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Bones episode analysis, Prisoner in the Pipe Shania Kismet University of Maryland University College ANTA 351 Professor Kenned A Kennedy July 22, 2012 Kismet 2 Bones season 7, episode 7, “Prisoner in the Pipes” originally aired on April 2, 2012. As the title implies, this episode revolves around the body of what is assumed to be escaped prisoner that turns up in the toilet of an unsuspecting family. The initially recovered remains are brought back to the Jeffersonian where “Bones” and her team quickly determine the victim was male and the victim’s eyeball has a lens implant.
Camille examines the lens and discovers a serial number, allowing them to identify the victim as a man named Rob Leaseback who recently escaped from prison. Meanwhile, Hodgkin uses his newest toy??a sewer boot??to explore the pipes near the home where the victim originally surfaced. The camera on the robot reveals more bones. The robot also discovers bars in the sewer right below the prison. They quickly conclude that the victim did not escape through the pipe. He was killed in prison and then dumped in the sewer.
Angela was able to digitally recreate the static’s skeleton using the few sections of bone they had recovered. She also creates a 3-D rendering of the murder weapon, a Shiva. This enabled them to discover the man was stabbed in the ribs with a blade nearly four inches long that also severed his inferior Even cave. The team decided this was the cause of death. The warden supplies the team with a possible Shiva made of paper that was found in the yard. Daisy discovers the victim was likely dismembered with the help of acid.
The mailbox is the likely scene of the crime because it has a large acid bath, but this proves incorrect. Fortunately, the team calls Bones and Booth with new evidence. The Shiva is made of pages from a cook book, and the acid was reduced vinegar. The theory is an inmate named Jackson stabbed Rob, dissolved his body in acid, and then poured him down the drain. Jackson’s motive is because the victim had promised him money. When Jackson discovered Rob had no money, the inmate took his revenge. Meanwhile Bones and Booth are preparing and debating where they should deliver their child.
Both have very strong and differing opinions. Bones wants to have the baby at home where she can “control things,” and Booth wants the baby Ron in a hospital with all the staff and equipment available in case of emergency. This issue is not resolved before Bones suddenly goes into labor as they close the case. They realize they won’t make it to the hospital, so they pull into a winery. The owner allows them to deliver in barn. Booth and Bones have their baby, Christine Angela, alone in a barn in wine country.
As I watched this episode, there were many things that Jumped out at me as unbelievable as a scientist and as a person with common sense. For example, as a mother I understand Bones’ desire to have her baby in a safe and clean environment. She is correct that hospitals are not necessarily the sterile place we would all like to hope they are. Bones goes so far to break out a dark light and begins illuminating leftover biological evidence all over the Kismet 3 hospital and theorizing what kind of fluid it may be.
While the science is sound that you can use a dark light to see biological evidence, the idea that a person would do this is ridiculous. As a scientist, I thought the way the initial remains of the victim where handled was inaccurate. I also found it implausible that they removed a section of sewer and brought it into the Jeffersonian to continue looking for remains. Of the initial remains, Bones uses pieces of the maxilla and maxillary sinus to identify the victim’s sex before they discover the lens implant in the eye.
Nothing from my education says the maxilla and maxillary sinus can be used to identify sex. You can use it to determine race. According to an article in the Journal of Forensic Dental Science, “All permanent maxillary incisors and canines exhibited larger on average sizes in males compared to females, but only canines were found to be statistically significant for sexual dimorphism. The study showed maxillary canines exhibiting significant sexual dimorphism and can be used for sex determination along with other procedures. ” (Changer, Circa, Sings, & Ratios, 2011) This is not what Bones said she used.
The show implies that she used the broken bones of the sinuses, not the teeth attached, to determine the sex. Furthermore, the speed they were able to go through each step of the process of cleaning the bones was unbelievable. Our text book, Forensic Anthropology, says it takes days??even weeks??to properly clean bones using a very rigorous process of boiling, bleaching, and air drying to remove seaside soft tissue (Byers, 2011 p. 117). While I understand why they speed up of the process for television, it leads the common person to believe that this process is quickly done.
If it were ever to affect their lives, they would not understand that the authorities are working has fast as they can. Also after they cleaned the bones, Daisy soaked the clean bones in rose water to freshen them up and help Bones relax. A forensic specialist would never compromise the integrity of the evidence to “freshen them up. ” Another huge issue I have with this episode is Angel’s ability to produce evidence from what appears to be nothing. Using minimal bones, she is able to digitally reproduce a full skeleton.
In Figure 1, you can see Angel’s digital reproduction off full skeleton. The red Figure 1 Kismet 4 Figure 2 bones are the missing pieces ,and the white bones are the reconstructed bones. In Figure 2, you can see her digital reproductions of the stabbing and how the weapon entered the body, causing the nicks in the bone and severing of the inferior even cave. She was also able to make a 3-D rendering of the Shiva used in the murder that they were able to match too Shiva in the prison. While I’m sure the technology exists, the speed at which this is accomplished is unrealistic.
As a team, they are sloppy and miss many techniques that would be considered proper lab technique required by the Food and Drug Administration, Good Lab Practices, the Environmental Protection Agency, or whatever accrediting organization that would provide oversight if they were a real lab. In addition to improper lab procedures, there is no documentation done as they go through the case. There is a lot of guessing while they run tests, but at no point do they make any records of their findings. This would e required as part of the evidence process for possible legal action to be taken.
DRP. Brenna, a. K. A. Bones, is supposed to be a forensic anthropologist. Her role should be in the lab as a forensic anthropologist. She should be the person examining the remains of the skeleton for law enforcement agencies to determine the identity of the bones. While early on she is in the lab, Bones spends most of the episode playing police officer. Angel’s Job description would be a forensic artist. She often uses her artistic ability to provide a face to the bones and to generate a digital rendering of Seibel scenarios that could have been cause of death.
Hodgkin is supposed to have multiple doctorates in things like entomology and botany, but he spends most of the time playing with “new toys” in this episode. The only members of the Jeffersonian team that actually seemed to be doing their true Jobs were an intern and the lab boss. The intern Daisy spent the most time actually examining, cleaning, and analyzing the bones for irregularities. The lab boss Cam supervised the whole process and kept the team on task. Overall this show is very entertaining. For those thou a scientific background, the ideas are spoon-fed to the audience in a way that makes then seem plausible.
Viewers with any knowledge of forensics, science, or lab practices should be able to see past the television portrayal. The show differs from the real world in that it lacks proper laboratory protocols and produces results with unrealistic speed. In the real world, gathering evidence and piecing it together takes more time in order to solve a complex crime. All in all, it is mindless television that does what it should by entertaining the audience with interesting stories while eating p an hour off person’s day. Kismet 5 References: Collier, Jonathan.