S01.E21: Cliffhanger

[Artsda]

 

 

"Cliffhanger" -Walter finally learns Cabe's long-kept secret regarding the Baghdad mission, and it threatens to tear Team Scorpion apart forever. Also, Paige's world is rocked when Ralph puts his life in danger to help the team, on SCORPION, Monday, April 13 (9:00-9:59 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

 

 

 

So all the times Paige has been almost killed these past half a season and now she realizes they do dangerous things and are dangerous? 

 

Walter's reaction to Cabe was just annoying and then his reaction to Paige was over the top. Crashing the car, for someone brilliant he does have a death wish and from the second Cabe told him the truth he was acting manic. I hope Paige does take Ralph and leaves town, for good. Ralph was just an annoying child doing what he did and Walter's actions of running off and crashing a Ferrari shouldn't make Paige stay, it should reinforce her decision to keep him away from Ralph.

Edited April 14, 2015 by Artsda

[shapeshifter]

Argh. Way too much personal drama in this one.

I'm assuming Walter's level 5 anger is because if Cabe had told him when there was still 3 days, Walter could have made it more accurate. In an earlier episode it was explained that he didn't design it to be precise because they were supposed to be dropping food packages over a wide area.

Even if Walter has never attended Traffic Violators' School in Cali, he should know that at that speed you do not swerve to avoid a coyote, dog, wolf, squirrel, or any animal--unless it's a moose and you have a safe place to swerve.

And that coyote had one fluffy tale. I suspect it was only part coyote and its name really is Fluffy and it has a SAG card.

Edited April 14, 2015 by shapeshifter

[Jlina]

Sylvester looking calmly at the guy and saying: go ahead, I'm not moving was really moving to me.  :)  Character growth. 

 

So.....sigh...Paige?  Hmmm, she won't crawl down a hot tunnel - not that she could be hell, I'd of jumped in or had them dangle me long before time was almost up! BUT....she'll try and push through a human shield to where her feet come off the ground for Walter?  That really sucks.

 

Along with the promo - although I'm so glad it wasn't really a cliff hanger :)  Still - why the HELL don't they have a helicopter hooked up balancing that car asap?  Or hey, a helium Happy made balloon?!!

 

I thought mini Walter was adorable and the kid was genius and brave.  Pretty cute.

 

**Walter would have disabled the software if he'd of been aware of it's real use 3 days prior, according to him. 

[Zahdii]

It's been awhile since I watched this show, and now I remember why.  Walter is really annoying.  Something happened 16 years ago, and although Cabe found out that the 'food drops' were really going to be missiles, he was correct in remaining silent.  As he said, he tried to argue against the mission to no avail.  He protected Walter from treason charges by keeping him in the dark.  On top of that, Cabe thought that the missiles would be directed only at a military or political target and had no idea that civilians were going to also be hit.  But Walter whines, pouts, and does everything except stomp his feet and threaten to hold his breath until he dies unless Cabe is sent away.

 

And Walter, it's nice that you tried so hard to save Cabe later on (although after that you were an ass to him again), and it's admirable that you wanted everyone in the building to be saved, even the guy who killed one person and tried to gas a bunch of others.  But when a child, acting on a bad case of hero worship for you, runs into a building where a psycho is threatening to release nerve gas, don't look at his mother and say "So what?" when she complains about how you're adversely affecting her child with your narcissistic insistence on your awesomeness.  And when she quits working with you and plans to move away so you can't influence her son anymore, don't react like a toddler who throws their toys when they're told 'No'.  Because your toy weighs approximately 3000 lbs. and can hurt people.

[marketdoctor]

 

It's been awhile since I watched this show, and now I remember why.  Walter is really annoying.

 

To be fair, this is one of my least favorite episodes--it was more A Very Special Episode and less of the goofy fun 80s-style show they'd been having.  (The trip to Mexico, for example, could have been an A-Team or MacGyver plot with a few changes--and I mean that as a compliment.)

 

That said, it still had some Scorpio bits--like Ralph having the magnets grip less, even though he's higher up (I know, heat rises, but some of it gets conducted to the walls) and weighs substantially less.  Also Ralph using a silicone doll that he just happens to have, to save the city.  Or Paige complaining that her kid's in danger when IN THE PILOT she was driving a car at 100 MPH.  Even the crash was a callback to that scene, and another time Walter was street-racing; he or one of the writers likes playing with fast cars. 

 

That Walter felt personally responsible for saving at least as many lives as his invention cost was a noble way to think, though unless he's murdering people off camera, he's past that point (he might feel he needs to keep doing more, but they've saved the entire city at least once from a nuclear explosion, so that's some pretty good karma.)

 

A lot of the pieces fit, but I thought the ending was too depressing--even with the spoilers from "next week" where they're back to an implausible rescue. 

[Julie23]

This show was so much better when there was no relationship drama. Cabe and Walter, Walter and Paige, Happy and Toby. Can't everyone just go back to being friends that do awesome things to solve problems? 

[thuganomics85]

I know it was suppose to be dramatic, but I almost laughed at Paige's "Ralph is in the building!" line, because Katherine McPhee really didn't deliver that line, like I thought a mom who just saw her son in a dangerous situation, would.  All the stuff after that worked, but for that one particular line, it came off almost like one of those "The Champ is in the building!" lines, which really doesn't make sense in that context.

 

I didn't realize that this was the penultimate episode of the season, but now it all makes sense.  Talk about shoving in the dramatics.  Cabe is forced to tell Walt the truth, and Walt flips out, and kicks him out of Team Scorpion.  You know, just ignoring all the times Cabe bailed their asses out.  At this point, Walt just needs to accept that everyone fucked up that situation back then, and it is best to move on and try to redeem themselves.  I guess he isn't as "logical", as he claims he is.  Then, Paige quits because Ralph almost died again.  Which, really, Walt: if the kid just escaped with his life, you should do more then give him a high-five.  Thank him and tell him good job, but then maybe let him know that was till reckless as hell, and maybe he should wait till, I don't know, he can drive, vote, or drink, before running into buildings like that.

 

But, nope.  Instead Walt looses his damn mind, and drives off a cliff.  Again, it was suppose to be serious, but I kept laughing at how the camera was lingering on the coyote.  It's like the show was saying the coyote did it on purpose!  Next season's big baddie!!

 

At least they kept the ferret.  Prepping him for the CBS spin-off, where it teams with Person of Interest's Bear, Elementary's Clyde, and NCIS:LA's Monty, and they all solve crimes, animal-style.  Hey, it would be better then CSI: Cyber, at least.

[Xantar]

This episode was the writers' attempt to gain some emotional depth. The funny thing is I think in some ways it succeeded, but it also made the show much less enjoyable.

 

We're told over and over again that Walter doesn't deal well with feelings, but in most episodes he actually interacts with people more or less appropriately and is even charming sometimes. In this episode, we see how clueless he is and how that affects people. We also see Walter getting some inkling of the fact that despite all his claims, he actually does have feelings.

 

We're told that Paige holds the team together and "translates the world" for them, but in most episodes she's pretty useless. In this one she actually has somewhat of a role to play as the Team Mom who gets Cabe and Walter to work together again. There was also the moment when she communicated with that scientist in order get her to work through the grief of seeing her fiance die in front of her and still help rescue people from the building. Unfortunately, this also means Paige acts like a rational human being and realizes that the dangers this team faces are bad for her son.

 

The show is supposed to be about these super geniuses struggling to deal with the world while doing their work, but because being actually emotionally stunted would make them unlikable, the writers have just made them "quirky." And I was willing to roll with it because the action sequences were so ridiculous that it was clear to me that this was supposed to just be some popcorn fun. Now the writers want us to take the character issues more seriously, and I think they played realistically. Unfortunately, it also exposed the central flaw of the show which is that Walter is kind of an awful person and Paige is well rid of him (not that her baby daddy is really much better).

Edited April 15, 2015 by Xantar

[shapeshifter]

...We're told over and over again that Walter doesn't deal well with feelings, but in most episodes he actually interacts with people more or less appropriately and is even charming sometimes...

We're told that Paige holds the team together and "translates the world" for them, but in most episodes she's pretty useless...

In this episode and nearly all episodes, Walter actually deals with people on a level that requires a lot of emotional intelligence, usually with the bad guy, as it was in this one when he tricked him. Tricking someone with less than honest words and emotions should not be one of Walter's superpowers if he really does need a "normal" person to "translate the world" for him. If Walter can do that, we don't need Paige.

I was thinking this when the episode began, so when we got a Ralph-centric episode, I thought, Yay! Ralph still exists, and Ralph needs people like Walter in his life as role models. And the scene in the Scorpion head quarters where Toby suggest Ralph take off the suit jack and then he rolled up his sleeves so he became a mini Walter was adorable.

But then. D-R-A-M-A.

Hopefully next week it will get resolved, but I still don't see why they need Paige to go on missions with them. I mean, not only is Walter able to assume secret agent identities, but they've got frickin' Toby, who should know way more than Paige about dealing with people.

Edited April 14, 2015 by shapeshifter

[possibilities]

Walter knows how to talk to bad guys. He just goes to pieces when he needs to talk to someone nice who's not "being rational" (behaving according to his convenience)-- like the scientist whose fiance died this episode. But it's true that Toby should be able to do that stuff. The real reason they need Paige is that someone has to be Walter's love interest, the woman who civilizes the lost boy and makes him human, and Happy is too interesting to be that person, and anyway they already shoeboxed Happy into the role of love interest for Toby. Someone probably thought hat the show needed someone to pull in the girlfriend demographic, so guys wouldn't have to wrestle their ladies for the remote.

 

I actually liked that Walter ran off the road because of an animal, instead of just because he lost control on his own. The people I know who drive recklessly all defend it on the grounds that they believe their relfexes are quick enough and they can handle it. Not one of them ever wants to listen to the scenario where something out of their control shows up in the road and they wreck no matter how awesome a driver they personally are.

 

I have to say: this week, Paige and Ralph both came up with crucial solutions to problems the regular team members were blanking on. The show needs to decide whether or not you really have to be a genius, or an adult, to save the day, or whether anyone could do it if they have been exposed to the problem-solving mindset for a while. Does genius rub off on bystanders? And if Ralph is really that insightful, they could use him without putting him in danger. He could sit next to Walter and brainstorm remotely. He could even join the think tank remotely from Maine. These guys know how to Skype, right?  I predict that he runs away from home or falls into a suicidal despair if asked to live the life of a Normal Kid. Or he hacks into NASA and remotely redirects some satellites until the feds get involved, like what happened with Walter and Cabe when Walter was a kid.

[paigow]

At least they kept the ferret.  Prepping him for the CBS spin-off, where it teams with Person of Interest's Bear, Elementary's Clyde, and NCIS:LA's Monty, and they all solve crimes, animal-style.  Hey, it would be better then CSI: Cyber, at least.

Been there, done that -Wonder Pets

[raven]

 

This show was so much better when there was no relationship drama.

This a million times.  Walter was being ridiculous - and not even bothering to think he was endangering the job by tiffing with Cabe.  Just stop, show.  Plus it had the added effect of making Walter even more insufferable.

 

And why bother with the Paige/ex drama?  We know she's not going anywhere.  I don't want the ex to be a bad guy; he can go off and play baseball and Ralph can visit when the show doesn't need him to save people or anything.

[daisycat]

Possibilities

 

The show needs to decide whether or not you really have to be a genius, or an adult, to save the day, or whether anyone could do it if they have been exposed to the problem-solving mindset for a while.

 

It's the Jack Carter Eurekafication factor.

[BuccaneerDTB]

When Walter is hanging in the shaft and cutting a hole to grab on and save their lives before time runs out, why did he cut a hole big enough for his entire body and thus run out of time? A real genius would have cut a small hand-hold quickly and then cut a bigger hole after they were secured. This terribly stupid writing has ruined the show. McGuyver was more intelligent and believable.

 

Ralph was lighter than Walter and should not have started sliding.

The heat suits did not cover their faces, lol.

Or their shoes, which were closer to the heat.

I could go on, but why?

Edited May 5, 2015 by BuccaneerDTB