The notorious Gormogon incident might take the cake for the worst “Bones” storyline according to certain cast members, but it’s “The Ghost in the Machine” — another season 8 offering, like “The Diamond in the Rough” — that occupies last place on IMDb (for whatever value you put on that). Co-scripted by Hanson, “Ghost” is the biggest swing the show ever took from a purely stylistic perspective. The episode unfolds almost entirely from the point of view of the skull of its teenage murder victim Colin Gibson (Cameron DeFaria), which means we get a whole lot of shots of forensic anthropologist Dr. Temperance “Bones” Brennan (Emily Deschanel), FBI agent Seeley Booth (David Boreanaz), and other employees at the Jeffersonian Institute looking right at or talking directly to the camera.

Much like its spiritual predecessor on Fox, “The X-Files,” loved to have Dana Scully’s skepticism go toe-to-toe with Fox Mulder’s open-mindedness before it, “Bones” was always pitting Bones’ hardline rationalism against Booth’s emotionality, and vice versa. “The Ghost in the Machine,” in particular, goes a step further, raising the question of whether Colin’s essence — his soul, if you will — is still linked to the deteriorating shreds of his physical form and can only move on once his murder has been resolved. I won’t spoil exactly how it goes about answering that question, but let’s just say there’s a strong chance the closing moments will either leave you gasping out loud or wanting to chuck something at the wall. Judging by the ratings on IMDb, I’m guessing a lot of “Bones” enthusiasts did the latter when it first aired.

“Bones” is currently streaming on Hulu and Amazon Prime Video.