TV Critique: Scorpion
TV Critique: Scorpion

TV Critique: Scorpion

TV Critique: The television series “Scorpion” follows a team of geniuses as they are tasked with complex problems that can only be solved by the team.

Donald Louch
April 6th, 2017 at 10:30pm

High IQ, Low EQ, Homeland Security, Team Scorpion

The television series “Scorpion” follows a team of geniuses as they are tasked with complex problems that can only be solved by the team. The team is led by Walter O'Brien, one of the smartest people with a high IQ (he states that it’s higher than Albert Einstein). The team also consist of Paige Dineen, a down to earth person with superior communication skills. Toby Curtis (DOC) who is a trained and licensed phycologist and doctor hence his nickname “DOC”. Happy Quinn a smart and talented Mechanical Prodigy. Sylvester Dodd (SLY) a mathematical genius that is always calculating the odds. Cabe Gallo (Gallo) a Homeland security personnel and the lead contact for team Scorpion. The team also has Ralph Dineen on the team a very intelligent middle school student that is taking college classes. Everyone on the team expect for Paige and Gallo have a lower EQ (Emotional Intelligence) and aren’t the greatest at communicating with others. This is where Paige steps in and communicates for her team. I would say that Scorpion shares similar show elements from The Big Bang Theory (the use of intelligent) and any cop or medial mystery television series that have a new case to solve every episode. The show is target towards a male audience ages 25 to 35 years old based on the content of the shows content and ads that are placed within the show.

In past seasons, we’ve seen a significant development with these characters and has since, established the characters which leads to very little character development in the episodes that I have sampled.

I’ll be selecting from a sample of five episodes from the third season which are episodes 13 titled “Faux Money Maux Problems”, episode 14 titled “The Hole Truth”, episode 15 titled “Sharknerdo”, episode 16 titled “Keep It in Check, Mate”, and episode 17 titled “Dirty Seeds, Dirt Cheap”.

The production value and elements within these episodes were consistent and consisted of your typical steady camera movements, basic editing and had a yellow/orange filter to it to give it that “California” vibe. The lower thirds and show banners had a coding theme with elements like and . Like most shows, when a dramatic moment would happen the production team would play dramatic music and sound effects to draw the audience in and to alert them that something is about to happen. I did notice that they don’t clean their set and I noticed dust on the team’s keyboards, on the monitors, and just all around.

Apart from the production elements the show has a strong cast and team up and make a wonderful group of geniuses in their own individual ways.

The team uses certain chemicals to create concert, to wake people up from Comas, and to create a soft-landing pad. The team can create anything out of anything. The team can create a bomb out of flames, wine and cloth. Team Scorpion can fake a death and make it seem legitimate and true. Happy made an acoustic gun so that she and the team could locate lost treasure.

In an episode, a group of counterfeiters called Norteguaian kidnapped team Scorpion and made them create a machine in which would accelerate the operation as team Scorpion has the knowledge of mechanics. However, Norteguaian under estimated the team and the team used the machine to escape. The team further found all the previous money that was counterfeited and burned it and Norteguain were arrested.

In another episode, the team went to a Sandhog and helped them with trying to prevent a sinkhole. However, they didn’t have any success and a sinkhole was created. There was a Salo filled with harsh chemicals in which the team tried to empty before the sinkhole got to it. But was unsuccessful and began to tip over. However, there was a worker on top of the Salo so the team created a method to keep the Salo stable and to get the worker off from the top. After some improvising they could get the worker down. However, it meant that the Salo would be fully tipped over and the chemicals would be released in the sinkhole and to a water main and effect the water. Team Scorpion used these chemicals and some other ingredients to create cement and in doing so, stopped the chemicals from entering the water stream. With this cement, it was a perfect opportunity to fake a death of Veronica so that she could run away from people that she’s owes a lot of money to. The team made the death look realistic and the people she was running away from bought it and believed the death.

In another episode, team Scorpion was hired to find lost treasure. The team used an acoustic gun to locate the treasure by finding frequencies. However, there was technical disturbance that was causing issues and Walter and Paige unfortunately figured this out and in doing so, had to jump ship as the boat was going to explode. Thankfully, Walter clued in on time and got them both off safely.

In another episode, Walter and SLY, were tasked with competing in a chess competition in order to slip a code word to Natalya, a spy and chess master in order to save her life. While, the Walter and SLY attempted to give her the code word, the rest of the team created a plan on how they were going to get her out. The plan consisted of her going to the women’s bathroom, then go through a hole in the wall which leads to the men’s bathroom, which is where they were going to jump out a window and fall into a garbage bin filled with chemically made cushions to soften the landing. Once she was in the garbage bin DOC would come by with a garbage truck in which he stole from the local lot and take the garbage bin to swear drain and then from there the team and Natalya would escape the country. While this was happening, Happy stayed behind and planned a way in which she could break her dad, Patrick out of jail before he got arrested. However, Patrick did the right thing and didn’t go through with the plan and went through the process of being arrested. The plan that Happy thought of was to cut power to the security doors and to the webcams and her dad would run out the door and there would be a set of keys to un-cuff himself.

In another episode, team Scorpion goes on a mission to a doomsday shelter and Greenland. They’re tasked with getting the power back on. They find the power box and turn on the power. However, as soon as they do that they start the air system in which releases a toxin. This toxin makes the team see their worst fears and will put them in a coma then later death. Gallo, Happy, and SLY where the only ones that were exposed to the toxin so it was up to the rest of the team to get the team out of these hallucinations and prevent them from slipping into a coma. In order for, them to get over their hallucinations, Gallo, Happy, and SLY must concur their fears! Therefore, they need the rest of the team to say the right things to get them out. Unfortunately, the team wasn’t quick enough and Gallo, Happy, and SLY slipped into a coma. Walter and Paige went into a storage room and created this chemical solution that would wake the others up. However, they needed to run through the toxins. So, Walter and Paige created breathing tubs out of PVC piping and taking in as much fresh oxygen as possible. This method worked and they could get to the room and create the solution which worked and woke up Gallo, Happy, and SLY.

SLY, is currently running to become the mayor of West Altadena. His campaign methods are completely different then your usual campaign and in doing so, it’s not getting much votes. However, with showing his true self and showing what his role is and what he can do in team Scorpion he’s starting to show people he would be a good mayor. In addition, he’s getting votes from the people who hires the team because they see how much of a good person he is. Furthermore, after seeing his skills in episode 15 from season 3, a local newspaper indorses him.

It doesn’t matter if your intelligent or not. If you’re looking for a show that shows problem solving and a show with a phenomenal cast that plays off each other, Scorpion is the show for you. I would recommend this series to anyone no matter your age. It’s a fun-loving show, has good story lines, well produced, and above all, makes you fall in love with the cast. Scorpion is a team with geniuses with their own skills and areas of wonderful application.

TV Log

Class Assignment: MEDI 211 (Understanding Television)

This is my TV Log from episodes 13 to 17 of Scorpion Season 3. In these logs, I focused on things such as scheduling, the plot description, character development, questions I was left with, the production elements, the category of the episode, the advertisements, the product placements, and the banners. Here is a list of the episodes that I logged:

  • Week 1: Faux Money Maux Problems (Episode 13)

  • Week 2: The Hole Truth (Episode 14)

  • Week 3: Sharknerdo (Episode 15)

  • Week 4: Keep It in Check, Mate (Episode 16)

  • Week 5: Dirty Seeds, Done Dirt Cheap (Episode 17)