Do you still like Numb3rs ?
By fred | May 12, 2008
There are a lot - and I do mean a lot - of cop drama out there. You find some on every network, but of course the network of choice, the one who seemed dedicated to cop drama and to only pick up a show is it is about cops, is CBS. So of course they try to have their shows to be a little different, to have that something that would set one cop drama apart from the others.
For a few years now, one of the show used mathematics. And it worked, from the start I’ve been watching Numb3rs, and I have no problem saying that I like it, I enjoy the show, I think it’s a pretty good one and I tune in every week. Well, my DVR does, I watch it sometime during the weekend actually, but it’s the same. Except that for a while now, I’ve been wondering if I should continue, because I don’t think I enjoy the show as much as I used to, do you ?
Of course, I said that the use of mathematicians and special algorithms were only that special thing the show used to be unique, but we all know that’s not the case, there’s more to this show. And I’ll be honest, the whole cop aspect has never been what interested me in this show. There’s plenty other cop dramas out there, I’ve been watching a lot of shows about cops ever since I was a kid, I don’t need any other hour watching cops investigating and solving crimes, I want something more.
And Numb3rs was great, in that there was a lot more. In fact, to me, the real star of the show isn’t Don, it’s never been, it’s always been Charlie. I’ve always enjoyed seeing Charlie working on cases, coming up with new analogies to explain his math, and I like the people around him : his relationship with Amita is really nice, especially since it’s the only one who still holds on and might actually work, and Larry has always been a favorite of mine.
But lately I feel that the show has been a lot more about the FBI, the investigation, the cop-drama aspect. I might be wrong, maybe I’m just getting tired of it, but I have the impression that the show used to involve Charlie and his math more than it does now, I feel that this season it’s slowly evolved into just another cop-drama, except that the FBI investigate absolutely every cases, federal or not, and they need a mathematicians or someone to use some theorems and/or philosophical ground to explain the obvious.
Take last week boring episode, about the religious “nut jobs” : since when do they need Larry to make some kind of scientific speech to understand that when a mother suddenly changes her story and takes all the blame as soon as you mention that her daughter might be in trouble, she’s only lying to protect her child ?? That’s freaking obvious, you don’t even need to be a cop to see that, and if FBI agents need the help of some scientist just to see that, we have a problem here.
Lately it seems that the use of math is very repetitive, always the same standard kind of thing, not always making much sense (oh look, he had some mathematic formula in his iPod, yes it’s to test whether or not a song will be popular. Also, it can predict the lottery winning numbers…) and it’s being used much less than it was before. Even the little things aside, like running on water (okay it might not have been water…) don’t feel right, not really.
I’m also really not liking Don and his so many (troubled) relationships with a new girl every two week or so. Every time he has to have a girl he’s dating, so when the new partner is moving away he meets and old friend now DA and they start going out together, only to have Don go back to yet another special agent transferred for some occasion when the DA moves away, and none of this feels right. In fact, it’s boring the Hell outta me! I like Larry and Megan, they have something that works, it is special and it is very nice, sadly Peter MacNicol wasn’t always around due to some 24 crap, and Diana Farr is now leaving the show by the end of this season, meaning that next week for the season finale, this will be over.
I remember that I used to really like this show, but in the past weeks I’ve actually felt bored watching it. To be completely fair, the last episode I actually liked it. Okay, so the formula for success hidden in the iPod was crap, and it was filled with all the clichés possible (see Charlie & Larry in the studio), but this was the first episode in quite some time I actually enjoyed : Charlie was around more, or least I felt that way, him and Larry had some good moments (”Word!”), the whole Charlie vs Amita’s parents was actually a pretty good scene, and we didn’t had to see Don with yet another woman he used to know a couple years back…
Granted, the story wasn’t very new, the drive-by shooting and such were pretty cliché, and you knew who was behind it all from the start. Also, no scientists this time, but if they really need to be told that they might search YouTube for videos of the party and the incident that took place there, we do have a problem. Yet, somehow, I liked it better than recent episodes. But I’m wondering whether or not I still like the show, whether or not I’ll continue watching next season, when the new girl shows up to replace Megan. One thing for sure, if she’s an old friend of Don’s or something, and they end up together, I’m out. If Larry leaves or Charlie and Amita break up, I’m out as well.
If the show can manage to be a little less about just some other FBI agents solving cases, and more about Charlie & co working their magic, while Larry wonders about the mystery of the world in the meantime, I might stick around. What about you, do you still like the show as much as you did a few years back ?
