Toby or Not Toby

"What matters in life is love!"

- Toby

"Toby or Not Toby" is the twenty-fourth and final episode of the second season of Scorpion, and the forty sixth of the series overall. It aired April 26, 2016.

Synopsis
The team races against time to stop an unstable ex-member of Scorpion, Mark Collins who kidnaps and threatens to kill Toby if his demands are not met.

Plot
Team Scorpion starts with Toby waking and seeing that Mark has him. Mark offers him water and says he has a big day. Tim plays some jazz for Paige and Sly hates it and asks him to turn it off. Walter says he thought the ferret got stuck. Tim thanks Walter for the jazz fets tickets.

Sylvester asks Walter if he’s upset about Paige and Tim spending the weekend together. Walter asks where Toby is – he’s not. Happy comes in and says Toby isn’t taking her calls and returning her texts. She thinks he’s on a gambling bender and Tim asks if something might be wrong.

Cabe says Mark Collins escaped from the mental institution and Happy says Toby’s missing and Tim says let’s track this. Sly says he has an idea of where Toby was going but he won’t give details. Walter checks traffic cams to track his car. Happy asks Sly what he’s holding back.

Walter spots his car and figures out the cross streets where he went missing. Toby mocks Mark who says today is serious and then spouts some Latin. Toby says he’s glad to see the psych ward worked out. Mark says when his work is done, no one will be laughing. Toby asks about his work.

Mark says when your freedom and dignity are ripped from you, all you have left is time and he researched BBI – brain to brain interface. He mentions Megan’s obituary and how he didn’t think Sylvester was the marrying type.

He says he thinks Walter tried a brain save and wants his research. Toby says he won’t hand it over but Mark is confident. They find Walter’s car and then Toby’s cracked cell phone. There’s a partial text to Sly but he won’t share what he knows and says this is irrelevant.

Mark calls and asks if he’s looking for someone and demands Megan’s research. Mark says if there’s another cop besides Cabe, Toby won’t live. Mark says he wants the BBI research then says he has Toby hooked to a metal chair with a car battery hooked to it.

He says send the research or Toby is toast then says Walter never should have kicked him off the team. Walter says he can’t send him the research since Mark will use it for horrible purposes – basically mind reading if he combines their research.

Sly says he’s crazier than ever and they try to figure out where Mark is. Sly thinks he was using a ham radio patch and Walter says he’s local since he can’t go far since he’s worried. He sends Happy and some others to the mental hospital to check things out.

Happy and Paige talk to the doctor along with Tim and Happy says he likes to write things down but the doc says no pen and paper. Happy cuts open a mattress and finds that Mark built a wireless signal booster. They realize he found a way to get onto the internet.

Cabe has radio transmitters coming from the FCC and find 72. The kitchen supervisor says all Mark did was come in, cleaned and left. He spots a whisk that has just one tine on it. She points out a table that he was particular about.

Tim spills flour on the table then uses a fan to clear it off. He wrote on the table. Tim snaps a pic of it and sends it to Sly since he can’t translate it. Walter says if they can crack the formula they can get closer. Happy is tracking the IP addresses when Mark was online.

Happy finds a farm that he searched and then Mark calls Walter again. Mark says listen to the sound Toby makes and it sounds like he shocks Toby who screams in pain. Happy screams at him to stop and then he hangs up and Toby asks if this is some kind of joke.

However, Mark really was not torturing him and just played a recording. Toby says there’s still decency in him. Mark says Toby will die today just not by his hand. Tim and the girls go to check out the farm. Walter says he doesn’t think he’s being tortured.

Walter says Mark’s comments relate to a game show and says maybe Mark saw them on the Price is Right. The sound was Toby yelling in excitement on the show. Paige says that’s good news but Tim says that doesn’t mean that Mark won’t hurt him.

Walter says this may not be about the research and he doesn’t intend to let Toby go. Sly has cracked the code and says he narrowed it to 38 towers. He says there’s too much noise and Walter says he can help. Walter wants the towers to play one sound to eliminate the noise.

Tim tells the women to hold tight at the farm but Happy won’t. Someone takes shots at them and Tim knocks Happy down the n returns fire. Happy knocks him down and the guy asks what’s going on. Tim says he searched the grounds and didn’t find anything.

Tim asks why he shot at him and the guy says a trespasser came last night to steal goat collars. Happy asks to see the herd. Cabe and Walter head to one of the towers. The farmer shows them the collars and says the guy busted his fence and took a hinge.

There are poison packs from the goats to keep bobcats away and Happy wonders what he’s building. Mark is mixing up a solution with the bobcat poison and makes something noxious. He also has floss and Toby asks what he’s doing then mocks him.

He say his plan will fail because the team will take him down. Mark says you can’t analyze me then says he can do what Toby does. He opens Toby’s bag and pulls out a book and tosses it aside. Then he spots the ring box and opens it.

Mark laughs gleefully and says there’s only one woman on the planet who wants a hex nut setting. Mark says no way will Happy say yes to him and says he’s known her longer. Mark says she can’t marry you and Toby asks what he means.

Mark says see how easily I got into your head and dumps out a bunch more floss packets. Walter climbs the tower and is scared. He is at the top and plugs into the junction box and Happy says she’s on the way back to the garage.

Walter hears on the comms that Paige says she’s sore from Tim lying on top of her. Walter flips and drops the keytar and that screws up the plan. Mark calls again and says Toby is having an interesting morning and let Toby talk, who says he’s making poison.

Happy says she’s coming for him and Mark says come get your fiancée then says he saw the ring and it’s ugly as a baboon’s butt. Happy asks if this is what Sly was keeping secret and he says it was and she’s upset that he got snatched picking up her ring.

Cabe brings the cable up to Walter on the tower then asks for Cabe’s phone to use his signal. He plays one of Cabe’s Conway Twitty songs. Cabe says he’s a fan and they play the song. Sly works the data streams and then finds the right tower.

Walter and Cabe come back and Sly says they narrowed it but there are 18 buildings in proximity to the tower. They worry how to find it. Tim spots one under construction and eliminate it. They take off ones that are in active use or under construction.

Mark strings tons of dental floss around and says he’d like thicker twine but he can’t be choosy. Toby kicks the book and knocks over Mark’s jug of bleach. Mark calls him pathetic and Toby says you can’t fault me for trying.

The bleach smells and Mark has to prop open a window. Toby mocks Mark who gets angry. Toby asks him to call Happy one last time. Mark says he would like to hear his defeated goodbye. He says if I let you call, you have to tell them that I won, I beat Scorpion.

Mark says he’s smarter than Walter. They make the call. Toby says he knows they’re working hard to find him but Mark thought this through. He says Mark beat them and is smart than all of them. Then Toby says to Happy, I’m sorry and I will always love you.

She says he can’t say goodbye. Then Toby tells Sly to listen carefully and says take care of Happy for me. Mark ends the call. Happy is stunned. Sly says Toby just told me where he is and says listen carefully. He says he knows he won’t take care of Happy because he’s scared of him.

Sly says he paused so I could hear the birds. That narrows it to four buildings and the team rolls out. Mark is busy finishing his project and hears the car pull up. Mark says he thought they would take another 30 minutes to find them.

The team is ready to move in. The team splits up and Mark tells Toby good luck, you will need it. The jar of acid is suspended over his head. Walter spots Mark making his exit and gives chase into another building. Walter grabs up a pipe and Happy and Walter find Toby.

He tells them about the acid in the jar above his head and there’s a matrix of floss and says if they jostle it, he will die instantly. Happy says they have to outthink Mark or he dies. Toby begs them to figure it out fast.

Happy tells Sly to figure out the pattern. Paige and Tim come in and Paige tells Walter they can’t figure it out. Walter hits Mark and says tell me how to save him and Mark says he doesn’t care what Walter does and says he’ll let him go to save him.

Happy says leave him and come here to help. Mark says the greater good means not to let me go and so Toby has to go.

Mark calls him weak and says the team has done this to him. Walter says he’s not a killer. He says drop the pipe and go save your pal. Walter drops it and runs. Walter is there and says they have to work together. Walter says it’s like a guitar string.

They have to find the right one. Tim plucks two and tells Happy she can cut them. She does. Walter says cut everything that’s a B note. They pluck and cut. Tim advises since he’s the jazz man. They work together to get to Toby.

Toby says he needs to say this because he thinks she won’t get to him. Happy says you can’t propose to me like this. Toby says I love you and Happy runs for him and knocks him out of the way. He says he knew she was a keeper.

Cabe says now they have to deal with Mark. Walter says he let him go to come there and Toby thanks him. Walter says he’s going after them but they can call the authorities. Mark is on a bus and it pulls up to a stop. The guy next to him is crunching chips.

Mark is annoyed. Cabe is there with a gun on him and says this is your stop. Tim cuffs him and Mark asks if the psychiatrist is dead then Tim says no. Mark says he doesn’t care for him. Mark asks Walter how he found him.

Walter talks about a childhood story that Mark told him and says his newfound humanity let him analyze that story for what it meant. Mark tells Walter that the team ruined him. Paige says she over packed for the tip and Walter says that’s a sign of anxiety.

Toby asks to talk to Happy but she says no. He says he won’t ask the question she’s expecting. Tim says he won’t bite and happy says shut up, I barely know you. Toby says he won’t ask her a question but wants to sing her one.

He sings her a goofy song about how much he loves her and all about tools. The team smiles. Then he hits a button and confetti goes off. He says he will love her till he forgets how and pulls out the ring and asks her to marry him. She says no. Another confetti cannon goes off.

She says she can’t when he asks why, Happy says she’s sorry but she’s married to someone else then asks him not to follow her as she walks out. Paige approaches Toby who says he doesn’t want to talk to anyone now. Tim asks if Paige still wants to go.

She says she’ll meet him at the car. Paige tells Walter that was messy and Walter says it’s fault – it will mess up the team. He says lots of stuff about what he thinks about a woman and says feelings need to be buried if they mess up the work.

Paige asks if he’s talking about Toby and he says of course. Paige asks if he thinks she should cancel and stay and help with Toby and the mess. Walter says it’s best that she goes. She says okay and turns and goes.

Toby starts boozing and Walter says slow down. Toby says no thanks. Walter says he’ll go talk to Happy and make it clear this romantic experiment failed. Toby calls him a jerk and says he doesn’t care about them, just Scorpion.

Toby tells him that he loves him and says he’s a gigantic ass. He says he’s so obsessed with the team that he will sacrifice love for it. He calls Walter a genetic fluke and says love is what matters and he’s dying and would do anything to have her back.

He says Walter is a jackass who pushed the woman he loves out the door to spend the weekend with another man. He calls him 197 and then Walter slams the doors and demands the keys and Toby asks to the company car. Walter says it’s his car.

Walter says he’s a moron and he has to stop Paige because he loves her. He calls her on the way but gets her voice mail. Walter curses and heads for Tahoe but he’s well behind them and Tahoe is more than 400 miles away.

Original recap from celebdirtylaundry.com

Main

 * Elyes Gabel as Walter O'Brien
 * Katharine McPhee as Paige Dineen
 * Robert Patrick as Cabe Gallo
 * Eddie Kaye Thomas as Toby Curtis
 * Jadyn Wong as Happy Quinn
 * Ari Stidham as Sylvester Dodd

Recurring

 * Riley B. Smith as Ralph Dineen
 * Joshua Leonard as Mark Collins

Guest Star

 * Scott Porter as Tim Armtrong

Trivia

 * The title of the episode is a reference to a monologue Shakespeare's Hamlet, which famously starts out with "To be or not to be, that is the the question...".

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