Double Trouble-REVIEWS

The
bones belonged to Jenny and Julie Van Owen, who were wrapped in a sheet
and buried in a shallow grave by the Texas/Oklahoma border. Both girls
have fractured feet and lower legs, and they have perfectly symmetrical
head skull breaks -- "kissing fractures," in forensic anthropology
speak -- that lead to their death.

The girls had last been
seen performing a juggling act in a down-at-its-heels circus. Since
circus folk don't talk to outsiders, Booth and Brennan are forced to go
undercover as Buck and Wanda Moosejaw, a knife-throwing act that has
been touring the Pacific Northwest. Hee!

They do some more
conventional sleuthing first, talking to the twins' litigious mother
and the doctor who proposed separating the twins. Mom had filed
multiple lawsuits against the circus, and she vows revenge for what
happened to her girls. Dr. Muir says that Jenny was interested in the
separation surgery, but Julie was not -- and this is the sort of thing
they really had to agree on.

But enough of the normal stuff --
let's go to the circus! Brennan is having a fabulous time, putting on a
Katherine Hepburn lockjaw accent to "get in character," then coming up
with more and more ideas for the act. She proposes a Russian gimmick
for the act, and just like that, Booth and Brennan morph into Boris and
Natasha and their Russian knives of death. Sweets cautions them not to
show too much interest in the other performers, so they wile away the
time simulating sex in their creaky mobile home.

When they're
not abusing the shocks, they ask about Jenny and Julie. The ringmaster
shows them a note that the girls ostensibly left, but Angela can tell
it was faked. Other performers mention that one of the girls had a
boyfriend (which melts Hodgins brain), and Booth's history with hair
gel means he's able to pinpoint good doctor Muir as the significant
other. He explains that eyeshades and loud MP3 players constituted a
measure of privacy, and that yes, he had relationships with both girls.
He seems like a good suspect -- but his alibi checks out.

The
nature of the skull fractures suggest that the twins may have been hit
with a long, blunt object, and Booth immediately suspects the clowns.
There's almost a rumble, but the ringmaster tells them to save it 'til
after the show. And what a show it is! Booth is nervous but Brennan is
having the time of her life. She keeps adding things to the act -- a
large stuffed apple to the top of her head, and then a tiny fake nose
that Booth is supposed to take off from a distance. Fortunately, Booth
is as good as he says he is. Whew.

After the act, Booth and
Brennan realize that Magnum the Strong Man had both the strength and
the props to cause the injury. They confront him, and Magnum tears down
a pole and traps the duo in a net. Then he runs. So obviously he's
their guy, right? Booth and Brennan reveal their true identities to the
circus folks, and they are shunned. Brennan consoles herself by going
up on the high wire -- where she gets a brainwave. Actually, she gets
achy feet and a quick, bouncy fall into the net, which shows what
really happened -- the girls were trying a high-wire act, which
accounts for the foot and leg fractures. They fell and smacked their
heads together, killing them both. The circus couldn't let anyone know
because they were afraid their mom would sue them out of existence.
Magnum gave the girls the best burial he could. Booth and Brennan are
sympathetic, but they still have to arrest Magnum for interfering with
a body. But they can do that in the morning.... except when Booth and
Brennan emerge from their trailer, the entire circus is gone.

Booth and Brennan
SO
many great Booth and Brennan moments in this one! First of all, as
Sweets is happy to tell us, the whole knife-throwing act has "a sexual
component, the knife representing..." "We get it," Cam says, cutting
him off.

Other favorites:

• Booth and Brennan walking around in their costumes much of the time
  -- Booth favored sleeveless shirts and tight pants, while Brennan
  sported a dark wig and flowy dresses – when she wasn’t in her spangled
  showgirl suit.
  
• Booth and Brennan deciding that sex was the best way to fit in --
  and then rocking the trailer to such an extent that NO ONE would come
  knocking. Booth was shocked that Brennan wanted to set up a syncopated
  counter-rhythm to his rocking -- "Are you this spontaneous during real
  sex?" he asks. "Yes, I am," she replies, matter-of-factly.
  
• Booth and Brennan bickering over the tight quarters of the trailer -- and Cam noting that there was only one bed. Hmmm....
  
• The pair driving off to Fort Worth on a motorcycle and sidecar, goggles strapped across their eyes.
  
• Brennan's absolute confidence in Booth -- it doesn't even occur to
  her that maybe she's pressing her luck with the
  chop-the-nose-off-my-face trick.
  
• Brennan coming up with more ideas for the act -- "I could wear a
  hat of fruit, and then you can slice through each fruit..." and Booth
  having to gently let her down -- there is no more act. We solved the
  case, remember? She's so disappointed...
  

Highlights, thoughts and odds and ends

• Triviamaster NotZack is back, but he almost keeps himself in check.
  Cam is initially charmed by him (again), but she quickly gets over it.
  
• We discover that Sweets is adopted, and that his birth mother
  worked the carnival circuit as a psychic. That's how he knows entirely
  too much about circus mores and lingo.
  
• Booth is able to identify hair gel by scent and consistency. "Son
  of a barber -- I know my traditional hair products," he says. I can't
  help but flash back to Spike on a roof, narrating Angel's putative
  conversation: "Say no more. Evil is still afoot! And I'm almost out of
  that nancy- boy hair-gel I like so much. Quickly, to the Angel-mobile,
  away!"
  
• The episode opened with sparring between sheriffs from opposite
  sides of the Texas-Oklahoma border, which was far too fun. "How do you
  think they died?" the Texas sheriff asks. "They left Oklahoma, hit
  Texas, and died of despair," the Oklahoma sheriff says. "Nope, they're
  definitely Oklahomans -- if they were from Texas, they'd have sense
  enough to carry water," the Texan shoots back.
  
• The ringmaster asks what the gimmick behind Buck and Wanda's act is
  -- "You know, cowboy and Indian princess, pirate and captured princess,
  jack the Ripper and... princess..." Apparently, princesses spend much
  of their time standing very still while sharp objects are hurled at
  them. Why isn't THAT is any of the Disney movies?