Courtesy of CBS.com
Warning: Spoiler Alert
This week’s Scorpion starts from a familiar place. Homeland security director attempting to unwad his panties. And threatening the team again. This time with psychiatric evaluations. Something tells me that the best head doctor they government can find is still outmatched against this crew. Especially Toby.
Toby: Okay. But first I should mention that I also have a PhD is clinical psychology, perhaps our time would be better spent talking about you.
Doctor: I don’t think so.
Toby: Talk more about that.
The team has been recommended for a job by the Governor and Director Merrick has signed off on it. At the same time, Paige is trying to convince Ralph to participate in a school Halloween party. She reaches out to Walter who is no help. This new job seems like a simple one. Upgrade a security system that will protect a very valuable painting on loan from a German museum. On the ride over, Paige convinces Walter, using very basic logic, that if he tried to be more human they could get more jobs and grow the company. Watching Walter try to be more ‘human’ is almost painful, but pretty funny at the same time.
Walter walks around the gallery looking awkward. Almost like a man trying to walk like a flamingo. He gets very close to the painting in question and swiftly cuts two long slices into the painting. One on the right side, one on the bottom. Should’ve seen the forgery angle minutes ago. Naturally when the security team jumps in like SWAT we are left with four geniuses attempting to convey their evidence of said forgery to ‘normals’ who cannot comprehend what just happened. FBI confirms that it is a forgery. And while the gallery curator kicks them out, the FBI agent for Art Crimes wants them to stay on.
For those of you who may have missed last week’s episode, I did something I don’t always do. Tease the promo for the next episode. This is a cross over episode. A little soon in the life span, but I’ll take it. I am not a steady viewer of the second part that makes this a crossover. However, I did get a little excited at the prospect of what this should be. Agent Gallo claims he knows someone who can help. Here’s a hint, they are in Los Angeles, Scorpion is a CBS show, and the person in question is a she.
Enter Henrietta “Hetty” Lange, the Operations Manager for NCIS Los Angeles. She provides the means and the account number to access high res scans of famous paintings. Which the team turns into a quick suspect list. Then Sylvester goes complete nerd on the toy manufacturer who they believe employs the forger.
The suspect in question jumps out of the building while the team is still in the van. Walter decides to jump out of the van and chase him on foot. Sylvester goes to get Cabe, running faster than he ever has ignoring Paige because Cabe is in the toy factory. Walter gives chase despite being very bad at it. Eventually Cabe stops the guy with a serious clothes line. Sylvester comes running shortly thereafter. Wearing a t-shirt from the factory.
After detaining this suspect, Gallo comes up empty. They have one hour and nothing even resembling evidence much less the painting itself. Now Toby decides to try. Considering he can read any tell or form of body language, have Toby in there actually seems like a smart idea. As predicted, it took about 30 seconds for Toby to (figuratively) paint the picture of this artist’s journey through life and get a name.
Gallo gives the typical, don’t move until I tell you to, bit and Walter replies with his typical, that will cost us an opportunity bit. The team is going full National Treasure here, crashing a party in order swipe the painting themselves or gain enough intel to intercept it at a later date. They need gear and Paige has nothing to wear. Toby knows who to contact. Hetty.
Hetty gets the team into ‘costume’ with an array of attire that will allow them to fit in. Toby and Happy dressed as wait staff. Walter and Paige as guests. Sylvester get’s nothing as he will just be in the van. Slightly depressing for Sylvester still wearing his “Super Fun Guy” superhero t-shirt.
Hetty: Wow, sometimes I even surprise myself.
Paige: Is this okay?
(Paige does a 360 turn while Hetty quietly claps)
Paige: Really?
Walter: YES.
Toby: You silver-tongued devil you.
Sylvester: What about me?
Hetty: Well, you’re in the van. So you can wear you’re stupid shirt.
Sylvester (under his breath, making a fist): Yes.
Clearly, Walter is developing something for Paige. I’d call it a feeling, but that would be too close to emotions, which Walter claims he does not possess. But it’s fun to watch it unfold. They pull up to the party and Paige is nervous. Walter tries to put her mind at ease claiming that she will fit in fine. He gets out of the car and walks toward the door. Until he realizes Paige never got out of the car. Take it from me, a woman does not get dressed to the nines and open her own car door. As well she shouldn’t. Once out of the car, Walter looks around at the other guests to see exactly how much physical contact is required to sell their cover.
They need to get a device within 5 feet of the host in order to clone his phone. Paige’s (as pretty much every woman’s) first thought is to dance near him. Walter thinks this is a horrible idea. As his body language mimics that of a toddler when they are asked to do something they don’t want to. He’s inches from turning into a full on ‘jello-child’. Instead he presses on as it is the most efficient way. It is awkward to say the least. But Paige expects it and before you know it, Walter is selling the cover well and enjoying it. I don’t care how smart you are, an attractive woman tells you where to put your hands, and you will enjoy yourself, on some level.
The download for the clone failed. They have to start again. Only this time the host cuts in. Walter quickly slips the device down the back of Paige’s dress. He walks toward a wall in the room and asks Sylvester how much longer. Walter may have successfully suppressed his emotional side his whole life. But Paige changes things. He asked how long because he’s uncomfortable with this strange man dancing with Paige. It’s almost cute really.
Toby and Happy are looking for the painting in what they think is not a wine cellar. Turns out that is exactly just a wine cellar. Before we get to that conclusion, Toby keeps rocking a fixture. Then the whole thing comes crashing down. Thanks to Sylvester, everyone gets out without being made.
Back at HQ, Sylvester begins hacking the cloned phone to find the identity of a frequently called number. The identity belongs to the museum curator.
Walter gives Paige something to give to Hetty and the rest pile in Paige’s car (to use the built-in Wi-Fi, lovely product placement for Chevy don’t you think?). They tail the curator and remotely kill the engine to his car. Gallo arrives just in time. In time to see the car with the painting explode.
In the final scene involving the psychiatrist, Walter attempts to leave. She makes some claim (quite founded I’m sure) that Walter reset the cloning device in order to keep dancing with Paige. Assuming he risked the mission. He makes a lovely stand defending his team and asserting that if she passes them they can continue to do work that no one else is capable of. They pass.
The note Walter passed to Paige intended for Hetty leads us to what really happened on the bridge. The team switched the real painting for the fake in the curator’s trunk. Then when they followed him and killed the engine, they exploded the car burning the fake. Then returning the real painting to the rightful owners without Gallo’s permission. Which they didn’t need to worry about. Cabe questioned Walter and Walter stuck to his story. But once Cabe knew it was BS, his face bore a sense of approval.
Paige shows up with Ralph hopefully for his school’s Halloween party. Toby is dressed as Sigmund Freud, Happy as the laziest cat costume ever, Sylvester as Super Fun Guy (surprise surprise), and Walter simply puts on a pair of aviator sun glasses and says he’s Agent Cabe Gallo. While 3 of the team take Ralph into another room to put him in his brain costume, Paige tosses Walter some softballs (figuratively). Any non-genius would see this as Paige’s attempt to make the first move, inviting Walter to open up. Perhaps even escalate the situation because she is giving him permission to.
Walter: You know Ralph, Halloween started off as a day to ward off evil spirits, isn’t that stupid?
Ralph: Yeah.
Walter: Yeah, but who cares, let’s go get some candy.
