WeBuiltThePyramids

I read a fanfix recently where Waige gets back together after the Callie wedding and it made me want to write one where Sylvester gets married and says to Walter "so you and Paige are good, right, because you're about to run out of weddings to use as a catalyst to get your crap together."

Candy83

Summing up Season #04 of CBS’s Scorpion: Robert Patrick—whose performance merits Emmy recognition (even though Scorpion isn’t on the radar of Academy voters)—was terrific playing Cabe’s storyline of his livelihood and freedom being on the line after uncuffing the occasional guest character and menace Mark Collins. (They were on an island. Mark’s life was in danger.) That played out for the first half of the season. The rest of the supporting characters had storylines of great interest: Sylvester becoming a lawyer and being an effective alderman; Ralph coming of age (and with having his first crush); and Toby and Happy forging ahead with plans to start a family. But, unfortunately, Scorpion failed with the lead characters Walter and Paige.

My viewing of Scorpion, since the “Pilot” (S01 E01), has been more relaxed. I never expected the series to get Walter and Paige to officially become a couple in the first season. I cut the series some more slack with the second season. I knew it would be playing it out for a while. Getting Toby and Happy officially together, in Season #02 (“Fractured”; S02 E16), was more expected—that is, according to my experience of having followed any series with more than one great couple, and one of them is apparently more prominent. So, the coupling of Quinitis was taken care of with their wedding in “Something Burrowed, Something Blew” (S03 E22). But that was also the episode in which Walter, no longer able to delay, finally came through with directly telling Paige he is in love with her. She let him know that this is also her truth. And, right after that, should have been Scorpion moving ahead with finally directing this couple toward their future together.

I was looking forward to Season #04. Then I read a report of the description of the season premiere, “Extinction,” and moaned that Scorpion was once again giving us a revisit from Mark Collins. In that episode, he casts some sort of doomed spell on the coupling of Waige. And that sets up much of the rest of the season. But, make no mistake, “Extinction” was not only the worst episode of Season #04 but also one of the worst in the series’ history. It was depressing. It sucked!

What I wanted for Waige is to see them, although many steps behind Quintis, be moving toward a future of them realizing they love each other deeply, they need to be married to each other; that Walter needs and wants to adopt Ralph; and that, like Toby and Happy, there would be a scene in which Walter and Paige would reveal they want to have a child together. (There was a scene, in “It’s Raining Men [of War]” [S04 E09], of Walter telling Happy he is thrilled she and Toby are trying to have a baby. She asks him if he wants that, too, with Paige. He says they hadn’t discussed it yet. Well, I think Walter, speaking or not speaking for himself, already knew the answer to the question.) Ultimately, a united Walter and Paige in a very family way—and with a coming-of-age Ralph (and a child produced by Waige)—is where I see them. But, Season #04 Scorpion wasted time by taking them in a bad direction—and, most likely, just for drama’s sake.

The middle of the season saw “A Christmas Car-Roll” (S04 E12) hint that “things change around here”—and, like the rest of the episode (the dream/nightmare parts), we viewers were left trying to figure where Scorpion, with the likes of showrunner Nick Santora and fellow exec producer Nicholas Wootton planning it well ahead, would be taking Waige.

I found “A Christmas Car-Roll” to be a mind*f*. I have had surgery in which I was anesthetized. There is no dreaming. One is out. And one doesn’t come back until having awakened. One dreams early in sleep, before falling into a deep sleep, and just shortly before awakening. The structure of that episode, as it was directed by LeVar Burton, was that Walter’s first moment of awakening within that dream was to see bark right next to him. He noticed a wedding ring. Bark actually was next to the unconscious real-world Walter. Both real-world and dream-state Walter touched the bark as more a reflexive action. Real-world Walter did not no what was going on. Dream-state Walter was the one trying to figure things out. And, yes, it was confusion. That confusion was happening, and this needs to be mentioned, while Walter was unconscious—after his head hit the cement floor (after falling from the stairs coming down from his loft)—and Toby and Happy were performing emergency surgery.

After that episode, and this what gets the rest of the season of the downward spiral going, Walter lets people know he dreamed he and Florence were married and kissing. This understandably disturbs him. What he does not accurately remember is that he and Florence were not mutually kissing. But he passes it off as if was mutual kissing. No, the dream-state Walter, as he makes his way to the loft and arrives in the kitchen, expected to see Paige. He assumed he would be married to Paige. (I think this was his conscious telling him he wants to be married to Paige. Before he took that fall down the stairs, while all of Team Scorpion was president, Walter told Paige the reason he wanted to work was to provide for Scorpion. He used the word provide. One does not provide for a business. One funds a business. Walter wanted to fund the business and provide for both Paige and Ralph.)

When the woman behind the refrigerator was revealed to be Florence, it stunned Walter. He was immediately disappointed. The kissing came only from Florence. But, what was important was the context. It was not passionate. The kisses—one of the lips, one of the cheek, maybe one more—in the context of a nurturing-like greeting of Good morning, Dear! It was comfort. And it was the last appearance within that dream by Florence. The rest was Walter having to re-meet everyone on Team Scorpion. (It actually made sense for him to be married to Florence given that dream is also in the present. Walter could not be married to Happy. He could not be married to Paige. And he was dreaming that everyone had a life different from the one they actually have.)

“Extinction” opened with Walter and Paige, clothed, just after they consummated their relationship (following the season-three finale “Scorp Family Robinson”; S03 E24). Paige asks Walter how he feels. Walter has his musical fantasy, “Everything Is Genius,” and Paige—seeing that his mind wandered off—directs Walter’s attention back to her. But, he and his low-EQ cannot articulate. So that, right there, is a reminder that Walter’s poor communication skills—one wrong word—is enough to create doubts, bad vibes, and wreck havoc.

I have read comments, from other sites, responding to the season-four finale. People accept what was shown to us. But, I feel like the breakups—Paige dumping Walter; Paige, Sylvester, Toby, and Happy leaving Scorpion—should be revealed as a long-game orchestration by Mark Collins. That Florence should be connected to Mark. (I will note, very quickly, that Katharine McPhee delivered sublimely in both of the last two episodes of Season #04, “Kenny and the Jet” and “A Lie in the Sand.” After Scorpion does end, I hope McPhee continues to get cast as a leading lady. She is a natural, yes, but she’s also very interesting to watch.)

Given what Scorpion’s fourth season put out, I do not accept a notion that, for Walter, maybe Paige isn’t the woman he is meant to be with; that that woman is Florence. What Florence represents, based on the timeline, is an opportunity for Mark Collins to blow up Scorpion. What has always motivated Mark, who was driven out of Scorpion by Walter (because Mark is dangerous), is this one desire: If I [Mark Collins] cannot have Scorpion, nobody can! The only one possible person for whom Mark cares is Walter. And that is only because Mark sees Walter as his equal. So, all of Mark Collins’s history, along with his weakness (wanting Scorpion), is the reason why we saw the finale we were given from Scorpion. Paige is the woman meant for Walter and, in the “Pilot,” he naturally responded to her the warm woman she is—and that includes how she looks after Ralph but, not just that, was brave to help Scorpion help prevent an airplane crash by hanging onto a laptop computer in a car driven 200 miles per hour by Walter. That was the beginning of this couple. That Paige moved Walter.

I look back to “A Christmas Car-Roll,” and think that Walter was confused—I don’t know if it’s illusions, hallucinations, or anything else—and figure, should Scorpion get a Season #05, I would imagine we get a reunited Scorpion and Waige. Making it possible would be tracing back to this episode. Explain and solving it would make reconciliations both possible and plausible. In the season-one episodes “A Cyclone” (S01 E03) and “True Colors” (S01 E06), there were moments showing us the narrative for Team Scorpion is that they are a family and will ultimately be there should any force try to break them apart. Well, the “Pilot” revealed that there is a sense of destiny—that is, from this group, there would be two pairs within who would become romantic couples meant to be. Toby and Happy, a.k.a. Quintis, are taken care of. Should CBS give a Season #05 to Scorpion, the series is going to have deliver permanently as well for Walter and Paige, a.k.a. Waige. Storytelling is different for both matches. Quintis are the down-to-earth pair. Waige is the epic soap-opera couple. The down-to-earth pair saw their love story play out over a convincing, reasonable amount of time. The soap-opera couple have been given the epic, supercouple treatment: build them up, challenge them, derail them, delay them, officially get them together, and tear them down—followed by, of course, rebuilding and reuniting them and, ultimately, reaching the conclusion that they will last.


I was a late bloomer to this site. I want to say it is better late than never. Given renewal hasn’t happened yet, and status likely won’t be revealed until we are in the month of May, I hope it isn’t too late for Scorpion. What was delivered in Season #04, and my No. 1 reason for having watched all this time is because I care about its characters and their lives, is not how I want to remember this CBS series.

FoxPhile

I can't say I like all of season 4, but I can say it was predictable. It's a TV trope to bring the main couple together only to split them up - sometimes multiple times. This is a drama show, and the producers feel they need to produce drama - both in the cases and in the characters' personal lives. To bring Waige together and simply allow them to be happy does not fill that bill. I'm not saying I like that - I'm saying I've been through this enough times to know that it is just the way things are with tv shows. There was a time when shows avoided bringing main characters together at all - ever. Be happy that has changed and we no longer wait six, eight or ten years for a first kiss - assuming we ever get one at all.

Trope or not, based on how the couple has been portrayed, Waige's break-up was inevitable. THEY... DO NOT... COMMUNICATE. This does not mean they don't love each other. I fully believe they are the loves of each other's lives. I also believe that they can get past their issues, get back together and learn to work together to build a solid relationship. For right now, however, and regardless of their reasons, neither Walter nor Paige is able to fully reveal themselves to the other or to fully trust the other. They both hide things that are fundamental to who they are. Walter is scared to death that Paige will become bored with him. He's scared that he will not be her emotional equal. It's happened to him before, with women he didn't really care about. But now there is so much more at stake and he has no idea how to do anything any differently and the one person who might be able to guide him in that - Paige - keeps the fact that he does sometimes intimidate her and drive her crazy with his intellectual talk to herself. Paige is has been abandoned repeatedly - by her mother, by Drew for another woman and by Tim for his job. Walter is a prime candidate to abandon her for his job, and I can imagine every time he chose to work instead of spending time with her, it ground into her soul - but she never said anything. Then, he does something that smacks of another woman - he dreams of kissing Florence. Toby is right - it meant nothing - to Walter. However innocent it might have been on his part, to Paige, it was a red flag. After her initial reaction, however, she puts on a face and makes it seem like it means nothing - until it blows up in both their faces. If Paige was more open with Walter about her fears, even he might have realized that inviting Florence to the lecture was a bad idea.

In some ways, they are themselves crippled by the belief that love will conquer all. This is aptly portrayed by that musical number in the season premiere. Both of them believe that everything is hearts and flowers - or in Walter's case, the thing he finds most wonderful - genius. But even that portrays some of their differences and issues. It starts with Paige waking and finding Walter, not cuddling with her in bed after a romantic night, but sitting at his desk working - just what she doesn't want to see. Walter sings about birds singing, but is unable to leave it at that and has to quote the species. Paige sings about pie and Walter sings Pi to some number of places. Paige sings "We're gonna be so happy with no awkwardness between us", but when the number is over, she gets testy because Walter's attention has drifted and he's not answering her question.

I rather like that they've bracketed the season with the theme first introduced by Mark Collins - that Paige and Walter are basically incompatible, largely because of their intellectual disparity. I don't think they are really trying to present Florence as a woman better suited to Walter. I think they are only trying to present her as Paige's worst nightmare - both of her biggest fears rolled into a petite and perky package.

In terms of the rest of the season, I love the Sly/Flo storyline - right up until the end, of course, although I think I understand what is happening there. I hate the idea of Sly being hurt, even though I firmly believe it's temporary. Much like Ralph, I think Florence has a bit of a crush - not really serious feelings for Walter. On some level, for her, I think that is a safely issue. I suspect Flo has not had the best of luck with men - if any at all. Walter isn't available, and Florence knows that. So it's safe for her to moon over him. I believe some of that started precisely because she was aware of Sly's interest - and she was feeling things for him - and that scared her because Sly is very available. I don't for a minute believe that she was as oblivious to the intent of Sly's invitations as she let on. Her Walter crush was a deflection to avoid something that she is afraid will ultimately wind up hurting her. I also don't think she was very shocked at Sly's revelation in the finale. She was shocked at the depth of it - that he used the word "love". She was shocked that he said anything at all. But she's been very aware of Sly's feelings pretty much from the first.

I was initially against the Ralph crush story line. But I feel they handled it well, especially at the end. Patty was surprisingly gentle and sympathetic, yet realistic and firm. There's really no good way to say "let's be friends", but she handled it as well as can be, especially for a girl who is just a teenager herself. Paige was able to do what Paige does best - be a Mom and comfort Ralph's scarred heart. It may also serve to help Ralph understand a bit more about the adult feelings that are now causing a maelstrom around him. I don't think he'll be as quick to condemn Walter as he was the last time they had a rift, if only because he now has some understanding of just how confusing love can be.

Similarly, I didn't much care for the Quintis infertility story line at first. While it's certainly realistic, it still felt like an unnecessary roadblock. As time went on, however, it gave us some really awesome Quintis moments, as they each contemplated what parenthood would mean for them individually - and both realized they could get through it together with each other's support. Still, we could have had similar scenes with Happy sporting a baby bump. Although I'm still a bit miffed that the promise of the crib scene back in S3 will not be realized with a Quintis pregnancy, I have to admit that I've wondered through most of the season why the very obvious option of adoption never came up. We had three seasons of Happy harping on her issues in the Foster care system. How she yearned to be adopted and never was. I find it surprising that the option didn't come up even before the infertility issue was raised. In other words, I would think that the minute Happy began seriously thinking of children, that she would have suggested adoption, not necessarily instead of a pregnancy, but in addition to. However, the way they introduced the option in the finale was incredibly well done. The only thing I didn't care for was that it seemed to be such a revelation to Happy - like it was something she never thought of before. That just seems so... un-Happy.

This made me almost fall on the floor! I have to add "... it's going to be a few years yet before Ralph gives you another opportunity."

Earnie

Well to be honest the season finale kind of spoiled the entire season for me last season I watch the finale over and over again but the season 4 finale I only watch it live I have no desire to watch it again. I can't even watch the Baseball episode again because of Walter's speech at the end of how they are a team it is just too hard to watch now. In the baseball episode it did show what was coming Paige was pretty in charge of Happy Toby and Sly while Walter was locked in the storage room with Cabe. now Centipede is led by Paige with Happy Toby and Sly I don't think that was a coincidence

FoxPhile

I try to keep a hopeful and open mind. As long as I'm hopeful about S5, I can deal with the finale, and actually really like some of the conflict it set up for next season.

WeBuiltThePyramids

Agree. I would hate it as a series finale, but it's a really, really solid series finale.

FoxPhile

I've rewatched it a couple of times, and it seems a shame that anyone would avoid it because of the ending. It was such a riveting, solid episode.

WeBuiltThePyramids

It was, but if it is the series finale I do doubt I'd watch it again.

FoxPhile

If that's the case, I will probably watch everything up to that point - and then make up my own ending.

WeBuiltThePyramids

Gonna de-top this now.

FoxPhile

Thanks. Sort of sad to see it go. Even if it wasn't the greatest episode.

WeBuiltThePyramids

It could have been. If it wasn't the last episode.

FoxPhile

Definitely. Even as a series finale, it was really good up until the last few minutes.

Earnie

I disagree even if it wasn't the series finale and there was going to be a season five it is still a bad way to end a season in my opinion because everything made no sense at all and how many fans would come back to watch a season 5 premier after being left with a bad taste in your mouth. I for one did not want to go thru the will they or won't they get back together again once was enough. CBS thought the writers pissed off the fan base so why do a season 5 when nobody will watch so just my opinion