InsidePulse DVD Review – Numb3rs – The Complete First Season

Archive


Image courtesy Amazon.com

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
Sabrina Lloyd ………. Terry Lake
Peter MacNicol ………. Dr. Larry Fleinhardt

Navi Rawat ………. Amita Ramanujan

The Show:
I often wonder about how ‘Numb3rs’ came to be. I mean, it’s not like CBS was lacking for procedural dramas. Was it because they wanted to prove that someone other than Jerry Bruckheimer’s production company could create a successful new show for them? Was it because they found a niche that they hadn’t exploited yet? Or was it simply because nothing else had worked on Fridays for them (or any network for that matter) for that past few years?

Whatever the reason, ‘Numb3rs’ was approved as a midseason replacement and quickly settled itself in as a ratings winner on Friday nights. The concept is pretty simple – as with all procedurals, something happens and it’s up to Our Heroes (in this case, the Los Angeles FBI department) to solve the mystery. The difference here is that the lead Agent, Don Eppes (Morrow, ‘Northern Exposure’), has a genius brother (Krumholtz, Serenity) who uses math and physics to help break the case (as opposed to fingerprints and DNA).

OK, so this all sounds like your standard Bruckheimer procedural with a twist, but the difference here is that there’ a bit more focus on the relationships between the characters and a bit more continuity than you see in those shows. Because the main characters are siblings, you get more of a look into their family life and how it helps them to solve issues.

I know that many people are intimidated a bit by math in general, but ‘Numb3rs’ never tries to go too far over anyone’s head, and often breaks it down so that anyone can understand what’s going on. If you’re tired of seeing the same old, same old with the CSIs and Law & Orders, give this show a shot – you may like what you see. After all, we use math everday.

Episodes:
Disc One:
Pilot
In order to capture a rapist-turned-killer, FBI Agent Don Eppes turns to his brother Charlie to come up with a mathematical equation to identify the killer’s point of origin.

Uncertainty Principle
Charlie manages to predict where a group of bank robbers will strike next, but withdraws from the case after witnessing a shootout between Don’s team and the criminals.

Vector
Guest Star alert: Rainn Wilson (Dwight Schrute from ‘The Office’) as Martin Grolsch
Dan and Charlie try to find out the reason behind a lethal virus striking random Los Angelinos.

Structural Corruction
Charlie believes that the death of one of his students was a homicide and asks Don to investigate.

Disc Two:
Prime Suspect
Don and Terry ask for Charlie’s help when the daughter of a mathematician is kidnapped, and the case revolves around the Riemann Hypothesis.

Sabotage
A series of train wrecks have a common clue – notes with numerical codes written on them. Can Charlie crack the code? Duh.

Counterfeit Reality
Guest Star alert: Sarah Wayne Callies (Dr. Tancredi from ‘Prison Break’) as Kim
A counterfeiting case is complicated by the kidnapping of an artist and the assignment of Don’s old girlfriend to the case. Also, lucha libre!

Identity Crisis
The murder of a stock-fraud suspect has Don questioning a previous arrest.

Disc Three:
Sniper Zero
Guest Star alert: Lou Diamond Phillips as Agent Edgerton
A sniper is on a shooting spree in Los Angeles and Don calls in a specialist to help out, leaving Charlie a bit insecure about his role in the investigation

Dirty Bomb
Thieves hijack a truck carrying radioactive material and threaten to create and detonate a “dirty bomb” unless they receive a $20 million ransom. Silly thieves, that NEVER works.

Sacrifice
Guest Star alert: Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Tommy from ‘3rd Rock from the Sun’) as Scott
A researcher working on a classified govermnet project is found murdered and data stolen from his computer. And somehow, this ties into baseball.

Noisy Edge
Fears of a terrorist attack are raised when people report seeing a UFO flying close to downtown Los Angeles.

Disc Four:
Man Hunt
Guest Star alert: Max Martini (Mack Gerhardt from ‘The Unit’) as Agent Billy Cooper
Don teams up with his former FBI partner after a prison bus crash allows a dangerous felon to escape. Luckily for Don, the felons aren’t exactly Michael Scofield.

Score: 7/10

The DVD:

Video:
(Presented in Widescreen Format Enhanced for 16:9 TVs)
I think that CBS airs the show in fullscreen format, so it’s a surprise to see it on DVD in Widescreen.

Audio:
(Dolby Digital: English 5.1 Surround)

Special Features:
Crunching ‘Numb3rs’ Season One – A look at how Numb3rs came to be. Great line here, as Rob Morrow describes it as “Rain Man, but with an extra Jew”.

Point of Origin: Inside the Unaired Pilot – A look at the original pilot, featuring David Krumholtz with short hair, a different Eppes family, and a different FBI team.

Audition Reels – We get to see the auditions of David Krumholtz and Navi Rawat. There is additional commentary from casting director Mark Saks, which is infinitely more interesting than watching the auditions on their own.

Do the Math: The Caltech Analysis – Caltech Professor (and show math consultant) Gary Lourdan shows us some of his favourite clips involving math from the show.

Charlievision: FX Sequences 1.0 – A look at the effects used on the show. More boring than you’d think.

Blooper Reel

Audio Commentaries on five episodes: Pilot (Heuton, Falacci, Krumholtz and Morrow), Uncertainty Principle (Heuton, Falacci, Krumholtz and Zucker), Counterfeit Reality (Heuton, Falacci, Andrew Dettmann (writer) and Alexander Zakrzewski (director)), Sniper Zero (Heuton, Falacci, Zucker and Lou Diamond Phillips)and Dirty Bomb (Falacci, Paris Barclay (director), Krumholtz and Hirsch).

Packaging:
A clear slipcase (pictured above) contains a cardstock gatefold disc holder. Discs are packaged in twos.

Score: 8/10

Links:
Numb3rs.org – A decent fan site devoted to everything ‘Numb3rs’.

Running The Numb3rs is another nice fan site with a list of all the math and science concepts used in the series.

Kevin has been an Insider since 2003, writing on a variety of topics ranging from The Amazing Race to Mixed Martial Arts. His current hobbies include Fantasy Football, Sporcle, travelling, making liberal use of his DVR and wondering what the heck he's gonna do when his two daughters are old enough to date. You can follow Kevin on Twitter (@starvenger).