Brennan faces off with her former professor/lover Michael when both are drafted as opposing expert witnesses for the same case.
Tropes
- Amoral Attorney: Not a direct example as Bones isn't an attorney, but the exact same Unfortunate Implications of the trope are explored in the episode; Bones and an Old Flame turned Rival are opposing experts in a murder trial. Bones clinically delivers her conclusions, her ex makes somewhat less professional conclusions while chatting up the jury - and implies that Bones isn't really as smart as she sounds. In between sessions, her ex states that he's merely "playing the game" - he's supposed to argue that the evidence supports the defendant, just as she's for the prosecution. In-universe, Bones' consultant argues for impartiality and sweet-talking the jury, but sees nothing wrong with her ex using inside knowledge (which he got by sleeping with her) to attack her character instead of the evidence (the prosecution objects and the judge sustainsnote , but Brennan's consultant waves it off as a technicality; "He looks like a regular guy who's not allowed to speak the truth because the stupid rules get in the way."). This leads into the same Unfortunate Implications as Amoral Attorneys - that scientists aren't supposed to be impartial, but to have agreed in advance as to who is guilty no matter which side they're on.
- Anti-Intellectualism: Bones nearly loses an otherwise Open-and-Shut Case because the opposing expert is chatty and handsome.
- Bones: The jury likes Michael better than they like me, apparently that's a problem. Are they stupid?
Goodman: Compared to you, yes they are stupid. However, compared to you most of the world is a little stupid.
- Broken Pedestal: The opposing expert was one of Brennan’s anthropology mentors and ended up being a jerk who worked for the other side of the case.
- Courtroom Antics: As noted above performed by the defence and their expert witness. This is appropriately shut down by the judge.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Booth prompts the idea of bringing up Brennan's past as part of the prosecution's analysis on the grounds that Michael has already asked why Brennan became an anthropologist as part of his defense, creating the idea that her history is relevant to the current case.
- Introduction by Hookup: Brennan has a one night stand with her former college professor who has just come to town. The next day she discovers that he's the forensic anthropologist that the defense has hired for a trial she's testifying at.
- Teacher/Student Romance: Brennan and Michael were an item while he was her university professor. He's quick to point out that she was an adult by that point. Zach, being Brennan's student, ponders what this might mean for the two of them only for Hodgins and Angela to swiftly shoot that idea down.
- Techno Babble: Played rather darkly where Bones is testifying in court, and her Spock Speak is hindering her testimony, making her appear unsympathetic to the jury. Until the prosecutor, with a little help from Booth, brings up her childhood, which disturbs her enough to start speaking in Layman's Terms.
