Single Point of Failure

"Sometimes it's okay to admit you don't know all the answers."

- Paige

"Single Point of Failure" is the second episode of the first season of Scorpion. It aired on September 29, 2014.

Synopsis
''The Scorpion team races to find who used a genetically targeted virus on four children, one of whom is the daughter of the governor. This case strikes close to home for Walter and Cabe.''

Plot
The episode begins when Paige comes into work and throws Walter an apple reminding him that he has to eat. Walter also begins acting strange and Paige questions it till he brings up his sister, which Paige admits to not knowing about and she is told Walter usually never brings up his sister. But soon enough the team receives a call from Cabe. They arrive at the governor of California's home to discover his daughter is deathly ill. A bio-hacker that has constructed a custom virus that only targets a single child because of DNA and genetic engineering. It’s not just any child either, it’s the daughter of the California governor. She received a virus on her computer alone with a message that said “IT’S YOUR FAULT SHE’S SICK!!” over and over again. This virus is not something the CDC have seen before because the only thing registering is the common cold, but it’s making her entire system shut down with all organ failure.

Team Scorpion traces the computer virus and discovers the man who sent the email sent 3 more emails of the same nature. Meaning not only the governor's daughter is sick but to 3 other kids as well. All the parents, including the governor, used to work at the same pharmaceutical company. They all were researching/selling/testing the same drug trial. A drug that had promising results for people with SMA (spinal muscular atrophy). The company realized there would be a bigger money draw for people with asthma, so they pulled the drug and re-engineered it.

After this is discovered the team hacks into the pharmaceutical company to grab the list of drug trial participants. They do some clever Trojan tracking placement on a food ad and get through the company’s firewall. Sylvester is the only person out of the team with an eidetic memory so he’s the one chosen to sneak into the company.

Once they get a hold of the records, they go through the list. The Scorpion team all settle on an irate blogger that was a part of the trial that ended up losing everything (job, money, no wife)…because it was logical. It was Agent Gallo that chose the right guy because it’s a crime of passion. The guy that Gallo chose lost his daughter because they pulled the trial. The guy lost his only daughter and he’s a professor of microbiology with access to all the research equipment he wants.

Team Scorpion, heads to Richter's classroom and hacks his computer discovering the four viruses. Walter realizes quickly if he sends the blueprints into CDC they can reverse them and make antidotes. The team begins to celebrate before discovering that Richter engineered yet another virus, this one being used to stop the heart instantly, and he is using it on the governor. Richter, called up the Governor and told him he had the antidote and the governor has now gone to meet Richter. Scorpion races to their meeting point and after Richter sprays the aerosol they only have seconds before it kills. Walter does some quick thinking and sprays fire on a sprinkler to activate it.

The episode ends when Cabe Gallo confronts Richter and it is discovered he too lost his daughter. Walter is dealing with an inner demon: his sister has Multiple Sclerosis (MS). He’s pissed off and frustrated because he can’t solve her problem and he needs to. He has never encountered a problem he can't solve. Toby has a gambling problem and he was dumped by his ex-fiancee. Happy was given up to an orphanage by her father at age two (not really abandoned, her dad told them to find her a better home, meaning he couldn't provide well enough for her).

In the end Paige invites the team to have a BBQ on the roof. They may all have there own problems but slowly, Team Scorpion is in fact becoming a family.

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
 * Camille Guaty as Megan O'Brien

Guest

 * Emily Robinson as Megan O'Brien (young)
 * Joel Gretsch as Governor Paul Lane
 * Erick Avari as Robert Richter
 * Diahnna Nicole Baxter as Therapist
 * Kate Butler as Mrs. Lane

Trivia

 * First appearance of Megan O'Brien.

Featured Music

 * All I Want (Diplo Remix) - Dawn Golden
 * Looking Too Closely - Fink

CBS Promo Images
Infiziert