Television usually handles national tragedy with a heavy, often clumsy hand. Most procedurals just go for the easy tears. But when Bones decided to tackle the aftermath of September 11th, it did something different. It stayed quiet. It got small. Bones: The Patriot in Purgatory isn't just another monster-of-the-week episode where Seeley Booth chases a bad guy while Brennan makes a socially awkward comment. It is a bottle episode, mostly, and it feels claustrophobic in the best way possible.
I remember watching this for the first time. The episode aired in 2012, more than a decade after the attacks. You’d think the "relevance" window had closed. It hadn't. By focusing on the "purgatory" of unidentified remains, the writers tapped into a very real, very lingering trauma that many people still carry. It’s about the people we forgot to remember.
The Science of Unidentified Grief
The plot is deceptively simple. Dr. Temperance Brennan, ever the workaholic, decides that her team needs to clear out the backlog of "unidentified remains" stored in the Jeffersonian. These are the cold cases. The nobodies. Among them is a set of remains found in a "John Doe" drawer that Brennan quickly realizes wasn't a victim of a standard street crime.
Basically, the math doesn't add up for a typical murder.
Through forensic analysis—the kind of "squinting" that makes the show famous—they realize these remains came from the Pentagon on 9/11. This changes everything. Suddenly, the sterile lab isn't just a workplace. It becomes a shrine.
Brennan’s interns (the "squinterns") are all there. This is a rare move. Usually, we get one intern per episode because they’re cheaper to film that way. Having them all together—Arastoo, Wendell, Fisher, Daisy, and Clark—creates this weird, high-pressure environment. Arastoo Vaziri, played by Pej Vahdat, steals the entire hour. His perspective as a Muslim American man reflecting on the tragedy provides the episode's emotional spine.
He doesn't give a stump speech. He just works.
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Why "The Patriot in Purgatory" Hits Different
Most Bones episodes follow a rhythm. Body is found, jokes are made, science happens, Booth shoots someone or makes an arrest, and they eat at the Founding Fathers. Bones: The Patriot in Purgatory breaks the mold. There is no villain to catch. The "killer" is a historical event that everyone already knows.
The conflict is internal. It's about whether this man, this "Patriot," deserves to be known.
The team discovers the victim was a homeless man. A veteran. A guy who was at the Pentagon not because he worked there, but because he was trying to help. He died a hero, but because he was living on the margins of society, his disappearance didn't trigger a massive search. He just ended up in a box.
That’s the purgatory.
It’s a brutal commentary on how we treat veterans. Honestly, it’s one of the few times the show gets genuinely political without feeling like it’s lecturing the audience. Booth, a veteran himself, is visibly shaken. David Boreanaz plays it with a subdued intensity that reminds you why he stayed on TV for twenty-plus years. He doesn't have to say much. You see it in his jaw.
Breaking Down the Interns' Reactions
Each intern represents a different facet of how we process collective trauma.
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- Fisher is his usual nihilistic self, but even he can't find a joke.
- Daisy tries to overcompensate with facts.
- Arastoo speaks about the beauty of the victims' souls.
There's a specific scene where they argue about the nature of the attack. It’s tense. It feels like a real conversation people had in 2001, and are still having now. Brennan, the quintessential atheist and woman of logic, has to navigate a room full of people who are grieving for someone they never met.
She finds the "truth" through a fragment of a bone. Specifically, the way the trauma to the bone matches the structural collapse of the building. It’s grisly, sure. But it’s also the only way this man gets his name back.
The Reality of the "Homeless Veteran" Narrative
Is the episode realistic? Mostly.
The Jeffersonian is based on the real-world Smithsonian Institution. While the Smithsonian doesn't typically solve 9/11 cold cases in a high-tech lab with blue holograms, the "Unidentified" problem is a real thing. According to the National Institute of Justice, there are roughly 40,000 sets of unidentified human remains in the United States.
The episode highlights a tragic reality: many people who died or were injured on 9/11 were people "off the grid."
The "Patriot" in this episode, a man named Rodney Swift, represents the thousands of veterans who fall through the cracks of the VA system every year. By naming him, the show gives a voice to a demographic that is often invisible. It’s a bit sentimental, yeah. But it works.
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Technical Accuracy and Forensic Details
The show gets a lot of flack for its "magic" computer systems (looking at you, Angela Montenegro). However, in Bones: The Patriot in Purgatory, the science is relatively grounded. They look at:
- Remodeling of bone tissue: To determine the age of old injuries.
- Particulate matter: Dust found in the bone crevices that matches the specific composition of the Pentagon's construction materials.
- Isotope analysis: Sorta hinted at to track where the victim lived.
When the team realizes the victim was carrying a piece of a plane, the tone shifts from "academic exercise" to "solemn duty."
Why the Ending Still Stings
The final scene doesn't have a big party. It’s just the team at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. They aren't even at a 9/11 memorial. They are honoring the man’s whole life, not just his death.
It reminds us that people aren't defined by the worst thing that happened to them. Rodney Swift was a father. He was a soldier. He was a guy who liked a specific kind of candy. He wasn't just a "victim."
If you're going to rewatch one episode of Bones, this is it. It’s the 150th episode of the series, and it’s arguably the most "human" they ever got. It bypasses the "will-they-won't-they" fluff and the silly gore. It just sits with the weight of history.
How to Watch and What to Look For
If you’re diving back into this episode on Hulu or Disney+, pay attention to the lighting. The lab is usually bright and sterile. In this episode, it feels dimmer. Grayer. The cinematographers clearly wanted to evoke the feeling of a tomb.
Also, watch Arastoo. If you ever doubted the acting chops of the guest cast, his performance here will change your mind. He carries the weight of an entire culture on his shoulders in just a few lines of dialogue.
Actionable Takeaways for Fans and Researchers
- Research the Real Science: Look up the work of real-life forensic anthropologists like Dr. William Bass. The "Body Farm" is a real thing, and it's where much of the science used in Bones originated.
- Support Veteran Causes: The episode’s core message is about the invisibility of veterans. Organizations like the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans do the real work that Seeley Booth advocates for in the show.
- Cold Case Awareness: Check out the NamUs (National Missing and Unidentified Persons System) database. It’s the actual version of what Brennan was doing—trying to give names back to the nameless.
- Rewatch with Context: This was the 150th episode. Compare it to the 100th (the flashback episode) or the 200th (the Hitchcock homage). You’ll see how much more grounded the writing is when they tackle real-world events versus "gimmick" episodes.
The "Patriot in Purgatory" isn't a comfortable watch. It shouldn't be. It’s a reminder that even when the news cameras leave and the memorials are built, there are still stories waiting to be told in the quiet corners of a laboratory. Use this as a jumping-off point to look into how modern forensics are still identifying victims of decades-old tragedies today. The work doesn't stop just because the episode ends.