SCORPION 4x01 "Extinction"

When an explosion as powerful as an atomic bomb is not the worst thing that could happen, it's the mother of understatements to say you're having a bad day. It's probable no one has compiled a ranking of catastrophes humankind could face, but a mass extinction event that would leave only the insects alive seems a pretty solid contender for worst-case scenario.

   So it is in Scorpion's season 4 premiere (aptly named "Extinction"), when ex-Scorpion team member and sometime nemesis, psychopathic genius Mark Collins calls them to his cell to inform them of the planet's impending doom, effected by an initially insignificant earthquake that opened a pocket of methane gas which is sending the Earth's temperature rapidly spiralling. The only people who can swoop in and save the day are Scorpion - except they run into a number of Scorpion-esque issues on the way to the "To Be Continued" notification.

Mark Collins: reformed or not?
Image: CBS

   But there's a fun variety of problems for the team to lurch between, and perhaps it's natural that the most memorable all involve Collins, whose motives and interactions are questionable at best, manipulative with the potential to ruin the relationships within Scorpion at worst. The most ambiguous: he causes Toby to fall into the frozen sea, but did he knock Toby accidentally or was it a more deliberate action that he cleverly disguised? The waters are muddied (pun intended), by his selfless rescue of Toby.

   Yet, by far the most interesting moment of the episode was Cabe and Collins driving the truck into the crevasse to redirect the burning fumes and prevent a massive explosion: Cabe jumped clear, but Collins' security anklet trapped him, resulting in the truck hurtling into the crevasse wall while the anklet electrocuted Collins due to this action sending him past the limits of the distance monitor designed to prevent any escape attempt. His rescue was wrapped up pretty quickly, but it was a neat version of the "guy gets trapped in a car in a dangerous situation" trope.

   There's a few other important points to mention before we reach the inevitable cliffhanger.

   Firstly, the romantic relationships: #Quintis trying to go for their honeymoon and having to adjourn it again was a nice continuation of where season 3 left off, while #Waige had what I would consider (in my utterly inexpert opinion) a few fairly organic struggles in a relationship comprising a genius and a "Genius Whisperer", most notably their inability to separate their work from their play ("Are you asking as my boyfriend/girlfriend or as a member of the team?"). And that was really how their relationship should have opened. #NailedIt.

Walter's sing-along daydream
Image: CBS

   We also need to quickly address the song and dance (pun intended) the marketing team led us on, with the promos and behind-the-scenes telling of a musical episode, when in actual fact the scene was extremely short and was nothing more than an extravagant daydream of Walter's following some bedroom fun with Paige. Well played.

   And lastly, the cliffhanger, that, for all Scorpion's hard work and near-death experiences, hundreds of methane geysers have opened up that will accelerate the extinction event to hours from now rather than weeks, which means we all better pray that Walter, Paige, Cabe, Toby, Happy and Sly can pull something crazy out of the hat next week.

   And I don't mean Mark Collins.

RATING: 8/10

POINTS OF NOTE

• A contender for the prize most deserved line of the entire series, this from Toby: "I can't believe I'm saying this. We have to save Mark Collins!"
• The episode was pretty low on the usual humour given its darkness, but Mark Collins continually getting electrocuted will never not be funny. "We will save mankind. Come on team, let's do it - AAAARRRGGH."
• Looking back, the writers choosing to include Happy's Portuguese single in Walter's musical daydream was absolutely the right choice. The scene would have felt oddly lacking without it.
• And if you haven't checked it out already, follow this link to my review of The Good Doctor's premiere: http://tvrroundup.blogspot.co.uk/2017/09/the-good-doctor-1x01-pilot-burnt-food.html. And check out The Good Doctor for yourselves, too!