The WORST episodes of Bones

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

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: 9/10/2024Network: FOXStatus: Ended
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The Devil in the Details
star
7.26
2989 votes

#1 - The Devil in the Details

Season 5 - Episode 14 - Aired 2/4/2010

Brennan and Booth investigate a set of uniquely disfigured remains allegorizing biblical text. As they acquire more information about the victim, a former patient of Dr. Adam Copeland at Havenhurst Sanitarium, they are confronted with suspects who are hard to characterize as either good or evil. Meanwhile, Jeffersonian intern Arastoo Vaziri reveals a secret about his past.

Directors: Ian Toynton
Watch Now:Apple TV
The Priest in the Churchyard
star
7.26
2069 votes

#2 - The Priest in the Churchyard

Season 2 - Episode 17 - Aired 3/28/2007

A broken water main uproots multiple coffins in an old graveyard. When the team is brought in to identify the bodies for re-interment, they discover a newer skeleton that should not be in the graveyard, which has not been used for 50 years.

Directors: Scott Lautanen
Writer: Lyla Oliver
Watch Now:Apple TV
The Man in the Outhouse
star
7.29
2686 votes

#3 - The Man in the Outhouse

Season 4 - Episode 3 - Aired 9/10/2008

The body of the host of a popular reality TV show is found partially decomposed in an outhouse, and Booth and Brennan must find out who the killer is. Meanwhile, Booth learns that Brennan is juggling two relationships.

Directors: Steven DePaul
Watch Now:Apple TV
The Crank in the Shaft
star
7.29
2186 votes

#4 - The Crank in the Shaft

Season 4 - Episode 6 - Aired 10/1/2008

The remains of a despised office manager are discovered in an elevator shaft, and Booth and Brennan must figure out which employee killed him. After some investigating, they find that the manager had more than a fair share of complaints on file. Meanwhile, Angela and Hodgins try to make peace in the lab after their break-up.

Directors: Steven DePaul
Watch Now:Apple TV
The Ghost in the Machine
star
7.32
2647 votes

#5 - The Ghost in the Machine

Season 8 - Episode 9 - Aired 12/3/2012

The Jeffersonian team investigates the death of a young boy whose soul remains very much alive. When psychic Avalon Harmonia attempts to help the deceased's spirit cross over, each member of the team begins to question his or her own beliefs about life after death.

Directors: Milan Cheylov
Writer: Hart Hanson
Watch Now:Apple TV
The Con Man in the Meth Lab
star
7.32
2439 votes

#6 - The Con Man in the Meth Lab

Season 4 - Episode 9 - Aired 11/12/2008

Booth’s Brother Jared Booth and Brennan investigate the scene where a body was uncovered during a botched practice police raid. The team identifies the body as a struggling inventor’s father who had recently reunited with his son. But when a second body surfaces, the team is led on a trail of deception to find out who was the actual con-man in the inventor’s life. Clark Edison returns to the lab, and he and Hodgins work on piecing together blueprints from one of the inventor’s potentially valuable inventions. Meanwhile, Brennan likes Booth's brother and goes out on a date with him. She learns a thing or too about Booth's past while out on the date.

Watch Now:Apple TV
The Diamond in the Rough
star
7.33
2704 votes

#7 - The Diamond in the Rough

Season 8 - Episode 10 - Aired 1/14/2013

The Jeffersonian team investigates the death of a professional ballroom dancer who was murdered three days before her audition on a popular dancing competition show. In order to solve the case, Brennan and Booth go undercover as dance competitors to see if they can find potential suspects.

Directors: Alex Chapple
Watch Now:Apple TV
The Psychic in the Soup
star
7.34
1635 votes

#8 - The Psychic in the Soup

Season 10 - Episode 11 - Aired 3/26/2015

The Jeffersonian team, with the help of Angela’s psychic friend, Avalon Harmonia (guest star Cyndi Lauper), is drawn into the twisted world of fortune tellers when the body of a local psychic is found decomposing in the trunk of a tree. However, when the team learns more about the victim’s personal life, those closest to her become suspects. Meanwhile, Booth and Brennan debate the pros and cons of Christine’s new imaginary friend and the team remembers Sweets on his birthday.

Directors: Jeannot Szwarc
Writer: Lena Waithe
Watch Now:Apple TV
The Sin in the Sisterhood
star
7.34
3790 votes

#9 - The Sin in the Sisterhood

Season 6 - Episode 12 - Aired 2/3/2011

A body disguised as a scarecrow is found with a bullet wound in a remote cornfield, and the team is forced to work against the clock to avoid a storm and potential complications that would affect the evidence. Booth and Brennan interrogate the victim's three wives, who are also sisters, and learn that jealousy between the sisters and their desire for their husband's attention had caused a major rift in the family. Booth and Brennan also question one relative who disapproved of the victim's polygamy. Meanwhile, Cam loses confidence in her relationship with her on-call doctor boyfriend, but they both realize they need to make their relationship a priority.

Directors: Rob Hardy
Writer: Karyn Usher
Watch Now:Apple TV
The Headless Witch in the Woods
star
7.34
2261 votes

#10 - The Headless Witch in the Woods

Season 2 - Episode 10 - Aired 11/29/2006

While investigating the death of a film student who was working on a documentary about the legend of a headless witch, who haunted woods in the 1700's, Brennan develops a strong bond with the victim's brother.

Directors: Tony Wharmby
Watch Now:Apple TV
The Dentist in the Ditch
star
7.35
3008 votes

#11 - The Dentist in the Ditch

Season 5 - Episode 13 - Aired 1/28/2010

When a human skeleton is discovered in the trenches of an old Civil War battleground, Brennan and Booth are called to the case. Despite the historical location, Brennan quickly identifies the bones as belonging to Dan Pinard, a present-day local dentist. While Booth investigates suspects, including the victim’s former boyfriend, Hodgins and lab intern Vincent Nigel-Murray work doggedly to clean the bones of a stubborn clay residue which is preventing the team from determining a cause of death. Meanwhile, Booth’s brother, Jared, returns from his travels with some suprising news.

Directors: Dwight Little
Watch Now:Apple TV
The He in the She
star
7.35
2403 votes

#12 - The He in the She

Season 4 - Episode 7 - Aired 10/8/2008

Booth and Brennan go to investigate a body found in the Chesapeake Bay. After arriving, they find only the upper torso, giving the team little to work with other than remnants of the victim's breast implants. Brennan and Booth are led to a small church in Maryland, where they find that the victim was a pastor. When the team finds the lower half of the body, they learn that their initial assumptions may not been incorrect.

Directors: Craig Ross Jr.
Watch Now:Apple TV
The Man on the Fairway
star
7.35
2240 votes

#13 - 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
The Bones That Weren't
star
7.36
3717 votes

#14 - The Bones That Weren't

Season 6 - Episode 5 - Aired 11/4/2010

After the skull of a promising young dancer is found lodged in concrete at a construction site, the team must first figure out what happened to the victim’s skeletal structure. After learning the victim quit ballet to pursue hip hop, Booth and Brennan uncover another layer of evidence that points them to a suspect who had a secret relationship with the victim. Meanwhile, when Hannah is put on assignment in a dodgy part of town, her safety is jeopardized and her life is put in critical danger.

Directors: Jeannot Szwarc
Writer: Pat Charles
Watch Now:Apple TV
The Bones on the Blue Line
star
7.36
3153 votes

#15 - The Bones on the Blue Line

Season 5 - Episode 15 - Aired 4/1/2010

When a subway train is thrown off the track by 60,000 gallons of flood water, a partially skeletonized body emerges out of the overflow. While Dr. Sweets, a passenger on the derailed train, copes with post traumatic stress, the rest of the team and intern Daisy Wick get to work on identifying the victim as Martin Aragon, a professional ghost writer caught up in a deadly love triangle. Meanwhile, Brennan releases her second book to great success, but has to accommodate a nosy reporter, and Sweets' near-death experience leads him to make a drastic decision.

Directors: Chad Lowe
Watch Now:Apple TV
The Plain in the Prodigy
star
7.36
2881 votes

#16 - The Plain in the Prodigy

Season 5 - Episode 3 - Aired 10/1/2009

When human remains are found alongside the railroad, Brennan and Booth are called to the case. The bones belong to Levi Yoder, a member of the Amish community who disappeared two months ago, during his Rumspringa, or exploration of the outside world. Brennan and Booth discover that Levi was a piano prodigy, and their investigation leads them to believe that his extraordinary talent may have lead him to an untimely death. Meanwhile, Cam copes with the stress that comes from being a new parent.

Directors: Allan Kroeker
Watch Now:Apple TV
The Beaver in the Otter
star
7.36
2530 votes

#17 - The Beaver in the Otter

Season 4 - Episode 24 - Aired 4/30/2009

When a human body is found inside the strung up Otter mascot uniform of a rival school, Brennan and Booth investigate whether the body inside the costume was dead beforehand, or killed during a Middlesex University bonfire event. The body is identified as Jimmy “Beaver” Bouvier, a fraternity brother at Middlesex University. When Brennan and Booth question his fraternity brothers, they learn that Beaver had a money-making operation on the side and was making a killing of his own. Meanwhile, Booth offers to help his brother Jared find a new job after being dishonorably discharged from the Navy.

Directors: Brad Turner
Watch Now:Apple TV
Boy in the Time Capsule
star
7.37
2029 votes

#18 - Boy in the Time Capsule

Season 3 - Episode 7 - Aired 11/13/2007

On the 20th anniversary, the Foothill High School, class of '87 alumni unearth the time capsule they buried to discover the remains of one of their classmates inside. Booth and Bones investigate the past lives of his classmates in an effort to discover the truth.

Directors: Chad Lowe
Writer: Janet Lin
Watch Now:Apple TV
The End in the Beginning
star
7.37
2452 votes

#19 - The End in the Beginning

Season 4 - Episode 26 - Aired 5/14/2009

The Season 4 Finale. A dead body is found at a club called "The Lab." The team has to do some unexpected and unusual things that have to do with this club. Brennan and Booth may become a couple.

Directors: Hart Hanson
Writer: Hart Hanson
Watch Now:Apple TV
The Soldier on the Grave
star
7.37
2092 votes

#20 - 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
Harbingers in the Fountain
star
7.37
3215 votes

#21 - Harbingers in the Fountain

Season 5 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/17/2009

It's been six weeks since Booth and Brennan have seen each other. Booth has been recovering from brain surgery, and Brennan has been on a dig in Guatemala. Angela's psychic, Avalon Harmonia reveals while reading Angela's tarot cards that there are multiple bodies buried under a Washington,DC fountain. Angela shares the information with Brennan and Booth, but they're both a little skeptical. The lead pans out, and the duo find the remains of 11 bodies exactly where the psychic said they would be. Meanwhile, Sweets has certified Booth mentally fit to return to duty after his brain surgery, but Booth is still experiencing some side effects from the coma.

Directors: Ian Toynton
Writer: Hart Hanson
Watch Now:Apple TV
The Woman in the Whirlpool
star
7.38
1384 votes

#22 - The Woman in the Whirlpool

Season 10 - Episode 20 - Aired 5/28/2015

When the body of a well-known cookie jar collector is found in a riverbank, the Jeffersonian team must submerge themselves into the victim's collector community in order to catch the murderer. Meanwhile, Booth struggles to come to terms with Brennan's decision that he move out of their house due to his gambling addiction and Aubrey has his eye on one of the "squinterns".

Directors: Dwight Little
Watch Now:Apple TV
Fire in the Ice
star
7.39
2726 votes

#23 - Fire in the Ice

Season 4 - Episode 13 - Aired 1/22/2009

When a volunteer fireman is murdered at an ice rink, Booth and Brennan begin the investigation, but Booth must excuse himself due to a conflict of interest. When details come to light, Booth becomes a suspect in the homicide.

Directors: Chad Lowe
Watch Now:Apple TV
Spaceman in a Crater
star
7.39
2102 votes

#24 - Spaceman in a Crater

Season 2 - Episode 19 - Aired 5/2/2007

Brennan and Booth are called to the scene where a dead man has been found in a crater. The investigation leads them to the National Space Agency.

Directors: Jeannot Szwarc
Watch Now:Apple TV
The Boneless Bride in the River
star
7.39
2197 votes

#25 - The Boneless Bride in the River

Season 2 - Episode 16 - Aired 3/21/2007

The team investigate the death of an Asian woman found without any bones left in her body.

Directors: Tony Wharmby
Watch Now:Apple TV