Riley B. Smith

Plot

Scorpion is said to be the last line of defense against complex, high-technology threats around the globe. Drawing on a diverse set of skills and experience, such as coding, psychology and engineering, they can solve these situations. The team tackles a variety of problems, many of which are extremely complicated. While they are frequently called into service by the Department of Homeland Security, they also accept work from private individuals and organizations.

Cast and characters

Main

Elyes Gabel as Walter O'Brien, a genius with an IQ of 197. He was arrested for hacking into NASA's mainframe as a child, seeking a set of blueprints to put on his bedroom wall. He has a hard time handling emotional situations. Walter is incredibly intelligent, but also has a very low EQ. He is blunt and does not really care how his words affect others, causing him to come off as arrogant and rude. Due both to his high IQ and low EQ, he has problems connecting with people, even geniuses he has known for years. He fears being alone, though he once claimed to not have feelings, a notion he has since rejected. He is confident and when he sees a problem, he wants to solve it. He cares for his friends, so much so that he is willing to risk his life for them without a second thought. When he believed he was going to die, he told them stories of his fond memories of them, his way of telling them he loved them. He has occasionally said warm words to them, but rarely. Not only does he not often express emotions, but also when faced with grief or anger or other extreme emotions, he compartmentalizes his feelings until something triggers them and then they all come gushing out. His inability to express emotions normally stems mainly from the fact that for most of his life, he only ever connected with two people - his sister, Megan, and his surrogate father, Cabe Gallo. His relationship with Megan was very loving and the only friction in it was caused by their different views on her multiple sclerosis. Walter can be selfish and arrogant at times, but at heart is a kind individual who is always willing to help others and lay down his life for them, if need be, especially for his loved ones.

Katharine McPhee as Paige Dineen, whose mother had her when she was 17. Her mother was frequently in jail for various kinds of fraud, so Paige would lie to her friends and say her mom was a saleswoman. Eventually, her mom left. At 22, Paige had her son Ralph with her then-boyfriend Drew, but eventually, he left, telling Ralph he was going to see a movie. When Ralph was three, they were evicted. She worked at a diner until she met team Scorpion. She now serves as office manager for the team and helps to "translate" the real world for them, to help them interact with the people they meet. In turn, the team helps her understand her genius son, Ralph. Paige is very kind, caring, and emotional. Not only is she a great mother to Ralph, but also she plays the role of the team's mother, as she takes care of them, makes sure they eat, socialize, and have fun. Though Paige is not one of the geniuses, she manages to fit in on numerous situations. While she is not an intellectual genius, because she has humanitarian and social knowledge that none of her other teammates possess, she is occasionally the one with the right solution. Paige is very empathetic, and she likes to embrace that, and help others embrace it, as well.

Recurring

Camille Guaty as Megan O'Brien (seasons 1–2), Walter's sister and Sylvester's wife, who had multiple sclerosis, a condition that Walter sought to "fix" to repay the favor of her always being there throughout his childhood. She died in the episode "Arrivals and Departures" after suffering complications due to her disease.

Brendan Hines as Drew Baker (season 1), Ralph's biological father, who is a struggling minor-league baseball player.

Daniel Zolghadri as Young Walter (season 1)

David Fabrizio as Paul Merrick (seasons 1–2), the Director of Homeland Security. After the events of season 1, Merrick was demoted and reassigned as Homeland Security's liaison to NASA. He dies in the episode "Da Bomb" after being exposed as a mole for China.

Andy Buckley as Richard Elia (seasons 1-4), a billionaire technology mogul who wants Walter to work for his company.

Jamie McShane as Patrick Quinn (seasons 1-4), a mechanic and father of Happy.

Joshua Leonard as Mark Collins (seasons 1-4), a former member of Team Scorpion, who kidnapped Toby.

Alana de la Garza as Adriana Molina (season 2), the new Director of Homeland Security, who is Merrick's successor. Eventually, as of "Fish Filet", she is no longer interacting with team Scorpion since Cabe called her a disappointment for offering to leave Sylvester in a prison to die.

Kevin Weisman as Ray Spiewack (seasons 2–4), Walter's new buddy from community service; Ray is a former firefighter who has post-traumatic stress after losing his best friend in a fire 10 years ago. After Paige leaves the team briefly, Ray temporarily joins Scorpion. He also conducts Sylvester and Megan O'Brien's wedding, and sometimes hangs out outside the Scorpion headquarters.

Peri Gilpin as Katherine Cooper (season 2), the Deputy Homeland Security Director who takes over for Molina as Scorpion's Homeland liaison; before working with Scorpion, Cooper had never served in the field.

Production

Development

According to Walter O'Brien, the idea for the show came from his company Concierge Up when they asked the question, "How do we attract more bright people to contract with our company to work on interesting projects?". They decided to pitch the idea for a 10-season show that would compete with CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and "inspire a whole generation to see that 'smart is cool'".

CBS leadership viewed the show as a dramatic variation of another CBS show, The Big Bang Theory – at that time the nation's most popular TV comedy – which featured a cast of similar brainy-young-nerd characters. CBS Primetime senior executive vice president Kelly Kahl, in a 2014 interview, indicated that CBS had intended the show as "kind of an extension of The Big Bang Theory but in the drama world."

Reception

Ratings

Scorpion premiered on CBS on Monday nights in the fall of 2014, in a 10 pm (Eastern) time slot that had become an underperformer for CBS. To give Scorpion an initial boost in audience for the first few weeks, CBS scheduled it to come on immediately after episodes of The Big Bang Theory, at that time television's most popular comedy. Scorpion became CBS's highest-rated drama series for the advertiser-sought 18- to 49-year-old TV audience demographic. "Live + 7" numbers showed a 4.5 rating in the key demographic, and Nielsen ratings were a 3.7. The results helped CBS's primetime growth-leadership that fall, CBS's Monday night having improved more than any other night, not only for CBS, but also more than any night for any of the "Big 4" networks.

The increase in CBS's own ratings in the Monday 10 pm time slot was sizeable - a 65% total-audience increase over the same period a year earlier, and a 23% boost since that period for the age 18-49 audience. Even after it was detached from The Big Bang Theory, the show continued to rank as the second-most popular new drama on CBS. In the older-focused 25- to 54-year-old audience demographic segment, Scorpion initially averaged a 4.9, the second-highest ranking new show in that audience, improving the network's previous-year performance in that time slot by 29%. (L+7's measurement of 25-54 year olds put Scorpion at 6.0.) Scorpion's initial popularity extended beyond immediate-broadcast audiences, to include delayed-viewing audiences, making Scorpion CBS's most-streamed new show of the season, initially, across multiple platforms.

Critical response

Scorpion has received mixed reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, season one holds a rating of 42% based on 48 reviews, with an average rating of 5.1/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Typical procedural plot lines and boring characters using a distracting amount of geek-speak make Scorpion a forgettable show without sting." On Metacritic, the show has a score of 48 out of 100, based on 24 critic reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

On Rotten Tomatoes, season two holds a rating of 80% based on 5 reviews, with an average rating of 10/10.

The show premiered on September 22, 2014, earning a 3.2 rating in the 18–49 demographic and 13.83 million total viewers. This improved CBS' Monday 9 p.m. time slot from the previous season by 66% in total viewers and 22% in the 18–49 demographic. It was also Monday's top new series in viewers and key demographics. The number of viewers during the first season across all platforms was 26 million.

Broadcast

Scorpion was picked up in 14 countries, including in the UK by ITV2 for broadcast starting on October 23, 2014. The series premiered in fall on RTÉ2 in Ireland. Australian Network Ten began airing the show on September 28. In New Zealand, Prime began airing the show on October 10. The show aired in Canada on City simultaneously with CBS. The series aired first on Rai 2 and then by Rai 4 in Italy from 2015 to 2019.

A special 63-minute episode, "Tech, Drugs, and Rock 'n' Roll", was originally aired as a single episode in season two, but shown in Britain and its overseas territories in two parts.