Scorpion, “Djibouti Call” was written by David Foster and directed by Omar Madha. The team acquires a new member when Cabe (Robert Patrick) brings in a new “trainee” – Tim Armstrong (Scott Porter). Porter hails from Friday Night Lights and The Good Wife, and he does an excellent job of blending right in to the cast in this recurring role. He may be a former prom king and football captain, but the show manages not to make him a stereotypical jerk – much to Walter’s (Elyes Gabel) ultimate chagrin.
We first see Tim as Cabe picks him up to take him to meet the team. He seems like he might be a bit of a suck up as he brings Cabe his coffee – and it’s just right! Cabe commends him on doing his homework. When Tim asks about the team, Cabe tells him – fondly – that “they’re unique.”
At the garage, Toby (Eddie Kaye Thomas) is hilariously dancing on top of desk in a coconut shell bra! His latest obsession is playing Truth or Dare. He says it gives him the adrenaline rush that he misses from gambling. Happy (Jadyn Wong) is not at all happy about it!
Sylvester (Ari Stidham) is determined to sue the gameshows for not letting him play, and he’s retained Heywood (Horatio Sanz) – who is also now a recurring character. Heywood is clearly a terrible lawyer. He’s just discovered boilerplate and is amazed to find his law books full of information. I get poking fun at lawyers, but I should point out that the California bar is one of – if not the – hardest bars to pass in the country. There is no squeaking through that one! Regardless, Heywood hits on the idea that Sylvester is being discriminated against because he is physically different. It’s Paige (Katharine McPhee) who points out that that might not be in the spirit of the statute – to protect geniuses. And she’s absolutely right! Sylvester just likes that Heywood is enthusisastic.
The team is expecting Tim, and they are almost all expecting not to like him because they are focusing on like people from their past who were bullies. Walter, surprisingly, is very zen about Tim at first, maintaining that the efficient move is to accept him and wait for him to move on to a different branch of Homeland during his training rotation. And of course, by the end of the episode, Tim has won over everyone else and Walter can’t wait for him to leave!
Walter maintains that if they just accept him, they won’t even notice he’s there. When he comes in and meets the team, Paige has latte foam on her lip – and it’s clear that she and Tim notice each other – which Walter also notices! Once again, Tim proves he’s done his homework by complimenting Happy’s work, and she too immediately likes him and is flattered, making Toby jump in and identify himself as her boyfriend.
The team has a case in North Africa to install a high tech listening device. Toby – who is now jealous – continues to dig into Tim’s past. However, Tim tells them that he’s read up on them and he’s intimidated by their intelligence, thus winning all of them over by being humble and respectful – something that doesn’t change as the episode progresses.
Tim doesn’t win Walter over, however, and Toby psychoanalyzes him. He suggests that Walter won’t show respect for Tim because Paige looks to Walter and Walter doesn’t want Paige to like Tim – any more than he already fears she does! Toby also surmises that Walter is worried that Cabe now has a new “son” figure – and one that Cabe has more in common with!
They arrive in Africa, and it was nice to see the whole team on an away mission again for a change. We learn that Sylvester is terrified of monkeys. Happy sternly tells him not to embarrass them in front of the marines! And of course, Sylvester has to run into monkeys later in the episode to hilarious effect. Toby’s latest dare came from Cabe to eat 8 boxes of saltines by midnight. All Cabe wanted to do was shut him up!
Walter notices that Tim knows to lift the handle on a doorknob before opening, suggesting he’s been there before, and the team discovers a high-tech 3-D printer in a box they were told not to open. Meanwhile, we see that Tim is actually leading Cabe on a mission – a mission that we saw the aftermath of in the teaser to the episode. The real mission it to switch a real antiquity object with a fake to get proof to have Shane Copley (Sean Cameron Michael) arrested. Copley has been selling stolen antiquities to fund terrorist attacks.
Tim and Cabe get spotted and chased and when capture seems imminent, Cabe shoves Tim out of the jeep, which is running out of gas, and does get captured. Tim returns and confesses the truth to the team, enlisting their help – which was the plan all along. Copley tortures Cabe, which the team hears once they use the high-tech listening device they’re installing to find him.
Paige and Tim go undercover as the “Samsons” – rich buyers who are coming in for the bowl. The team uses the 3-D printer to make a fake bowl, using the exact clay of the original, that Sylvester and Happy will switch out while Tim and Paige keep Copley occupied and Walter and Toby rescue Cabe.
Naturally, nothing goes smoothly. A monkey frightens Sylvester, who drops the bowl, forcing Happy and Sylvester to fix it on the fly. I loved how afraid Sylvester is of the monkey! Which was also adorable! Meanwhile, the stun gun Toby and Walter were supposed to use is broken when they come out from under Tim and Paige’s vehicle where they were hiding. I didn’t like the ridiculous solution of using thorns and berries, however, as a replacement, make shift blowgun.
Sylvester’s fear of monkeys comes in handy when one lands on him – and hilariously licks him! – giving Cabe a distraction to effectively rescue himself - and Toby and Walter! Even tied up, he’s a better fighter! What about all those boxing lessons Toby???
I loved Paige stalling Copley until Happy can finish and hide the bowl. There’s a rather alarming moment for Waigers when Paige is clearly attracted to Tim when he spins the tale of how they met and uses how they actually did meet! Of course, all that stalling also gave the real Samsons enough time to arrive.
The entire team make a run for it, and it looks like Paige is shot! There’s another terrific chase scene with Walter and Tim having to work together to save the team. I have to admit it is a little annoying when one episode relies on Walter not being very good at hand/eye coordination and the next relies on him making a difficult shot… We’ll just hand wave that… I did love the monkey sitting on the log watching the car go back and forth!
It turns out, of course, that there was a bullet proof vest involved and Paige hasn’t been shot. The mission is a success as Copley will be discredited by the Samsons when they have the fake bowl authenticated.
Happy pulls Toby aside and lays down the law. The truth or dare has to stop – and then she gives him an alternative adrenaline rush but kissing the heck out of him! Nice play, Happy!
Tim and Paige share a moment as he applies a special butter for her bruise. He thanks her for calming him down when Copley was bragging about killing Tim’s partner. She says she was just doing her job, and he tells her she does it very well. Definite sparks here! I’m betting we see this progress to dating if not in the next episode then by the end of the season…
Heywood arrives and tells Sylvester that he failed to get the gameshows to budge. In fact, he got thrown out of his meeting. He tells Sylvester to hire a real lawyer to help him. Sylvester confesses that no one else would take his case. But Sylvester is determined to help Heywood and tells him that everyone at Scorpion felt like they didn’t fit in at one time. Sylvester tells him to stick around and promises that Heywood will win his case.
Cabe asks Walter what he thought about Tim. Cabe clearly likes him, saying he did a good job, but that Walter has really set the bar high. Walter denies that he feels threatened by Tim as he immediately recognizes that Cabe is trying to reassure him. Cabe says, good because Tim might be around for a while. Walter denies it, but we also see him looking at Paige with Tim, and Walter is clearly not happy about that!
What did you think of the episode? Did you like the case? What about the addition of Porter and Sanz? Favorite scene? Favorite line? Favorite MONKEY scene? And what about Paige and Tim??? 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.
