeling abandoned by her family. The episode is also full of reminders that Brennan is more than just a forensic anthropology robot, particularly through the emotional scene that sees Brennan break down while she repeats "I have a brother" and the moments that lead to the siblings' reconciliation. A voice message at the end teasing her father's return is the cherry on top of this memorable episode.

2012's "The Patriot in Purgatory" sees Brennan get a new hyperfixation: basketball. But she's no casual sports fan — Bones wants to use the coaching principles she's learned from Phil Jackson to supercharge her quintet of "squinterns" as they work together to identify over a thousand "unsolvable" remains. Bones, of course, is the coach, and her method includes "numerous attaboys" and other motivational teamwork strategies.

The game quickly turns from a spirited challenge where the interns try to outperform each other to a true exercise in team work when they link several sets of remains to the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001. With Booth's help, they identify a homeless veteran whose final act was saving three people at the Pentagon before dying of his injuries a week later.

This Season 8 episode offers a moving tribute to the victims of 9/11, and many fans felt it deserved an Emmy. Woven around a complex puzzle for the interns to solve, the writers offer an insightful and sensitive look at the link between veterans and homelessness. After the emotion of reliving that dark day in U.S. history, Brennan's renewed gratitude for Booth's sacrifice in service hits especially hard.

Yet another serial killer with a catchy nickname is the focus of 2016's "The Nightmare in the Nightmare." The murderer known as the Puppeteer has an especially freaky modus operandi: fixing his victims up Norman Bates-style and turning them into marionettes. We check in on Zack Addy, who was institutionalized for confessing to murder way back in Season 4. Addy's return kicks off a story arc that involves him getting framed for murder by his hospital psychiatrist Mihir Roshan (Ravi Kapoor) — who turns out to be the Puppeteer — and later exonerated for his earlier crime.

Aided by Bones' trippy nightmare scenes, this Season 11 episode nails its psychological horror angle brilliantly. As one IMDb review observed, "We are dealing with a sort of Hitchockian plot line, sort of like Spellbound." It's also nice to finally see Zack Addy vindicated after he went from being an awkward but lovable character to a likely murderer with cannibal ties so abruptly, which never sat right with fans.

2014's "The Recluse in the Recliner" is the "Bones" episode for the tin foil hat wearers among us. The Season 9 finale begins with Booth prepping to be screened by a Congressional subcommittee for a Berlin-based FBI posting right down to the German lessons when he and the Jeffersonian team get sucked into a case that takes them down a rabbit hole. Booth gets a call on what's meant to be a secure line, and the location he traces it to becomes a crime scene when a conspiracy theory blogger is burned in his trailer.

Meanwhile, Booth's subcommittee meeting — one he believes to be a formality — goes south when his role in a classified military mission is brought up and hits the papers. As things escalate, Booth is eviscerated in the press and his home is attacked by Delta Force operatives. The episode ends with an insane cliffhanger that sees Booth severely injured and under arrest for their deaths, and Brennan detained by the FBI. It really is an unforgettable episode. As one IMDb reviewer put it, "I mean, who doesn't love explosions, corruption from on high and computer chip nipple rings?"

2011's "The Hole in the Heart" is a Booth-centric episode that finds the FBI man chasing down free-range sniper Jacob Broadsky (Arnold Vosloo), who first appears in "The Bullet in the Brain" when he takes out the Gravedigger. A perfect foil for Booth, Broadsky sees himself as the Hand of God, believing he kills only the deserving despite his obvious pleasure in it. "The Hole in the Heart" sees him turn his laser scope against Booth.

When a bullet meant for Booth takes out English "squintern" Vincent Nigel-Murray (Ryan Cartwright), the team is left grieving. Most of this Season 6 episode deals with them processing his loss, and it's without a doubt one of the most emotional episodes in "Bones" history. But all of that emotional agony pays off at the end of the episode when Booth and Brennan finally get together after six very long seasons of waiting.

2006's "Aliens in a Spaceship" is the quintessential "Bones" episode. It has all of the things that make a "Bones" story great: Plenty of sassy Bones-Booth banter, lots of robo-Brennan one-liners, a freaky serial killer with an absolutely unhinged MO, a mind-bending mystery, and a fun soundtrack. This Season 2 episode introduces the Gravedigger, who ends up burying Hodgins and Brennan in an effort to squeeze a cool $8 million out of Hodgins' wealthy family.

As ridiculous as the premise sounds, seeing Brennan use her mega-mind to save her colleague while the team races against the clock makes for some prime "Bones" viewing. The episode does a good job of shedding light on Hodgins' character, and, even though it's still pretty early in the series and their relationship is still developing, "Aliens in a Spaceship" is already establishing the lengths Booth will go to in order to protect Brennan. For "Bones" fans, it really doesn't get any better than this.