The charred remains of two people are discovered inside a recently foreclosed house, making the team confused as to how they ended up in such a state. Meanwhile, Booth's grandfather Hank (Ralph Waite) prepares to move in after getting evicted from his retirement home, and gives relationship advice to both Booth and Brennan.
Tropes:
- Body Horror: Hodgins thinks the victim may have fallen asleep holding a lit cigarette, and with their stomach fat to act as candle wax, they would have stayed on fire long enough to cremate the entire body.
- Chubby Chaser: The victim turns out to have been part of a subculture of fat and food fetishists, and stayed in it even after losing weight themselves.
- I Have No Son!: Hank tells Brennan the real reason for why Booth's abusive father abandoned the family - Hank caught him red-handed beating Booth and Jason, and Hank disowned him, telling him he didn't deserve to be a father. He never worked up the courage to tell Booth what happened.
- Ironic Nickname: Hank calls his tall, well-muscled grandson "shrimp", though this is likely a holdover from when he was a lot younger.
- Scatterbrained Senior: Sadly, Hank is old enough that his mind is starting to go, causing him to forget restocking important medication and causing a small kitchen fire while cooking. Since Booth can't be around all the time, they both agree it's better that he returns to assisted living.
- Spontaneous Human Combustion: The team finds ashes of a pair of lovers; Booth suspects SHC, but Brennan says it's just an urban legend. The squints then largely accurately describe the real phenomenon of the wick effect, but mistaking the clothes for the wick rather than the furniture the victim is resting on.
- Strange Minds Think Alike: Hank echoes Max on learning that Booth and Bones aren't sleeping together.Hank: What are you, gay?
