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Scorpion, “Risky Business,” was written by Nicholas Wootton and directed by Matt Earl Beesley whose long resume includes Unforgettable, Revenge, CSI: New York, CSI: Miami, and CSI. Clearly, he’s no stranger to either action or a procedural! The team’s case this week focuses on the music industry and that opens the door for Katharine McPhee (Paige) to finally get to sing just a little bit in this episode. There were two musicians guest starring too! It was particularly fun in this episode to try to guess who the “real” musical stars might be if this was, in fact, based on a real case.
The team is called in to a murder scene when the investigating detective (Lochlyn Munro) discovers a whiteboard with a mathematical equation on it. The team quickly determines that it is an algorithm and who wrote it. Peyton Temple (Scott Mescudi – also known as Kid Cudi) turns out to be a musical genius (not unlike the rest of our team) who came up with an algorithm to create sure fire pop hits via a mathematical formula. Unfortunately, it was stolen from him and now someone has used it to create songs – six of which are current hits! I loved the team speculating about who it could be – Macklemore??? Keisha? Not Jack White! Not Bruce Springsteen! We get definitive no’s for them at least… Toby (Eddie Kaye Thomas) in particular is hilarious as he anguishes over who could be on the list.
Peyton was a musician who didn’t find success and became disillusioned. When asked who could have stolen the algorithm, he can’t even narrow it down, saying the music business is disgusting. The case finally leads them to two possible suspects – a gangster-rapper, Lucky (Cliff “Method Man” Smith), – who felt like a substitute for Fifty Cent and a music producer, Owen Sugar (Matt Gerald), who felt like he might have been a shout out to Suge Knight who infamously is alleged to have dangled Vanilla Ice off a hotel balcony – although I didn’t think poor Toby’s rapping was that bad!
I liked the scene in Lucky’s office. Toby and Paige are undercover as lawyers – really, Paige brought this on herself by sending out that fake lawyer letter last week, right? LOL! The best part of this scene, however, was that Paige had to save the day when Toby fails to plant the bug. I also liked that they pointed out that Walter – with his virtually non-existent EQ can’t feel fear – does this compromise his ability to feel fear for the rest of his team, thus placing them in more danger? When they leave Lucky’s office, the van gets blown up – Cabe (Robert Patrick) is not happy, but he’s mostly unhappy that someone tried to hurt his team.
As always, the most interesting part of the episode for me was the shifting interpersonal relationships. It seems like Toby and Happy (Jadyn Wong) are circling each other, each waiting for the other to blink first so they don’t get rejected. Toby is really encouraged when Happy refers to him in the context of boyfriend material. Then she’s pleased he didn’t get dropped off the balcony. But Toby fails to follow up on these overtures even though he’s thoughtfully bought two tickets to a monster truck rally – something Happy will clearly enjoy. In the end, Peyton and Happy bond over her synthesizer and she accepts a date with him first. I did really like Mescudi as Peyton, and he delivered a terrific performance, so it would be nice to see him again.
Walter (Elyes Gabel) points out to Peyton that he is like them, but Peyton distinguishes himself as a loner, he’s isolated himself. By the end of the episode, however, he has reached out to Happy. He decides that he wants to make music again – he doesn’t want to be a fake, and he destroys the hard drive with the algorithm on it. He also says that real music finds perfection in the tiny mistakes which make it human. And that’s a nice lesson for the whole team.
Ralph (Riley B Smith) is struggling to connect with Drew (Brendan Hines). Paige is concerned when Ralph gets a D- on a math test and asks Walter to talk to him about it. Smith is simply amazing as Ralph. It’s one thing for Gabel to be emotionless – but still human – and quite another for such a young actor to do such a brilliant job too. When Walter says to Ralph that the mark isn’t like him, Ralph responds that maybe that’s not a bad thing. By being less smart, less perfect, Ralph is attempting to be more normal, more human, more like Drew because he doesn’t want Drew to leave again.
Drew takes him to a baseball game but neither father nor son can figure out how to connect. I give Drew credit for noticing how quiet Ralph was and calling Paige for help. I loved Walter stepping up and telling Drew to get the program and explain the statistics to Ralph, and ask him to improve the players’ positions – making a problem out of it. And credit where it’s due, Drew also thanks Walter for helping. In the end, the entire team comes together to help bring Ralph and Drew closer to each other.
Meanwhile, the episode begins with Walter engaging in high stakes drag racing – the real risky business of the title. Toby explains that this is Freudian displacement. Walter maintains that high risk behavior is relaxing and his form of meditation as when he engages in high risk behavior it engages his entire mind, leaving no room for distractions. I thought the drag race was beautifully shot. Gabel really is doing a wonderful job portraying Walter. I’m wondering if he’s truly having feelings for Paige – is that really possible? It seems clear that she is a real distraction and he is jealous of Drew for his intrusion into both Paige and Ralph’s lives. In addition to the drag racing, of course, Walter is also eager to break into Peyton’s house, and later Sugar’s, but then Walter has a history of leaping before looking and not waiting for back up.
Two final thoughts/comments. I loved Happy screwing with the elevator! It’s unlikely that Walter and Toby could have gotten their belts off unnoticed or stabilized themselves enough if the ride was rough enough to knock the other two unconscious, but hilarious nevertheless! I also really loved it when Sylvester (Ari Stidham) asked Paige if she’s a movie groupie, and she admits she used to sing – everyone knows McPhee is an American Idol finalist, a successful musician, and also starred in Smash, right? – but it’s private now for her to listen to when she’s nostalgic – again, hilarious.
I thought this episode was a little light on Sylvester and Cabe, but another solid episode. I also really liked Walter going back to Lucky’s and fixing his internet connection in exchange for borrowing Lucky’s Lamborghini to settle his debt. What did you think of the episode? Are you worried your favorite pop songs are simply mechanical creations? Do you think Drew is here to stay? Should Happy and Toby just be friends? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
