The team investigates the high-stakes murder of a political journalist who was found dead after recently publishing an article exposing corruption in the NSA. Due to the nature of the investigation, Hodgins' paranoia takes over as the team realizes their every move is being watched. Meanwhile, Brennan secretly tries to plan a surprise for Booth and the whole team celebrates Thanksgiving together.

The team investigates the murder of a police officer that sends shockwaves through both the Jeffersonian and FBI teams. Behavioral analyst Karen Delfs is assigned to work with Booth on the investigation and lends her professional assessments on who the cop killer could be, while Cam must make some decisions in her personal life and the entire team re-evaluates what is truly important to them.