Numb3rs

Under Pressure

Season 3, Episode 22, Aired 5/4/07

Episode Summary

Don, Charlie, and the team take on unknown terrorists who may be using nerve gas to undermine Los Angeles' water supply.

9.0

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Cast & Crew

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Rob Morrow

Don Eppes
Judd Hirsch

Alan Eppes
Dylan Bruno

Colby Granger

Fan Episode Reviews (8)

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Inconsistencies...

5.6

"Mediocre"

By brandonkennard, Mar 27, 2011 Report Abuse

Larry claims to have lost 6 percent of bone mass from being in space, but if he was in space for over 4 months, at 2% per month, he would be closer to 9% bone density loss.

His character seems to be getting more and more whiney, and flighty. It is getting harder and harder to imagine Meagan even being able to stand being around him, much less infatuated. That part of the storyline is getting harder to believe.

Did it also seem like Pony was given far more free roam than you would ever figure a guy who is on death row would get?moreless

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0 4
A classic example of where this is all going to go horribly wrong if someone doesn't pay attention.

2.4

"Terrible"

By ccomley, Mar 27, 2011 Report Abuse

Don't get me wrong - I like this, I like the characters, the dialoge is well written. BUT. There is a HUGE flaw in the logic. Set aside for a moment that whilst the maths may be valid, it would take weeks to months to deduce some of the algorythms that Charlie comes up with over lunch, the problem is easily demonstrated in this ep. Charlie works out that the water supply is the best target. He uses *professorial* expert level maths to work this out. Based on this, they immediately disregard all other possible targets and just wonder where and how the water supply is to be attacked. But what happens if the bad guys don't have access to a fast thinking maths geek of their own? Answer? They never realise that the water supply is vulnerable (they may not even know teh sarin can be put in water without breaknig down) and are even as we speak setting up a bomb to vapourise the sarin on hill upwind of the city centre...moreless

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0 6
Review

9.2

"Superb"

By cavanagh15, Dec 19, 2007 Report Abuse

This was one of my favorite uses of math in the numbers series, but once again the side plot fails to produce anything of real note. Seeing Alan help out with the case was really fun to watch and listening to Charlie talk about the terrorist cells and how they are run was a great example for people who are sometimes confused by his random rants and raves. nothing was touched upon again with Larry, who is going to now become a monk? Weird, but okay. Overall, i think it is one of the stronger episodes of season three though the writers have never really gotten into a solid side plot and rode it to the end like I would like. Hopefully the next two episodes can live up to the hype - Janus List being the main one.moreless

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1 0
Awesome

10

"Perfect"

By iluvmax, Sep 28, 2007 Report Abuse

This episode really really really rocked. Don't you just love when they work with terrorists? I know i do, because nobody except a terrorist truly understands their minds, which makes it even more interesting watching Don, Charlie and the gang trying to get into their minds to solve the case.
I think it's awesome how they used the sarin, and the waterways to conduct the terrorism. Sarin really is serious stuff, and when the terrorists have mathematical scientists working on their side to figure out dilution factors, it really does make the episode interesting.
But as usual, Charlie uses his maths to figure it out.
And the cop guy being involved, that's just pure cliche and genius.moreless

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Dad helps on this case too!

9.5

"Superb"

By JPPT1974, May 06, 2007 Report Abuse

Don at first, doesn't want or think that he needs
Help from his dad as he has Charlie to help him out. But
then, he is later wrong as dad really proves that being an FBI agent, you don't have all of the answers. As the team fight terrorists who want to bring harm to a water supply and release it out to the city. Hopefully they will use the underused Judd Hirsch even more. Not just at home. As Hirsch was great in this one. But he always is!moreless

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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Trivia
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- Math used in this episode: Social Network Analysis Edit
- Opening Numb3rs: 16 EXTREMISTS 7200 MILES OF PIPE 2.3 PARTS PER MILLION 1 COORDINATED ATTACK Edit
Notes
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- International Airdates: The Netherlands: November 5, 2007 on Veronica Germany: March 9, 2008 on SAT 1 Czech Republic: July 23, 2009 on TV Nova Finland: April 30, 2010 on Sub Slovakia: February 9, 2011 on JOJ Edit
- Music featured in this episode was "Galvanize" by The Chemical Brothers.
  Edit
Quotes
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- Alan: That's why using the water system makes perfect sense, they don't need to spread the poison themselves, the city distribution system will do the work for them! Edit
- Suspect: You keep using that word, terrorist. I am a soldier, fighting a war America initiated. Your war against Islam. Colby: C'mon man. You're from Fullerton. Your name is Timothy. Edit
- Don: What? Charlie: When did this happen? This whole new attitude? Don: New attitude is gratitude. Edit
Allusions
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- Episode Title: The episodes title is a reference to to the 1981 song by Queen & David Bowie of the same name. Edit
- Flip Cards: The example Charlie gives of changing the message in a stadium flip-card display without the card-flippers' knowledge actually happened at the 1961 Rose Bowl, when the Minnesota Golden Gophers played the Washington Huskies. The Rose Bowl stadium frequently hosted Caltech home football games, but a group of 14 Caltech students were miffed at the idea that their school's perennially weak team would never play in the bowl game itself. They heard that the Washington cheerleading squad planned a massive halftime flip-card show and decided to sabotage it. They stole the sheets with the plans, altered some of the fifteen displays, then replaced them. On the day of the game, 2 January, the card display went off as planned until the twelfth sign, which was supposed to be the image of a husky. The animal displayed looked more like a beaver. Image 13 was supposed to be the word HUSKIES. Instead it came out backwards: SEIKSUH. The cheerleaders thought this was just a glitch, and signalled for the 14th image. The cards flipped, and there, in front of the entire stadium and broadcast by NBC onto millions of television sets around the country, the Washington fans spelled out...CALTECH. The 15th image never appeared. Edit