(S02E24) This was an extremely satisfying season finale. No bells and whistles. No ridiculous cliffhanger. Just the answers to a few lingering questions allowing us some closure and making it far easier for a new viewer to join-in (without too much catch-up) when season three rolls around.
The vast majority of the episode dealt with a 40-something momma's boy who had finally been cut off from the family trust fund by who else, his mother (in a nice turn by Olympia Dukakis). He didn't react too well. So he got a hold of his mother's valium and morphine (she had a hip replaced recently) and went around drugging and killing woman after he had his way with them. Like I said, he didn't react too well.
The rest of the episode (and it was far more interesting) dealt with the one character in this show who's frequently mentioned, yet we've never met: Margaret Eppes.
The episode began with Charlie dreaming. It was actually pretty disturbing. First he saw Alan get shot in a supermarket and then we met Margaret. Remember, the only reason we haven't met Mrs. Eppes is because she died almost four years ago. She made Charlie pancakes and Charlie had a question for her but he couldn't remember it. Then he woke up.
At the end of the episode, he dreamed of his mother again and he remembered his question. We finally found out why Charlie felt so guilty all the time. He took his mother away from Alan and Don for four years. Remember, Charlie was a boyhood genius and he attended Princeton when he was only a teenager. Mrs. Eppes moved with him and raised her son while he was in college and graduate school. He seems to blame himself for Don's independent attitude since he grew up without a mother for those four plus years. Charlie asked his mother if she regretted raising him and moving away from the family. Naturally, she didn't. But I'm not so sure Charlie got the answer he wanted. I think he wanted her to have regretted her decision so he felt justified for feeling guilty. Now he had no reason to but that's something he'll have to deal with. Getting all this backstory on Margaret was excellent though.
The only question that was left unanswered was Amita. She still hasn't made a decision on that job offer from Harvard. So we'll have to wait until next season to see if she goes or decides to stay with Charlie.
There were a few other questions I thought of though. They just aren't directly related this episode. Remember a few weeks ago, that episode that Alan wasn't in? Well that finally made sense to me. They shot the pilot episode for Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip a few months ago I think and for those that were fortunate to see the six minute preview, Judd Hirsch seems to play a pretty prominent role in at least that initial installment. I'm guessing the shooting schedules just conflicted so he was written out of that one Numb3rs episode. I wonder if he'll be a recurring character in Studio 60? Watch the preview and you'll see why I say recurring.
Also, shooting for Numb3rs probably wrapped at least a month or two ago I would assume. So I wonder if we'll see Diane Farr return in any of the later episodes of Rescue Me. I would think almost the entire third season is done by now so maybe not. She was a great character in that show though.
Numb3rs was picked up by CBS for a third season and I believe it's holding the same Friday night time-slot.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
5-20-2006 @ 6:31PM
Mark Kawakami said...
I liked the episode a lot, though it didn't actually have any numb3rs in it. But sheesh, did you catch that Dyson vacuum product placement? Followed shortly thereafter by a Dyson ad in the commercial break, I guess that's called "synergy". I can't recall seeing product placement on Numb3rs before, so it's disappointing that they decided to do it in the season finale, especially since (to me at least), it really distracted from what was an otherwise creepy and emotional show.
Seriously, CBS, save that stuff for Survivor and The Amazing Race.
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5-20-2006 @ 7:22PM
Dan said...
Paging the CSI writers: this is how a finale is done. Not that claptrap you gave us.
I enjoy this show and look forward to it coming back next season. I hope it does stay at the same date and time.
(No I do not have a life.....)
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5-20-2006 @ 8:50PM
Nina Riley said...
Sadly, I missed the last half of the show. I set my DVR but it did not tape the show. I am so sad. I need to know what Charlie's mom wanted him to remember and, of course, if his dream came true.
I sure hope they don't wait until the beginning of the next season to show this episode again--but I'm sure they will.
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5-20-2006 @ 9:36PM
Walt said...
I didn't mind the Dyson product placement, only because the CSI shows have all sorts of techie product placement on their shows already. The only difference being you don't get to watch an ad for a fancy chromatograph or the laser 3-D imager as part of the commercial break.
The bit of flailing around trying to explain dreams using math was amusing, especially when Charlie got called on it. Funny how a show that focuses on math skills gets to use dreams to tell us about a missing character.
The show has been fine so far, although I wonder if it has much more in the tank, as it were.
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5-20-2006 @ 11:15PM
Becky said...
I found the episode unsatisfying in that it wasn't able to spend enough time on either the crime plot or the family plot. Sure wish it could've been 90 minutes. Though the previews were definitely misleading ("it was all a dream" -- haven't we done that before, Bobby?), I was glad to finally meet Margaret. Nice choice of actress, and she did a good job of making it feel like she actually was a part of this family. The Dyson didn't bother me since it has a different mechanical system than other vacuums, though the whole math explanation seemed extraneous. Overall not one of my favorite episodes as it seemed to lack cohesiveness and completeness, but one I'll go back to often for the Margaret-stuff and Larry's practice for the Physics Dept food-fight. Gotta love that guy!
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5-21-2006 @ 12:14AM
Matt said...
I wasn't as impressed. The previews showed Don getting injected in the neck, and said something momentous was up, and "don't watch it alone." Then he gets injected in the next in the final 5 minutes, and without ever even knowing what was in the syringe, he's back at the dining room table writing a report just one scene later?
It's becoming clear that the best indication of what's on an upcoming CBS show is "the opposite of the commercials."
As for Judd Hirsch - no, I doubt he'll be a regular on Studio 60. Versions of the pilot script have been floating around for a long time, and the two protagonists of the series (played by Matthew Perry and Bradley Whitford) get the show because Hirsch's character goes cuckoo on the air in the first five minutes of the pilot. He gets incredibly fired, and in the version I read, he doesn't even appear again in the pilot after that one scene.
Of course, it's always possible (see "Channing, Stockard" and Out of Practice and The West Wing), but I don't think it's planned.
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5-21-2006 @ 2:32PM
Mary said...
I wonder if anyone thinks this show has a chance for emmy nomination? I think it is one of the best-written, best-directed and best-acted shows on TV. But I think the Friday night timeslot and the geeky reputation hurts it in the competition for emmies. Has anyone else got an opinion on this subject?
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5-29-2006 @ 2:46PM
marj Kuhn said...
Numb3rs in a Desperate Housewives Emmy world??? I don't think so
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7-14-2006 @ 10:14AM
Renee Harrington said...
I did enjoy this episode. However, as mentioned above, it could have been longer with a few more details in the final scene. I like the family oriented aspect of this show and this episode continues to bring that out. My husband was the one who decided we should watch Numb3rs and now thinks I am obsessed with it.
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9-09-2006 @ 2:27PM
lia ritt said...
I first watched numb3rs for J. Hirsh and R. Morrow. Then I continued to watch for Charlie. I think he is the best character. He makes the show. along with the scenes of Charlie, Don, and Alan. I hope they don't screw this up, but I'm afraid they will. Either of them are Emmy material.
I didn't think Hotshot was great but it was good. I can't see the show winning the Emmy, the crimes are very uneven. Sometimes good and the solution is clever and sometimes completely contrived and totally lame.
It is bizarre that the cliff hangar in a crime drama would be whether the Amita (a minor character at best) leaves for boston or stays. Huh? Why not "will she dye her hair blond or not." Mainly who cares?
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5-28-2007 @ 8:12PM
M said...
See my take on the finale at http://mytvmusings.com/2007/05/25/numb3rs-season-finale/
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