TV Review – Scorpion
2 min read
Season one of Scorpion is a nail-biting, awkward, crazy ride from beginning to end. The series stars four highly intellectual adults, all of whom seem to lack the ability to communicate with others; one gruff and surprisingly sweet Homeland Security Agent and the loving mother of a genius child. Though the group prove to be as dysfunctional as imaginable, they do seem to make it out alive every time.
Loosely based on the life of Walter O’Brian, a genius with an IQ of 197 – a fact that is stated minimum once per episode – the geniuses help people find lost children, defeat terrorists and put their lives into incredible danger to save people.
Walter (Elyes Gabel) manages to infuriate us with his ‘I have no emotions’ rhetoric, given that he quite obviously does care deeply. But he has just the right amount of charisma, and despite his best efforts, has a enough charm to warm your heart. Paige Dineen (Katherine McPhee), the group’s emotional compass, manages to navigate incredibly difficult situations with ease while simultaneously dealing with people who literally have no social skills at all. Happy Quinn (Jaydn Wong) and Toby Curtis’ (Eddie Kaye Thomas) quick quips and on screen chemistry is incredibly refreshing and Sylvester Dodd (Ari Stidham) is as pure as they come, with a mathematical brain that couldn’t be competed with and a heart of gold. Finally, the tough and amazingly fit for his age, Cabe Gallow (Robert Patrick) is the law enforcement glue of their operation and father figure to all.
Scorpion is above all a very good crime fighting show: it’s refreshing to see the genre looked at from a different perspective. These are effectively five people – minus Cabe, ’cause that man is a crime fighting machine – with no practical skills, taking on tasks they really shouldn’t, and accomplishing things beyond what you would consider achievable. They continuously get themselves into binds and into in positions that even someone with years of experience could not get out of without the knowledge they have.
The show is also surprisingly funny, with humour that really helps you understand how little these genius’ know about communication. The best, by far, is watching Walter waive his right to a lawyer because, according to him, you could not put him in front of a jury that could even remotely have the ability to match his IQ and therefore he could not possibly stand trial.
Scorpion is a lot of fun, and it brings some light to a genre that has been successfully beaten to death. The relationships between characters and the dynamic created by their onscreen cohesion makes the show compelling and interesting to watch.
