It’s a thin line between life and death as Team Scorpion tries to save an entire hospital from a deadly fungus in this week’s episode of Scorpion. The episode begins with Walter, Paige, and Happy rushing toward LAX in a mad rush. At first, I thought that they were on a case because one does not drive as recklessly as Happy did if it had been something else. Even the LAPD gave them a pass-through at the airport after Agent Gallo had called in a favor. Then it turns out that Walter was picking up his parents, Sean and Louise O’Brien, up from the airport. I had a blank expression on my face when Walter held up a makeshift sign with his parents’ names on it. Drove through busy LA traffic like something out of Need for Speed and called in a favor with the LAPD just so Mr. 197 could pick up his parents?! Must be awesome to work for the government if you can do something like this! #Sarcasm
Meanwhile, at the hospital, it looked like Megan is not doing any better as she gets weaker and weaker. Sylvester told her that her parents would be here soon along with Walter, which earned an “uh-oh” from his new wife given that Walter never really had a good relationship with their parents as he was growing up in Ireland because of his high intelligence level. She couldn’t be more right as Mr. and Mrs. O’Brien didn’t understand Walter’s objective of transporting Megan’s mind into a computer as Mr. O’Brien said that they’re here to see Megan, not science fiction. Ouch. Just. Ouch.
After Team Scorpion discovered that the fungus growing on the hospital kitchen wall was ancient Meliola, things went from bad to worse. It was revealed that one of the kitchen workers, David, was hiking in the Angeles National Forest illegally prospecting for gold and accidentally brought the fungus with him to the hospital when he came into work. The ancient fungus is also very resilient to modern fungicide and reproduces as a countermeasure against it. Walter tried to warn the doctors who were containing the fungus in the infectious disease ward by spraying a fungicide on it, but it was too late: the Meliola started to reproduce, sending a cloud of spores into the air, causing the entire team of doctors to collapse onto the floor.
The scene where Walter was sealing the doors of the infectious disease ward with plaster of Paris, and Mr. O’Brien showed up with a couple of clipboards, Walter jumped to the conclusion that his father wanted him to get help from a doctor. However, what Mr. O’Brien wanted was to use the clipboard like a trowel. I said it before and I’ll say it again, Walter, for a guy with a 197 IQ, you sure can be a bit clueless sometimes.
I never expected that Sylvester of all people was going to be the one to help create a cure for the Meliola, but the human calculator is both OCD and a germaphobe so I guess it makes sense that he was the contributing factor in creating said cure. It was a bit ironic to see Sylvester shoot a spit ball that he made from the napkin that he used to wipe his hand with but hey, at least he knows that he has superpowers (well, against an ancient fungus anyway).
I liked the scene where Agent Gallo went and pulled Ralph out of school. The young genius should’ve played along and channeled his inner video game soldier when Agent Gallo said “On your feet,” but it’s all good. The part where Sylvester shot the sample, hidden inside a rubber ball, via the network of standpipes, using it as a pneumatic tube system, was brilliant. I chuckled a bit at the expressions by the nurses and other people in the hospital as they heard the ball travel through the pipes.
The scene where Ralph and Agent Gallo were making the fungus cure in the garage using the sample from Sylvester’s hand and the liquid from Ray’s jar of what I think are pickled eggs was intriguing. Who knew fungus liked to feed on sugar, fat and protein? Think they would like some honey baked ham wrapped with strips of bacon? It’s got sugar, fat, and protein. I also think that once Ray finds out his jar of eggs are missing, he’s going to start asking questions, but I have a good feeling that the eccentric former firefighter will understand once everything has been explained to him.
By the end of this week’s episode of Scorpion, everyone was saved from the Meliola, and a new life was brought into the world as Toby helped an expectant mother give birth to her baby daughter. Unfortunately, though, Megan O’Brien ended up losing her battle against MS as she breathed her last breath, with the tell-tale monotone beep of the heart rate monitor ringing in the background. It’s heartbreaking to see a lively soul like Megan’s be taken away from the people that care about her, especially Sylvester given that he just married her, but death is a stage of life that all of us will eventually arrive at. At least she will be able to watch over her brother and husband as she sits on a white, fluffy cloud.
Back at the garage, Walter was distraught over Megan’s death, proceeding to pull out every cable and wire that he had connected to various devices in his loft, thinking that all of the effort he had put into finding a solution for Megan’s illness was for naught. However, the video that Megan made, which told him that he is not his brain, but his heart and that he should not be afraid to love and to be who he really is, seemed to get through to him as he slowly descended the stairs and joined his parents and the rest of Team Scorpion. I squealed when I saw Walter reach for Paiges’ hand as he told the story of how Megan saved him from getting beaten by his teacher at school. It was a truly heartwarming moment in the wake of an emotional episode of Scorpion.
[Photo credit: Ron P. Jaffe/CBS]
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