The Princess and the Pear

The Princess and the Pear is the fifteenth episode of the fourth season of Bones.
== Plot ==
With Booth in the hospital with a bad back, Brennan must work with Agent Payton Perrota to investigate the murder of a promotional model for ImagiCon (a parody of the comic book convention Comic-Con). Their investigation leads them to discover that the murder of the woman might be linked to the possession of an age-old prop of Excalibur from a famous French movie, La Mort d'Arthur.
== Summary ==
A group of geeks dressed up like wizards, warlocks and an elf walk through a sewer tunnel. Little do these geeks know the sewer is a good place to find a dead body. Sure enough, the geeks run screaming at the sight of a rotted corpse, which appears to be as dressed up as they are.
The scene cuts to Brennan who visits Booth's apartment. Booth asks Brennan to fix his sore back. Brennan insists that he needs a medical doctor. It turns out that Booth has a herniated disc and will be on bed rest for the remainder of the week. That is why Agent Perrotta will be assisting Dr. Brennan. Neither seems particularly happy about it. When they examine the body, Brennan notes the victim has severe facial damage. Perotta discovers a strange stamp on one rotted hand. Intern Fisher recognizes the stamp from ImagiCon, a fantasy convention that is in town for the weekend. Angela goes to the convention website and finds a photo of a woman in the victim's costume.
Brennan and Perrota head to ImagiCon, where they are shocked to find all levels of geekery on display. "I'm at loss for the anthropological analogue," Brennan says. The pair interviews one of the other convention models, who says the victim talked of sitting on a goldmine. A medieval geek at a nearby booth, Peter Kroon, explains to Perrotta and Brennan what she meant. It turns out that Kendra, the victim, had an Excalibur sword from the famous movie Le Morte d'Arthur. "The prop was worth tens of thousands [of dollars]," Kroon explains. "That sword hasn't been seen in 20 years."
Back at the lab, Brennan gives Booth a call. He practically begs for a massage but Brennan wouldn't give in. Then Perrotta calls Booth to see if the agent needs anything. It seems as if Perrota isn't happy about playing second fiddle to Brennan. Then, Brennan and Perrota enter Kendra's condominium to find it ransacked. It looks like somebody really wanted that sword. Back at the lab, Hodgins has discovered that the blood found on Kendra's princess boots matches a rare toad residing in nearby park. Also, the dirt under her fingernails indicates that she did some digging. Cam thinks that she went for a run, stepped on a frog and buried something.
Perrota, in the meantime, has found an angry message on Kendra's voice mail and plays it for Sweets. "You've got three days," the female voice says. "I want that sword." The pair head to ImagiCon to interview the man who appraised the sword for the upcoming convention auction. Sweets plays the voice mail for the man, who identifies the voice as belonging to Valerie Daniels, a "medieval weapons collector."
Valerie is brought in for questioning. "I like sharp edges," the woman coos. "I like sharp against soft." Sweets swallows hard. Valerie then explains Kendra claimed to have been given the sword as a gift by a man dressed as a Black Knight. "I didn't kill the girl," she says. "I just wanted the sword." Hodgins and Angela, meanwhile, are combing the park with metal detectors for the sword. Before you can say "I am the once and future king," the detectors start beeping wildly. Hodgins finds the sword buried just beneath the surface.
Back at the lab, Sweets and Hodgins have hatched a plan. They will return the sword to ImagiCon and put it up for auction. Sweets will act as a buyer and purchase the sword in a fixed auction. "I'm confident that if our killer is there, this will provoke him to reveal himself," Sweets says. It's just wild enough to work.
Cut to the auction, where Sweet sits in the audience wearing a red Star Trek shirt (bad mojo). Brennan and Perrota watch the crowd via a hidden camera. The former notices a Black Knight standing motionless in the corner. Valerie immediately bids $50,000. Sweets counters with $60,000 and the bidding quickly goes up. A man in a suit soon bids $400,000. Sweets counters with $500,000. This is enough to buy the sword.
As the crowd clears, Perrota confronts the well-dressed man with the British accent. "I represent a group of collectors," he explains. "They wanted the sword." But how badly? We cut to Sweets and Brennan driving home from the auction when a car slams into the driver's side door! None other than the Black Knight emerges from the attacking sedan. This doesn't sit well with Brennan, who stumbles from the wreck and begins fighting with the Knight with Excalibur. Eventually, Brennan gets the best of the Knight, who flees. "Mad props," a bloodied Sweets mutters before passing out.
Back at the lab, Brennan and Sweets are fine. Hodgins runs tests on paint chips left behind by the Black Knight's car. "Paint is from an early 90s Ford Explorer," Hodgins says. Camille, meanwhile, finds the Black Knights blood on the sword (way to go Brennan!). Intern Fisher enters with news: the murder weapon was a "medieval torture device" called the "Pear of Anguish." The device was inserted into the victim's mouth and then slowly opened, crushing the orifice outward. Gross. Brennan takes the opportunity to relive her battle with the Knight. "I was attacked well-trained in archaic martial arts wearing chainmail," she says. Brennan and Hodgins head to the scene of the car accident with the metal detectors. They soon find a piece of chainmail. Bingo.
Back at the lab, Fisher has tracked the chain mail to a man named Peter Kroon. Remember him? Seconds later, Kroon is being interrogated by Perrota and Brennan. "Your car shows that you are the person who drove Dr. Brennan and Dr. Sweets off the road," Perrota says. "Your wound matches the one Dr. Brennan delivered to her assailant. It was your blood on the sword. And we found fragments of your chainmail."
Kroon explains that he loved her. He gave Kendra the sword out of love and she turned around and tried to sell it for rent. Then, Kroon killed her for the offense. Brennan is baffled because he killed Kendra over a movie prop. "You don't understand," Kroon says. "No one understands true love anymore."
== Cast ==
=== Main Cast ===
*Temperance Brennan - Emily Deschanel
*Seeley Booth - David Boreanaz
*Jack Hodgins - T.J Thyne
*Angela Montenegro - Michaela Conlin
*Camille Saroyan - Tamara Taylor
*Lance Sweets - John Francis Daley
=== Intern of the Week ===
*Colin Fisher - Joel Moore
=== Recurring Cast ===
*Payton Perotta - Marisa Coughlan
*Marcus Geier - David Greenman
=== Guest Cast ===
*Valerie Daniels - Tara Buck
*Peter Kroon - Eric Nenninger
*Badgley Mormont - Oliver Muirhead
*Shiny Kopinsky - Betsy Rue
*Bruce Kim - Charles Rahi Chun
*Carl Derf - Poetri
*Mage - Charlie Stewart
*Warrior - Austin Rogers
*Afro Geek - Josh Sussman
*Geek On-Looker - Jon Collins
*Ezra the Elf - Carlon Jeffery	
*Security Guard- Joe Davis
*Elvin Warrior - Ezra Kem
*Stormtrooper - Nathan Mutter	
*Eager Imagicon Attendee - Scott Olsen
*Robin Hood - Arne Starr
*Auction Bidder #1 - Kynt Cothron	
*Auction Bidder #2 - Vyxsin Fiala
== Notes ==
*The title is a variation on the fairy-tale concept of "The Princess and the Pea".
*This is Peyton Perotta's last appearance in the series.
*It's odd for Peter Kroon to be surprised at Bones' knowledge of King Arthur and its mythos. It's a pretty common theme within popular culture.
*Sweets' description of the Excalibur blade as "An elegant weapon for a more civilized age." is, as Agent Perotta observes, an Obi-Wan Kenobi quote from Star Wars: A New Hope.
*Sweets' asks, that since he and Brennan shared the experience of being attacked by the Black Knight, if he can start calling her 'Bones' like Booth. She says no but he tries it out after she has already left.
*Sweets dresses as a red shirted crewman from Star Trek to go undercover at Imagicon and is almost killed in a car accident. There is a running gag in Star Trek where the crewman wearing the red shirt dies.
*Colin Fisher mentions being a fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which starred David Boreanaz. Joel David Moore, who plays Fisher, also guest starred on Buffy's Boreanaz-fronted spin-off Angel.
== I don't know what that means ==
:Fisher: I bet the victim was a booth babe at Imagicon.Brennan: I don't know what that means.
== Quotes ==
:Brennan:[after Perotta hangs up with Booth] I don't need a sitter. Booth gets needlessly protective sometimes. I have no idea why.Perotta: You really don't, do you?Brennan: No.
----
:Angela: So you didn't actually paralyze him?Brennan: No. The Vicodin seems to be working. He claims it makes the furniture feel friendly. But he'll be on bed rest for the remainder of the week.
Category:Season 4
Category:Episodes