Scorpion, “Sun of a Gun,” was written by Adam Higgs and directed by Dwight Little. It’s hard not to like an episode with such a great pun in the title – that works on both levels! As always, the episode features a nail-biting case, but also gives us some backstory on Sylvester (Ari Stidham) and continues Walter’s (Elyes Gabel) quest to become more “social.”
It seems to be becoming a bit of a trend for one character to be sidelined from the main action. In this episode, Toby (Eddie Kaye Thomas) is sidelined by the flu when Cabe (Robert Patrick) forbids the sick-o from accompanying the team to North Africa.
I really liked the way the episode begins like it’s in the middle of a really tense case, but it’s just Walter attempting speed-dating – with his “wingers” Toby and Cabe. It’s a little hilarious that Cabe sucks at it almost as much as Walter does. I did like that Walter considered the evening a success because it taught him never to do it again! And then the episode kind of forces him to… I loved Cabe’s answer to the optimum number of cats from the crazy-cat lady – even though I love cats! And Cabe’s utter dismay at be put in the “second chance” “Sunset circle.” I also loved Toby’s exasperation with both of them: “I feel like Jane Goodall with less socially adjusted subjects!”
Happy (Jadyn Wong) asks Paige (Katharine McPhee) if she’s cool with Walter’s adventure. After all, when he said he’d be branching out socially, they all thought he meant with Paige. Paige insists that she and Walter had agreed not to date each other, so it’s fine. Walter decides that average speed-daters can’t handle honesty. Paige points out that there’s a fine line between honesty and insult. Walter insists he doesn’t see it, so she is 100% wrong – hilariously demonstrating her point!
The heart of the episode, however, is really about Sylvester and his father, Kenneth (Jeff Fahey). It’s nice to see them get really good guest stars for the team’s parents. It’s a little hilarious how nervous Sylvester becomes when Cabe calls with the case and it’s clear that he wants to know that Sylvester is there. Cabe really has become a father-figure to all of them. It’s a nice moment later in the episode when Cabe turns to Kenneth and says he was military too, but Sylvester and the rest of the team need to be handled differently – with a gentler touch. I also liked Kenneth asking Cabe if he understood
Cabe doesn’t even want to tell Sylvester and simply lets him read about the mission in the file. Sylvester immediately says he can’t do the mission and then tries to get out of actually having to go. It’s clear that Kenneth isn’t that happy to be face to face with his son. Paige asks him if he wants a minute alone with Sylvester – who knows to the minute exactly how long it’s been since they’ve seen each other. Kenneth says they don’t need it – he’s completely focused on the mission.
He criticizes Sylvester at almost every opportunity, and he doesn’t trust him to help get the solar panels out. This seems rather at odds with him telling Sylvester that he’s been following the him and the team, and that he specifically requested them for the mission because of how good they are. In the end, Sylvester saves the day by getting them out of the mortar. Of course, being able to throw a solar panel at a specific angle was rather implausible and caused a lot of hand waving on my part.
Sylvester doesn’t have a lot of use for his father either. All along he insists that they are going on a wild goose chase. I loved the scene in which Sylvester uses the paper airplanes to prove his father wrong – only to end up finding the actual panels. It was a nice gimmick. I also really liked the scene when Sylvester refused to let go of the blimp until they’d recalibrated and it was going where it needed to. Stidham does an especially good job taking the character from comic to dramatic.
Once they are stuck in the mortar, Kenneth admits that there’s no manual to raise a genius, but he loved Sylvester from the moment he was born. This seems to be the theme for each of the team members as we’ve heard from Happy’s and Walter’s families too. Ralph (Riley B Smith) at least has always had Paige’s fierce love. Kenneth doesn’t stick around once they get home, but he does tell Sylvester that his mother would like to see him. He apologizes for not being the right family for him and says he’s glad that he did find the right family – with the team.
The mission involves them infiltrating a mad dictator’s compound in North Africa. The team has to bite their tongues around President Desta Rahal (Hakeem Kae-Kazim) who is starving his people while living lavishly himself. He’s particularly interested in Walter, and like Kenneth, has done extensive research on the team. He wants Walter to build him a rocket – and the team realizes that this is how he’s going to launch the “sun gun.”
Walter has to pretend to like Rahal and it’s hilarious to watch him squirm as Rahal tells Walter that he has an IQ of 202 to Walter’s 197 and then again when he has to take a sauna with Rahal. Walter is again pushed out of his comfort zone when Paige forces him to sing “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” to distract the President so that they can get his watch to open the gates and make his escape. It was a nice way to get McPhee a chance to sing on the show! I loved that Walter started out as not very good but got better with Paige’s “encouragement!” It was also hilarious to see Happy dance with Rahal to get the watch, even if he did notice almost immediately that it was gone.
Back at the garage, Ralph is looking after a sick Toby by bringing him his favorite soup and even his favorite Wile E Coyote cartoon. Toby is astonished at what good care Ralph takes of him and how well he knows him… But of course, it’s Happy who was feeding Ralph all the information and giving him the pointers on how to look after Toby! Happy admits to Ralph that she’s fond of the guy. Possibly my favorite Happy moment in the episode is when she drops the limestone down the shaft and then slides down the ladder though!
The final scene comes back to the themes from the beginning. Walter asks Paige if she thinks the man and woman in the song were being honest. Paige tells Walter that sometimes bending the truth saves someone’s feelings. Paige, meanwhile, wants to know what Walter honestly thought of her singing, and tells him he’ll have to come to dinner with her and Ralph until he tells the truth. Walter has one question for Paige – who is Elton John?!? In case anybody else isn’t sure, he was the singer/songwriter of the song…
I’ve decided not to be too picky about the veracity of the cases and science because that really isn’t what this show is about, but did anybody else think that the “sand” they used to make the mortar looked a lot more like pebbles? And if they were able to break the mortar up enough to get themselves out of it, and it was just on the floor of that chamber, what would prevent Rahal from digging out the machinery and the extra panels? I suppose it was only necessary to demonstrate proof of the weapon to get the country invaded and Rahal taken into custody….
What did you think of the episode? Favorite scene? Line? I thought both Stidham and Gabel deserved nods for particularly good performances. 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, Agent Carter, The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, The X-Files, Defiance, Bitten, Killjoys, and a few others! I'm active on the Con scene when I have the time. 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.
