S01.E07: Father's Day

[Lisin]

A case gets personal for Team Scorpion when three convicts break out of prison and one of them is a brilliant hacker who was forced to help the others steal billions online. Paige must manage Ralph’s expectations when his father returns.

[CoyoteBlue]

Ugh, I'm starting to get tired of them using IQ like it's a seriously quantifiable thing and that all people with a certain IQ are exceptional at the same things. "Borderline" genius at 150? No, that's 10 points over the definition of genius, IIRC. And coining the phrase "enabled" (as the opposite of "mentally disabled". I suppose)? Pretentious enough? It's not a goddamn club that we all secretly join. 

 

My IQ does not make me a math or programming savant. It does not mean I am automatically a good or moral person that cherishes the Brotherhood of Really Smart Emotionally-Crippled People. In fact, a lot of them can annoy the fuck out of me. Mostly by being arrogant shits like Walter.

 

Otherwise, I'm still liking the rest of the characters and how they're gelling and the chemistry. Definitely still watching and enjoying this one.

[Jlina]

I think the IQ mentions are as a way of making themselves feel better, actually. They are totally aware that they "annoy the fuck out of" regular people, I'm sure. They got beaten up by regular people in school, etc.    I like the term enabled, and it was cool that the kid talked tonite, and is actually verbalizing his genius. 

 

The guy from Lie to Me could kick Walter to the curb, so I was loling until Cabe showed up - then, awwww.

 

I LOVE the character of Happy so, so much.  She rocks and makes the show for me, Sylvester a close second.  The fight over the remote control and the "real" bird was hilarious.  Toby can stay too. 

[Artsda]

Loved the father theme in this episode, I really like the relationship with Walter and Gallo. Seeing their flashbacks and Walter even admitting Gallo was the closest he had to a father who loved him was great. 

 

Happy going to find hers and her encouraging Paige with her point of view as someone who had a father disappear was great too.

[Beach Party]

I wonder if Happy told her father who she was.  But Happy's dad most likely will figure out that was her helping him.  The picture showed them together when Happy was a child.  She probably even learned auto basics directly from him.  I hope they eventually reconnected.

[MarquisDeCarabas]

So let me get this straight the whole crux of the climax  is that Toby forgot the letter S in morse code?  One of two letters in SOS the one phrase that anyone who knows anything about Morse code would know?

 

That's just really bad.

[Kromm]

Jeez, this show gets worse and worse.  So now on top of all of the other BS, we have a teenage Walter who's accent is maybe even stronger than the younger child actor, and THEN the grown up Walter with no accent at all?

Edited November 4, 2014 by Kromm

[Zahdii]

I wonder if Happy told her father who she was.  But Happy's dad most likely will figure out that was her helping him.  The picture showed them together when Happy was a child.  She probably even learned auto basics directly from him.  I hope they eventually reconnected.

 

I thought she said in the first or second show that one of the terrible things about having such a good memory is that she can still remember being only two years old and having her dad hand her over to a social worker with a request that they find her a good home.  I also thought that the picture was of her father and mother when they were young and first got together.

[shapeshifter]

So let me get this straight the whole crux of the climax  is that Toby forgot the letter S in morse code?  One of two letters in SOS the one phrase that anyone who knows anything about Morse code would know?

 

That's just really bad.

Maybe it was supposed to be an inside joke that only geek fans would get????? (Sorry, I ran ot question marks of incredulity.)

[dmeets]

Walter's disdain of "normals" (aside from Paige and Cabe) is starting to remind me of Magneto. Hey Walter... kids are assholes to everyone, not just geniuses. I'm surprised nobody questioned his motivation in keeping Ralph away from his father... seemed to me he was just as, if not more concerned about Paige seeing him.

 

I'd like Toby and Sylvester a lot better if they dialed down on the hero worship. At least Happy can occasional call him out on his shit, but I suspect the other two would blindly follow Walter if he led a "purge the humans" crusade. (seriously, he's starting to creep me out bigtime)

Edited November 4, 2014 by dmeets

[ramble]

As ridiculous as this show is I'm throughly enjoying it. I'm not even sure why I am enjoying it so much, but I am.

[Italian Ice]

Happy is definitely the most complex character, and Jayden Wong plays her perfectly. She doesn't show much outward emotion, but Jayden conveys absolutely everything in her eyes, and that's incredible. Love her. 

[thuganomics85]

I don't mind the "We have IQs, therefore, we're right" spiels, because I do think that the show is proving that it isn't true, due to all the times they are messing up.  I do think it's more something they tell themselves, to make themselves feel better.  That said, yeah, they really need to be put in their places at times.  And, Walt really does have a massive chip on his shoulders, that needs to be addressed, because he was getting into some dangerous territory.  The Magneto comparison above is actually more accurate then should be, heh.

 

Also, they should have found another way to accidentally send Caleb and the SWAT to the wrong building, then Toby screwing up as badly as he did.  I would have even bought him mixing up other words, but "S"?  Yeah, not likely.

 

Happy meeting her father is the most I've been interested in her.

 

So, Brendan Hines is Ralph's daddy?  I wonder if he'll be popping in every now and then.

 

Man, why would you get Keith David for that small of a role?

[peggy06]

Offhand I'd say this was the most far-fetched episode I've seen, in terms of the methods they were using. Also thought it was a little too heavy-handed with the Dad plots. One or two, OK, but to have three characters dealing with dad desertion seemed like too much. I am growing to like Happy and Sylvester the most among the cast of characters, but the fighting over the drone controls was stupid. It's necessary for the plot that they not resolve the problem too soon, but they make the dumbest mistakes.

[KaveDweller]

My IQ does not make me a math or programming savant. It does not mean I am automatically a good or moral person that cherishes the Brotherhood of Really Smart Emotionally-Crippled People. In fact, a lot of them can annoy the fuck out of me. Mostly by being arrogant shits like Walter.

 

I'm just getting annoyed at the way they say "genius" about ten times an episode.

 

I'm sure there are also plenty of very smart people out there who are much more in touch with their emotions than Walter.  Saying it has to be a choice between genius at math and an ability to have personal relationships is kind of insulting.

[nx74defiant]

As some one who couldn't hit the broad side of  a barn from the inside I DESPISE the trope that all I really need is for the right person to tell me "I believe in you" and I'll be able to make the catch or thow.

 

Urgh of course all Sylvester needs to make the target is for Paige to tell him she believes in him. I so wish he still had missed.

[shapeshifter]

As some one who couldn't hit the broad side of  a barn from the inside I DESPISE the trope that all I really need is for the right person to tell me "I believe in you" and I'll be able to make the catch or thow....

I thought they made a half hearted attempt to set it up to work for Sylvester since he really had previously played baseball. But it would have been much better if they'd thrown in a line about how his mathematical abilities would allow him to aim a projectile and calculate the correct force and angle to land it.

There have been a lot of complaints about the overuse of "genius" and "IQ" mentions in the scripts. They need instead to drop lines that demonstrate the genius and high IQ of the characters.

[william0102]

I don't get how they have a show about geniuses, but don't know that having an IQ of 140 is genius level, then base an entire episode with several mentions that the guy with an IQ of 150 was borderline genius...

[bros402]

Walter's disdain of "normals" (aside from Paige and Cabe) is starting to remind me of Magneto. Hey Walter... kids are assholes to everyone, not just geniuses. I'm surprised nobody questioned his motivation in keeping Ralph away from his father... seemed to me he was just as, if not more concerned about Paige seeing him.

 

I'd like Toby and Sylvester a lot better if they dialed down on the hero worship. At least Happy can occasional call him out on his shit, but I suspect the other two would blindly follow Walter if he led a "purge the humans" crusade. (seriously, he's starting to creep me out bigtime)

I think Toby would resist a "Destroy all Normals" crusade for a bit, but then be turned to Walter's side with a short speech.

 

 

As some one who couldn't hit the broad side of  a barn from the inside I DESPISE the trope that all I really need is for the right person to tell me "I believe in you" and I'll be able to make the catch or thow.

 

Urgh of course all Sylvester needs to make the target is for Paige to tell him she believes in him. I so wish he still had missed.

 

Sylvester definitely seems like the kind of person who probably has extremely well developed prefrontal and parietal lobes, given his mathematical skills and memorization.

 

Not exactly someone who would have the best motor skills, if all of his mental development focused on those.

 

Wouldn't it be interesting if they introduced a 2E team member? Someone who has a high IQ and is also learning disabled?

[NYCFree]

I don't get how they have a show about geniuses, but don't know that having an IQ of 140 is genius level, then base an entire episode with several mentions that the guy with an IQ of 150 was borderline genius...

My IQ is in the genius level. It's what made me extremely distrustful of the IQ tests. I know I'm no genius. I am not surprised these guys value an IQ of 150 as borderline genius.

[Zahdii]

I know what you mean.  My school district tested every year from 7th grade on.  I tested out consistently at 120-130 until the year I just didn't care anymore and filled out all the little dots randomly.  I then tested out at 142.

 

There is a problem that happens when things come too easily in early education, my school counselor warned me about it but I didn't listen.  When things aren't as easy any more, you have to learn how to listen, study, and work when you didn't have to before.  That often happens when you're in college and are now actually paying for your education.

 

For what it's worth, my school valedictorian was a girl who struggled during grade school, did better in junior high, and seemed to be just a regular student in high school.  She's now earning big bucks and I'm just sort of existing.

Edited November 6, 2014 by Zahdii

[MomHasCooties]

While I get that people with really, really high IQs like Walter have low "EQs", sometimes Walter comes across as just being a dick. He always looks so grumpy, even when he's making googly eyes at Paige.  We get it Walter, your IQ is off the charts-stop using it as an excuse to be a jerk.

[Italian Ice]

I know it hasn't been discussed on the show, but I really wonder if Walter has a mild form of autism as well. Having a high IQ and being autistic or "on the spectrum" are not mutually exclusive, and Walter seems pretty spectrum-y to me.

Edited November 5, 2014 by Italian Ice

[Calamity Jane]

Wow, what an astounding lack of understanding of phonetics.  "C" is not phonetic - its sound is that of either S or K, and it isn't "cee," it's sss or k(uh) (unsounded).  The sound of the letter B is not "bee," it's b(uh) (sounded).  If that chip-bag stunt even could work, it sure wouldn't be by having someone say the alphabet!  Even the long/short vowels.  If the writers are going to venture into areas they don't know much about, maybe they should try having someone check their premise.  Ugh.  I'm grumpy, apparently. 

[Kromm]

Wow, what an astounding lack of understanding of phonetics.  "C" is not phonetic - its sound is that of either S or K, and it isn't "cee," it's sss or k(uh) (unsounded).  The sound of the letter B is not "bee," it's b(uh) (sounded).  If that chip-bag stunt even could work, it sure wouldn't be by having someone say the alphabet!  Even the long/short vowels.  If the writers are going to venture into areas they don't know much about, maybe they should try having someone check their premise.  Ugh.  I'm grumpy, apparently. 

Clearly nobody on the writing staff has anywhere near a genius IQ.

 

Nor the ability to research.

[bros402]

My IQ is in the genius level. It's what made me extremely distrustful of the IQ tests. I know I'm no genius. I am not surprised these guys value an IQ of 150 as borderline genius.

 

IQ tests are interesting. Personally, my IQ has a huge discrepancy between subtests (with one subtest at 138 and another at 92), which means it is.. dubious in testing my abilities of achievement - IQ tests are best used to determine disability, as it can be a useful indicator of things such as ADHD.

 

I know what you mean.  My school district tested every year from 7th grade on.  I consistently at 120-130 until the year I just didn't care anymore and filled out all the little dots randomly.  I then tested out at 142.

 

There is a problem that happens when things come too easily in early education, my school counselor warned me about it but I didn't listen.  When things aren't as easy any more, you have to learn how to listen, study, and work when you didn't have to before.  That often happens when you're in college and are now actually paying for your education.

 

For what it's worth, my school valedictorian was a girl who struggled during grade school, did better in junior high, and seemed to be just a regular student in high school.  She's now earning big bucks and I'm just sort of existing.

 

My school never IQ tested me even though they were required to by law. By the time they IQ tested me near the end of HS, my IQ had jumped ~30 points full scale.

 

I know it hasn't been discussed on the show, but I really wonder if Walter has a mild form of autism as well. Having a high IQ and being autistic or "on the spectrum" are not mutually exclusive, and Walter seems pretty spectrum-y to me.

 

Probably not autism, probably some pervasive developmental disorder, though.

 

Also, does it bug anyone else how they keep saying that Einstein had an IQ of 160 or whatever?

 

Since Einstein refused to take IQ tests, because he knew they were BS.

[rainsmom]

Having the drone drop the phone into the prison during a softball game annoyed the crap out of me. Cell phones are as plentiful as drugs in prison. The idea that someone would have to work that hard to get one in is absolutely ludicrous.

[torqy]

For what it's worth, my school valedictorian was a girl who struggled during grade school, did better in junior high, and seemed to be just a regular student in high school.  She's now earning big bucks and I'm just sort of existing.

My buddy's father always told him "it's not the stars that get ahead in life, it's the plodders."

 

Some people that, to me, seemed to be pretty ordinary in high school became doctors.

[Kromm]

Having the drone drop the phone into the prison during a softball game annoyed the crap out of me. Cell phones are as plentiful as drugs in prison. The idea that someone would have to work that hard to get one in is absolutely ludicrous.

Putting aside the issue of how the prisoners charge the phones (I suppose in the public areas where they work with electrical devices), why don't the prisons use cell phone blockers?

[Zahdii]

Because everyone on staff has one?  Not being facetious here, but possibly anyone who doesn't have direct contact with prisoners would probably have one, if for no other reason than to be able to report problems if the landlines were cut.

 

Or maybe it's a money issue.  Or the blocking technology would knock out all the cell phones in the surrounding area?  Now you've got me wondering, too.

[Kromm]

Because everyone on staff has one?  Not being facetious here, but possibly anyone who doesn't have direct contact with prisoners would probably have one, if for no other reason than to be able to report problems if the landlines were cut.

 

Or maybe it's a money issue.  Or the blocking technology would knock out all the cell phones in the surrounding area?  Now you've got me wondering, too.

I always assumed that the reason prison guards carry walkie talkies is to guard against landline problems. Seems to me that them having cell phones on duty as well is just dangerous--too subject to prisoners stealing them or prisoners bribing them for their use.

[Zahdii]

I agree, the guards probably wouldn't have cell phones on them.  I was thinking more about the people who didn't interact with prisoners being allowed to carry cell phones.  I really don't know how prisons work.

 

I visited a local jail once in college as part of a psychology class, and the only thing I remember were the prisoners calling out catcalls and yelling about the lack of toilet paper as we walked by the cells. 

 

Oh, and the lucky dude that was just arriving who got off the elevator with his guards to find a class of college students staring at him like he was a specimen and taking notes while the Warden talked about how he'd been seen by the doctor and deloused, so now he was going to his cell for the first time.  He looked so startled and embarrassed, but the guards didn't so I think it was a setup; a bit of a show for us.  I actually felt sorry for him.  Then we got to hear him walk through the door and hear the other prisoners call out to him.  Some things were encouraging, and some of the things were pretty bad.  If I didn't have my own ingrained upbringing to follow the law and never shame the family to keep me out of jail, that would have done it. 

 

But that was before cell phones, so I don't know just what the rules are now.

[Kromm]

I agree, the guards probably wouldn't have cell phones on them.  I was thinking more about the people who didn't interact with prisoners being allowed to carry cell phones.  I really don't know how prisons work.

 

I visited a local jail once in college as part of a psychology class, and the only thing I remember were the prisoners calling out catcalls and yelling about the lack of toilet paper as we walked by the cells. 

 

Oh, and the lucky dude that was just arriving who got off the elevator with his guards to find a class of college students staring at him like he was a specimen and taking notes while the Warden talked about how he'd been seen by the doctor and deloused, so now he was going to his cell for the first time.  He looked so startled and embarrassed, but the guards didn't so I think it was a setup; a bit of a show for us.  I actually felt sorry for him.  Then we got to hear him walk through the door and hear the other prisoners call out to him.  Some things were encouraging, and some of the things were pretty bad.  If I didn't have my own ingrained upbringing to follow the law and never shame the family to keep me out of jail, that would have done it. 

 

But that was before cell phones, so I don't know just what the rules are now.

Well besides the age of the incident, it also probably matters if it was really a "jail" or a "prison". There's a considerable difference. Jails are short term local facilities. Prisons are long term state or federal facilities. People aren't as keen to escape from Jails, because usually they haven't been convicted yet, so typically they'll be a lot less secure.

[Zahdii]

True.  I doubt the place I visited was intended to house prisoners for very long.

[anstar]

A little off topic but I worked in a jail for years.  What you saw most likely wasn't a "set up".  Prisoners really act that way when someone new arrives. And they can always spot a first timer. Guards don't react to it because it's just a part of the routine for them.

 

On topic...I think cell phone jamming is illegal. Also, there is no way to contain it to only the prison facility, and they have no right to jam the signals anywhere else. If it interferes with any other kind of technology...two way radio, medical equipment, etc. it can't be used.  Lots of considerations.  The best they can do right now is just try to keep up with the contraband, because it always finds a way inside.

[Kromm]

On topic...I think cell phone jamming is illegal. Also, there is no way to contain it to only the prison facility, and they have no right to jam the signals anywhere else. If it interferes with any other kind of technology...two way radio, medical equipment, etc. it can't be used.  Lots of considerations.  The best they can do right now is just try to keep up with the contraband, because it always finds a way inside.

Actually, Federal officials can be exempted from this.  A little more research shows that's not CURRENTLY the case for Federal run prisons, but apparently it's re-considered and re-argued every few years.

 

At the very least, New Zealand blocks cell phones in THEIR prisons.  Yeah, odd thing to find a random article on... but I did!  - http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/411749/1314563

[Hanahope]

There is a problem that happens when things come too easily in early education, my school counselor warned me about it but I didn't listen.  When things aren't as easy any more, you have to learn how to listen, study, and work when you didn't have to before.  That often happens when you're in college and are now actually paying for your education.

 

I have to agree.  My IQ is supposedly at the genius level, a bit more "borederline" than 150, yet I don't consider myself a "genius" either.  True, elementary and middle school was ridiculously easy and but high school got tougher, calculus was a struggle, and by the time I got to college, I was so burned out on math because I actually had to work on it, I refused to take another class, which I think was a big mistake in hindsight.  I was actually glad my daughter didn't test as "gifted" even though I know she's very smart, because I think she will work harder and not get lazy as I did.

 

So yeah, not everyone at 150 or so is going to be your computer/numbers savant as the show seems to suggest.  Frankly, I'd place the IQ of their characters closer to the reputed Einstein IQ, as opposed to the lower numbers that are more frequent, but less likely "real genius".

 

I like the show, but sometimes the conversations and explanations are going way to fast for this so-called genius to catch half the time.

[Actionmage]

Man, why would you get Keith David for that small of a role?

 

So you get the velvet tones of his voice!  That man could read what a cat wrote, walking on a keyboard, and I'd pay for the privilege.

 

The remote control fight was amusing for two seconds. They were trying to help a fellow genius, so Toby and Sly acting younger than Ralph was tiresome. I've seen too many grown-ups do the 'revert to small child' thing on TV during serious points of stories when this dumb trope comes up. I did like Sylvester naming the drone. I tend to name some inanimate items, so Paige and Sylvester talking about naming was, to me, fun, BTW, I hope we see lil' Cabe again. It was a nice nod to Walter's sister, so that we know she's around.

 

Not so sure about Drew, Ralph's dad. I sincerely hope he is not a bad guy. I do not want him to be sketchy or anti-smart. Paige seems to be done with him, which is her prerogative, yet I am glad that Happy reminded her that the decision was about what Ralph needed.

 

I, too, thought the picture Happy had was of her mother and father. Hopefully, we can find out how they got along.