Awesome, Kimber.
I ended up voting for:
Aliens in a Spaceship -- 'Nuff said.
Okay, TJ and Emily made me cry. But that's not surprising ... they did amazing work,
really impressive, from start to finish. In fact, everyone had a part to play and did it so well. And I loved the whole 'team effort' in finding their missing colleagues. Great, great episode all around.
Two Bodies in a Lab -- the first time I saw that episode, I was completely fooled and distracted into believing nothing was going on except fun stuff in that scene where Booth and Brennan are singing and goofing around, right up until the moment when that bomb went off in front of Booth. I gasped in such shock and horror -- they totally got me.
And I enjoyed seeing Firefly's Adam Baldwin return to TV (yay!), I savored the tension and mystery of the case, and especially loved the humor within all the drama, like Hodgins showing up at Booth's hospital room and chatting and eating his pudding and driving him to the potential crime scene in his car, and appreciating that Booth actually listened to his conspiracy theory ("Love you, man!"... so funny). Plus, that episode illuminated something deeply personal about Booth, which was a great character development moment. Gotta love that.
The final choice I made... that was a tough one. I wanted to go with Man in the Fallout Shelter, because (hello?!) the sight of TJ took my breath away, and because, on a less 'shallow' note (heh) -- like you mentioned, Kimber, it's such a lovely holiday episode all around, such spirit and heart and loving scenes (and funny scenes). Or, I wanted to go with something involving the romance of Angela and Hodgins, which I enjoy and am so charmed by, so there were many episodes I could have chosen for that interest.
But ultimately, I decided to go with The Blonde in the Game, because the work TJ did in that episode literally made me sit up and pay attention. That fantastic scene he did near the end, when things are down to the wire, and Booth is pushing Hodgins, and he can't work like that, under that kind of pressure, he needs more time to think quietly for a moment, in order to come up with the right possibility of where this girl might be held... and he was getting all worked up and panicked, which was incredibly effective for me as a viewer. I just wanted to say, shut UP, Booth, give him a moment!
And to then have Angela be the one who steps up and calms Hodgins down and helps him refocus in order to come up with the right answer... simply wonderful. And showed a side to Hodgins I don't think we usually see. It's such a standout scene to me; I can't forget it. So that was ultimately my final choice.
Anyone else?