Scorpion

:

Season 1
  • Network: CBS
  • Series Premiere Date: Sep 22, 2014
Season #: 4, 3, 2, 1
Metascore
48

Mixed or average reviews - based on 24 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 24
  2. Mixed: 15 out of 24
  3. Negative: 5 out of 24
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Critic Reviews

  1. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Lori Rackl
    Sep 22, 2014
    37
    The addition of a misunderstood, brilliant kid belonging to a diner waitress unconvincingly played by Katharine McPhee doesn’t help.
  2. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Brandon Nowalk
    Sep 22, 2014
    33
    Scorpion feels like a world cut down to types.
  3. New York Magazine (Vulture)
    Reviewed by: Margaret Lyons
    Sep 22, 2014
    30
    Scorpion tries to get action-heavy in its final act, with the brain trust preventing an aviation disaster at LAX, and for a brief interlude, the show has a glimmer of momentum--but it's undercut by how ludicrous the whole setup is, how unnatural the dialogue is, and how impossible it feels to care what happens to any of these people.
  5. The Oregonian
    Reviewed by: Kristi Turnquist
    Sep 19, 2014
    30
    The brainy nerds are a stereotypical band of socially awkward types. Not helping lighten the cliché load is Katharine McPhee as the mother of a boy who's also a budding tech prodigy.
  6. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Hank Stuever
    Sep 19, 2014
    0
    It’s a show about geniuses that gets stupider and stupider until it explodes.

Awards & Rankings

8
#8 Most Discussed TV Season of 2014
24
#24 Most Shared TV Season of 2014

User Reviews

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User Score
5.9

Mixed or average reviews- based on 268 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 144 out of 268
  2. Mixed: 38 out of 268
  3. Negative: 86 out of 268
  1. iliketv
    Sep 22, 2014
    0
    This is really bad. Although I looked forward to it, and thought I would enjoy the premise. It is so completely implausible as to beThis is really bad. Although I looked forward to it, and thought I would enjoy the premise. It is so completely implausible as to be ridiculous. Absurd. Certainly no Big Bang. On another channel at the same time you can be entertained. This show has nothing to offer in any way at all.… Full Review »
  2. JIm978
    Sep 23, 2014
    1
    The pilot episode of Scorpion was horrendous. Perhaps the producers should have consulted with someone that has actually worked within the AirThe pilot episode of Scorpion was horrendous. Perhaps the producers should have consulted with someone that has actually worked within the Air Traffic Control system before basing a plot line of a completely implausible scenario? I get that people are expected to suspend belief for these shows but I kept waiting for that woman from that commercial to break in during the show screaming "THAT'S NOT HOW IT WORKS! THAT'S NOT HOW ANY OF THIS WORKS!".

    I guess these people have never heard of flying "VFR"? (visual flight rules). And, if you have plane flying around that needs to land and there is a problem where you can't reach a plane by radio but can magically contact the pilot by cell phone, why wouldn't you just tell the pilot to go ahead and land via the phone? No, instead we create the obligatory car chase scene so we can "fix" the radio and then use the radio to tell him to land.    … Full Review »
  3. theknob
    Oct 3, 2014
    2
    This review contains spoilers, click full review link to view. I was disappointed in the pilot for this show. It started with an interesting premise (4 misfit geniuses doing a combined McGyver / A-Team / Mentalist / 24 kind of hybrid), with hopefully some cool effects and maybe even some decent character development. What the pilot turned into was, unfortunately, a mish-mash of rapid-fire techno babble overlaid onto a series of the worst misrepresentations of aviation that I've ever seen on screen.

    I'll just mention a couple of the glaringly stupid things in the pilot. First, commercial aircraft aren't really "controlled" by the ATC system in a technical sense. The controllers and equipment that are part of ATC give instructions to the pilots, based on airspace category and workload, who then execute them if they are able. The aircraft pilots in command are the final authority on aircraft operation and safety. They will not simply orbit helplessly because they can't raise approach/departure control at LAX.

    If the ATC system for LAX and satellite facilities does go down (which is almost impossible anyway), the pilots of the 56 aircraft in the vicinity will simply go somewhere else. In Southern California there are a plethora of large airports within 30 minutes flight time from LAX. San Diego, Ontario, San Bernadino, Burbank, not to mention Mojave, Palmdale, Edwards. Pilots will simply divert to an alternate airfield.

    Just because the ATC system for LAX goes down doesn't mean that all of the aircraft in the vicinity will suddenly lose communications. Most aircraft communications are actually by VHF/UHF radio, with pre-established frequencies for every aviation entity involved in their flight. So if you can't get ahold of LAX approach control, you can simply call up San Diego control. You can call up the dispatcher for your airline, you can communicate with other aircraft on the LAX tower frequencies, or in a pinch, use the guard frequency (121.5 Mhz). In other words, the word will get out very quickly that LAX is closed and they should find an alternate.

    There are even procedures in the event that all radio comms are lost. In every control tower is a hand-held light gun, which the controllers can use to give basic landing clearance to aircraft. The show depicted a clear day, all the pilots need for a VFR landing is a clear runway and a green signal from the tower light gun.

    Finally, there are no F-22's on alert near LAX to intercept wayward commercial aircraft. Even assuming those aircraft were available, their first priority in an intercept would be to establish communication, not shoot down civil airliners. Again, the very first thing the pilots of those fighters would do would be to communicate with the airliners on the guard frequency (121.5 Mhz), and if that didn't work, approach/departure and tower frequencies for LAX. Absent that, hand gestures to "land now" or "follow me" can also be used.

    Oh, and air traffic control software is not installed on aircraft, nothing on a commercial airliner is ethernet/laptop compatible, and the turbulence of an airliner in ground effect would blow that Ferrari off the runway.

    The executives who made and promoted this show should be embarrassed that they didn't shell out a few extra bucks for an actual aviation consultant who could have told them how ridiculous the premise was. They have already lost me as a viewer.

    -Irritated in Denver    … Full Review »
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