Well, we still don’t have a robotic sidekick in the form of Proton Arnold to work alongside Team Scorpion and make sure these geniuses are safe, which is not an encouraging sign, but let’s not try to hold that against the show too much now. It’s very stupid and cliché, but it’s addressing the outlandish nature of this show in the first place. Not long after we see the gang taking very real gunfire in Bosnia and fearing for their lives as this silly earlier image is undercut completely. Scorpion is still beyond preposterous and probably doesn’t need to exist, but if it needs to exist, “Talismans” is a good example of how to do it decently. We also see the gang gambling with Sylvester’s “genius” to get out of doing work is exactly the sort of ridiculous, fun attitude this show should be having. For this show to take itself too seriously, is death, and this is the best episode they’ve done in a long time, even if that still means it’s a very vapid, paint-by-numbers procedural. Plus, Toby’s fedora gets called out. All of these are steps in the right direction. This is again a smarter decision than say, having Meaghan along on the mission as a liability, for no reason at all. We also get golden exchanges like, “What do you expect from a girl whose nerve endings are slowly deteriorating?” “That’s a terrible thing to say…” There’s a romantic relationship being forced onto us here almost as strong as Walter and Paige’s, but this one is actually sweet and has a sardonic bitterness to it. I can’t believe I actually care, but I’d like to see more of these two together. On the topic here, we also get some of the most natural character development the show’s done here, getting backstories on Toby’s mom and Sylvester’s past in a way that’s actually kind of enlightening and different rather than pedestrian. This also leads to Team Scorpion being grouped together with some military personnel that are pretty dickish from the jump. Walter acts spectrum-y accordingly, and we have a pretty instant conflict that we know is going to blow up in the middle of things (and, it does) when it’s the least appropriate time. It also leads to some brilliantly stiff dialogue between Walter and the military’s leader, James, like: “Hey, you’re pretty smart, I’m going to start calling you Professor.” “I’m going to take that as a compliment.” “It is one.” Yeah they don’t exactly mesh well. This all escalates appropriately when everyone not only figures out that the aircraft’s software has already been stolen, but a pilot is missing too. On top of that, the plane didn’t just go down, but it was hacked, something that seems to usually be the cause of things on this show. Things move in sort of the typical Scorpion fashion, but the action set pieces this time around are at least some of the most suspenseful and clever the show’s done. Like a sequence where everyone is stuck in a landmine field, and determine that the only safe places to walk are the ones where the flowers are growing because the land is not dead. Or when Toby and Happy encounter a random cabin that is full of decades old American pop culture that almost feels reminiscent of The Hills Have Eyes. There’s some weird stuff going on here, like where the duo is held up by the cabin’s owner, Igor, with a shotgun, until he learns they’re Americans and completely falls in love with them. Things come together without a hitch in the end, James and Walter leave embracing each other, and everything is back at status quo. Walter’s also given a challenge coin for the work he’s done, something that might seem like an emblematic gesture, but we all know the truth. Once Walter has collected five challenge coins from his various missions, Proton Arnold will finally come to life.
