10 Weirdest Episodes of Bones Fans Still Think About 8 Years Later

When the crime procedural series Bones debuted in 2005, it joined a host of similar series in the same genre. For Bones to thrive, it had to set itself apart. They did just that by having a surly FBI Special Agent and a genius Forensic Anthropologist lead a team of quirky scientists as they investigate some of the most bizarre crimes ever depicted on television.

Bones is a series that is unafraid to be weird. Bones regularly pushes the envelope in a way that hooks viewers into the episodes. This series has produced incredibly unique episodes for a genre where repeated plotlines are standard procedure. These episodes of Bones are fantastically strange and proof of the series’ unique brilliance.

10 "The Headless Witch In the Woods" is Inspired by an Iconic Found-Footage Horror Movie

«The Headless Witch in the Woods» sees FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth and Forensic Anthropologist Dr. Temperance Brennan respond to a grisly crime scene in a reportedly haunted forest. The decapitated body of a film student is discovered with a camera documenting his final moments. The way his body mirrors a local legend of a headless witch, and the camera shows his terrifying final moments, which are pulled right out of a horror movie. The team is unsettled and looks to find who, or what, killed the student.

«The Headless Witch in the Woods» emulates the famous horror film The Blair Witch Project. The film student victim had dragged some of his friends into the haunted woods to film a found-footage style horror movie about Maggie Cinders, the mythical witch haunting the woods who had her head cut off. In a shockingly cold twist, it’s revealed that the victim drugged and terrorized his friends in the woods to film them for his movie. The twists keep coming as the tape reveals things that the scientists have trouble explaining.

9 "Spaceman in the Crater" has a Premise That is Out of This World

Season 2 episode «Spaceman in the Crater» contains one of the most gruesome crime scenes in the season. The team responds to a crime scene in an open field where the victim appears to have fallen from a great distance, potentially from outer space. The team’s entomologist and resident conspiracy theorist, Dr. Jack Hodgins, believes that the body could potentially be related to aliens. However, the team soon learns the body is that of an astronaut.

Space is truly uncharted territory for series that aren’t science fiction. Bones does a great job of making the science accessible and deconstructing the issues faced by astronauts that the victim and his loved ones were facing. «The Spaceman in the Crater» is an undeniably odd episode, but Bones broke it down perfectly without taking away any of the appeal.

8 "Double Trouble in the Panhandle" Sends Booth and Brennan on a Wacky Undercover Assignment

Season 4 episode «Double Trouble in the Panhandle» presents the team with one of their most shocking cases yet. The victims are conjoined twins who worked for a circus, making some of their prime suspects circus folk. Due to the insular environment, the victims work in, Booth and Brennan go undercover as a dynamic duo of circus performers to find the twins’ killers.

Having the main crime solvers of the series go undercover as circus performers is proof that Bones is one of the most creative crime shows of its time. Undercover, Booth and Brennan reveal new sides to themselves and also meet a unique cast of characters among the circus performers. This episode can be quirky while keeping the show’s grim edge. «Double Trouble in the Panhandle» is a fantastic example of how taking a creative risk can have a massive payoff.

7 "The Double Death of the Dearly Departed" is a Darkly Hilarious Episode

«The Double Death of the Dearly Departed» sees the Jeffersonian Institute scientists, as well as Booth and Sweets, come together for the funeral of a Jeffersonian colleague. What seems to be an ordinary service soon is thrown into disarray when Brennan notices anomalies in the body of the deceased. The team must investigate on the down low to avoid upsetting the deceased loved ones and prove their colleague has been murdered before he’s buried.

«The Double Death of the Dearly Departed» has some Bones funniest moments. From Brennan and Booth sloppily stealing a corpse to Booth retrieving money from the victim’s body owed him from a fantasy sports pool, this episode is delightfully bizarre. The case is incredibly unique and the secretive nature of the investigation brings out new sides to the characters who are used to operating in the open.

6 "The End in the Beginning" Depicts the Bones Characters in a Whole New Light

«The End in the Beginning» reimagines the Bones crew as employees and adjacent guests of a nightclub called ‘The Lab’. The staff are shocked when a guest is murdered in the club’s bathroom. The employees are now all suspects, and the chief among the suspects are the married owners of the club, Booth and Brennan.

«The End in the Beginning» is one of the most unique episodes of Bones. It takes place in Booth’s coma dream after he recovers from brain surgery. Brennan is beside him in his hospital room as he recovers and reads a manuscript she’s writing aloud to him. Booth, in turn, imagines he is inside this fictional world. Arguably the biggest plot twist is at the end, where Booth awakens and reveals that he believes everything he has been dreaming is real as a side effect of the surgery. This Bones finale episode is an undeniable fan favorite.

5 "Harbingers in the Fountain" Blends Psychic Ability and Hard Science

Season 5 premiere episode «Harbingers in the Fountain» opens the season with a truly bizarre case. The Jeffersonian tech whiz, Angela Montenegro, introduces her team to her psychic, Avalon Harmonia. She shares that Avalon has a vision of a mass grave beneath a local fountain. Avalon turns out to be correct, and one of the bodies found is her twin sister. Booth and Brennan must uncover the truth and separate scientific truth from psychic fiction.

«Harbingers in the Fountain» is the first appearance of the recurring psychic character Avalon, whose psychic gifts ruffle the Jeffersonian skeptical scientists’ feathers. Bones is a show that has a foundation of serious science, but on more than one occasion, they are confronted with paranormal activity that can’t always be explained away.

4 "The Proof in the Pudding" Involves the Team in a Government Conspiracy

«The Proof in the Pudding» sees the Jeffersonian scientists and Dr. Sweets being forcibly recruited by a shadowy government agency. Locked down in the lab after hours by literal men in black, the team is tasked with identifying the cause of death of a mysterious skeleton. While Booth fights to reunite with his team, the scientists uncover a shocking possible identity of the skeleton that could change American history as they know it.

«The Proof in the Pudding» puts the team in an unfamiliar situation. Normally, their government partnership with the FBI is symbiotic. Instead, they are at the mercy of the government and have to prove their worth or risk the wrath of the ‘Men in Black’. The lack of transparency puts the team on edge and makes them resort to unorthodox tactics in this investigation.

3 "The Devil in the Details" Puts the Fear of God in the Team

«The Devil in the Details» sees the team respond to one of the most terrifying crime scenes that Bones has ever depicted. The burned body of a mentally ill man who underwent cosmetic surgery to appear demonic is found on a church altar. The religious elements and allegories continue to permeate the case as they investigate Havenhurst Sanitarium, where the victim was treated.

The dark undertones and the religious elements of the case produce an unsettling aura. The sinister premise of the episode evokes feelings more akin to a horror movie like The Exorcist, but the episode has the wit and plot creativity fans know to expect from a Bones episode. Episodes such as «The Devil in the Details» show that Bones can perfectly balance the dark nature of the show with its characteristic upbeat tone.

2 "The Babe in the Bar" has Literal Death by Chocolate

«The Babe in the Bar» is wacky and gory in a way that only Bones could pull off successfully. When a popular chocolate company debuts a massive bar as a publicity stunt, the skeleton of an employee is discovered in the center. This employee was a pathological liar and had a complex personal and professional life, resulting in a long suspect list for Booth and Brennan to investigate.

«The Babe in the Bar» does a good job of keeping the viewers in suspense as the plot unfolds. This episode serves as a good example of how Bones can maintain the shock of intrigue brought on by the initial discovery throughout the investigation. «The Babe in the Bar» is clear evidence that Bones is unafraid to put skeletons in just about anything and that they can still make a successful episode out of it.

1 "The Resurrection in the Remains"

«The Resurrection in the Remains» is a crossover episode with the popular fantasy series Sleepy Hollow. Sleepy Hollow follows Ichabod Crane, who appears in Sleepy Hollow 200 years after his death. With the help of local policewoman Abby Mills, they investigate paranormal happenings in Sleepy Hollow.

These two series couldn’t be more different. Bones is a show rooted in science and facts, and Sleepy Hollow is an unapologetic fantasy series based on the works of Washington Irving. However, Bones is known for being irreverent when it comes to paranormal plots, so this crossover works out in a fantastically weird way. «The Resurrection in the Remains» is evidence that a series that dares to be wacky is capable of anything.