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Sunday, December 16, 2007

Numb3rs – I’m Lost in the Chinese Box

Friday’s (December 14) episode of Numb3ers left me a little confused. The episode was called “Chinese Box” and involved David (Alimi Ballard) being taken hostage in an elevator. The story itself was good, as is usually the case for the show.

The problem with this episode is that I still don’t have the vaguest understanding of the mathematical solution that Charlie Eppes (David Krumholtz) was proposing, called a ‘Chinese Box”. To make matters worse, Charlie seemed to be throwing quite a hissy fit that nobody (meaning his brother Don – played by Rob Morrow) would listen to his solution. And even after Charlie explained it again, I’m still not sure I get it.

The longer I watch this show, the more amazed I become at how they insert very complicated math to solve what may be very simple problems. Many times it’s interesting; sometime, like with “Chinese Box”, the math goes a little over my head and muddles the show. While I am not a math genius like Charlie, I think I can grasp a lot of the concepts most of the time.

As Charlie was having his little meltdown about being ignored, I came to the conclusion that I am really starting to dislike Charlie. There are many times that he seems to act like a petulant child. It’s not hard for me to figure out why no one will listen to him.

I think this is a great show, with a cast that seems to have the right chemistry. I think, though, for the show to go to the next level and continue to stay fresh, Charlie has to grow up and act more like a mature adult and less like a spoiled child. And I didn’t need a complex math formula to figure that out. But if someone can better explain the Chinese Box concept to me, I’d appreciate it.

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