This was an extra-long episode, starting later than usual thanks to the Supergirl premiere but adding an extra half hour to boot. And it was an intense episode, too, with lots of people in danger, seemingly from carelessness on Walter's part.
Wait, what?
We're supposed to believe Walter was careless?
The car thing last year notwithstanding, they haven't built Walter's character to fit this notion at all. And also, since the team is never (in the end) at fault, we know going in that Walter can't really be to blame for these bad things are happening.
Let me rewind a bit. Walter is at a tech conference. He meets a pretty woman in a bar, has a Long Island iced tea, and being a lightweight goes kind of crazy. This makes him late for a big reveal of a fancy new building that he's helped design. A "smart building" of sorts, I guess. And then the building goes all wrong, and it appears to be Walter's fault.
Okay, so we maybe can believe a girl in a bar would find Walter cute and unassuming. And we can believe that he might succumb to alcohol, letting his uptight self run loose. But on the night before such a big event? Walter is usually very cognizant of his reputation, though . . . Yes, maybe his arrogance could lead him to believe it'll be fine. One drink, pretty girl, no big deal.
As for the building going haywire, it turns out there is a worm in the system. So the careless aspect comes in that Walter let himself be taken in by this woman. He left his computer unattended or whatever. Though I'm pretty sure his computer would be, like, impossible to break into, right?
Also, didn't they do a trial run of this building prior to the big day? I would think you would.
Whatever. Cabe and Paige go hunting for the girl while Walter puts Happy, Sylvester, and children in jeopardy as he tries to fix things. Stuff is on fire, doors won't open, the usual. And again, I'm pretty sure a building like this would never pass safety inspection. No fire extinguisher in case the sprinklers don't go off? Um, nope. Doors locking automatically with no manual override? Nope. Don't think they could get away with that.
So Happy is in a burning room, and Toby ends up stuck in an elevator and then stuck in a room in which the oxygen is being pumped out (hello, Star Trek III), and Sylvester and a bunch of children are stuck in a room that is rapidly filling with smoke because the ventilation system is also really poorly designed. And there's some Jurassic Park, "Let's reboot the whole system!" stuff, which we know won't work because raptors.
Except we don't get anything as exciting as raptors, just a worm that won't die.
And of course it turns out the woman drugged Walter's drink, was paid to do it by someone who wanted the building to fail. Because Walter is never wrong. He makes bad decisions, but in the end there is always someone worse, or some excuse for the poor choices, or whatever. He's flawed, but not that flawed, I guess.
Um . . . Okay, so it was a pretty good episode, if more than a little overwrought. Paige's reactions to the idea Walter had a one-night stand were a bit much. Happy, too, in the way she behaved when Toby was in danger . . . Like, the women in this episode were unnecessarily hysterical (not as in funny, either). Usually that award goes to Sylvester.
But I do just take issue with the "save" in that Walter isn't really to blame for any of it aside from, you know, taking advantage of someone showing interest in him, I guess? At least hang him from the flagpole for the design of this building. I mean, seriously. But of course they won't. Walter can't lose. Though I wish for once he would, and that the rest of the team would then rally and succeed without him. Just for a change.
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