CBS has laid claim to the most ridiculous sci-fi show ever with Under the Dome. Monday September 22nd, the network premieres possibly the most out-there grounded drama ever. Luckily, unlike the aforementioned Dome, this show is actually quite enjoyable.
Despite Walter’s character being based on a true story (a nice article about it can be read here), the pilot does over-dramatize the story upon which it was based. Let’s make one thing clear right now: this show is not realistic. This is nothing like other CBS shows like CSI that, in theory, could happen. Scorpion takes potentially real threats and solves them in ways that you could never envision, and would quite probably never happen.
Once you accept this fact, the show is much easier to enjoy. The pilot focuses around a crisis at LA X in which dozens of planes are left unable to land, and the Scorpion team have to work against the clock to prevent the planes from falling out of the sky.
As for the characters, Walter is a very disconnected individual, and it’s evident that he finds it difficult to communicate normally with the rest of society. If you’ve ever watched Criminal Minds, think of him like Spencer Reid, only dorkier and more socially inept. He is super intelligent – he has a 197 IQ – and is able to solve problems in extraordinary ways.
The rest of his team - Toby, Happy and Sylvester – are an interesting bunch. Toby is a brilliant behaviourist, Happy is a mechanical genius and Sylvester is a statistics guru. All three bring different, yet crucial aspects to the team.
Robert Patrick (Terminator 2) plays Cabe Gallo, a Homeland Security agent who enlists Walter’s help to stop the crisis at LA X. The two have a history, and rest assured that by the end of the episode, you’ll know why Walter has issues with Cabe.
This pilot was very enjoyable. The story was good, the characters were good and the acting was good. One thing I will say about the season as a whole is that the writers find interesting ways to keep the story going in the pilot. Obviously, these guys are geniuses, and so the stories need to be written in complex ways to keep the characters challenged for the entire episode.
You can watch the promo below, and tune in to watch Scorpion on Monday September 22nd at 9pm on CBS.
