Plot: When a group of super intelligent introverts are offered an opportunity to assist Homeland Security with an airport software problem, the team works together to make sure everyone lands safely.
I needed my Monday night to change in quality after suffering through Gotham. I’m sorry, I didn’t like the DC Comics-inspired take on the city’s police department. Thankfully, Scorpion, was very intense, and overall, very enjoyable.
The story centers around Walt (Eleyes Gabel), a genius who can’t emotionally connect with others. The show opens up with Walt being discovered as a kid who hacked into NASA to get blueprints of a space shuttle (actually based on true facts), just to hang them up on his wall. When Agent Cabe Gallo (Robert Patrick) comes calling for young Walt, it seems that he is interested more in what he can do, not what he shouldn’t or can’t.
Anyway, let’s fast forward to the plane problem discussed in the plot. Seems Callo and Walt seem to have a rocky relationship, but it isn’t fully explained. This allows for a bit of viewer curiosity, but it is shifted out of the way to work on landing the aircrafts. The conclusion of the episode is really risky for being the first entry of the series; how do you follow an ending like that?! Needless to say, the last few minutes were nail-biting.
The actors all play their parts very well. Lead actor Gabel does a great job, drawing sympathy, aw well as sounding credibly smart. His team doesn’t far as well though. They just aren’t as interesting as Walt is, but maybe that’s the point. American Idol alum Katharine McPhee also stars in the show as a waitress who has a son with characteristics similar to Walter and his buddies. She’s alright, but her arc seemed a little too forced. I thought she would be gone after the episode but apparently she’s going to play a key role. Hopefully she packs more punch in future episodes. No question about Patrick’s agent though, he is solid.
All in all, Scorpion was pretty entertaining and I think I’ll definitely keep watching. The pilot episode was exciting all the way through and I hope the momentum can be sustained as the show continues. We’ll see, can’t wait to see what happens next week!
Rating: 8/10
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Logan J. Fowler is a senior writer and video game editor on Po-Break.com. He contributes his thoughts every week for Trailer Tuesday and has his own column called “A Link to the Past.” Logan’s “kid at heart” nature has led to his discussion about pop culture that many geeks love to talk about, including superheroes, Super Mario Bros., Pixar, and Muppets, amongst other things. In addition, one of his first pieces for the site, “Top Ten Comic Book Movies,” was picked as a “Freshly Pressed” piece by WordPress and remains one of the site’s most well-read articles. Currently, Logan works as a Special Education Instructional Assistant at Roosevelt School in Manville NJ. At the present moment, he is enrolled in Rutgers Online courses, pursuing a Teacher of Student with Disabilities certification. He graduated from Wagner College in 2005 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education and in 2007 with a Master of Science in Education Degree in Birth-6th Grade Literacy. Also many of Logan’s friends have said that he moonlights as Spider-Man but this is so not true. Wait, are those police sirens I’m hearing?! Gotta go! -thwipp-
