S01.E13: Kill Screen

[paigow]

Team Scorpion helps Ralph when he is questioned by the FBI, after his dark Web game play inadvertently reveals the location of a CIA safe house and results in the murder of some CIA operatives.

[shapeshifter]

Once again, so much wrong with the plot, but somehow the show manages to roll with it.

I guess Ralphie didn't stumble onto any porn. And when Cabe told Walter to go after the professional bad guy who had just taken Cabe down, I thought he would at least give him a gun, but no, Walter is superman.

[Beach Party]

That bad-guy programmer should've known to stay off that trap door, since he took the time to included it in the game version... with a functioning lever!

[molshoop]

I've watched all the episodes, but can't remember how long Ralph's father has been out of the picture.  Can someone help me out?

[blugirlami21]

His whole life?

[Ohmo]

I'm seeing a future custody battle brewing between Paige and Drew (not a spoiler, just a gut feeling).  Drew will get the stint with the Portland team, Paige won't want to go, so I see Drew making a bid for custody claiming that Walter/Team Scorpion are not good influences on Ralph.  It was very clear that Drew was displeased with the situation and with Walter in last night's episode, and I think we saw the groundwork being laid for a dispute over Ralph's custody.

[LGGirl]

Thought the whole episode was lame and the acting bad. Felt bad for the actors. This can be such a good show but the writers seem they don't know where they are going with the show.

[CoyoteBlue]

If I were in that show, I'd worry that the FBI doesn't have the reasoning skills and common sense to understand the explanation of Ralph's involvement. Or not to question a TEN-YEAR-OLD without an attorney or parent/guardian present.

[thuganomics85]

And, that kids is why video games are bad for you!  They could have hidden levels that reveal locations of CIA safe-houses!  Kidding, what it really was reminding us was how bad the dark internet can get.  Really, Walter had to know that things could go south, if Ralph wasn't watched closely.  For such a smart guy, he can really be an idiot, huh?

 

I really do not care about this family drama, because I just don't find it suspenseful.  Only way it could work would be me buying that Paige and Ralph would leave the show, but since Ralph is so important to the Walt character and I don't see the show getting rid of Katherine McPhee, it ain't going to happen.  So, Drew is pretty much just an obstacle.  I do think they might be going in the direction where Paige will refuse, but then Drew will try to get custody.  He's at a disadvantage do to the whole being absent thing, but I'm sure some more things will happen, that will help him build up a case.

 

Certainly can't complain about them finding some way for Cabe to knock someone out with a fake ax, at a Comic-Con rip-off.  I think the writers spend most of their time finding different ways for Robert Patrick to beat someone up.

[paigow]

Is the dark internet like Hulu? That is, is it only accessible with a US IP address?

[CoyoteBlue]

And, that kids is why video games are bad for you!  They could have hidden levels that reveal locations of CIA safe-houses!  Kidding, what it really was reminding us was how bad the dark internet can get.  Really, Walter had to know that things could go south, if Ralph wasn't watched closely.  For such a smart guy, he can really be an idiot, huh?

 

Except nothing actually went wrong for Ralph. If the FBI had had an ounce of sense and just brought in the adults (Paige, Walter, Cabe) to get the scoop,  Ralph wouldn't even be mildly traumatized. He talked code with some people and made a video game suggestion. Whoopty-doo! He wasn't exposed to porn or lured out by a pedo or actually involved in anything shady, even as an unwitting coder, since he didn't code in the game, he just made a suggestion. About a game. Like millions of gamers do to game developers every damn day.

[theatremouse]

Haven't they done the "water glass on top of safe" bit before? Or was that another show?

Yes, I believe they did, which is why (I assume) they didn't bother explaining it. They just had her do it.

 

WAY too much of the first half of this episode was person getting snippy and saying "stop talking and just do it";walks into other room;talks to someone else; the someone else tells the first person to stop talking and just do it. Rinse, repeat. Stellar writing there, folks.

 

Also (and I don't know why my threshold for this isn't much lower by now watching this show), my "completely ridiculous I cannot suspend disbelief at all make it stop" meter exploded when they realized the programmer based the layout of the game on that area, and therefore jumped to the conclusion it was not just similar in visual appearance, but literally an exact replica in every way, down to the height of various walkways, etc and so forth? I mean, I get the basic size, shape, design of the buildings, layout of rooms, but we're meant to believe game programmer dudes created NOTHING original in the way of hidey-holes, levers, trap doors, etc in their VIDEO GAME, and Walter felt confident enough in this assumption to follow it completely? Had nothing to do with trusting Ralph on that jump. Had everything to do with trusting Mr. Bad Guy took measurements of the abandoned buildings.

 

I thought the ethernet cable dangling from the plane made more sense than that. Seriously.

Edited January 7, 2015 by theatremouse

[Texasmom1970]

I am sure this is just my dislike for Katherine McPhee talking, but she was a bit too snippy to me in this one. When she told Walter to stop talking and just do it, I was like oh no she didn't!

And I could really care less about the I want to be a good Dad now drama, go away and play baseball Drew. In fact take Paige with you and let the Scorpion Team and Cabe adopt Ralph.

[Emily Thrace]

Yes, I believe they did, which is why (I assume) they didn't bother explaining it. They just had her do

Also (and I don't know why my threshold for this isn't much lower by now watching this show), my "completely ridiculous I cannot suspend disbelief at all make it stop" meter exploded when they realized the programmer based the layout of the game on that area, and therefore jumped to the conclusion it was not just similar in visual appearance, but literally an exact replica in every way, down to the height of various walkways, etc and so forth? I mean, I get the basic size, shape, design of the buildings, layout of rooms, but we're meant to believe game programmer dudes created NOTHING original in the way of hidey-holes, levers, trap doors, etc in their VIDEO GAME, and Walter felt confident enough in this assumption to follow it completely? Had nothing to do with trusting Ralph on that jump. Had everything to do with trusting Mr. Bad Guy took measurements of the abandoned buildings.

I thought the ethernet cable dangling from the plane made more sense than that. Seriously.

Yeah that was definitely a stretch. I was worried that pit was going to be too deep and Walter was going to break a leg.

There was enough good in this episode to overlook that though. I loved Cabes line about Toby watching Happy it was all in the delivery. I kind of wish they had used him more in this having been in that situation with Walter and the only other parent on the team he might have had better insight than Toby. Although I did like Toby's medical skills coming in handy. I don't think the show needs to work as hard as it did ti show he has valueable skills (and if nothing else he's good tv) but its always good to be shown how smart these guys are rather than just have them tell us all the time.

Something else slightly sadder that occured to me is that is that raising a kid like Ralph is bit like raising a child with developmental delays. In that you kind of have to let go of "normal" expectations and judge thier milestones relative to thier experience. I don't think Ralph was ever going to have a "normal" childhood and I think Paige is accepting that but Drew is stillin denial

Edited January 7, 2015 by Emily Thrace

[bros402]

Is the dark internet like Hulu? That is, is it only accessible with a US IP address?

 

It's a part of the internet only accessible by proxies. People buy and sell things with virtual currency. There was a hilarious news article the other day where a European artist set up a script to buy something at random from a "dark" website once a week and it had a 100 Euro limit. It'd buy all sorts of odds and ends, video game memorabilia, things like that. Then the other day, the guy received a Hungarian passport in the mail. Turns out his script purchased 100 Euros worth of ecstasy.

 

I am sure this is just my dislike for Katherine McPhee talking, but she was a bit too snippy to me in this one. When she told Walter to stop talking and just do it, I was like oh no she didn't!

 

Oh good, I thought I was the only one who thought that about Paige this episode.

 

Yeah that was definitely a stretch. I was worried that pit was going to be too deep and Walter was going to break a leg.

There was enough good in this episode to overlook that though. I loved Cabes line about Toby watching Happy it was all in the delivery. I kind of wish they had used him more in this having been in that situation with Walter and the only other parent on the team he might have had better insight than Toby. Although I did like Toby's medical skills coming in handy. I don't think the show needs to work as hard as it did ti show he has valueable skills (and if nothing else he's good tv) but its always good to be shown how smart these guys are rather than just have them tell us all the time.

Something else slightly sadder that occured to me is that is that raising a kid like Ralph is bit like raising a child with developmental delays. In that you kind of have to let go of "normal" expectations and judge thier milestones relative to thier experience. I don't think Ralph was ever going to have a "normal" childhood and I think Paige is accepting that but Drew is stillin denial

 

That is a common occurrence in parents of children with special needs - Paige has been involved Ralph's entire life and has accepted that he is different from others, but didn't know how until very recently and she is jumping at the opportunity to have anyone at all be able to communicate with her son in a way he can understand. Drew, on the other hand, was absent Ralph's entire life, probably heard little snippets about how Ralph seemed to be delayed, but probably didn't understand how unique he was until the first time he saw him, leading to denial, stress, and frustration.

[possibilities]

I always feel that Paige is trying to kill Ralph with how much she wants him to be normal. It's one thing to think he needs supervision on the internet, but she seems to expect him to work so far below his capacity that I'm surprised he's not acting out and doing self-harming behaviors just to cope with his frustration at school.

[Calamity Jane]

I always feel that Paige is trying to kill Ralph with how much she wants him to be normal. It's one thing to think he needs supervision on the internet, but she seems to expect him to work so far below his capacity that I'm surprised he's not acting out and doing self-harming behaviors just to cope with his frustration at school.

My thoughts exactly, and I would imagine that LAUSD has some program somewhere that would offer at least a modestly interesting curriculum for Ralph.  Regular school = zero learning for him, except perhaps in how to interact socially with people he has nothing in common with.  That could be accomplished easily elsewhere.  Why not homeschool now that she doesn't have to work in a diner? The requirements are pathetically minimal these days, so there shouldn't be any official reason not to.  I had one child who was very bright (not Ralph bright, but in the genius range), and he "destructed" (not just self) rapidly in regular classes.  It was such a relief to get him out of high school and into college, where he could pursue interests much more at his own pace and level.    

[blugirlami21]

I agree about Paige working way too hard to make sure that Ralph is normal.  He's never going to be normal, it's just not in the cards for him.  I had hoped that by accepting the job and the Scorpion team in her life that she had come to terms with that fact. 

 

I also hated how unrealistic the situation with the FBI.  You can't arrest a child for playing a video game.  You legally can't talk to him without some sort of adult present, even if it has to be a temporary guardian.  I just did not appreciate how aggressive the FBI agent was with Ralph. 

 

Paige overreacted.  Walter didn't do anything wrong by showing Ralph those boards and I hated that he felt like he was a bad influence in Ralph's life.  I can't stand Drew.  He's been back in his son's life for all of five minutes and suddenly he's an expert on what Ralph should and shouldn't be allowed to do.  Ralph only halfway tolerates him because Walter helped him out.  The sooner he reverts back to his love em and leave em mentality the better.

[bros402]

My thoughts exactly, and I would imagine that LAUSD has some program somewhere that would offer at least a modestly interesting curriculum for Ralph.  Regular school = zero learning for him, except perhaps in how to interact socially with people he has nothing in common with.  That could be accomplished easily elsewhere.  Why not homeschool now that she doesn't have to work in a diner? The requirements are pathetically minimal these days, so there shouldn't be any official reason not to.  I had one child who was very bright (not Ralph bright, but in the genius range), and he "destructed" (not just self) rapidly in regular classes.  It was such a relief to get him out of high school and into college, where he could pursue interests much more at his own pace and level.    

 

LAUSD is rather bad with both ends of the special needs spectrum from anecdotal accounts I have heard.

 

Homeschooling would probably be best - Walter & Team Scorpion could tutor him in various subjects in between missions - Walter and Sylvester would probably do Math. Toby & Sylvester would probably teach History & Reading. Happy would probably teach Science.

 

And Cabe can be the gym teacher :P

[Emily Thrace]

LAUSD is rather bad with both ends of the special needs spectrum from anecdotal accounts I have heard.

Homeschooling would probably be best - Walter & Team Scorpion could tutor him in various subjects in between missions - Walter and Sylvester would probably do Math. Toby & Sylvester would probably teach History & Reading. Happy would probably teach Science.

And Cabe can be the gym teacher :P

The issue I see with homeschooling is that Ralph can't just go along on top secret missions. Even part time child care if you hire a student is expensive. Paige is probably making more than she did as waitress but I don't think anyone at scorpion is raking it in

[bros402]

The issue I see with homeschooling is that Ralph can't just go along on top secret missions. Even part time child care if you hire a student is expensive. Paige is probably making more than she did as waitress but I don't think anyone at scorpion is raking it in

 

Homeland pays them a nice fee for contract work, judging from their reactions in the first episode to their paychecks. They could keep Drew around as Mr. Mom, to take care of Ralph when they are on assignments/missions/tasks.

 

Though Team Scorpion would probably pool together a small amount of money to hire someone to just look after Ralph while they are on missions.

[Actionmage]

I actually tried to watch this episode a couple of days ago, but I couldn't. I can usually push through, give a couple of eye-rolls and yell at the TV and I'm okay. I just couldn't.

 

I think part of it was the heavy FBI bullshit at the beginning and the super-sized seeming side of self-righteous Drew they threw in.

 

Then again, it was possibly that a grown-ass FBI agent was threatening a 10 year old child with arrest with a straight face. The only redeeming things were how utter calm Ralph kept himself and the feeling of "yeah! Now you're ass is gonna get kicked!!" when Cade showed up. 

 

I might try it again, if there's good stuff after the team gets back from the FBI office. Drew was being all "He has my DNA ( because that's science) and he came from my loins ( because science and I sexed Paige up!)" I could have been misreading Drew. The kid he never knew about until recently was jerked around by the freaking FBI. I get that.

[John Potts]

What I was thinking was "Wait a minute - the CIA can't arrest ANYONE on US soil!" (it would be either Homeland or FBI - since Cabe is from Homeland, presumably the FBI in this case). At least that used to be the case; it might have changed since the 2001 Patriot Act.

What strikes me as odd is that for a show that takes the view "Trust Big Brother to protect you from all the bad guys!" portrays the government as willing to snatch young kids out of school. Maybe they should add "We probably won't pluck innocent kids off the street, honest!"