TVSquad

(S04E15) "I don't like a guy who thinks a purple heart gives him a free pass." - Colby

Well there's something you don't see too often on Numb3rs - resurrecting an old case from a previous episode. Usually, this show is pretty self-contained. Each week it's a wrap. Despite the fact that the last time we saw Clay Porter was when he escaped, his story still felt finished. But the writers took one small detail about his past and turned it into a pretty solid episode.

Now if you recall, Clay was wanted for the murder of the serial killer who had killed his girlfriend. Clay took the law into his own hands and got away with it. He fled to Mexico. That was it.

That one small detail? He was also an ex-Marine who blew the whistle on some guys in his battalion who had been torturing prisoners. Well, those guys are back and they kidnapped Clay's father and sisters. This is where it got interesting though. One of the prisoners in Iraq that had been tortured knew the location of a ton of hijacked military aid dollars. They never got the location out of his mouth. But the guy died under Clay's guard and the assumption was that maybe Clay knew the location of the money via a dying declaration. The whole plot was just really well done and I loved how that small detail from his past was expanded.

The rest of the episode had a lot of good stuff going on too. Don finally seems ready to take the next step with Robin, but it looks like there might be some tension between them since Liz is back on Don's team. He pulled her from narcotics since his team was short-handed. While I like Liz, I hope her return does lead to some friction as I mentioned. If not, I really don't see the point of bringing her back. It's not like she's going to replace Megan when Diane Farr leaves at the end of the season.

The funniest part of the episode was the little war going on between Charlie and Alan regarding the best way to make the Eppes residence more eco-friendly. Charlie wanted to build a windmill outside of his dad's bedroom window. Alan wanted to build a silo for corn pellet fuel outside of Charlie's. Plus, the feud resulted in the return of Bill Nye as Professor Waldie. He stopped by to offer advice and it looks like Charlie may win the battle. I'm glad this storyline wasn't dropped though. It's good to have Alan more involved.

The other interesting development worth mentioning was Larry's lack of faith in himself. He said he's starting to feel like a fraud regarding his work because he's searching for answers that he's not sure he really wants to find. It culminated in him sneaking beer into the monastery and getting in a fist fight with a monk. That was only mentioned in conversation though. I really wish we had seen that one. By the end, he made amends and ended up getting drunk with Brother Theo. Larry seems kind of iffy and I wonder if his disconnected attitude might be another impetus for Megan's impending departure?

Episodes like this are definitely what makes Numb3rs worth sticking with. Bringing back old characters, solid development from your main players, and wrapping up an old plot all in one hour - not bad. I've said it before, but this is definitely more than just another cop show. Keep 'em coming.

This week's numb3rs: 4 marines; 2 hostages; 1.5 million dollars; 1 war
This week's math: End Game