Bones 7.06 The Crack in the Code

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hanneDK
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Bones 7.06 The Crack in the Code

Post by hanneDK »

As I've said on Twitter this episode has made it into my top 5 favorites and you can hate me now, but this new villain, for me he's way scarier than the Gravedigger.
They both play with your mind and they are both very intelligent in their own way but there's just something about this guy that I can't figure out.. Guess it's because he uses the things we are use on a daily basis against us.. Like what he did with Angela's computer.

I also liked how Sweet's "translated" those listings Bones found in the paper and he's right about it.. :-)

TJ did a great job as usual - loved seing him getting all frustrated because he couldn't figure out the mystery of the numbers/letters.
And did I hear right, we learnt a little more about his family history - having a grandfather who cracked codes during a war (didn't get which one, sorry)

Loved the look exchanged between Wendell and Hodgins - you could totally see what they where thinking: EXPERIMENT!
When the bomb didn't go off as they had hoped I really thought that Hodgins would have approaced the dummy and then getting all that yuck on him but no.. although their shock, priceless.

Have to watch it again later so I can put more up but I had to tell what I felt/thougth about the Winter finale.. Can't wait for them to come out of hiatus again :D
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skftex
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Re: 7.06 The Crack in the Code

Post by skftex »

Well, not sure but think I'm probably in the minority with this one. I didn't like it. I wasn't impressed with Pellant, thought a lot of that was just stupid. There have been cases that they've been able to prove people with ankle monitors have been able to modify them to "trick" the system...so I don't understand why they'd not question right away how he could have modified the thing given they KNOW he's a "computer genius", but once they get the info he was monitored and at home Booth says well he couldn't have done it and leaves? Also, why wasn't the stuff he said when they brought him in later, right there in the interrogation room, considered a confession? He pretty much told them he did it...that'd be enough to arrest him at least???

I also have a huge problem with Pellant saying he knew that Hodgins would like the code in the spine. How could he have known that? When have we EVER seen Hodgins breaking codes in any other case that Pellant could have read about? They just suddenly gave Hodgins a trait so that this guy could say he knew Hodgins would love it when most of the time when it comes to codes it was either Zach or Angela that worked with them. Maybe I just am forgetting something but I just think most of the time when they needed something solved by Hodgins it was more trying to pinpoint an area where they would have found a certain combination of elements or plants or bugs.

That leads me to the "this guy is a genius because he can code a worm onto a bone". He certainly would be a genius to be able to do so but Angela would have had to be some sort of genius to have designed some sort of scanning technology that could have read that as a digital sort of program. Things that are scanned are not suddenly true digital representations of the things that were scanned, it takes many scans to create a 3D representation and even then that isn't a true digital representation. Its a composite. If Angela's computer could make it a true digital representation she'd be able to make holographs of the Star Trek: Next Generation kind (which even the original Angelator did not do) AND she saw it on the bone and recognized it as the source of the worm, so basically aren't they just saying that Angela is as good with computers as this guy is? So get Angela to look at his ankle monitor she's as much of a genius as he is so she could solve it in two seconds. :D

I also don't believe anything Sweets said would make Brennan suddenly decide she doesn't need to go out in the field with Booth. She wouldn't have listened to Booth about it, and she doesn't even respect Sweets as much as she does Booth.

The ending was cute, that she recognized the "bones" of the house, though I don't really understand why the house was in that condition if it had belonged to a criminal...was it just being built? I couldn't tell. Thought it looked like it had been destroyed.
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jade.stormcloud
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Re: 7.06 The Crack in the Code

Post by jade.stormcloud »

I just finally got around to seeing this on Hulu. I thought the case was interesting, but I hate the criminal. I just can't stand repeat baddies. I never understood this idea that people want characters that they "love to hate." I don't love hating people. If there's a bad person, I just want them gone. I want the good guys safe & happy & the bad guys to get what's coming to them. Frankly, If I had been there, I'd've been tempted to just shoot the guy. He basically confessed & taunted them with the fact that they wouldn't be able to prosecute. I'd be sorely tempted to blow him away & consider the jail time worth the lives it'd save.

Anywho... As for why he'd thought Hodgins would like the code... maybe he knew Hodgins' family history; he seemed to have done some research on them. However, even without information about Hodgins' grandfather (which, btw, I do like learning more about his history & family :) ), I would've assumed he'd like solving codes. Codes & conspiracy theories go hand in hand.

I agree that it seems painfully clear that the guy could have manipulated the ankle bracelet. I'd think after he basically confessed, that they'd at least study it, &/or put him under increased surveillance, possibly with constant police supervision if possible. I'm also surprised that no one seems to have thought of the possibility that he might have an accomplice. He could always be providing guidance and tools to someone else while never leaving the house. After all, Epps managed to keep killing people and taunting them all from prison.

I'm not sure that Brennan actually listened to Sweets' advice. It's possible that at almost 8 months pregnant, she's just feeling too fatigued to go running around after suspects. :icon-razz:

The ending seemed very abrupt to me. The credits kicked in after B&B settled on their house, & was like "That's it?!" I had to rewind to make sure that I hadn't missed anything. Nope, it just sorta cuts out in the middle of this story. Not even a "To be continued..." At least with the gravedigger eps, we always got a resolution to the current crisis: heroes in trouble, puzzles solved, big climax & our heroes are rescued. This didn't feel like a complete story; it just felt like they ran out of time. :eusa-think:
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jade.stormcloud
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Re: 7.06 The Crack in the Code

Post by jade.stormcloud »

I know I'm crazy, but I was curious about how they got the final numbers from the vertebrae. It seemed a bit off, so I went back through & looked, & there is some definite weirdness with what’s on the screens sometimes. For instance, when Hodgins tells her to take out the ones that were broken, even though the screen rearranges, none of them were actually removed.

The first thing they show is:

CBDGTTOUXLAWEEPVFZDNHYCM

I assume this is what they’ve come up with using some sort of cipher, but I have no idea how they got there. That doesn’t really seem to matter, though, because Hodgins has her erase it, & they start over from the listing of vertebrae:

C1 T9 C2 C5 T1 C7 L4 T2 T5 L1 T8 T4 T12 C3 L5 T3 C4 T7 T11 L3 C6 T6 T10 L2

I imagine this is supposed to be the order they were arranged in (however, when Wendell was listing them off earlier, he mentioned T7 and C4 after T1). Next, Angela suggests they just look at the numbers. What we should see is this:

1 9 2 5 1 7 4 2 5 1 8 4 12 3 5 3 4 7 11 3 6 6 10 2

What we actually see is this:

20166 3117 353 48152475291

Now this doesn’t make sense at all until you realize that the digits are suddenly reversed for some reason, and a few have been removed (T1, T12, & C4, though the gaps aren’t all in the right spots). T1 was mentioned as having broken transverses & C4 had the right one broken. I don’t recall if T12 was mentioned, but I guess we can assume it was broken as well.

From there, they solved:

20166: Dulles zip code
4815247: phone number for Justice Department Archive Building
3117: with the re-addition of the half-broken C4 as a “C”, they get 3117 C Street, the address for the Justice Department Archive Building
353: room number
5291: keypad code

I wonder why he needed to give them both a phone # and address for the building. Maybe he just wanted to use up more vertebrae.

Of course, I really wonder why the numbers suddenly got reversed; it seems like there should have been some explanation there. The problem of the misplaced spaces is probably just sloppiness. :P
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ThyneAlone
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Re: 7.06 The Crack in the Code

Post by ThyneAlone »

Well people, I can but thank you for this, because on the first occasion I have had a bit of time to sit down and watch the ep, not only has it taken a good 20 minutes to find a site that didn't splatter me with ads, tell me firmly that I am in the wrong country to view this, demand I get an add-on or offer me an account, but the site I found streamed appallingly and then my Net cut out, only briefly but, obviously, enough to stymie my chances of further watching. I saw 14 minutes of the programme and it feels like I've wasted about 90 minutes of my life.

I have to say it isn't looking madly promising, though TJ is doing his usual excellent job. These serial killers are just so tedious and unconvincing. The only one I liked was Epps. All this intricate puzzle setting actually makes me feel distanced from the reality of brutal murder. Gormagon was what put me off S3 and I could quite happily have settled for the Gravedigger being caught in her first ep. The longer they go on the more ludicrous it seems they are managing all this without help or with just one other person.

Jade, got to say thanks for all your interesting deductions. I'll be intrigued to see the rest of it despite my initial reaction. When I'll be ready to go through all that again, goodness only knows!
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skftex
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Re: 7.06 The Crack in the Code

Post by skftex »

Wow Jade. I'd never have thought to go through all of that. Awesome!
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Blessed are they who see beautiful things in humble places where other people see nothing.-Camille Pissarro