This may take me a bit to get to my..thought. I'm going to share my reasoning here.
So I think I was thinking again of why did Booth just say Pelante was dead without getting closer to check? They didn't check for a pulse. And then it seems like - we didn't see everything, but it looks like they just walked off and left his body there. Also - minor side point here - with everyone watching and knowing that Bones was going into a trap, why didn't they send in back up after Booth went in? At least have it shown where the backup was outside that gate and then Booth figures out how to let them in so someone can collect the freaking body.
So...like I said, I got to thinking why didn't they check the body to make sure he was dead? He wasn't shot between his beady little eyes..the back of his head wasn't blown off from a big bullet from the sniper rifle...he wasn't hit in the heart. I'm not an expert or doctor or anything of course, but where he was shot doesn't look like it would necessarily be a kill shot. I don't think there are any organs there..the heart is off to the side...even the lungs I believe are on each side..he was shot kind of high up in the middle of the chest. That doesn't seem like an instant kill spot to me, though I guess Booth would know where to shoot. Now I haven't watched the episode again - and now that I am raising this ...doubt with myself, I don't know when I will - so I may not be remembering right, but, there wasn't much blood. I wasn't expecting it to gush out like in a cheesy horror movie or something, but there didn't seem to be much, if any blood. I don't even remember seeing any on the floor when they showed him laying on the ground. That got me to thinking more.
Pelante is some sort of freaking genius with everything evidently. He set up Bones in an elaborate way...he got in their house undetected and put some sort of bug or who knows what in the house...he created a new identity for himself in no time, getting himself off for that murder that Bones discovered when she was on the run. He got into the computers at the Jeffersonian more than once...he managed to get all of Hodgins's money. He got inside the Jeffersonian undetected to have his little chat with Bones in the bone room and went on about how he is smarter than everyone there. Once Bones went to where he was, he went on about how predictable they all were and how she walked right into his trap - which she did, like an idiot and she even had a gun. If she didn't want to kill him, why didn't she shoot him in the kneecap or something?? Argh. Anyway..back to my point. He even talked about knowing that Booth would show up, but he thought it would take him a little longer to get there. And now I'm thinking that Pelante even planned for Booth shooting him and he faked his own death. He could have had a vest on under his shirt. I don't remember his shirt being tight fitting, so it wouldn't be noticeable. There are newer vests that are thinner and with everything else he's done, he could have gotten his grubby hands on one someway. And he could have figured out how to do those fake blood things - squibs or whatever they are called. Then when Booth and Bones walked off and left the body, before anyone else was there to collect it, he could have gotten up and walked off. He could have been planning to do some other attack if Booth checked for a pulse and when that didn't happen, he waited and took off when they left. Yes this is a bit...far fetched, but Hanson has pulled far fetched before..and with the way he adores this complete waste of a character...I could see him trying to pull it off and think he's done a brilliant story. And I will be so pissed. It will be an epic level of pissed.
I think I have managed to convince myself now that that nasty, evil, twisted, piece of shit faked his death and will be back again. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. And damn Hanson and the writers for leaving the door on this open, even though it is just a teeny crack...for Pelante that it is enough. If they hadn't done that, I wouldn't have come up with this idea. I could have happily looked forward to the wedding. But no..they had to leave a teeny, tiny bit of doubt because they adore this ass. I can't even enjoy that they are getting married now. I'm already kind of pissed now because they left this doubt in there. I'll be waiting for the miserable piece of shit to surface again. Even if he doesn't come back, because there is that tiny bit of doubt, some of my enjoyment in any future episode is already gone. It is like waiting for the other shoe to drop. And like you said, they have been building him up for several years and in the end it was kind of....well...nothing special I guess. Not a big enough of a moment like it seem like Hanson would have planned..like he did before with Gravedigger..Gormonagon and Zack..all that. And Bones was too calm, almost like she wasn't reacting at all. Though I did like how she asked him if I say yes, will we get married? Dammit. So now I think you are right and he didn't die. Well I thought of that possibility last night too, but now, I'm leaning more to that happening than him being dead. He either faked his death or he survived and was able to get away when they walked off and LEFT THE BODY ALONE. Idiots. And remember, I did mention before seeing the episode that I wanted something that would definitely show he was dead...like being beheaded...and then burned or I would be worried about him coming back. So I had considered that possibility before watching this last episode. And, like I mentioned before, nothing has come from whatever Pelante put in their house..bugs..cameras....a bomb..who knows. Hanson and the writers have talked about that building up to something for a while, and yet nothing so far. Now that I've thought about it more and gotten over my initial thought of the ass jerk is dead woo hoo, I feel like this isn't over.
I hope I am wrong. Oh how I hope I'm wrong. But at this point, after everything that has happened with this crappy character, I wouldn't be surprised if it happens. At this point, I'll probably be surprised if he doesn't return. Dammit. Now I'll just be waiting for him to turn up and screw with them again. Damn you Hanson. They just can't stop screwing with them. Hanson and the writers are the ones that decided to go down the road of Booth and Bones getting involved...and they keep throwing roadblocks up. If they didn't want them together, they never should have started that way back in whichever season it was that there were hints of the attraction and feelings beyond friendship. They don't know how to write a normal relationship...they need to watch Castle and get a freaking clue.
Sorry this was so long. Once I started down this path, I couldn't stop. :-\ Dammit.