For most people, I'm guessing the best parts of last night's episode of Bones, "The X in the File," were the long-overdue Mulder (David Duchovny) and Scully (Gillian Anderson) references. Booth (David Boreanaz) and Bones (Emily Deschanel) were summoned to Roswell, New Mexico, to examine the remains of an alien-like body. The pair played with UFO toys, snooped around alien-themed diners, and even found a cell phone with an X-Files ringtone—and the episode was obviously a big hit. But the "alien" storyline, however satisfying to Bones and X-Files diehards, left me pretty cold. The episode almost felt like filler, meant to pad the season as Bones nears its 100th episode (which airs in April) and appease fans. A pity, too, because the out-of-state trip could have led to interesting developments in the Booth-Bones relationship.

I think the episode's more interesting storyline was playing out back in D.C. at the Jeffersonian, where love triangle between Hodgins, Angela, and Wendell finally hit a breaking point. While Angela (Michaela Conlin) and Wendell (Michael Grant Terry) were off enjoying each others' company, we saw Hodgins (T.J. Thyne) struggle with real emotions like grief and sadness. Most shows would float a character like Hodgins in a sea of jealousy, but Bones is much more human than its "procedural" exoskeleton would have you believe. Like The Sopranos, Bones employs the use of the "wise psychologist," Lance Sweets (John Francis Daley), to explain what the characters are feeling when they can't say it themselves. And that way, we see the characters grow even when they're suffering, instead of wallowing in self-pity. It's all very mature and very logical—and it wouldn't be Bones without a logical explanation for everything, now would it?

I hope that Cam's (Tamara Taylor) life comes back into focus pretty soon. We saw her mother-daughter relationship with Michelle take flight earlier in the season, but what about her romantic life? She should find herself an intern.

What did you think of the episode?