Bones - The Truth in the Myth

Posted on 13 June 2018 at 10:57

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"The Truth in the Myth" is episode eighteen of season six of Bones, the forensic drama television series loosely based on the novels and life of anthropologist Kathy Reichs. In this episode, a blood-drained corpse is found - the victim of a Chupacabra?

The Alternative Perils of Online Dating

The episode opens with a man and a woman - who apparently met through an online dating site - in the woods. The man is looking for butterflies, being a rather keen lepidopterist. The woman appears less keen. She tries coming on to him when he spots a lot of butterflies. The woman tries distracting him by pulling the man to the ground, but he is still curious about the butterflies. Until he realises that they are swarming over a dead body and runs of screaming. The woman is rather more composed about the corpse.

Butterflies - Not As Cute At They Look

Hodgins disabuses Booth about what butterflies are actually like before being distracted by a sound as Brennan starts sniffing the corpse, as she can smell sulphur. Hodgins then returns with a goat that had been tethered nearby and Booth comments about the lack of blood at the scene. All the blood has been drained from the body and there are non-human bite marks on it.

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The Suggested Perpetrator - A Chupacabra

The heart is missing from the body, apparently eaten right out of the chest. Mr. Nigel-Murray is in AA - he went into a downward spiral following his Jeopardy! win (he's on Step Nine and is going round apologising to people; for things they didn't know he'd done). He also states that the signs on the body suggest a cryptid - a Chupacabra. A creature which sucks the blood out of victims' bodies and leaves behind a smell of sulphur. The name means 'goatsucker' - Chupacabras are supposed to feed on goats.

The Myth Debunker

The dead man was dressed like a hunter, but all the gear was brand new, so that suggests he was a tourist, not a hunter. So Booth tracks him down fairly easily. Booth has also heard of the man, Lee Coleman; Brennan has not. Coleman has a TV show on which he would go out and debunk myths. Brennan says the myths don't need disproving, as they don't exist. Booth suggests that Coleman was killed by the myth. Brennan does not believe this.

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A Chupacabra Tourist Spot

Coleman was staying at a nearby lodge, one which gets a lot of custom from people coming to look for the Chupacabras that have been sighted in the area. According to Hodgins, the animal that killed Coleman has left behind mammalian hair and reptilian skin, something she says don't exist together on any known animal. Although they appear to be on the Chupacabra. However, the hotel made money from people looking for Chupacabras, so having the cryptid debunked would probably be bad for business. Which does mean that there are some people who have a motive, and at least some of those who have had myths debunked in the past had a motive too. Including a pet psychic who supposedly set a dog on Coleman and a cryptozoologist who lost his show thanks to him.

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Probably a Hoax After All

Brennan does think that Coleman was doing a valuable service. He also had a hidden camera, although it was turned off before the attack. It did capture a sound. Initially, it seems like evidence is building up for the attack being done by a Chupacabra. Until, of course, it doesn't. Hodgins is disappointed that it appears to be a hoax.

What happened is rather different than what might be expected.