Numb3rs

Sacrifice

Season 1, Episode 11, Aired 4/29/05

Episode Summary

A senior computer-science researcher working on a classified government project is found murdered in his Hollywood Hills home and data has been stolen from his computer. The investigation reveals the victim was going through a bitter divorce and was trying to keep his wife from getting his money. Charlie also learns the project on which the man was working might have involved baseball.moreless

8.8

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Cast & Crew

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Judd Hirsch

Alan Eppes
David Krumholtz

Charlie Eppes
Peter MacNicol

Dr. Larry Fleinhardt

Fan Episode Reviews (3)

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Review

8.4

"Great"

By cavanagh15, May 22, 2010 Report Abuse

The case was okay, but it wasn't one of the better ones of the season. I thought the only thing of real note in this episode was the surprise twist at the end that Hookes assistant was involved in the whole thing. Episodes like this tends to be a little less interesting, as there is no infultration or action scenes... anything of that sort. Charlie just figures out some formulas and then they arrest the bad guy at the end without any big dramatic action-adventure scene. The episode was slow paced, but it was still good from the math angle of the show.moreless

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A murder causes Charlie to rethink the consequences of his own consulting work.

9.7

"Superb"

By kateyvic, Aug 15, 2006 Report Abuse

Joseph Gordon-Levitt did an excellent job this episode in playing a sort of "Charlie-gone-wrong" type of character. Scott was who Charlie might have been had he not had the support he has and had he been put in trying circumstances without that support system.

Of course, the dead guy Hoke also serves as a "Charlie-gone-wrong" example. He is what Charlie might become if he only thought of the numbers and not of the real-life situations and exceptions. Once again Charlie is saved from this fate by his support system. Larry and Don will never let him forget the real-life factors.

So Charlie is left thinking about how much harm his work for the NSA has caused. A valid concern, if simply so that in the future he knows to ask. The episode does a great job of showing Charlie that not everything is black and white.moreless

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A fine example of how I like this series. It's inspired, believable and just well written.

8.1

"Great"

By t_a_k, Sep 26, 2005 Report Abuse

A software engineer is stabbed. Charlie is able to retrieve the work on the engineers harddisk, although it has been carefully wiped out.

The whole episode revolves about scientists ethics. The punchlines are well and the characterdevelopement believable. Although I would have placed the job of restoring information from a wiped out harddrive more in the hands of a computer scientist, the role of mathematics is still plausible here. It's a pleasure to watch.

Just the only tiny flaw, that killed the perfection for me: when David and Don return to the apartement to look for a trace of surveillance equipement, I just could'nt understand, why this trace would'nt have been found much much earlier. When there's a piece of cable sticking out somewhere in a victims' apartement, I don't think proper policework will not find it...moreless

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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Trivia
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- The MATH: Sabermetrics - The study of baseball performance through statistical analysis. Edit
- Opening Numbers: 91 THINK TANKS $2.7 BILLION GOVERNMENT FUNDS 13,104 RESEARCH ANALYSTS 8 STAB WOUNDS Edit
- Alan and his wife were thinking of divorcing when Charlie went to Princeton. Edit
Notes
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- International Episode Titles: Czech Republic: Oběť (Sacrifice) Edit
- International Airdates: Czech Republic: August 4, 2008 on TV Nova Slovakia: October 20, 2009 on JOJ Edit
- Sabrina Lloyd left the show during the production of this episode. However, her character did appear in one scene. She appeared in no episodes filmed after this. Edit
Quotes
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- Alan: I heard that, uh, Don was leaning towards the wife. Charlie: That's right. Alan: Seems to be the first place they look nowadays. Charlie: I don't understand. I mean, if you hate the person you're married to that much, get divorced. Alan: Even the thought of divorce holds its own special horrors, let me tell you. Charlie: Well, you and mom never thought about.. I mean, I was never witness to any kind of.. Alan: That's exactly the way we wanted it. Edit
- Terry: Feds don't like scandals. Edit
- Larry: Real science is discovery, Charles, it's not invention. The truths are there whether we find them or not. Edit
Allusions
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- Charlie: In World War II, submarines were equipped with bathythermographs...
  Bathythermographs are designed to find warm water because the difference in acoustical properties of warm and cold water bend the signals of sonar making them less accurate. A submarine could hide below a layer of warmer water in an attempt to avoid being hit by accurately dropped enemy depth charges. Edit
- Don: What was that one book? About the Orioles GM... Charlie: Moneyball.
  "Moneyball" was a successful book that looked into the use of sabermetrics and how it was used to create ball clubs. Edit
- Charlie: ...Hoke was developing a pretty sophisticated application of Sabermetrics.
  Sabermetrics is the analysis of baseball through objective evidence, especially baseball statistics. The term is derived from the acronym SABR, which stands for the Society for American Baseball Research. Edit