Television: Scorpion, "Once Bitten, Twice Die"

So our clan hosts a peace talk for three Eastern European presidents, and of course Paige is the only one to have done her homework. She smooths things over time and again by appealing to what she's learned of the cultural history and heritage, basically showing up the people whose job it is to facilitate the talks. That's Paige: natural mediator. Isn't that what she does for Team Scorpion anyway?

But of course one of the presidents is poisoned during a toast, so things go south anyway.

Now there are two problems: 1. Find out what poison was used so an antidote can be administered. 2. Find out who did it.

For Problem 1 we're back to Paige and her studies. Something about a snake and some long-winded story about a leader's child once being bitten, and the funeral started a fight amongst the countries, etc. Whatever. Point is: snake. Venom. Go find the same kind of snake at the local reptile center.

Problem 2 is tackled with Sylvester's ability to patch into people's cell phones. He intercepts a message that shows who did it and why: a weapons manufacturer stands to make a lot of money if a war breaks out. Same old story.

Here's where things get stupid, though. Toby has Sylvester send a false reply, which tips the bad guy off that someone is reading his texts. Why fake an answer? Why not continue to monitor? Or just arrest the guy outright? The false response gives the bad guy a chance to run away, which he does, and then Cabe gets him later, so . . . Was this just to stretch the story? Give Cabe something to do?

Meanwhile, Walter, Happy, and Paige go to the reptile center to get an adder. Again, though, why take Paige when she was being most useful back at the peace talks? I feel like a lot of bad choices were made in this episode.

They get the adder, save the day, and end up with a pet weasel. Oh, and Happy kisses Toby.

By the way, I'm pretty sure Walter would have heard of Ferris Bueller. May not have seen it, but would at least get the reference. He didn't grow up and never see the movie poster or hear other kids talking about it. Like, I've never seen Edward Scissorhands, either, but if someone makes a pop culture reference, I know enough to nod my head. (And I only saw Ferris Bueller under duress. Didn't enjoy it. But that's neither here nor there, I suppose.)