When this series aired on CBS back in 2005 I never watched
it. Why I have no idea. My folks loved it and told me how great it was but for
some reason it never popped up on my watch list. I’m sorry to say that now.
Taking the time to watch it at this point I realize just what a good show it
was and how well it combined the worlds of mathematics and crime solving to
make an interesting series.
The story involves FBI agent Don Eppes (Rob Morrow) working
in the Los Angeles area. As the pilot opens we see he’s having problems with a
case involving a serial rapist and has his files with him when he stops to
visit his father Alan (Judd Hirsch) and brother Charlie (David Krumholtz), a
mathematical genius who still lives at home while teaching at a nearby college.
Charlie glances at the files laid out and tells Don that the solution to his
problems lies in math, that all things in the world involve mathematical
equations if you just know how to look for them.
Using his skills Charlie is able to nearly pinpoint where
the rapist not only will strike next but the neighborhood where he lives as
well. Combining that information with evidence gatherer prior, Rob and his team
of agents are able to find the rapist and arrest him. Not in short order as it
may read here but they do so.
That is just the pilot that’s included here in this
collection of the entire series. It puts forth the concept on display, that
mixing of two worlds to find solutions to problems being faced by the crime
investigators. It is why the series work so well and what makes it so
interesting. Each episode finds Charlie, now working part time as a liaison
with the FBI office to help solve particular crimes, displaying how math and
the science of logic applies to each case. Not only are we entertained but
along the way we might pick up something useful as well.
Included in the mix are several other items. One involves
the sense of family between the brothers and father. Hirsch does a great job in
a supporting role that rounds out the cast nicely. Many of his moments help the
brothers connect as well as decipher the character of Charlie to those who
don’t understand his genius. That these two brothers can be so different and
yet from the same family is interesting as well. What makes them special is the
love they have for one another.
Also of note is Peter MacNicol as fellow professor Larry
Fleinhart. A professor of theoretical physics and cosmologist, he was a mentor
to Charlie when he was young. While Charlie has surpassed his friend who turns
to him at various times for help with his own projects, Larry is perhaps the
one person who can think on Charlie’s level and helps him to maneuver through
the problems he faces, things that we might understand easily but that Charlie
has difficulty with.
The last important character introduced in the initial
season of the show is Amita Ramanujan (Navi Rawat), a doctoral student of
Charlies who helps him with the math side of things in the first season of the
show. While Charlie is completely unaware of the attraction she has for him at
first, other help him to see that it’s there. This eventually leads to a
romantic union between the two and SPOILER ALERT marriage by season five.
I could list off the types of crimes the brothers and the
FBI team work together to uncover but that would be pointless. Just know that
if there were a crime that required the FBI then they are there to handle the
situation. And each one will eventually require some sort of mathematical equation
to solve, a reason for Charlie to be on hand with Don taking care of the
on-site rough and tumble aspects of the situation.
The show was a pleasure to sit back and watch. The
collection presented here makes it possible for fans to enjoy the whole series
once more or for those like me to slap our foreheads for missing it the first
time around but who now have the opportunity to enjoy it. Another major plus it
the packaging which contains every season of the show in one simple box that
takes up far less room than the single season did side by side. If you enjoy
great TV shows then by all means this is one to add to your collection.
Click here to order.
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