Thursday, November 10, 2016

Scorpion 3x07 Review: “We’re Gonna Need a Bigger Vote” (Try Not To Act Too Excited) [Guest Poster: Yasmine]


“We’re Gonna Need a Bigger Vote”
Original Airdate: November 7, 2016

This week’s Scorpion episode — election themed, of course — had one of the most interesting cases of this season while managing to turn into the most emotionally heavy-episode during the last few minutes. I was not expecting those last few minutes, and so the emotional impact of those last scenes blew me away. And again, Scorpion manages to do it in the way that only this show can — balancing the procedural, the action, the comedy, and then surprising you with an amazing emotional ending.

The case this week came from their most important client yet: The President of the United States himself. However, it did come at a price. Given Walter’s current situation — being suspected of citizenship fraud — the team leader was benched for this case. He was left in the garage, conveniently watching over Ralph, with his own “babysitter.” He was not allowed any access to computers, phones or comms. But of course, this is Walter, so he eventually found a way to get involved and rejoin the team... illegally. The team was called up this week because of what, at first, seemed to be a technical problem with the servers of the voting system. The servers are located under water and it took everything Toby had not to sing “Under the Sea.”

But things are never that simple, are they? One thing leads to another, and the overheating turns out to be because of a bug manipulating the voting. That leads them to the president’s Chief of Staff — through an elaborate and hilarious side mission at a new network in which Toby is hosted on a news show and goes on a political rant. From there, Walter and Ralph have their own little fugitive run — after escaping their babysitter — and have to essentially break into Air Force One using the old candy in the Coke bottle trick. That little heist reveals more clues that the people behind the bug are the Chinese government, and that sends the team on another mission to break into the Chinese consulate.

Somehow, through all this, Team Scorpion still manages to save the day, save the elections and democracy, and not get arrested for all the stunts they pulled. In fact, as an act of appreciation, the president grants them a gift: U.S. citizenship for Walter. Not too bad!

That breakthrough for the team means something very important to two people: Toby and Happy. The couple can finally move forward, and while this should have been the happiest day for them, that happiness had to come at a price. Happy comes back to the garage from her doctor’s appointment with some bad news. The blood test results had been wrong — a false positive. Happy is not pregnant. And that news is devastating. Happy is not the most emotionally expressive person — she holds her cards close to her chest — so watching her break down after learning that was one of the most heart-breaking moments on the show. Jadyn Wong does an amazing job at portraying just how devastated Happy is. And again, Toby is there for her. He is just so perfectly supportive and loves her so much. He knows when to give her space and when to push her. And he knows just what to say and when to say it. Sure, this may not be the case all the time, but he was great there.

And then he got down on one knee, without a song this time, and re-proposed. And this time, she said yes.

A big theme this week was the lack of privacy in this team. And take it from someone who comes from a big family where everyone knows everyone’s business, it is infuriating at times. Almost everyone points out this fact this week, especially when it comes to Paige’s love life. Her relationship with Tim is moving forward, with her going to meet his parents later in the evening, and everyone has something to say about it. Tim comments about being used to interference, having grown up with four sisters, and Paige makes the appropriate comment about the team being a bunch of teenage girls. Even Ralph, the innocent child, comments that there is no privacy in this place.

And speaking of Ralph, I just love how much more involved he is in the show this year and how much he has grown as a character. He is so attentive to everything, and his connection to both Paige and Walter is just so amazing. Throughout the episode, he teams up with Walter to help the team and does a great job being the genius’s smart young protégé. And at the end of the episode, as they are getting ready for the dance, his scene with Paige is beautiful. Ralph just wants his mother to be happy. He knows the sacrifices she makes for him and in return wants something good for her. So he asks her if she likes Tim — if he makes her happy, truly. And while he does accept her response with grace, the moment he shares with Walter afterwards is heartbreaking. “You should have taken my mom dancing when you had the chance,” he tells Walter. “We could have been partners forever.” As much as it hurts Ralph to watch his mother move closer to Tim, that admission hits Walter pretty hard.

Throughout the season, Walter has been slowly working on himself, growing and evolving to become the man that deserves to be with Paige, per Cabe’s advice. And he has been doing great. Especially this week, with him being in charge of Ralph — watching him, teaching him and, most importantly, bonding with him. They even pretended to be father and son as part of their con to get on Air Force One. He has reigned in his childish behavior toward Tim and Paige, and has been doing everything absolutely right. Slow and steady growth is just what he needs. So, how is he going to deal with this now? How is this more mature, more emotionally evolved Walter going to deal with this change in the status quo? It is going to be very interesting to see how things move forward for Walter and for Waige at this point. He is hurting a lot right now, but he is also grown so much, so it is going to be an emotional journey that has been in the making for a very long time. And our hero is finally facing his biggest challenge yet.

Finally, on a lighter note, I just want to bring up a theme that has turned into a running joke on the show: Cabe’s age. Every week now, it has to be brought up a handful of times that Cabe is old, that he is behind the times when it comes to technology, cool music, etc. And as hilarious as it is, I don’t know why it is starting to make me worried. Not very worried, but something is telling me that all these jokes about his age are leading up to something happening to him. I don’t want anything bad to happen to Cabe. He is the team’s father figure and everyone really needs him, leans on him, and he cannot ever leave. But still, I cannot shake that feeling.

(Also, Sly wanting to run for office to protect his nerdiness is the most precious thing ever. I would vote for him.)

This was another week and another fun filled, emotionally driven episode. Scorpion continues to impress in their third season!

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