Before this season premier, all the money in the world could not have convinced me that a musical number would work in an episode of a crime drama. And, honestly, I’m still not sure it did. But season four of Scorpion definitely caught some attention with that shake up, and it made the premiere memorable.
Picking up just hours after last May’s finale left off, the episode opened with Paige, in Walter’s bed, delicately asking Walter how he felt about their relationship. Walter’s brain responds with an intricate and nerd worthy song and dance sequence – which I can only assume is because he still isn’t sure how to process raw emotion and therefore it manifests in this bizarre manner. Thankfully, his actual response is in words, and the musical number stops there.
The next shock of the episode was the return of Mark Collins. Collins made a random call to Walter and insisted that they must meet. Though Walter wasn’t sure at first, it’s a good thing he decides to go along with it. An earthquake in the Arctic Ocean has caused fissures to erupt in Norway’s ice blocks, and subsequently methane gas is leaking at an alarming rate. If they don’t seal the fissures in time, the leaks could trigger an “extinction event” and wipe out a hefty amount of the earth’s population. As per Happy: not good.
And so, off the team goes, Collins in tow. Of course, nothing goes quite as planned. The nitrogen hydroxide they need to seal the fissures springs a leak. Toby gets trapped beneath the ice. Cabe hurls himself out of a moving vehicle. And Collins is paralyzed by the electric ankle bracelet he’s forced to wear as a stipulation of him being out of prison. All around, A+ drama, team Scorpion!
But the moments we were all truly waiting for were between Walter and Paige. Though Walter’s little fantasy musical led us to believe that things were indeed as sweet as a pie, it quickly became clear that neither one of them has a clue about being romantic partners and co-workers.
Paige made this clear when she asked Walter why she hadn’t been consulted about bringing Collins along with them, and Walter, as always, gave a sound logical answer: as the founder of the team, he doesn’t need anyone else’s permission to bring another person on an assignment. But Walter also doesn’t make such a great impression when he critiques Paige’s job performance…within audible distance of the rest of the team. Yikes.
No matter what your ships, it’s easy to see that the characters in this series have an understandably difficult time with relationships. However, it seems that Paige and Walter’s will be significantly more dramatic than expected. The optimism Paige harbored about her love for Walter seems to have quickly down-turned, because now she’s worried that they’re too different to work as a couple. Which means that working together at all will be a struggle. And Walter is facing an inordinate struggle with his emotions, because he has never had to handle raw emotion before falling in love with Paige. It’s a lot to take in for each of them, I get that. But these things should probably be discussed somewhere other than a methane leaking ice cap, don’t you think?
Photo Credit: CBS
Happy snaps everyone’s attention back to the issue at hand with a grim announcement. An aftershock from the recent earthquake caused even more fissures to rupture. So, now there are just a few short hours until the excessive methane warms the atmosphere to the point of emergency. If the problem isn’t resolved quickly, the result could be mass extinction.
Whether it was sappy nerd lyrics, relationship turmoil, or the fate of humanity hanging in the balance, this episode kept us on the edge of our seats. And with billions of lives in their hands, the Scorpion crew is bound to keep the adrenaline pumping during the next episode.
