Scorpion: O’Brien’s Eight

Obriens Five
Episode recaps

Courtesy of CBS

Warning: Spoiler Alert

Megan’s doctor delivers news that appears to have a different effect on the two men in her life. Walter is only concerned with the best course of treatment so that he can buy himself some time to finish his research and save her. Sylvester is more concerned with her wishes and her quality of life, no matter how long it’s for. Walter actually went to the point of getting a court order turning all medical decisions for Megan over to him. Regardless, of her wishes.

Tonight’s mission is a little different but not foreign, shades of an Ocean’s Eleven style heist but applied within that Scorpion way. Homeland, in partnership with Mi-6 will provide support and let Mi-6 run point to collect evidence against Midacki and Ali. Two American ambassadors with ulterior motives. Two men who acquired their titles through bribery with the intent to travel under the shroud of diplomatic immunity. Gleason, the Mi-6 agent Scorpion needs to put in place during the General Assembly of the UN. Chief Cromwell is the Mi-6 authority figure who will be monitoring things from the New York Homeland office.

Next the team must figure a way to get through three phases of security at the UN building. Phase one is not that terribly difficult. The scanners in phase two make sneaking contraband inside virtually impossible. Without those items, phase three is a non starter anyway. Very quickly in typical Walter O’Brien fashion, he comes up with a plan. A plan that catches Paige, understandably, off guard.

Toby: We’re never going to get to phase three if we have to sneak this contraband past the scanners. I mean, how does that happen?
Walter: We’re going to get Paige pregnant.
Paige: …What?

The “contraband” they spoke of earlier are prosthetic hands, equipped with the unique ‘web signature’ of the blood vessels in the hands that correspond to Italian delegates who do not intend to make the trip. Once inside, one portion of team will let Happy and Gleason in through an electricians access door. All team members are accounted for when one of Midacki’s men comes around the corner gun raised. Once he identifies himself, Gleason takes over as a secret agent should, snapping the bodyguard’s neck. This is surprising to the team. Gleason turns his gun on them. Gleason is not here to translate anything. He here to assassinate Ambassador Midacki.

Gleason contacts Cromwell to inform her with the Deputy Director Cooper listening that Scorpion has been made aware of the new arrangement. Cooper tries to pull the plug on the entire op when Cromwell points out that her team, as clandestine as they’d like to think they are, are all over UN security camera footage sneaking in to the UN building.

In a secluded conference room Gleason lays out the plan. He needs to get inside the meeting room between Midacki and Ali. However, Midacki brings with him a computerized door (if you can believe that) which is installed before the meeting giving him even more privacy. Gleason needs Scorpion to hack the system and give Gleason access. Walter hesitates for only a moment and begins helping to his team’s chagrin. To Walter, helping unlock a door is not the same as aiding an assassination.

Megan slowly wakes with Sylvester at her side. She does not look good. In her parched and crackly voice she begs Sylvester to never let them intubate her again. Sylvester explains the court order, and she begs again.

It appears that perhaps Walter wasn’t trying to hack the security door software when he beckons Gleeson to see what he’s found. Cromwell is frantic to know what they found. Walter tells her that they can’t unlock the door. With time as a significant factor, they need a new plan. Now, we look to force Midacki to stop on the seventh floor where the security is dramatically more relaxed.

On the seventh floor the team can force the elevator to stop, giving Gleason an opportunity to take out the target. The door jams and there is drag out fight between Gleason and the security guard escorting Midacki. The result of which is Gleason being shot in the stomach with his own gun. Cromwell is barking orders at this point. She needs a status update. Midacki’s man tosses Gleason down an incinerator chute. Cabe tells Cooper that she can tell Cromwell that Midacki still lives, while Gleason does not.

Walter believes they can take out the target with minimal risk to anyone else. But that will involve Happy building a small bomb out of salami casings. Meanwhile, Cabe has a distraction plan using a thermostat hack and the second floor security checkpoint, Paige lifts a security guard’s jacket. Midacki goes on after the delegate from Poland. They will need to buy time. Cabe replaces the Polish delegate’s translator with…Toby. The master plan is to connect Toby’s cell phone to his coms then have Ray listen in from Megan’s hospital and translates the Polish (with the years of listening to his French Grandmother), thus allowing Toby to seem legit and on stage and allow him to riff and drag out the speech, buying the rest of the team some time.

Posing as a makeup artist, Paige gains access to the green room. This allows her to move Midacki away from his briefcase long enough for Happy to lift the laptop and replace it with Happy’s TV diner salami bomb. With Midacki speaking to the general assembly, Walter begins the countdown to the salami bomb. He gets to 1 and nothing happens. Walter keeps eyes on Midacki as he attempts to exit. In the stairwell, Walter notices that one of Midacki’s men is carrying the briefcase, not Midacki. The underbelly of the building sits on a sewer line. Walter tapes a lit match to a matchbox sized toy car. With the methane seeping through the floor vents, the match will be enough to ignite the methane gas.

The explosion mimics that of a bomb explosion forces the two bad guys the other way. Happy and Paige connect jumper cables from Cabe’s truck to the fence the two attempting to flee will inevitably try to scale. The current stops the security associate in his tracks but Midacki escapes.

What follows is something right out of Sherlock Holmes or Scooby-Doo. A series of reveals of exactly how Scorpion was able to pull off this sleight of hand. Cooper questions why Gleason went along with this rouse. Cromwell already knew. Walter was able to find evidence that Cromwell was in Midacki’s pocket. She pulls a gun on Cooper. Cooper was not worried despite Cromwell’s intent to harm as Cooper removed Cromwell’s bullets when she wasn’t looking.

Upon the mission’s completion, Walter quickly makes his way to the hospital. Once there, he is again indignant that Megan has not been intubated. He again leans on his court order. Sylvester politely reveals that his court order no longer supersedes anything. Sylvester, as Megan’s spouse now makes all decisions regarding Megan’s medical treatments. Instead of pushing back as one might have predicted, Walter accepts Sylvester’s genuine love for Megan and sees that he has her best interests at heart. Even if that does not coincide with Walter’s wishes. Walter will not give up or even slow his intentions, but he respects Sylvester’s intent to honor what Megan wants. Ray presiding over their nuptials may cause a problem, but for now, all seems well.

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