This time Booth and Brennan head out to sunny Los Angeles to solve the murder of an addict to plastic surgery whose body parts were found strewn around a beach(thanks to coyotes!) near the airport. This case proves difficult as the skull itself of the woman had been structurally altered to such a substantial degree that making an identification will be quite difficult. Brennan is also on the West Coast to promote her up coming movie based on her successful novel. This episode focuses on the excessive desire to maintain ones good looks in Hollywood, no matter the cost, including the loss of what makes one unique and interesting in exchange for overwhelming beauty..there's also quite a critique on the profession of plastic surgery and the case yields the possibility that the killer could've been a doctor who used a specific kind of tool to kill the victim. Meanwhile back at the Jeffersonian, Dr. Goodman and Hodgins engage in a battle of wills over the authentication of an Iron Age warrior from the Pict race. There's a marvelous scene where Booth explains his contempt for how an LA FBI agent, Tricia Finn(Claire Coffee), uses his bureau as a stepping stone for a career as a Hollywood screenwriter. Includes a sad indictment on coming to Hollywood in search of the American Dream which often results in high-class prostitution. Funny cameo provided by Penny Marshall(she's considered the front runner in directing a movie based on Brennan's novel).
Review of The Woman at the Airport
