Scorpion Review: “Risky Business” (Season 1, Episode 8)

Scorpion always makes it pretty clear that it’s not easy being a genius, as you’re forced to the protect a world that fears and hates you. Wait, that’s the mutants in X-Men. Anyway, the geniuses in the world of Scorpion struggle to find their place in the world, and this week we meet a kindred spirit in the form of Peyton Temple, a musician who’s used his ample intelligence to create a program that can create the perfect hit pop song. The case of the week came dangerously close to playing second fiddle though, as the show dealt with the emotional damage of two of its resident geniuses. Apparently, Scorpion now concedes that sometimes smart people can do dumb things for reasons that strain logic.

For Walter, his inability to process the possibility that he’s being replaced as Ralph’s surrogate father with Ralph’s actual father Drew leads him to engage in some Fast and the Furious like L.A. street racing. If there’s one thing worse than only being able to express yourself through recklessly racing through the streets of Los Angeles, it’s losing to a Serbian gangster that wants what’s owed to him: a sports car that Walter does not have. If you think that’s a little over the top, you’re not alone. All of Walter’s talk about IQ versus EQ seems rather moot if he acts out emotionally when his bond to someone else is threatened, and no one ever drag raced without something to prove. Just ask Vin Diesel and co.

Little Ralph, meanwhile, flunked an algebra test he should have easily aced, and you don’t have to be a behaviorist to realize that the kid didn’t want to scare away his recently returned non-genius dad with his genius. I appreciate the attempt to provide some character development, and I also appreciate the way that Walter eventually allows himself the grace to be a go-between for Drew and Ralph to bond, but seriously, how long are we going to have to put up with this plotline? Drew doesn’t really fit into the narrative, and I think we all recognize that it’s by design, so we will likely see him jettisoned sooner or later, right? So let’s just make it sooner.