Scorpion: Not Ready for the Private Sector

 

Warning: Spoiler Alert

In tonight’s episode titled, “Shorthanded” the Scorpion team decide to take on a civilian client. Which means no governmental help. Gallo insists that Walter and the team are not ready for such a task. Walter disagrees. There is an interesting hissy fit from Toby as Walter suggests that he stay there and not travel to Las Vegas due to Toby’s propensity to get into trouble when gambling is involved. Paige persuades Walter to see things from the perspective of the entire group. Toby goes.

Now I’ve seen the promos so this is not me having a premonition, but the Casino lady seems to eager to offer things they didn’t ask for and very open about everything. I sense a frame job, but like I said, I alone am not planting a flag anywhere with that one.

Walter: We need to find out why the Crimson is losing money.
Toby: Only you would turn blackjack into math homework.
Sylvester: I like math homework.

In the casino, Happy slices up part of the carpet to inlay sensor pads to monitor random movement. If the movements become ‘non-random’ that is an indication that person is ripping off the casino. The results are slow going. Both Toby and Sylvester don’t notice anything off. Then by using a different camera angle Walter notices something.

Wow. I love this show. They call in the dealer. He’s not stealing though. Walter noticed that his hands are comparatively small. Therefore, games to deal per hour. Less revenue over time. Its cumulative. And while Walter is correct, his advice is to fire the dealer because he’s not qualified for a job that relies on hand speed and dexterity.

On their way out everything seems on the up and up. Then Happy wants to hit the slots and Paige suggests that its ok since the job has concluded. Against his better judgement, Walter allows it. Probably to show he can concede to Paige from time to time. Problem is, if something goes wrong, he’s going to blame her. We’ll see.

Toby complains about the old lady that just won 40,000 on a slot machine. But Walter notices two men that walked in with low sitting baseball hats and his spidey-sense is triggered. It’s a robbery. Interesting choice. As if Ocean’s Eleven has taught us anything (especially the Elliot Gould scene), no one robs the casino and gets away with it.

To be honest, you didn’t even need to watch the episode to know what happens next. Walter asked for the position of the dealer’s camera to be moved in order to identify the dealer’s hands issue. They also just upgraded the security software. And now a security officer has audio of Walter saying, “a robbery is about to go down”. And if that wasn’t enough, someone has planted money from the robbery with matching serial numbers in Walter’s bag in their room at the casino. Strap in.

The last thing a certified genius should do is waive his right to a public defender. While Walter was right in referencing a jury of his peers and how they will have a hard time finding 12 residents of whatever county they’re in all having at least 196 IQ is correct. Chances are excellent that the judge is not going to care about the accuracy of the statement. Bail set at 500k. As he’s being taken away, he yells to Toby, “The bet’s off”. Which is references back to before they left for Las Vegas, Walter bet Toby that he couldn’t resist gambling the entire time they were in Vegas. Job checks were put up.

Happy and Paige to the precinct to go over the surveillance footage of their room. After finding nothing, Happy notices that the trajectory of the windows were different from that of the picture taken with Paige’s phone earlier. The footage of their room was not of their room. It was from a completely different floor. I hate to say this, because of how I feel about this particular show but, I think I’ve already figured this one out.

The next scene is almost a palette cleanser for the stress of the previous few. A montage of Toby at the blackjack table and Sylvester at the sports book. Just racking up wins.

Palette in need of re-cleansing already. The ‘drunk tank’ they are putting Walter in has another tenant. The dealer he suggested should be fired for having small hands.

While Toby and Sylvester have won north of 250k, they are still short. Toby thinks he can ‘read’ the roulette wheel, which is a bad idea. The group convince him that it’s a bad idea. As they begin to walk away Toby quickly pops a u-turn and drops all 250k on the table before they could stop him.
Speaking of stopping. In the drunk tank, the inebriated dealer is about to punch Walter when the guard shows up to say that Walter’s lawyer is here to see him. Please be Cabe Gallo. Not Cabe. Its Toby in a horribly oversized suit. Then what follows is what typically follows when two people who think they have everything figured out are presented with a real dilemma. They blame each other. That scene ends, uh in a pretty unhealthy way.

Paige: We’re not going through that again. We disappointed Walter once, we’re not going to do it again.
(Sylvester raises his hand)
Sylvester: Are you our new Walter?

Sylvester has an idea of connecting a vpn flash drive to the bosses computer so that it can relay data to Sylvester’s computer. Instead of going through the front door, which they can’t do, Happy has a plan to enter through another door. It always seems dangerous when Happy gets an idea.
True to Vegas Casino heist jobs, they zip line it in from an adjacent building. Well Happy does, Toby kind of flails and almost sprains his liver.

In the drunk tank, Walter and the dealer are becoming chums. Walter’s outline a distribution plan that will make him much more money as a baker than he ever was as a dealer. Then he tells a story about a magic act from 30 years ago. Walter figures that has some bearing on how the robbers exited the casino. Which is great, but they need to get that info out. So by using a sleeve of a shirt, the urinal cake from the toilet and a metal button, Walter “McGuyver’s” a thing that warps the tumblers in the cell door, allowing them to just walk out.

The download starts but Sylvester is parked in a loading zone. He has to move the vehicle. One problem. Sylvester doesn’t drive. Happy notices the download has stalled. Toby is running from the guards. Sylvester is trying to drive, for the first time as Walter walks by. Download is complete but Happy’s stuck. With no one to pull her up through the ceiling tiles she’s seconds away from getting caught. Just then a rope drops down in the nick of time. It’s Paige.

The whole team is secure except for Toby. Just a hunch, but I think with Toby in custody of the casino security, he will find a way to rectify the previous shortcoming in the bail money situation. As it turns out, in the effort of minimizing bad PR, the daughter of the owner decides to let Toby go.

Back at the shady motel the other brainstorm. The casino’s financials are stable. According to the blueprints of the casino, an employee would have had to swipe their security card to exit from the storage room. It’s the daughter. Who just so happens to be escorting Toby to the desert to walk home. Then she says something that tips her hand.

Toby: When this is all over and the real robbers are caught, you are going to feel bad.
Owner’s Daughter: That’s not going to happen.
Toby: Don’t be so sure, guilt can be a powerful emotion… Hold on, what’s not going to happen? You’re not going to feel bad or the real robbers won’t be caught?
(The privacy windows goes down to reveal a sketchy guy pointing a gun at Toby)
Sketchy Guy: So you’re a genius?
Toby: Right now I’m not feeling like one.

So the long and short of it is that Daddy isn’t handing over the new venue to his daughter to run. So she’s not going to get mad, she’s going to get even. Starting with the ten million dollars she believes she’s owed. If the credits rolled here it might make sense. Instead, Toby is forced to send a text message bringing all of the team out to his location. Nothing good ever comes from leaving Vegas for the desert outside of it. The owner’s daughter locks eyes with Walter and freaks. Because Walter’s supposed to be in jail and isn’t, she thinks something’s wrong. She’s right, but I don’t think it’s for the same reason she does.

Then out of nowhere, choppers, black SUVs, sirens. Please be Cabe. Yes, it’s Cabe. When Toby sent the text message supplying them latitude and longitude, he mentioned Orion’s belt. Which isn’t visible this time of year. The detective shows up to inform them that Renee (the owner’s daughter-took me until the 53rd minute to catch her name) has been laundering money through the casino for years. Then Paige suggests the detective owes Walter an apology.

Sylvester (leans in to whisper to Paige): For the record, you’re a great Walter.

Cabe seems reluctant to say I told you so. The fun part comes when he agrees to drive everyone back to LA. Except Walter and Toby. They start walking towards the closest bus depot. They during this walk there is a bit of an opening up. Toby acknowledges that he’s been a screw up most of his life and Walter pulled his ‘fat from the fryer’ and all he wanted to do was prove that Walter’s efforts weren’t wasted. And Walter admitted that he never connected with his real father and when Cabe showed up (when Walter was a child) there was a fatherly like connection because Cabe encouraged Walter’s gift. Then Walter does something unexpected. Suggests they take what little money they have and hit the tables. Which Toby is all too happy to oblige.