For me, this is a quintessential episode of "Numb3rs," and it shows the series firing on all cylinders. The balance of crime and family dynamic (the ending at the Eppes home is beautiful) is pitch perfect, and having a strong script doesn't hurt, either.
I have felt that more recent episodes of "Numb3rs" have stretched for Charlie to be incorporated into the investigation, so in "Sabotage," it's great to see a crime and evidence that directly calls for Charlie's help. I know it's only TV, but it's hard to swallow when Charlie is practically a junior G-man working on all kinds of crimes. For one thing, it's nice to see Don and his team arrive at a crime scene without Charlie in tow. It's only when they see the case requires a mathematical analysis that they call Charlie. Lately (most of Season 3, throughout Season 4), Charlie is already there, a part of the arrival team. I like the approach in "Sabotage" because it marks a distinction between cases where the FBI needs Charlie's help, and cases where they don't.
This was a suspenseful episode. I liked the cat-and-mouse game between the saboteur and Don, and Charlie's reactions in the climax when he feared for Don's safety felt genuine.
It all adds up to a very solid hour for "Numb3rs."moreless
While consulting with the NTSB at the scene of the wreck, Don learns that this tragedy is one of a series of recreated accidents involving railroad negligence. As is the pattern with the previous train wrecks, an undecipherable numerical code is left at the site, which Don recruits Charlie to solve. By breaking the code, Charlie is able to establish that this accident was a recreation of a deadly wreck that left only one survivor several years ago. Don's investigation leads him and his team to a dangerous standoff with their suspect, who has surprising ties to the railway system.moreless
 Judd Hirsch |
Alan Eppes |
 David Krumholtz |
Charlie Eppes |
 Peter MacNicol |
Dr. Larry Fleinhardt |
 Alimi Ballard |
David Sinclair |
 Rob Morrow |
Don Eppes |
 Colette Kilroy |
Jim's Mother |
Guest Star |
Bobby Preston |
Jim |
Guest Star |
Jeffrey D. Sams |
Mark Sutter |
Guest Star |
 Navi Rawat |
Amita Ramanujan |
Recurring Role |
Watch Online
Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions
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TRIVIA (13)
ADD TRIVIA-
The information on Don's California driving licence:
10002074.
8111 Aguacate, Los Angeles, CA.
Sex - M. Hair - Brown. Eyes - Brown.
Height - 5,11. Weight - 160.
Date of Birth - 07/15/67.
RSTR - 35,36,38,41. -
Larry ad libbed the line about the math department being the least libidonous place on campus, but needed permission from CalTech math professor and Numb3rs consultant Gary Lorden to use it.
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The MATH:
Cryptography - The conversion of information from its normal form to an incomprehensible format.
The Golden Ratio - Also called the golden mean, 1.61803 is a number considered aesthetically perfect in nature.
The Beale Ciphers - According to legend, a treasure in gold was hidden and the location given to an innkeeper along with three coded letters.
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Opening numbers:
101,424 TRAIN ACCIDENTS
2,112 DERAILMENTS
29 SABOTAGE INCIDENTS
1 UNBREAKABLE CODE -
Handing the note to Don, someone says "Looks like a code." Actually - it looks like a cypher.
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The original nickname for Frank Milton was Cricket.
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When ducking in to the math department to hide from his new girlfriend, Larry glances at all the numbers on the board and says "Number Theory?" before offering to help. Charlie points out Larry hates number theory.
Very little of mathematics has to do with actual numbers. Mathematicans try to avoid numbers whenever possible. The only branches that really concentrate on numbers are "arithmetic" (which is what most of us call "math" in school) and "number theory.
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Larry's logic regarding his 'perfect event' is flawed. Good sex is not a random event; whatever factors lead to the first incidence would still be present, so there would be a high probability of it occurring again.
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Does it not seem odd that with almost everyone wired to a headset, only Don, Terry and David are the ones who make it to Frank? A little "too TV predictable."
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Watch the books Charlie flips through when he's talking with Alan. The books change position frequently without him touching them.
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The accident they inspect is a recreation of a wreck in Utah, but they focus their time on a wreck on a remake in Seattle. Why not focus on the current wreck?
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At the end of the episode, close-captioning read "Stay tuned for scenes from the next episode." However, this was not heard on audio and no scenes were shown, as there are no new episodes scheduled for at least a couple weeks.
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In the first scene, when the caller hangs up on the cell phone, you can see the camera man in the reflection of Lloyd's sunglasses.
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QUOTES (7)
ADD QUOTES-
Charlie: It's not a code. It's a story told in numbers.
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Charlie: I'm sorry, but does that ever work? Just coming out and being so.. obvious?
Amita: Well, if it's the right guy, sure. -
Alan: Is that Amita sitting in the car out front?
Charlie: Yeah. We just stopped by for a minute so I can check this text on encryption and codebreaking.
Alan: And you left Amita waiting in the car? No..no. This is not the way we treat people, Charlie. You bring her inside, you at least offer her something to drink. You know, like an adult.
Charlie: We just stopped by for a second.
Alan: You came in 15 minutes ago, Charlie. -
Alan: Well, it seems like your new math consultant is working out nicely.
Don: I gotta tell you dad, I can't think of anyone who could have helped us the way Charlie did in this investigation.
Alan: You just remember how Charlie is. Can't seem to quit a problem. He's still working on the same one he's had since grade school.
Don: And what's that?
Alan: Trying to impress his big brother. -
Don: I want you to know I don't take for granted what you do.
Charlie: I never thought you did. -
RR Investigator: If it is a code, it's unbreakable.
Don: I wouldn't count on it. -
Charlie: Math is the real world, okay it's everywhere, okay. Can I show you? You see how the petals spiral? The number of petals in each row is the sum of the preceding two rows, the Fibonacci Sequence. It's found in the structure of crystals and the spiral of galaxies and a nautilus shell. What's more, the ratio between each number in the sequence to the one before it is approximately 1.61803, what the Greeks call the Golden Ratio. It shows up in the pyramids of Giza and the Parthenon at Athens, the dimensions of this card. And it's based on a number we can find in a flower. Math is nature's language... its method of communicating directly with us. Everything is numbers.
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NOTES (5)
ADD NOTES-
International Episode Titles:
Czech Republic: Sabotáž (Sabotage) -
International Airdates:
Czech Republic: June 30, 2008 on TV Nova
Slovakia: October 12, 2009 on JOJ -
This episode is rated: TVPG-V.
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This episode was meant to play 3rd, but was pushed back to 6th by CBS.
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The original title for this episode was Coupling.
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ALLUSIONS (2)
ADD ALLUSIONS-
Charlie: The number of petals in each row is the sum of the preceding two rows. It's the Fibonacci Sequence.
The Fibonacci Sequence in a boiled-down form is the math equation consisting of specific numbers. These numbers are interesting in that they occur throughout both nature and art. -
Beale Ciphers:
The story, to which Charlie refers, is the 1820 treasure hunt where the directions were hidden in code and are commonly referred to as the Beale Ciphers. For years, people studied them until the code was finally cracked, but no treasure was ever found.
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numb3rs s03 e07 Blackout
08/10/123
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Did I hear Amita correctly...? (And the winner is... episode)
04/12/122
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Official discussion thread: "The Running Man" (Spoilers)
11/28/1112
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The End of Numb3rs
03/16/1134
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It's Official !!!!!
10/29/1057
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Cause and Effect
S 6 : Ep 16
Aired 3/12/10 (43:28)
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Growin' Up
S 6 : Ep 15
Aired 3/5/10 (44:00)
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And the Winner Is ...
S 6 : Ep 14
Aired 2/5/10 (44:04)
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Devil Girl
S 6 : Ep 13
Aired 1/29/10 (41:15)
Season 1 Episodes
See AllEp 13
Man Hunt
Ep 12
Noisy Edge
Ep 11
Sacrifice
Ep 10
Dirty Bomb
Ep 9
Sniper Zero
Ep 8
Identity Crisis
Ep 7
Counterfeit Reality
Ep 6
Sabotage
Ep 5
Prime Suspect
Ep 4
Structural Corruption
Ep 3
Vector
Ep 2
Uncertainty Principle
Ep 1
Pilot
Ep Pilot
Unaired Pilot
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