Scorpion (TV series)
Scorpion | |
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Genre | Drama |
Developed by | Nick Santora |
Starring |
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Composers | Brian Tyler Tony Moralas |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 1 |
No. of episodes | 6 |
Production | |
Executive producers |
|
Producers | Scott Manson Troy Craig Poon Clayton Townsend |
Cinematography | Gyula Pados |
Editors | Dylan Highsmith Steven Sprung |
Running time | 50 minutes |
Production companies |
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Original release | |
Network | CBS |
Release | September 22, 2014 present | –
Scorpion (stylized as </Scorpion>) is an American drama television series loosely based on the life of self-proclaimed genius and computer expert[1] Walter O'Brien. In the series, O'Brien recruits other geniuses to help solve complex, global problems. Scorpion airs on Mondays at 9:00 p.m. ET on CBS. It premiered on September 22, 2014, as part of the 2014–15 television season.[2][3][4][5]
On October 27, 2014, CBS placed a full season episode order for the first season.[6]
Synopsis
Walter O'Brien and a team of outcasts are recruited by federal agent Cabe Gallo of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to form Scorpion, said to be the last line of defense against complex, high-tech threats around the globe. The team includes O'Brien, one of the smartest people in the world with a 197 IQ, and his friends Sylvester Dodd, a "human calculator" dealing in statistics; Happy Quinn, a "mechanical prodigy"; and Toby Curtis, a "world-class shrink" (a Harvard-trained behaviorist). Paige Dineen is a former waitress whose interaction with people translates the real world to them; they, in exchange, translate her young mentally gifted son, Ralph, to her.
Cast and characters
Main cast
- Elyes Gabel as Walter O'Brien,[7] a genius who in the pilot is struggling to keep his small company Scorpion afloat. He leads the team. Agent Gallo was the person who brought him to America after O'Brien hacked into NASA computers and while they worked together for several years, O'Brien split with Gallo around age 16 when 2,000 civilians were killed after the U.S. bombed Iraq using software O'Brien provided.
- Katharine McPhee as Paige Dineen,[7] a single mother of a nine-year-old boy. She is a struggling waitress when she meets O'Brien and his team. She works to help the team interact with normal people and learns from O'Brien that her son is not challenged but really a genius.
- Robert Patrick as Agent Cabe Gallo.[7] Gallo is a special agent with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. He was the one who brought Walter over from Ireland and then worked with him for several years. They had a falling out when Walter was 16 over civilian casualties during an attack on Iraq. In the pilot, Gallo recruits Walter and his team to help the government fix a serious air traffic control problem and then asks Walter and his team to join him on a special government team to tackle difficult problems that arise, like stolen nuclear weapons and similar issues.
- Eddie Kaye Thomas as Toby Curtis,[7] a genius behaviorist who can easily read people. He has a gambling problem that gets him into trouble.
- Jadyn Wong as Happy Quinn,[7] a genius mechanical engineer who can fix anything. She is the sole female genius of the group.
- Ari Stidham as Sylvester Dodd,[7] a genius statistical guru who also has OCD and anxiety.
Recurring cast
- Riley B. Smith as Ralph,[7] Paige's son. In the pilot, he is nine years old and appears to be a troubled, mostly silent child. Paige learns from Walter that he is actually a genius. At the end of the pilot, he talks to Walter, and Paige comments that Ralph previously has only talked to her.
- Camille Guaty as Megan O'Brien (Adult Megan). In her later years, Walter wants to help pay back the favor of his sister always being there throughout his childhood, and "fix" her medical condition multiple sclerosis.
- Emily Robinson as Young Megan. Megan is Walter's sister who is gifted in different ways, even though she is not a genius. She helps Walter get through school and protects him from anyone who wants to harm him.
- Daniel Zolghadri as Young Walter
- David Fabrizio as Merrick, Director of Homeland Security.
Guest cast
- Ernie Hudson as Brooks, the head air traffic controller at LAX.[8][9] ("Pilot")
- Corbin Bernsen as the owner of a casino ("Shorthanded")
- Mykelti Williamson as General Ned Walker, who is in charge of security at a nuclear power plant. ("Plutonium Is Forever")
- Linda Hunt as Hetty Lange, head of NCIS: Los Angeles who collaborates with the team on the art forgery case ("True Colors").
- Shohreh Aghdashloo as Dr. Cassandra Davis, a psychologist who was assigned to give the team a psych evaluation after the art forgery case ("True Colors").
- Raphael Sbarge as Paulson, curator at the Westside Museum of Art who hires the team to update the security system to protect the masterpieces ("True Colors").
Episodes
No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | U.S. viewers (millions) | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | "Pilot" | Justin Lin | Teleplay by: Nick Santora | September 22, 2014 | 13.83[10] | |
Special Agent Cabe Gallo hires former child prodigy Walter O'Brien to lead a team of his brilliant friends. They are assigned their first mission by the government to help land airplanes at LAX when the air to ground communication system is shut down by a bug in the new traffic control software. They instantly connect with a waitress named Paige, the mother of a genius child. | ||||||
2 | "Single Point of Failure" | Bobby Roth | David Foster | September 29, 2014 | 13.36[11] | |
Team Scorpion is called upon by the governor when his daughter is a victim of biohacking and has only 24 hours to live. The mission hits a raw nerve with Walter, who receives a letter regarding his sister Megan's worsening multiple sclerosis. Toby reaches out to his ex-fiancée, Happy isn't so happy about people letting her down in her past, and Cabe is reminded of the loss of his own daughter while working this case. | ||||||
3 | "A Cyclone" | Gary Fleder | Nick Santora & Nicholas Wootton | October 6, 2014 | 12.05[12] | |
After failing a military training exercise ordered by Director Merrick, the team is determined to prove their worth. When Internet infrastructure is threatened by random bomb strikes around the city, they set up their own operation to find the bomber. Agent Gallo takes them off the mission for violating orders. Paige tries to find her place on the team. | ||||||
4 | "Shorthanded" | Dwight H. Little | Elizabeth Beall | October 13, 2014 | 11.51[13] | |
Wanting publicity on their last case, Scorpion takes on a private contract in spite of Agent Gallo's objections. They travel to Las Vegas to help a casino that is losing money on their high-roller blackjack tables. Walter sees a heist about to happen, but he is accused of masterminding the robbery and is sent to jail. His team is able to crack the case and exonerate him, with Gallo's help. | ||||||
5 | "Plutonium Is Forever" | Jeff T. Thomas | Paul Grellong | October 20, 2014 | 10.75[14] | |
A nuclear reactor at a Los Angeles power plant with an out-of-date system nears a cataclysmic meltdown. Walter must enlist the help of genius Mark Collins, a former troubled team member who brought him "down the rabbit hole", what he calls a dissociative state of intelligent thought years ago that almost jeopardized Scorpion. | ||||||
6 | "True Colors" | Dwight H. Little | Elizabeth Beall | October 27, 2014 | 10.39[15] | |
After taking a security job at an art museum, Scorpion is accused of destroying a priceless piece of art which they think is a forgery. They must pass a mandated psych evaluation or be disbanded from all Homeland assignments. But Gallo has a connection, Hetty Lange, head of NCIS: L.A. who helps them track down the real painting. Paige tasks Walter with an experiment to gain emotional quotient so his team can get more work. She also asks the team for help when Ralph doesn't have anyone to go with to his school's Halloween party. | ||||||
7 | "Father's Day"[16] | Milan Cheylov | Nick Santora | November 3, 2014 | TBA | |
8 | "Risky Business"[17] | Matt Earl Beesley | Nicholas Wootton | November 10, 2014 | TBA |
Reception
Scorpion has received mixed to negative reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the series holds a rating of 38%, based on 45 reviews, with an average rating of 5.1/10. The site's consensus reads, "Typical procedural plot lines and boring characters using a distracting amount of geek-speak make Scorpion a forgettable show without sting."[18] On Metacritic, the show has a score of 48 out of 100, based on 24 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[19]
The show premiered on September 22, 2014, earning a 3.2 rating in the 18-49 demo and 13.83 million total viewers.[10] This improved CBS' Monday 9 p.m. time slot from the previous season by 66% in total viewers and 22% in the 18-49 demo. It was also Monday's top new series in viewers and key demos.[20]
Ratings
No. | Title | Air date | Ratings/Share (18–49) |
Viewers (millions) |
DVR 18-49 |
DVR Viewers (millions) |
Total 18-49 |
Total Viewers (millions) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | "Pilot" | September 22, 2014 | 3.2/9[10] | 13.83[10] | 1.8[21] | 5.320[21] | 5.0[21] | 19.217[21] |
2 | "Single Point of Failure" | September 29, 2014 | 3.1/8[11] | 13.36[11] | 1.5[22] | 4.557[22] | 4.6[22] | 17.944[22] |
3 | "A Cyclone" | October 6, 2014 | 2.6/7[12] | 12.05[12] | 1.3[23] | 4.488[23] | 3.9[23] | 16.542[23] |
4 | "Shorthanded" | October 13, 2014 | 2.4/6[13] | 11.51[13] | — | — | — | — |
5 | "Plutonium Is Forever" | October 20, 2014 | 2.4/6[14] | 10.75[14] | — | — | — | — |
6 | "True Colors" | October 27, 2014 | 2.3/6[15] | 10.39[15] | — | — | — | — |
7 | "Father's Day" | November 3, 2014 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
8 | "Risky Business" | November 10, 2014 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
International broadcast
Scorpion has been picked up in the UK by ITV2 for broadcast starting Thursday October 23rd.[24] The series will air in fall on RTÉ2 in Ireland.[25] Australian network TEN began airing the show on the 28th of September. [26] Prime (New Zealand) shows the series at 7.30 pm on Fridays, starting on 10th October.[27] The show airs in Canada on the CITY network.[28]
References
- ^ Boyd, Brian (12 August 2014). "Scorpion: How an Irish genius saved the world". The Irish Times. The Irish Times. Retrieved 12 August 2014.
- ^ Goldberg, Lesley (March 17, 2014). "'Smash's' Katharine McPhee to Star in CBS Genius Drama (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved May 10, 2014.
- ^ Kondolojy, Amanda (May 9, 2014). "CBS Orders 'CSI: Cyber', 'NCIS: New Orleans', 'The Odd Couple', 'Stalker', 'Madam Secretary', 'Scorpion' & 'The McCarthys'". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved May 10, 2014.
- ^ Swift, Andy (May 9, 2014). "Fall TV: CBS Orders NCIS and CSI Spin-Offs, Odd Couple, Kevin Williamson's Stalker and 4 More to Series (But Not How I Met Your Dad?)". TVLine. Retrieved May 10, 2014.
- ^ Kondolojy, Amanda (May 14, 2014). "CBS 2014-15 Primetime Schedule: 'Big Bang Theory' & 'Mom' Lead Monday; 'The Mentalist' & 'CSI: Cyber' Held for Midseason + 'NCIS: New Orleans' Takes Post-NCIS Spot & 'Amazing Race' Goes to Friday". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved May 14, 2014.
- ^ CBS Gives Full Season Orders to 'Scorpion', 'Madam Secretary', 'NCIS: New Orleans' & 'Stalker'
- ^ a b c d e f g Nguyen, Hanh (Sep 21, 2014). "Meet Scorpion's Brilliant, Big Bang Theory-Esque Crime-Fighting Team". TVGuide.com. Retrieved September 27, 2014.
- ^ The Deadline Team (Sep 26, 2014). "Ernie Hudson Boards 'Hot In Cleveland' & 'Grace And Frankie'". Deadline.com. Retrieved September 27, 2014.
- ^ BH (April 9, 2014). "Development News - Ernie Hudson Joins 'Scorpion'; Adam Brody & Chloë Sevigny to Lead 'The Cosmopolitans'; Plus 2 More Updates!". TV-Recaps-Reviews. Retrieved September 27, 2014.
- ^ a b c d "Monday Final Ratings: 'Forever', 'Dancing With the Stars' & 'The Big Bang Theory' Adjusted Up; 'Scorpion' & 'America's Next Top Model' Adjusted Down - Ratings - TVbytheNumbers.Zap2it.com". TVbytheNumbers. Retrieved 27 September 2014.
- ^ a b c Bibel, Sara (September 30, 2014). "Monday Final Ratings: 'The Big Bang Theory', 'The Voice' & 'Scorpion' Adjusted Up; 'Dancing With the Stars ' & 'Castle' Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved October 1, 2014.
- ^ a b c Bibel, Sara (October 16, 2014). "Revised Monday, October 6 Final Ratings: 'The Big Bang Theory', 'The Voice', 'Scorpion', 'NCIS: Los Angeles' Adjusted Up; 'Dancing With The Stars' & 'Castle' Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved October 16, 2014.
- ^ a b c Bibel, Sara (October 14, 2014). "Monday Final Ratings: 'The Voice' & 'Dancing With the Stars' Adjusted Up; 'The Big Bang Theory' & 'Castle' Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved October 14, 2014.
- ^ a b c Kondolojy, Amanda (October 21, 2014). "Monday Final Ratings: 'The Big Bang Theory', 'The Voice' & 'Gotham' Adjusted Up; 'Jane the Virgin', 'The Originals', 'The Millers' & 'Castle' Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved October 22, 2014.
- ^ a b c Kondolojy, Amanda (October 28, 2014). "Monday Final Ratings: 'The Voice' & 'Scorpion' Adjusted Up; 'Dancing With the Stars', 'Castle', 'The Millers' & 'The Blacklist' Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved October 28, 2014.
- ^ ""Father's Day"". The Futon Critic. Retrieved October 21, 2014.
- ^ ""Risky Business"". The Futon Critic. Retrieved October 23, 2014.
- ^ "Scorpion: Season 1". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved October 1, 2014.
- ^ "Scorpion - Season 1 Reviews - Metacritic". Metacritic. Retrieved October 1, 2014.
- ^ Kondolojy, Amanda (September 23, 2014). "'Scorpion' is Monday's Top New Program in Viewers and Key Demographics & Beats Year-Ago Time Period by 66%". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved October 4, 2014.
- ^ a b c d Kondolojy, Amanda (October 12, 2014). "'Gotham' Has Biggest Adults 18-49 Ratings Increase; 'Gotham' & 'Red Band Society' Top Percentage Gains in Live +7 Ratings for Week Ending September 28". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved October 12, 2014.
- ^ a b c d Kondolojy, Amanda (October 20, 2014). "'How to Get Away With Murder' Has Biggest Adults 18-49 Ratings Increase; 'Parenthood' Tops Percentage Gains & 'The Blacklist' Tops Viewer Gains in Live +7 Ratings for Week Ending October 5". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved October 29, 2014.
- ^ a b c d Kondolojy, Amanda (October 27, 2014). "'How to Get Away With Murder' & 'Modern Family' Have Biggest Adults 18-49 Ratings Increase; 'Red Band Society' Tops Percentage Gains & 'The Blacklist' Tops Viewer Gains in Live +7 Ratings for Week Ending October 12". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved October 28, 2014.
- ^ Munn, Patrick (30 September 2014). "ITV2 Acquires UK Rights to 'Scorpion'". tvwisenews. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
- ^ "RTÉ2 GETS REAL IN EXCITING NEW LINE-UP FOR NEW SEASON". rtepresspack. 11 September 2014. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
- ^ Molloy, Shannon (28 September 2014). "The Blacklist, Resurrection, Gotham, Madam Secretary: the TV shows coming to Australian screens". news.com/au. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
- ^ "Prime TV's new-look season gets techy (+trailers)". New Zealand Herald. 4 September 2014. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
- ^ "City unveils 2014-2015 primetime schedule". The TV Watercooler. 3 June 2014. Retrieved 13 October 2014.