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Numb3rs Season 2 Episode 23

Undercurrents

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8.9

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AIRED: 5/12/06

The FBI becomes involved when the bodies of young Asian girls are washed up on the beach. The situation becomes more critical when it is discovered one girl has avian flu. As the investigation continues, Don and his team discover a connection between the girls and the sex trade industry.

Meanwhile, Amita considers a transfer to Harvard University, which causes Charlie to re-evaluate his feelings for her.moreless

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Fan Episode Reviews (10)

Good main plot let down by a lack of action and little drama

7.0

By AvatarBlue, Sep 23, 2008

Having read the other reviews here I think that most posters have got it right - it was painful to watch. But I have to disagree with awarding this more than an 8.

Where was the drama? What happened to the action? The episode does start well and builds up a fair level of intrigue but it dovetails all to quickly. The H5N1 virus storyline was good, but there where very little scenes to show us the impact of such a discovery, other than adding some much needed urgency. The use of 'illegals' could have been much better and though logical just didnt add much to the 50 odd minutes.

The subplot of Amita and Charlies relationship trouble was limited and just didnt fire my imagination. It did provide a nice little angle as to what the future brings for Charlie and how his character may become affected in the next series. However, I just didnt feel any real connection with their dilemma, perhaps because Ive yet to feel their relationship to be what the writers think it to be because lets face it they haven't really explored their feelings in previous episodes.

The casebreaking clue (tattoo) has been done before so there was little new added here and the overall chase to find the suspects who dumped the sick girl and left the others for dead just didnt roll as urgently as previous storylines. There was a noticeable lack of maths which as Ive seen in previous episodes seemings to be growing. The writers are just dumbing down the inclusion of what is the a really interesting aspect of this show.

Howewever, its not all bad - the finale comes round realistically enough and ends in a satisfactory conclusion, even it its nothing spectacular.

Not a good episode and if you miss it then I wouldnt worry to much, as you can just go over the very good recap added here.moreless
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8.6

By cavanagh15, Mar 12, 2007

The key points to this episode were clearly the scenes between Amita and Charlie, which went back and forth over the entire episode. Early on it seemed like she was going to move to Harvard, then it seemed like she wanted to stay and be with Charlie, and then at the final scene of the episode she seemed to run away from the clear feelings that she had for Charlie. It seems like the writers are going to write her out of the show and the show could never be the same if Charlie went after her, so it looks like the long anticipated relationship we have all been waiting for between Amita and Charlie is never going to happen unless something very big and dramatic happens in the finale epsisode. I thought the case in this episode followed the trend of half of the episodes of season 2 - unbelievable, repeated, and kind of boring to watch. Charlies math has taken a back seat it seems and Im kind of losing faith in the show to entertain me the way it used to in the begining of the season and in season 1. The show is still good, but the inconsistant writings of the characters relationships really is a downside to the showmoreless
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This episode is very special to me because it featured a character which spoke the Filipino languange! As you can see, I'm a Filipino. I live here in Manila and I'm a big fan of Numb3rs!moreless

9.4

By obeys_creek, Sep 06, 2006

This episode is very special to me because it featured a character which spoke the Filipino languange! As you can see, I'm a Filipino. I live here in Manila and I'm a big fan of Numb3rs! I think the character's name was Naypi. He was a helper from the ship Li-po, and was the one who dumped the Asian girls to the sea at the behest of the ship's captain. When Naypi was captured, Don Eppes interogated him. I was surprised, or shall I say shocked when I heard Naypi talking in Filipino. At first I was very proud because my favorite show featured what I think is my fellow countryman. But then I realized that Naypi's character was supposed to be a Chinese, isn't it? After all He came from China along with the girls. Although Naypi mentioned something about Manila, it doesn't mean that He's a Filipino in that episode. Anyway, all in all this is a great episode and is one for the book! How I wish that you feature more Filipinos in the series. After all, there are many Fil-Am actors there in Hollywood and you're alreay featuring Lou Diamond Phillips di ba? He he he! Good luck and more power to you!moreless
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This is a good episode. Yes, parts are painful to watch, but those are also some of the great moments of the entire season.

8.9

By iloveketchup, Sep 03, 2006

I've watched this episode at least 4 or 5 times, and it's... well... just as great as any episode of the show. I'm seriously in love with every episode, and this one is up to the show's great standard.

My favorite part was when Colby and David walk into the Asian Club and Colby remarks "we're the only white people in here" and David cooly replys "yes... we are." That makes me laugh out loud every time. This episode also features a storyline involving Amita getting offered a job at Harvard. The subsequent Amita/Charlie scenes are painful to watch but very beautiful at the same time.

I love this episode! But then... what episode don't I love?moreless
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an avian flu episode

9.4

By masterswordman, May 18, 2006

my comment on this avian flu episode:

this episode took a full surprise when there's avian flu on these girls.

it's was so wrong for evil people to get rid of those asian girls! They need the help to get rid of avian flu for good!

Plus, Charlie and amita..oh, my gosh. harvard offers her a BIG job..! That leaves me wonder what's her decision, but charlie has becomes jerk and didn't want amita to leave him for good.

I don't understand why it does have to be about him after all.

But, I'm glad that amita stays for good.

plus, I'm glad that asian girls doing very well!moreless
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Cast & Crew: STARS

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Alimi Ballard	David Sinclair
David Krumholtz	Charlie Eppes
Diane Farr	Megan Reeves
Dylan Bruno	Colby Granger
Judd Hirsch	Alan Eppes
Navi Rawat	Amita Ramanujan

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Cast & Crew: RECURRING AND GUESTS

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Bob Morrisey	Dr. James Handel	Guest Star
Russell Wong	Jeremy Wang	Guest Star
Dennis Cockrum	Jack Morrison	Guest Star

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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TRIVIA (5)
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- Filipino words Nipay used and their translations:
  
  kusina - kitchen
  maniwala po kayo - please understand
  kapitan - captain
  mga tagabukid - farm girls
  nasa box - in a box
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- How do Charlie and Larry know they have the I-Ching hexagrams right-side-up? When you turn the tattoo up-side-down it represents: 61 01 56 06 32, which is just as valid, seen as they don't have a clue what it means.
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- The MATH in this episode included:
  
  Encoding
  Vector Fields and
  N-Dimensional Space.
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- Opening numbers:
  361 U.S. SEA PORTS
  16 MILLION CONTAINERS
  9 H5 SUBTYPES
  1 MUTATION
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- At the very end of the episode, Don and Alan are playing cards, and we find out that Charlie taught Don how to count cards.
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QUOTES (4)
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- Don: Hey, Dad just told me.
  Charlie: Yeah, stinks, huh? Well, not for Amita. It's a great opportunity for her, I just..
  Don: Look, I mean, maybe you should just go.
  Charlie: What?
  Don: Well, you know, you get all those visiting professor offers, right? So, go visit.
  Charlie: Man, we haven't even gone on a half-way decent date. I can hardly go chasing her across the country.
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- Colby: We're the only white people in here.
  David: Yes...we are.
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- David: (regarding suspects) Why do they always run?
  Colby: Cuz we wear suits, man. You always figure you can outrun a guy in a suit.
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- Don: Was that Amita?
  Charlie: Yeah... she just left.
  Don: Oh yeah? So you moving back East?
  Charlie: (quietly) No, no, I'm not moving to Massachusetts.
  Don: Oh, come on, Bruins games, pal, season tickets.
  Alan: What about Amita?
  Charlie: I'm not sure.
  Don: You all right?
  Charlie: I am not sure about that either.
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NOTES (4)
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- International Episode Titles:
  Czech Republic: Spodní proudy (Undercurrents)
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- International Air Dates:
  Czech Republic: June 19, 2009 on TV Nova
  Slovakia: December 7, 2009 on JOJ
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- Music:
  
  "The Girl From Hell" Lee Rocker
  "Let You Go" Kaskade
  "Everything is in Your Hand" Tigarah
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- This episode is rated: TVPG-SV.
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ALLUSIONS (0)
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