Ty Panitz

Construction workers find a skeleton in an old fallout shelter from the 1950s and the Jeffersonian is brought in to help identify the remains. When Zack cuts into the bone, he accidentally releases spores of the deadly fungus Valley Fever, causing the team to be quarantined in the lab over Christmas. While everyone tries to maintain the holiday spirit, Brennan buckles down to solve the mystery of the fallout shelter.

Booth and Brennan examine the remains of a woman and fetus found in the Delaware Bay. The body is identified as that of Carlie Richardson, a pregnant newlywed whose mysterious disappearance one year ago had been a major national news story. Carlie’s husband Kyle Richardson is immediately thought to be the prime suspect in the case, but he disappears before Brennan and Booth can question him, prompting Booth to call for a manhunt for Kyle. Clues found with the remains throw suspicion in a different direction, and Brennan enlists Booth and her team at the Jeffersonian to recreate the potential scene of Carlie’s murder to get a better idea of the build and body type of the murderer, with shocking results. Meanwhile, Booth is annoyed that his ex-girlfriend Rachel, the mother of his son Parker, is letting Parker spend so much time with her new boyfriend, forcing Booth to be more territorial than Rachel would like.

A body Brennan and Booth think is that of Brennan's incarcerated adversary, serial killer Howard Epps, is burned beyond recognition.

When Booth's son, Parker, finds a finger in a bird's nest, the team launches an investigation to find the rest of the body; Booth asks Sweets to psychoanalyze his son; Sweets confronts Hodgins about his attitude in the lab.

When a skull and various skeletal remains are found in a tree in a nationally protected wooded preserve, Brennan and Booth are on the case to investigate. Back at the Jeffersonian, Brennan learns of her estranged father’s new position as a teacher, a prospect she is less than happy to learn about considering his recent acquittal for murder. In a lucky break, the victim’s bones are identified in a government database as those of an ex-Marine who has been off-the grid for nearly three years. With no records of his whereabouts from the past three years, the team turns to the internet for answers. The investigation eventually leads Brennan and Booth to an ultra-elite private school and a group of rich and powerful families, one of whom the ex-Marine had worked for as a “manny.” As the investigation continues, the team finds Brennan’s father to be an unlikely asset to the case, but Brennan has mixed feelings about her father’s involvement. Brennan and Booth’s investigation delves deep into the world of lies and deception of the ultra privileged families.