Television: Scorpion, "The Old College Try"

. . . In which our team goes undercover at a college.

It should have been funnier.

I really wanted it to end with Happy being accepted into that sorority (as unlikely as that seems).

But it was still a pretty solid episode.

The plot was, pshaw, something about a computer program that would do something to the stock exchange I think? I wasn't even paying that much attention to that part of the show. And somehow it didn't actually matter all that much. It hardly ever does in this show because you can generally rely on the notion the team is "doing something," and whatever it is will be important in some way, and it will be dangerous and/or difficult, and whether you know exactly what the circumstances are or not, you can watch any given scene and see they are using their collective brain capacity to full measure and trying not to blow something up or . . . whatever.

So last night they went into the basement of a college building and had to "do something" to a special computer, and if they didn't do it correctly everything would blow up or catch fire or whatever. See? I didn't have to know anything more than that. Because I know they're going to either (a) succeed, or (b) fail and have to come up with another plan. But none of them is going to die, so even if they fail, they will escape before the explosion.

That pretty much sums up every episode of Scorpion, actually. Which may make one wonder what's the point in watching? I guess to see what bizarre circumstances they face, and maybe because of the interpersonal character stuff (though I find most of that annoying).

I mean, I kept watching MacGyver as a kid because (a) I had a crush on Richard Dean Anderson, and (b) I actually learned stuff. Seeing Mac find ways out was most of the fun. It's not quite as much fun watching the Scorpion team do it, but that's only because none of them have as great a personality as MacGyver did. Maybe Cabe. I do like Cabe.

Anyway, this episode gets extra credit for the Shakespeare, and for having Walter set those drama snots in their places. I've done my share of theater, and just . . . No. I could go on a complete spur about how workshops fail aspiring writers, actors, etc. by stroking their egos and giving them false hope, but I'll just say: No.

So, yeah, an okay episode that maybe could have done a bit more with the material. They tried to cram in a lot and so didn't do much with any one piece of it. But maybe that's better than lingering too long on anything either.