Numb3rs: In Security

(S04E06) "Even the vow of silence guys are grumbling." - Larry

Well this was unexpected. Just when I thought that Numb3rs was starting to tumble down the same path that it did last season with a string of mediocre episodes, it bounced right back. Last week's installment was, in my opinion, sloppy and there were far too many layers. This week was great though, much like the season premiere. It had personal involvement because of Don's stake in the case as well as a current issue that everyone loves to read about: the mob and witness security. Plus -- wait for it -- scandal! I love dirty agents!

The case dealt with a mob wife in witness security who Don had been having an affair with many years ago. An appeal was coming up and she was going to have to testify again. So she reached out to Don since he was essentially a source of comfort for her.

So... let me see if I can get this right. The commander of the local FBI gang task force leaked the witness' address to a mob shooter to get him to come to LA, knowing that once he was in LA, he'd try and buy coke from a high priority gang. Fredrickson, the commander (played by 24's James Morrison), then leaked the identity of the mob shooter to the gang hoping they'd kill him too. They did and since the mob shooter got the gang out in the open, Fredrickson got to make his arrests. In the end, Don ending up tipping off the gang shooter which led to Fredrickson's confession that he set-up the witness to be killed all in an effort to bring down the gang he was after. I think all that makes sense...

Anyway, I liked how the case played a big role in shaping the relationship between Don and Liz. She knows she's going to have to accept his secrets if she wants to stay with Don. He's got a lot of skeletons in his closet and had this case not happened, Liz would have never found out about the affair Don had years ago. So I guess the question is whether or not Liz can let that go. For the time being, I'm thinking no since she saw how invested Don got in the case. He was willing to tip off the gang leader and presumably, he did. Liz seemed pretty angry about that. Not because Don did it, but because he didn't tell her about it. Anyway, I liked how Don blamed himself. Maybe we'll see him go into therapy again?

The other thing I really liked about this episode was how Charlie is finally making a name for himself outside of the math world and the FBI. His book finally hit shelves and it looks like he may be gaining some cult celebrity status. I'd like to see this eat him up a little. Maybe taint his priorities and take him away from the FBI for a bit. It could be funny to see how Charlie adjusts to being marginally famous to people other than graduate students and fellow math professors.

Once again Alan, Amita, and Megan were underused. Megan and Amita weren't even in the episode and Alan had about two lines that really pertained to nothing. I'd like to see Alan in class. They've made such a big deal about him taking a math lecture... so, what's it like for him? We're only six episodes in though. Hopefully the rest of this season explores more about the characters and what else they do in their free time.

This week's numb3rs: 17,000 protected witnesses, 10,000 convictions, 37 years, 0 witnesses killed
This week's math: In Security