‘Bones’ season 9 spoilers: First photo of McKayla Maroney in new gymnast role

With the Winter Olympics coming up on NBC in just two months, how about an episode of “Bones” themed around one of the most-popular sports in the summer games? The show will be airing on Friday night after a brief hiatus, and it will focus around the world of gymnastics.

This is where McKayla Maroney comes into play. The famed Olympian / Fierce Five member will play the part of the friend of a murdered gymnast, who will be originally targeted as a prime suspect. When you consider just how competitive this sport really is, especially when there are only a few events every four years that give you an opportunity to shine, you could understand where the motive would lie for those people crazy or psychotic enough to through with it.

But even with all of this information in mind, don’t be quick to automatically assume that Maroney’s character is some sort of cold-blooded killer. As a matter of fact, it will be revealed during the episode that the victim had some sort of double life, and this other portion of it may not have anything at all to do with the gymnastics world. This is not going to be some sort of long-term mystery that matters much a week or two from now, but it’s at least a subject that the show hasn’t really taken on before. When you’ve been around nine years, let’s just celebrate for a minute or two that they thought of something new to put on the show. Some of the big plot points, including the arrival of the still-mysterious “Ghost Killer,” will not come until the new year.

But based on what you know about this story, and about Maroney’s character so far, are you stoked to see what happens? As always, we welcome all of your thoughts below! Meanwhile, click here if you want to see a video preview for this episode. We’ll have a full review come Friday night.

Photo: Fox