This was the best episode of Bones ever. Period. 

When the Ghost Killer saga came to an end in Bones Season 9 Episode 22, I wasn't shy about expressing how disappointing it was. It felt disjointed and unfinished. Apparently it was.

The case  in Bones Season 9 Episode 24 wasn't directly related to the Ghost Killer, per se, but to the layers of the government that Mr. McNamara bribed to allow Stephanie McNamara to carry on with her killing. There were enough people concerned about how close Booth and his team at the Jeffersonian were getting to everything they had done over the years by investigating the McNamaras that they created an elaborate plan to trap Booth.

It's very comforting to know the writers had more up their sleeves with regard to everything that happened around the Ghost Killer. That it was so completely different than anything that could have been expected was just brilliant.

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We don't have confirmation, of course, that the entire promotion was all a setup to get close to Booth and get him out of the bureau, but the facts sure to point to that scenario. It saddens me to think that someone with such amazing skills, who worked on behalf of their country and personally felt the ramifications of the job he did years later could be used so horribly.

Booth wasn't being considered for a sniper position, but was right to call it to memory, because it was his work as a sniper that the McNamaras (or whoever is running the show now that they're all gone -- their corporate interests?) used to bring Booth down.

A conspiracy theorist named Foster called Booth with news connected to the family. When Booth got to the location, he discovered a burned out camper and a dead body. They always say you're not really paranoid if people are truly after you, and when Fisher peeled a nipple off of the ceiling, it became clear that this guy was hiding something pretty deep. What appeared to be a nipple ring was actually a computer chip. For all of you with piercings, you now know where to keep your most coveted information.

A couple of factors made Booth keep any evidence in the case under wraps. First, he didn't want it to be used in conjunction with his appointment to the base in Germany. Second, he didn't want otherwise innocent people to be undone by the information collected by Foster.

Unfortunately, someone has a lot of access to very sensitive information. People got files they should never have had. Even Brennan's false report to about the death of Foster to buy the team time to discover what was truly going on didn't have the effect needed.

Shortly after Booth was ruined in front of the congressional committee, Hodgins and Angela went to work on the nipple chip and found the remainder of the information. The congressman was being bribed with a photo of him in a compromising position with another man. Booth confronted him, fully expecting the congressman to make a call that would eventually lead them to Foster's killer. 

Angela got a lead that a team of Delta Force member were on the way to kill Booth. Their message through the committee was not received, so they fully intended to take him out for good. While he prepared to meet his own assassins, the Jeffersonian was hacked, but Angela had put into place a 90 second failsafe to warn her of a potential hack, giving her enough time to clean the drive of any needed information while still letting the hackers think they made a clean sweep and shut them down.

It was unreal watching Booth arm his own home with C4 and rig his most prized possessions as explosive devices to help him take down a killing force. It was also fantastic to see that side of the military man and sniper we've heard so much about. 

Booth is a fighting machine. He knew exactly what to do to take care of himself, even if he didn't win in the end. The action sequence was well planned and executed. Brennan didn't want to leave his side, and her return with new information -- that the killer was a lefty -- saved Booth's life. She got off some successful shots stopping someone just long enough for Booth to catch his breath and end the man's life by snapping his neck. Booth collapsed on top of him, shot and physically spent.

Brennan sat at the hospital waiting to find out the fate of her husband. He was fighting again, for his life. He lost the fight briefly before surgeons revived him. The surgery was a success, but Brennan had to face even more difficult news. Booth was being arrested for killing three FBI men. She immediately stood up for Booth, saying they were sent to kill Booth and he was protecting himself, adamant until she ended up in custody, as well.

There has been a bad apple in the Jeffersonian before, and given all that went down in the finale, it's difficult not to imagine there might be another in their midst. How else would the information from the nipple chip made its way to others if not through hacking or by the hands of someone close to team?

Where could this possibly leave us for Season 10? Booth was already on administrative leave (read: fired) from the FBI because of the congressional hearing. Depending upon how much of a lesson those involved want to send, Brennan could end up behind bars for her involvement in the shooting, as well. Bones Season 10 could very well start out with their friends fighting to free them from a really sticky situation.

For decades people from all levels of government have been bribed and working on behalf of nefarious individuals to protect their own interests. It won't be easy to track them all down and force them to talk when they're scared to end up in the same place as Booth but with less resources.

It was a really impressive finale and could potentially set the future of Bones to be very different. What did you think? If you missed any of the episodes that set up this amazing finale, you can always watch Bones online via TV Fanatic.

Would you still be interested in Bones if Booth was no longer with the FBI?

Carissa Pavlica is the managing editor and a staff writer and critic for TV Fanatic. She's a member of the Critic's Choice Association, enjoys mentoring writers, conversing with cats, and passionately discussing the nuances of television and film with anyone who will listen. Follow her on X and email her here at TV Fanatic.