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Season 3, Episode 16, Aired 2/16/07

Episode Summary

One of David's boyhood friends is called into question after a man dies while he's sparring with him. When it turns out this is not the first time such an event has happened, things look even worse. Charlie is busy practicing what little he knows about poker, so he can take Larry's spot in a tournament.moreless

9.0

EPISODE RATING: Superb

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Cast & Crew

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Judd Hirsch

Alan Eppes
Navi Rawat

Amita Ramanujan
Rob Morrow

Don Eppes

Fan Episode Reviews (5)

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Review

9.2

"Superb"

By cavanagh15, Oct 09, 2007 Report Abuse

The episode started slow but I thought it got better torwards the middle and end of the episode. I thught the last couple of minutes were written very well to finish off the episode. Lots of character devolopment in this episode for David, who, along with Colby, seems to be less important this season with the forthcoming of several relationship issues to worry about. I thought that the case was interesting even though I think while we were watching the episode most of us smelt a conspiracy in the workings with the two deaths. We knew it wasnt going to end up being Davids friend that did the murder - which is the only reaosn the episode lost a bunch of points. When you know the outcome of an episode for the most part, hard to be intereted in several scenes involving that guy you know isnt going to be the bad guy in the end. Nice follow up though with the sidestory adressed Amita/Charlie as well as being something entertaining. Solid episode overall I thought.moreless

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In interesting storyline to give David some lead time. More oversimplification of the game of Poker.

9.4

"Superb"

By eesti8, Feb 21, 2007 Report Abuse

I know it's called suspension of disbelief and is required to watch almost any show on TV but I continue to have trouble with the fact that Charlie can use his mathematical mind to master any activity. Alan correctly tells Charlie it's not just about he percentages but it becomes oversimplified to a simple "tell" that once identified will make you an instant winner. I was hoping Charlie would recognize Amita's poker prowness and let her defend the title but it was not to be. As for the main story, I guess it's proven to increase viewers by bringing in stars from sports but I just couldn't get into the story. UFC is more popular than boxing but according to this storyline just as crooked and while not fixed, it is manipulated to get the most money for the fights, and who can blame them.moreless

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An old friend of David is in the middle of a murder investigation and Charlie faces another kind of battle.

8.0

"Great"

By pparker965, Feb 18, 2007 Report Abuse

An old friend of David is in the middle of a murder investigation and Charlie faces another kind of battle.

This will certainly not become a memorable episode but it was entertaining, especially the part about Charlie in the middle of a mind war against another teacher over the university poker tournament.

Charlie gets his office skunked (!) by the other teacher and answers with a clever way of sealing the other teacher's office. All of this aims at revealing his "tell" and keeping the #1 seat for his friend Larry, in orbit, no less!

And poor Charlie can't seem to get more than a minute of quality time with Amida... Poor Charlie but her smile at the end tells you everything is peachy cool.moreless

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Candy for all you David fans out there!

9.5

"Superb"

By iloveketchup, Feb 17, 2007 Report Abuse

Finally, a David-centric episode! It's been way too long since we've had one of those.

This episode gives us some long-wanted backstory on him, which is good, because he was seriously lacking in the backstory department. One of David's close friends is suspected of murdering two guys that die while mixed-martial-arts fighting with him, six months apart. This results in the angstiest David we've ever seen- in a good way. Kudo's to Alimi Ballard for his superior acting in this episode. But it all works out all right in the end, as usual.

Meanwhile, Charlie had to take Larry's seat in a poker tournament. And he was being overall awesome as ever. So basically, the moral of this story is that it's better to be an old friend of David than an old friend of Colby. (see "the mole")moreless

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A person from David's past is charged with the murder of an MMA fighter.

8.0

"Great"

By marvelfan89, Feb 17, 2007 Report Abuse

A David centered episode. A decent episode overall. One of those "let's have the character deal with his past" type of episodes. David's ex-friend, Ben Ellis is seen sparring with an MMA fighter, moments later the guy is found dead.

The investigator on the case as a courtesy calls David because apparently Ben knows him. It turns out he does but they aren't as close friends as one would think. A lot of bad blood exists possibly from David neglecting his friend.

Anyhow, the evidence seems to point that Ben Ellis killed the fighter in order to move up the rankings to get a tight shot at the champ Tino Alva. 1080 poison is found in his gym bag at his locker. Ellis makes a run for it when David confronts which is the dumb thing to do because it makes him look guilty.

David doesn't know what to think so he gets Charlie to calculate the probabilities that he did it. Meanwhile, as well is apparently spying on Professor Novich (Arye Gross) as he prepares to play against him a poker game.

Funny stuff as smart as Charlie is, he kinda cheated at the end. I won't say how. Anyway's, just when David thinks he knows what the outcome of the case is, he, Colby, and Epps smell a rat.

A decent episode. David confronted his past and got closure on a couple of things that were nagging on him. It's a decent character building episode for anyone that wishes to know more about where the character came from.moreless

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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Trivia
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- Opening Numb3rs:
  50 MILLILITERS
  $39.95 PAY-PER-VIEW
  3 TAPS
  1 CHAMPION
  Edit
- Math used in this episode: Kruskal Count Edit
- Larry has won the Texas Hold 'Em competion for five years running. Edit
Notes
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- Music featured in this episode was "Wolf Like Me" by TV On The Radio.
  Edit
- Total Nonstop Action Wrestling superstar Christopher Daniels makes a cameo appearance in this episode. Although he has no lines, he can be seen at the press conference as one of the MMA fighters.
  Edit
- International Airdates: The Netherlands: September 24, 2007 on Veronica New Zealand: October 21, 2007 on TV3 Czech Republic: July 15, 2009 on TV Nova Finland: March 19, 2010 on Sub Slovakia: February 1, 2011 on JOJ Edit
Quotes
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- Ben Ellis: Yo, back there, in front of my cousins house, where you picked me up? You weren't really gonna shoot me where you? Colby: (nods head) Yeah. Edit
- Claudia: You okay? David: I wasn't really ready for old home week, ya know. Edit
- Charlie: (About Dr. Novich) He skunked my office. I'm taking him down. Edit
Allusions
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- The story of the All-Out Fighting League is similar to that of the Ultimate Fighting Championships (UFC). Megan describes to Don how the owner partnered up with the big casinos to buy it and how he helped clean it up and make it mainstream. The UFC emerged in the early 90's as a combat spectacle, known as No Holds Barred fighting that gained a huge underground following. During the late 90's, because of the brutality, it started to become banned in different states and dropped from pay-per-view providers. Facing bankruptcy, in 2001, Dana White partnered up with the Fertitta brothers and purchased the UFC. Under the new ownership, the UFC cleaned up it's image, dropping the No Holds Barred aspect and using the term Mixed Martial Arts (MMA). The UFC also became a sanctioned sport in several states, and is enjoying huge mainstream success. Edit