The BEST episodes of Bones season 1

Every episode of Bones season 1, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Bones season 1!

Forensic anthropologist Dr. Temperance "Bones" Brennan and cocky F.B.I. Special Agent Seeley Booth build a team to investigate murders. Quite often, there isn't more to examine than rotten flesh or mere bones.

Last Updated: 12/11/2024Network: FOXStatus: Ended
The Woman in Limbo
star
7.87
2213 votes

#1 - The Woman in Limbo

Season 1 - Episode 22 - Aired 5/17/2006

Brennan receives some bones to identify, but is stunned when she discovers that the remains are those of her mother who disappeared when she was 15 years old. The determined date of her mother's death leaves Bones confused and angry.

Directors: Jesus Trevino
Writer: Hart Hanson
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Two Bodies in the Lab
star
7.79
2110 votes

#2 - Two Bodies in the Lab

Season 1 - Episode 15 - Aired 3/15/2006

When Brennan decides to give online dating a try, she ends up the target of a shooting at the local restaurant where she's meeting her date. The resulting investigation reveals that the shooter could be connected to either of the two cases she's currently working on.

Directors: Allan Kroeker
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
The Girl in the Fridge
star
7.73
2355 votes

#3 - The Girl in the Fridge

Season 1 - Episode 8 - Aired 11/29/2005

Brennan is about to go out for dinner with her old professor and ex-lover when Booth asks her and her team to help identify the remains of a young woman found in a refrigerator.

Writer: Dana Coen
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
The Man in the Fallout Shelter
star
7.69
2341 votes

#4 - The Man in the Fallout Shelter

Season 1 - Episode 9 - Aired 12/13/2005

Brennan and her team are brought in to identify the body of a man found in a fallout shelter. While cutting into the bones of the man, Zach accidentally releases a deadly fungus, causing the team to be quarantined over Christmas.

Directors: Greg Yaitanes
Writer: Hart Hanson
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
A Boy in a Tree
star
7.68
2567 votes

#5 - A Boy in a Tree

Season 1 - Episode 3 - Aired 9/27/2005

When the decaying corpse of the Venezuelan Ambassador's son is found hanging from a tree on the campus of an exclusive private school, a simple suicide case quickly turns into a web of lies, sex and scandal involving the school's staff and students.

Writer: Hart Hanson
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
The Man on Death Row
star
7.67
2354 votes

#6 - The Man on Death Row

Season 1 - Episode 7 - Aired 11/22/2005

A death row inmate asks for Booth's help to prove his innocence before he is scheduled to be executed. Booth agrees and asks Brennan and her team to help him out.

Writer: Noah Hawley
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
The Man in the S.U.V.
star
7.67
2808 votes

#7 - The Man in the S.U.V.

Season 1 - Episode 2 - Aired 9/20/2005

When a man is killed driving an SUV registered to a Middle Eastern man, Dr. Brennan and her team find themselves tracking a terrorist.

Directors: Allan Kroeker
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
A Boy in a Bush
star
7.66
2378 votes

#8 - A Boy in a Bush

Season 1 - Episode 5 - Aired 11/8/2005

Booth asks Brennan to help locate and identify the remains of a six-year-old boy, Charlie, who went missing from a local park.

Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
The Graft in the Girl
star
7.65
2088 votes

#9 - The Graft in the Girl

Season 1 - Episode 20 - Aired 4/26/2006

The team helps Deputy Director Sam Cullen's daughter, Amy, when she contracts a rare form of lung cancer after receiving a bone graft. Booth and Brennan learn she is not the only victim with this rare form of cancer.

Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
The Woman in the Car
star
7.64
2484 votes

#10 - The Woman in the Car

Season 1 - Episode 11 - Aired 2/1/2006

When a woman’s burned body is found in a car with signs that her child was kidnapped, Brennan and Booth suspect the father, Carl Decker. But things get complicated when Decker turns out to be in the Witness Protection program.

Directors: Dwight Little
Writer: Noah Hawley
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
The Man in the Morgue
star
7.63
2111 votes

#11 - The Man in the Morgue

Season 1 - Episode 19 - Aired 4/19/2006

A trip to New Orleans leaves Bones beaten, bloodied, and suspected of murder while plunged into the world of voodoo.

Watch Now:Apple TV
The Man with the Bone
star
7.57
2064 votes

#12 - The Man with the Bone

Season 1 - Episode 18 - Aired 4/5/2006

A human finger bone found in the clutches of a drowning victim leads to a search for buried treasure.

Directors: Jesus Trevino
Watch Now:Apple TV
The Man in the Bear
star
7.55
2531 votes

#13 - The Man in the Bear

Season 1 - Episode 4 - Aired 11/1/2005

Brennan and Booth travel to Washington to investigate a human arm that was found in the stomach of a black bear.

Directors: Allan Kroeker
Writer: Laura Wolner
Watch Now:Apple TV
The Skull in the Desert
star
7.53
2141 votes

#14 - The Skull in the Desert

Season 1 - Episode 17 - Aired 3/29/2006

While on vacation, Angela's boyfriend goes missing . When a skull shows up, she asks Brennan for help in identification, concerned it might be her boyfriend or the female guide who went missing with him. The investigation leads the team to a violent boyfriend, the local sheriff and ultimately to a counterfeiting ring setup in the desert.

Directors: Donna Deitch
Writer: Jeff Rake
Watch Now:Apple TV
The Woman in the Tunnel
star
7.53
2122 votes

#15 - The Woman in the Tunnel

Season 1 - Episode 16 - Aired 3/22/2006

Brennan and Booth stumble upon a subterranean world of homeless people when they find the remains of a filmmaker in the ventilation shaft of an underground tunnel.

Directors: Joe Napolitano
Watch Now:Apple TV
The Woman at the Airport
star
7.51
2239 votes

#16 - The Woman at the Airport

Season 1 - Episode 10 - Aired 1/25/2006

Brennan and Booth investigate the body parts of a woman found near L.A. International Airport. Their investigation is slowed due to extensive cosmetic surgery the victim had done.

Directors: Greg Yaitanes
Writer: Teresa Lin
Watch Now:Apple TV
Pilot
star
7.49
4067 votes

#17 - Pilot

Season 1 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/13/2005

Pilot episode. After returning to Washington, D.C., renowned forensic anthropologist Dr. Temperance Brennan is called in by FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth to aid an FBI investigation involving a set of bones found hidden in a lake.

Directors: Greg Yaitanes
Writer: Hart Hanson
Watch Now:Apple TV
The Superhero in the Alley
star
7.48
2184 votes

#18 - The Superhero in the Alley

Season 1 - Episode 12 - Aired 2/8/2006

Brennan and Booth investigate the origins of a decomposed body that's been found in a local alley and determine it's the remains of a shy teen with an alter ego.

Watch Now:Apple TV
The Woman in the Garden
star
7.45
2274 votes

#19 - The Woman in the Garden

Season 1 - Episode 13 - Aired 2/15/2006

Booth and Brennan investigate when a dug up corpse is found in the back of a gang member's car. While being questioned, a drive-by shooting allows him to escape. Booth and Brennan follow the clues, which lead them to an empty grave and another body in a grave at a wealthy senator's house, where the gang member used to work.

Writer: Laura Wolner
Watch Now:Apple TV
The Man in the Wall
star
7.40
2440 votes

#20 - The Man in the Wall

Season 1 - Episode 6 - Aired 11/15/2005

When Brennan and Angela get caught in a fight in a dance club, Brennan kicks someone into a wall, which causes the wall to break open and reveal a mummified corpse and a meth stash.

Directors: Tawnia McKiernan
Watch Now:Apple TV
The Soldier on the Grave
star
7.37
2099 votes

#21 - The Soldier on the Grave

Season 1 - Episode 21 - Aired 5/10/2006

Brennan and Booth investigate an apparent suicide in Arlington National Cemetery, but soon discover it is a murder linked to a military cover-up.

Directors: Jonathan Pontell
Watch Now:Apple TV
The Man on the Fairway
star
7.35
2247 votes

#22 - The Man on the Fairway

Season 1 - Episode 14 - Aired 3/8/2006

Brennan and Zach investigate a small jet crash that was carrying some Chinese diplomats and a woman. At the crash site, Brennan finds some bone fragments that do not belong to any of the passengers, but might belong to a man who has been missing for five years. Although ordered to work only on the diplomats, Brennan and her team go rogue to try to discover the identity of the extra bones.

Directors: Tony Wharmby
Watch Now:Apple TV