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Scorpion Series Premiere Review: “Pilot” (Season 1, Episode 1)

Try pitching Breaking Bad in one sentence. Or Game of Thrones. Heck, try explaining something as nearly straightforward as Masters of Sex in one sentence. The elevator pitch is the Holy Grail of the Hollywood development process, and when you get that perfect project with that perfect line, you can just throw it out there and everyone will know immediately what you’re getting at. So in that spirit, here’s everything you need to know about Scorpion: it’s The Big Bang Theory meets Mission: Impossible. Boom. If that sounds like something that’s appealing then welcome, and if it’s something that sounds inane or stupid, then you are now free to return to your prestige dramas on premium cable.

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Now I know this is the pilot, but there’s some rough characterization here, and not to recall Big Bang once more, but like the first few episodes of that show it paints the nerd characters as almost too socially awkward to leave the house. For instance, Walter prepares a detailed a memo on the occasion of his break-up with a girl about why their relationship isn’t working, Sylvester can’t solve his math problems without indulging in some kind of obsessive compulsiveness and Happy is ironically named. Walter is so curt, Paige has to remind him that sometimes the things he says can hurt people’s feelings. Walter responds that high IQ people have low EQ, as in Emotional Quotient. As if people are walking Venn Diagrams where sometimes there’s little or no overlap.

Back to the plot, and re-enter Agent Gallo, who’s now running Homeland Security in Los Angeles. A crisis has occurred, and the software in the computers of the control tower at LAX has been corrupted, not only making all the planes in the sky unable to land, but shutting down all communications with those planes as well. Gallo needs Walter to figure out how to land those planes safely, and naturally, they have a history of working together on a project that went badly.

The gang races to LAX, but unlike the world of 24, crossing the city in a crisis is held up by traffic. Forget LAX, says Walter, and tells the group that all he needs is internet. So Gallo requisitions the diner and sets up Homeland’s operation there. Gallo orders everyone out, but the owner has some issues with immigration that he’d like best left alone, so he leaves Paige in charge. The table is now set, as they say.

After an attempt to reboot the software from a pre-corrupted saved version fails, Walter and the gang make a last ditch effort to save the planes by downloading the software from the one of the aircraft. Managing to reach one of the passengers on an analogue phone, because mysteriously the virus that knocked out communications left a loophole for analogue, the pilots will fly low over a nearby private airfield where Walter can pick up a signal from the tower and download the software. But wait, Walter must do some computer wizardry while driving out to the air strip and all the others have work of their own to do, so who can drive him? Ralph hands his mother her car keys, a tribute to his new nerd overlords.

This is where the episode really takes off, in no small part because of its director Justin Lin, who’s best known for overseeing the better parts of the Fast & Furious franchise. Naturally, car-based action is in Lin’s wheel house, and he creates genuine, edge-of-your-seat excitement with a well-shot, perfectly paced and smartly edited sequence. A question though: In the future, is Scorpion going to lean on the nerds solving crises with math and smarts, or will the day be saved through big action sequences? I know what one is easier to do on a TV budget, but at the same time, I also know which one is more believable when most of your characters are eggheads who look like the only fights they’ve won include the words “Mortal Kombat.”

But here, the car race through LA is successful, and Walter and Paige make it to the small airport. Although the first attempt to download the software via wi-fi fails, the second attempt where Walter and Paige plug in the laptop to the low-flying plane via Ethernet and a very fast sports car succeeds. The day is saved! Walter is so pleased that he and Gallo were able to do it without killing civilians a la their often discussed previous op together. Gallo’s so pleased that he offers to make Walter and his Nerd Herd permanent members of his operation at Homeland. Walter, in turn, offers Paige the chance to join the gang as she can help them navigate complex social situations, and they can help her son cope with being a genius.