Three seasons ago, CBS unleashed a serial about the exploits of the overly smart (IQ-wise, not EQ-wise) Walter O’Brien, played in stunning fashion by Elyes Gabriel. O’Brien is joined on his team of unique experts working for Homeland Security by psychologist Toby (Eddie Kaye Thomas), engineer Happy (Jadyn Wong), and statistician Sylvester (Ari Stidham). With their controller Cabe (Robert Patrick) directing them on missions and ‘normal’ waitress-turned-fixer Paige (Katharine McPhee) keeping them from running off the rails, the team proves to have a special blend of humor, camaraderie, and spunk to make the show work.
In this third season, the team tackles hackers in control of military vehicles and missiles, a Night in the Museum-like caper, a bat-filled cave, gunrunners on Christmas vacation, and a search for sunken gold … among a host of twenty-two unique exploits. But in the third season, it’s the relationship between Happy and Toby, not the on/again off/again dance of Walter and Paige, that steals the main headlines.
Having tripped onto the show the summer after the first season aired, it’s remarkable to see the way that the cast and crew have handled several seasons without repeating much in style or substance of the trials the team faces. It’s also funnier and funnier to watch the team deal with their own idiosyncracies, whether it’s germophobic Sylvester or OCD Walter. But it’s more than funny- it’s also teachable.
In many ways, the show ultimately shows us that it takes a team to save the world, and being right isn’t always worth what it costs to make your point. When you’re the best in your field, you’re often right; when your friends have a different approach, it doesn’t always make them wrong. But sometimes in community (or in marriage) we lose sight of what’s really important; these characters do, and then they figure it out. It’s the beauty of friendship, worked out by really smart people who have to figure out what it means to be human.
The fifty minutes of special features include “Unlikely Heroes,” a look at the season and how the crew comes to the rescue; “You’re Invited,” that features the courtship and marriage of you know who; “Scorp Beats,” a look at composer Tony Morales’ setting the musical tone; and, “Mock Me Up,” show the graphic design of the series.
Leave a Reply