Creators/Executive Producers:
Nicolas Falacci, Cheryl Heuton, Ridley Scott, Tony Scott and David W. Zucker
Cast:
Rob Morrow ………. Don Eppes
David Krumholtz ………. Charlie Eppes
Judd Hirsch ………. Alan Eppes
Alimi Ballard ………. David Sinclair
Navi Rawat ………. Amita Ramanujan
Diane Farr ………. Megan Reeves
Peter MacNicol ………. Dr. Larry Fleinhardt
Dylan Bruno ………. Colby Granger
Susan Beaubian ………. FBI Technician Stendhauser
Sarah Carter ………. Nadine Hodges
The Show:
Numb3rs made it’s return for a second season in 2005, anchoring Friday nights behind new shows Ghost Whisperer and Threshold, two shows that honestly, didn’t seem to be a very good lead-in for the sophomore series. Viewers certainly must’ve thought so, as Numb3rs continued to pull in good ratings while Threshold struggled, and was eventually cancelled and replaced in the timeslot with Close to Home, which helped give CBS the ratings win most Friday nights.
The second season started out with the introduction of two new characters (Megan Reeves and recurring character Colby Granger) as well as the in-show explanation for Terry Lake’s (Sabrina Lloyd) departure. Relationships are explored a bit more, as we see Charlie and Amita continue to dance around their attraction to each other, Megan and Larry begin something of a relationship, Don get several women after him, and David paired off with Colby. Professionally, that is.
The fact that the show keeps a slightly higher level of subplots going than your average procedural is nice, but what keeps people coming back is how the numbers are used to figure out the crimes. I’m continually impressed at how the writers come up with different ways to use the math, not to mention how they keep creating different analogies for Charlie to use.
Episodes:
Disc One:
202 – Judgement Call
Guest Star: Stephen Quadros as Lance Dolan
A federal judge’s wife is murdered, and Don has to rely on Charlie and new team members Megan Reeves and Colby Granger to help track down the killer, who may be part of a Vietnamese gang trying to get the judge to step down from a trial.
203 – Bettor or Worse
A jewelry store owner’s family is kidnapped and held for ransom, and the only person who knows about the plot is shot dead. It’s up to Don and his team to put the pieces together. Meanwhile, Charlie and Amita finally go out on a date.
204 – Obsession
A pop singer is getting death threats from a stalker, but it looks like she might just have more than one. The commentary with Rob Morrow is fun as he pushes for Don to have a fling with Cameron Diaz.
205 – Calculated Risk
A CFO of a major energy company is killed before she is to testify against her peers, with her son the only witness.
Disc Two:
201 – Assassin
The arrest of a forger unveils a code which may uncover an assassin on the hunt for a Columbian exile living in Los Angeles.
206 – Soft Target
A Homeland Security drill goes awry when a toxic chemical is released and Don’s team is called in to investigate. Meanwhile, Don’s old girlfriend has her wedding in Charlie’s house.
207 – Convergence
Guest Star: Colin Hanks as Marshall Penfield
A series of home robberies lead to the murder of a homeowner and the theft of some valuable lamps. Meanwhile, a former colleague (and nemesis) of Charlie’s tries to prove that one of his convergence theories is wrong. And he even hits on Amita.
208 – In Plain Sight
An agent dies during a meth lab bust and Megan feels responsible, and determined to catch the perpetrators.
Disc Three:
209 – Toxin
Guest Star: Lou Diamond Phillips as Agent Edgerton
Some people seem to be tampering with over-the-counter drugs in accordance with a “Toxic Manifesto”, and it seems like the person responsible is the same person that Agent Edgerton is after for shooting a U.S. Marshall.
210 – Bones of Contention
Guest Star: Graham Greene as Chief James Clearwater
The murder of a researcher at a Native-American museum presents some problems as all the evidence is located on Native land.
211 – Scorched
Guest Star: Bill Nye (the Science Guy) as Bill Waldie
A series of arsons have occurred, and Charlie is called in to determine the pattern to find the arsonist.
212 – The O.G.
Guest Star: Will Patton as Detective Gary Walker
A drive-by shooting kills an undercover agent, and Don’s team is called in to investigate whether their operation was blown or this was just another murder. This leads Charlie on an obsessive search for justice, and David to look back at his roots.
Odd note as the cold opening uses Fort Minor’s “Remember the Name”, a good 5-6 months before Mike Shinoda’s album was released.
Disc Four:
213 – Double Down
Guest Star: Ethan Phillips as Leaonard Filbert and Annie Duke as a dealer
A Russian blackjack player dies outside the Bicycle Casino, which leads to an investigation of a MIT-style team, a series of robberies, and the revelation that Larry was a card counter and part of a similar team, which may lead to the backer.
Side note as they give a shout out to Ben Mezrich’s book “Busting Vegas”, which is a fascinating read, and the source that this show is obviously based on.
214 – Harvest
Don and David follow some anonymous tips and discover a black market organ harvesting operation involving girls from Chennai, which deeply affects Amita. Meanwhile Charlie presents a math award to someone he knows rather well. Yeah, it seems rather secondary, doesn’t it?
215 – The Running Man
CalSci is robbed of a DNA synthesizer and Don thinks that this could be part of a bio-warfare attack.
216 – Protest
Guest Star: Robert Forster as Agent Thomas Larson
A bombing outside an army recruiting centre appears to be the work of a 70’s anti-war radical. Don and his team are forced to look at all of the radical’s associates for clues – including Don’s father.
Disc Five:
217 – Mind Games
Guest Star: John Glover as Samuel Kraft
A psychic is helping to find someone who has killed three women, which natura;;y doesn’t stand well with math whiz Charlie, who sets out to prove he’s a fraud – and perhaps the man Don is looking for.
218 – All’s Fair
An Iraqi woman is murdered while filming a documentary, and Don teams with her cousin to solve this mystery… and they find an interesting connection. Meanwhile, an old girlfriend of Charlie’s is in L.A. promoting her new book.
219 – Dark Matter
A shooting spree at a school by two students suggests that there may have been one more shooter. It’s up to Charlie and Don to figure out who that is – even if Charlie has to step into a high school again. Because it’s all about Charlie, you know.
220 – Guns and Roses
Don looks like he’s about to get some when he learns of the apparent suicide of an ex-girlfriend and fellow agent. I hate when that happens. Regardless, Don and Charlie set out to prove that the suicide was actually a homicide.
Disc Six:
221 – Rampage
A firefight erupts inside the FBI offices, which leads Don to determine the shooter’s motive. The gunfire also causes Charlie to go into shock, hindering his ability to think and contribute to the case.
222 – Backscatter
Guest Star: Will Patton as Detective Gary Walker
Two bank employees have disappeared, and have apparently taken customer’s accounts with them – including Don’s.
223 – Undercurrents
The bodies of young Asian girls wash up on the beach, including one with bird flu and one who is actually an investigative reporter. Don and his team uncover a connection between them and a sex-slave ring. Meanwhile, Amita gets a job offer – on the East Coast.
224 – Hot Shot
Guest Stars: JoBeth Williams as Margaret Eppes and Olympia Dukakis as Charlotte Yates
Don and his team investigate a rapist who has turned into a serial killer. Meanwhile, Charlie has visions of his mother.
The DVD:
Video:
(Presented in Widescreen Format Enhanced for 16:9 TVs)
See Los Angeles in all it’s smoggy glory!
Audio:
(Dolby Digital: English 5.1 Surround)
A big boo for no subtitles or secondary languages. There’s not enough explosions to really make this a set worth showing off your system for.
Special Features:
Blooper Reel – The usual stuff. Messing up lines, swearing and fart jokes.
Behind the Scenes with Nicolas Falacci – Falacci gives us a collection of photographs from the set and location shooting.
Behind the Scenes with David Krumholtz – David Krumholtz is given a camera and does a video blog on the set. I could’ve done without the extreme close-ups here.
Crunching Numb3rs: Season 2
Audio Commentaries:
– Obsession – (Robert Port, John Behring, Barry Schindel and Rob Morrow)
– In Plain Sight – (J. Miller Tobin, Diane Farr and David Krumholtz)
– Scorched – (Sean Crouch, Norberto Barba, David Krumholtz and Bill Nye (the Science Guy))
– The O.G. – (Andrew Dettmann, Nicolas Falacci, Andrew Black, Alimi Ballard and Will Patton)
– Protest – (Cheryl Heuton, Nicolas Falacci and David Krumholtz).
– Guns and Roses – (Robert Port, Mark Llewllyn, Andrew Black and Rob Morrow)
Packaging:
A clear slipcase (pictured above) contains a cardstock gatefold disc holder. Discs are packaged in twos.
