Villainess Review: Rose Magnusen (Bones)

Bones is quite an amazing show; there are reasons why this show lasted for a dozen years on FOX. I remember seeing previews for the show during its run; I didn't watch it religiously; though I ended up binge-watching anyway and being drawn into the cases and many of the show's characters, mainly Dr. Temperance "Bones" Brennan and Seeley Booth. The series also had its share of amazing villainesses, with one appearing in the episode "The Cowboy in the Contest."

This was one of several episodes that saw Booth and Brennan play out their familiar undercover personas: Buck and Wanda. In this go-around, the setting was a role-playing Old West-style shooting competition, and the episode's murder victim was Stanley Belridge, an accountant. The pair encountered many participants, including Luke Nicholson (who ran the competition) and his wife, Franny, as well as Rose Magnusen, whose character, Sweet Rose Sadie, was a railroad heiress. We also saw another investigator/participant: James Aubrey. Aubrey loved Western themes and wanted the chance to really get involved, so he joined Booth and Brennan on the investigation.

Regarding suspects, well, the group had a pretty big one in the form of Luke. The reason? Well, it was revealed that he had been embezzling money from his construction company, and as he was confronted by Aubrey, he admitted to the embezzlement, but denied killing Stanley--only admitting to punching Stanley during a confrontation. Luke ended up cleared due to the following horrific detail: Stanley was struck on his head 2,047 times postmortem. Let me repeat that: two thousand and forty-seven times! Yikes! Stanley's body was carried on a horse--in fact, it was the one Aubrey was riding, which actually belonged to Franny, Luke's wife. However, before they could officially pencil in Franny as a suspect, it was uncovered that Franny couldn't have ridden due to her hip injury, and with a woman most likely as the culprit, that left only one other possibility: Rose Magnusen.

Rose's interrogation with Brennan and Booth revealed that she was Luke's mistress, though it was never revealed how long their affair lasted. Regarding the embezzled money, it all went to Rose, who used the ill-gotten loot to buy a ranch and a purebred horse. In addition, while Luke did find out about Stanley's knowledge of Luke's embezzlement, Rose had also known that Stanley found out the truth, and afterwards, Rose shot Stanley to death to cover for not only Luke, but herself as well. She later took Stanley's body via a horse ride and dumped his body in the woods, and it was the stirrups that repeatedly struck his head. Rose admitted to the affair, adding that she and Luke were in love and that Luke only stayed with Franny to spare her feelings, as well as her own wealth. After being officially outed as Stanley's killer, Rose asked Booth and Brennan to give her horse a good home.

"The Cowboy in the Contest" was the ninth episode of Bones' 11th and penultimate season, and aired on December 10, 2015. The episode's villainess, Rose Magnusen, was played by Skyler Vallo, and I really loved Rose--mainly because she had an innocent look, but it also masked her sinister deeds and personality. I can't help but love her Western look, as well as the fact that she was in her attire even as she was being interrogated and revealed. Rose was quite a devious villainess, and regarding Vallo, her performance in the interrogation and reveal was a very stellar one. I did love that Rose's last request was the well being of her horse; it does show humanity, though it doesn't take away from her cold-blooded actions.

Skyler Vallo has a Lifetime movie appearance on her resume; she played school bully Haylee in 2013's Social Nightmare. Regarding TV appearances, Vallo has guest-starred in episodes of Castle, True Blood, and How I Met Your Mother.

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