Scorpion - Plutonium Is Forever - Review

Scorpion, “Plutonium is Forever,” was written by Paul Grellong and directed by Jeff T Thomas. I very much enjoyed Grellong’s work on Revolution, which also had a nice take on humor in a not-so-funny situation, and he also wrote for Terra Nova and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Thomas’ other credits include Person of Interest, CSI:NY, and Without a Trace.

This episode once again presents an interesting – and frightening – case while revealing more about the team. It feels like the actors are settling into their roles now as they too get to see what makes them tick. There’s a nice contrast between the two new members of the team who are fitting in well and the old member who didn’t. Both Paige (Katharine McPhee) and Ralph (Riley B Smith) are fitting in well with the team, proving that the team gets along well with normals, gifteds, women, men, children, and adults. I really like that Paige’s contributions continue to be substantial. She acts as a buffer for the team, but she also contributes – it’s her after all who ultimately figures out the code! I loved how the entire team were engaged with Ralph – and clearly understood (and supported!) his reluctance to go to school.

Mark Collins (Joshua Leonard) represents Walter’s (Elyes Gabel) biggest fears. That he could get lost in his own head. This really reinforces Walter’s reasons for wanting Paige on the team. She helps to keep them focused on the real world. She really serves a mothering function for all of them. I loved them all coming to her and telling her that Collins was a disruptive influence and generally bad news. They tell her that he’d get in their heads and mess with all of them. He’s clearly jealous of all of them, especially Paige. He tells her that he was an experiment once and that Walter cast him aside when he tired of him. He uses Walter’s signature “I’m fine” to help sow the seeds of doubt.

It eventually comes out that Walter had Mark committed to save him. Walter had Happy (Jadyn Wong) to save him then, and now relies on the entire team. When Cabe (Robert Patrick) is trapped, Mark is disgusted that Walter is wasting time trying to save one man – “You’re worried about a man. You’re not the guy I remember.” When Walter is disgusted with himself for being taken in by Mark, Cabe reassures him, “You were focused on a friend. Acting like a human being is never a mistake. You’re evolving.” Walter may not function emotionally like most people, but it’s clear that he is evolving as Cabe says. When Mark wants to know why there wasn’t room for one more on the team, Walter tells him there was – there was room for Paige. They didn’t need another brainiac, they needed her skills. Paige is still worried about what Mark said at the end of the episode and tells Walter she’s ok with him getting rid of her, but asks that the team never abandon Ralph. Walter assures her that she’s part of the team: “You’re one of us.”

The mission itself was pretty scary – a nuclear plant with outdated and inaccurate monitoring equipment. Having one member get stuck in a chamber with radioactive gas did seem like a bit of a tired trope, but I liked how they had a bit of fun with it. When they tell Cabe to jump in the pipe to be carried to safety – probably – he fires back, “If you’re wrong and I get killed, I’m gonna be pissed off!” Patrick is just wonderful as Cabe. He clearly does care about Walter – even telling him he’s glad he got to know him before taking the plunge. Sylvester (Ari Stidham) chides Walter for not responding to Cabe’s parting words, but you don’t get the sense that Cabe is troubled by no response – he does know Walter after all. We also learn a little something about Cabe – or did we already know that he had a daughter who died? I thought it interesting that Mark accuses Walter of exorcising his own childhood demons through Ralph, when it’s been intimated that Cabe may be doing something similar with Walter.

I loved Cabe’s hero march out of the surf onto the beach and the admiring glances of the bathing beauties. Of course, do beautiful women really choose to sunbathe on an almost deserted beach in the shadow or a nuclear plant? Regardless, it’s a fun moment!

We don’t really see a lot of the rest of the team in the episode. We do see Toby (Eddie Kaye Thomas) and Happy have a moment at the end of the episode, however. Wong has been a bit brash and in your face up until this episode. It was nice to see a bit more depth to her character. She gives Paige a heads up to get ahead of the potential meltdown and get Ralph to safety. But we also see that she’s sensitive about her abilities. She’s hurt when Mark tells her to go back to re-building motorcycle engines – something she does for fun. It’s easy to see that being a brilliant engineer is never easy for a woman. We also see that moment at the end when it sinks in that Toby did defend her honor. It’s clear that the other members of the team – not having quite the IQ of Walter – have a greater emotional spectrum.

Once again the show presented an intriguing and time sensitive case, and still managed to tell us something about the characters as well. I’m still also really loving the very smart way the cases are solved. No doubt they are “dumbed-down” from what the real world equivalent would be, but the level of detail is still far above most shows. What did you think of the episode? Are you interested in seeing something develop between Toby and Happy? Are you curious about Cabe’s daughter? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

About the Author - Lisa Macklem

I do interviews and write articles for the site in addition to reviewing a number of shows, including Supernatural, Arrow, Agents of Shield, The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, Forever, Defiance, Bitten, Glee, and a few others! Highlights of this past year include covering San Diego Comic Con as press and a set visit to Bitten. When I'm not writing about television shows, I'm often writing about entertainment and media law in my capacity as a legal scholar. I also work in theatre when the opportunity arises. I'm an avid runner and rider, currently training in dressage.