Numb3rs Overview

[jmtorres.livejournal.com]

Dear crack_van junkies,

I am jmtorres, I am your Numb3rs crack-dealer for the month! I apologize for not getting started on this earlier, I spent the first four days of the month on a shoot location with no internet, no cell service, and no running water. (Interestingly, though, we were using the same model HD camera as they use for some of the pick-ups on Numb3rs.) (Aside from that coincidence, my qualifications for writing about this fandom include one story and general weekly squee. My participation in the fandom proper is limited to, uh, hey, where's the fandom? It's sad. But I read. So I will show you what I read.)

But enough about me! Let's talk Numb3rs.

Numb3rs is a 1-hour episodic case-based show which airs on CBS on Fridays, currently in its 4th season. There is always an FBI case. There is always an application of math that can be used to aid in solving said case.

Or, let me break it down to fannish terms:

Don is an FBI agent. His brother Charlie is a genius and professor of applied mathematics. Together, they fight crime!




In a recent episode (4x09 "Graphic"), Don and Charlie's crime-fighting antics inspired a comic book artist played by guest star Christopher Lloyd. Wil Wheaton was also in this episode. And Joe Morton. And did I mention the comic book convention? I would say this was the geekiest conglomeration of geekdom Numb3rs had ever produced, but a few weeks before that it turned out Charlie's girlfriend and fellow math whiz Amita had been playing a fictional equivalent of WoW since she was an undergrad, so, you know, comics, gamers, comics, gamers... tough call. Plus the show teaches you mathematical concepts as ways to fight crime so it's not like it's light on the geek in the first place.




Character rundowns:


The Eppes family: Alan Eppes (Judd Hirsch) and his two pretty sons, Don (Rob Morrow) and Charlie (David Krumholtz). For all the mathematical crime-fighting, this show is really centered on the family dynamic--which, when you have a genius in the family, can be a little strange. For instance, Don and Charlie graduated high school at the same time, despite being five years apart in age. Issues such as these created friction between Don and Charlie that they are still sorting out. (Don's in therapy. Sometimes he takes Charlie. Differing takes on childhood memories = specialsauce.) There was, actually, a period of a few years during which Don avoided speaking to his family much at all, pre-series; the only thing that ended this period was their mother's impending death from cancer, which brought Don home in a hurry.

Currently, Charlie still lives with Alan, or possibly vice versa, since Alan attempted to put their house on the market and Charlie bought it. With the money from various math awards and government contracts he hadn't been spending on room and board up until then. Don theoretically has his own place (we saw it once? In season one? When Charlie showed up there at 2am?) but he regularly eats dinner at Chez Eppes and ends up sleeping on the couch there half the time.

I should probably take a moment to mention that this fandom tends to have a strong Don/Charlie bent. Because they have deep and conflicting emotions for each other that the show explores fairly regularly. And they love each other very much. Oh, fandom: what would you do to push boundaries if you didn't have incest?

Two other minor Charlie (or Charlie-actor)-related warnings:

1. Extended viewing of David Krumholtz has been known to cause this reviewer's ovaries to spontaneously explode.

2. David Krumholtz is not as smart as Charlie. He's good at the technobabble explaining mathematical concepts in lay terms! But he can only scribble equations for so long before they turn into squiggly marks.




I will now split the following characters into two categories: Charlie's fellow geeks, and Don's fellow FBI agents.

Charlie's Fellow Geeks


Amita Ramanujan (Navi Rawat) started off as Charlie's doctoral student slash teaching assistant. Everyone teased Charlie about his extremely hot student who came over to study at the house, and Charlie blithely ignored the possibility of inappropriate student-teacher relations. Recent driver license revelations tells us that Amita and Charlie are actually the same age (the youth of Charlie's accomplishments continues to haunt him!), which may have contributed to both the ribbing and Charlie's stalwart abiding by the rules-ness.

So Amita finished her doctorate in math and Charlie was sad because she was going to leave because she was, like, done with school. Except that she then decided to get a second Ph.D. at their fictional university of CalSci, this one in physics. Charlie, being well-socialized for a genius but honestly, that's not saying a whole lot, mostly went, "But you don't like math anymore? *puppy eyes*" until Amita hinted that if she studied in a different area, Charlie wouldn't be her thesis advisor anymore and could form a different kind of relationship with her.

After a couple of seasons of the total awkwardness that is the geek dating scene, Amita and Charlie seem to actually be making some progress with that. Now I just wish the show writers would remember she's smart as often as they remember she has boobs.

(This might be a good time to mention that approximately 95% of Numb3rs episodes utterly fail the DTWOF test. Sigh.)

My pet theory about why Amita has set aside various academic and career opportunities at other institutions in order to stay near Charlie is that she's an NSA agent assigned to babysit him and make sure he doesn't manage to get his extremely valuable brains blown out with all the crime-fighting. This theory is not particularly supported by canon and I mention it only in the hopes that someone will write me the story so I don't have to do it myself. *cough*





When Charlie went to Princeton at the tender age of 13 (his mother came along with him), he studied physics under Larry Fleinhardt (Peter MacNicol). They made a lasting impression on each other, forming deep soul-bonds on the academic and intellectual levels, and Larry ended up following Charlie back across the country to CalSci, where they both now teach. There were some intermediate institutions in there--Charlie also attended MIT and Stanford--and while I have no proof, I somehow suspect that Larry may have, oh, gotten a visiting professorship wherever Charlie happened to be.

I do not think Charlie would know what to do with himself if Larry stopped wandering after him. This particular belief of mine is borne out by the arc in which Larry fulfills his lifelong dream of going into space. Space! A great deal of denial occurs on Charlie's part. And flailing.

Larry is simultaneously more sensible than Charlie and with his head further up in the clouds than Charlie's has ever been. I do not know how to explain him further than that, except that he is awesome.





For, like, a season and a half, there was also Millie Finch (Kathy Najimy), chair of Charlie's division at CalSci and general thorn in his side (making him do department fundraisers! the cheek!). Millie's more awesome decisions include Amita's promotion. Millie's more horrifying decisions include dating Alan. Yes, Charlie's boss was dating his father. Because what Charlie needed was MORE issues.




Don's fellow FBI agents


Colby Granger (Dylan Bruno)(left) and David Sinclair (Alimi Ballard)(right) are usually paired up for fieldwork. I'm trying to come up with more to say here and spinning my wheels, because there's a massive characterization shift that occurs in the s3 finale/s4 opener that I don't want to spoil.

Er, here, have a spoiler box. Highlight to read.




[spoilers]

So in the s3 finale, Colby is revealed to be a double agent, selling secrets to the Chinese. David (and the rest of the team, but let's face it, David) feel really betrayed. David cries. Don rubs his head a lot. The fans spend the entire summer screaming "Noooooo!" and then in the s4 premiere, it turns out that Colby is in fact a triple agent, as much of fandom surmised/hoped/fanwanked, working for the Department of Justice to root out actual double agents. David spends a couple of episodes continuing to feel betrayed and generally slashing it up, and finally they patch things up and get their groove back on. Although now Colby dates women. Because the reason he wasn't before was the undercover thing. Yes, that's absolutely the reason.

[/spoilers]


Megan Reeves (Diane Farr) is a profiler on Don's team in the FBI. She's got a dry, gentle sense of humor and one of the hottest, smokiest, most real voices you've ever heard from TV womankind.

She has a relationship with Larry, which baffles Larry to no end. Ways she copes with Larry's OCD issues: they only have lunch together on a specific day of the week, they only have X many dates per month, plus one wild-card where she gets to ask for something unusual. Like, sex, or something.

Megan is perhaps the only woman in the FBI (nay, indeed, any law enforcement agency) that Don does not have a sexual history with. Having noted that, I might as well run through the ladies of his *cough* acquaintance.





Terry Lake (Sabrina Lloyd) was the forensic psychologist/profiler on the team during season 1. She left to go patch things up with her ex-husband right around the time that Don brought up their romantic history from Quantico. *cough*





Liz Warner (Aya Sumika) got the hots for Don at Quantico too, but unlike Terry, with whom Don was a fellow student, Liz studied under Don as her training instructor. Because it's Numb3rs, and they go there. Now she's his subordinate in LA, and while she seems to not have much issues with sleeping with the boss, everyone else thinks she deserves an award for it (Don being a moody bastard much of the time). Don himself seems to be troubled by it.

P.S. She's hot and kicks a lot of ass--one of the more active female field agents we see. I'll be sad if she goes off the show because Don cannot cope.





Kim Hall (Sarah Wayne Callies), specialist in counterfeit money, was in one episode (1x07 "Counterfeit Reality") but I feel she's a significant enough part of Don's past to mention, considering he was engaged to her while he was Special Agent In Charge of the field office in Albuquerque. This how Don broke it off with her: "My mom has cancer, I'm going home."

She seems to have taken it okay?

It's probably also worth noting that Charlie's reaction to Don having had a fiancée was, "Uh. I. Didn't know?"




You know, I could continue discussing Don's ex-girlfriends, but after a little bit, he starts to sound like a ho, and that's just not true. He's really a sensitive guy whose job and family keep him from forming the kind of romantic relationship he wants to. (Also, I keep finding myself comparing him to Aral Vorkosigan, if any of you know Bujold. He has a type. His type is law enforcement. Female law enforcement keeps him from facing the issue head-on more than he's comfortable with. Ahem.)


So we'll just move onto the ex-boyfriend.

Billy Cooper, or Coop (Max Martini), only appeared in one episode (1x13 "Man Hunt"). I mention him because he nonetheless appears in a disproportionate amount of Don-fic. This might have something to do with how during that pre-series period when Don wasn't talking to his family much, he was, part of the time, doing Fugitive Recovery with Coop as his partner, roaming the country and doing things Don was ashamed to tell his poor ailing mother about together.




ETA: Courtesy of niqaeli, the long-awaited Edgerton section.


Having mentioned the ex-boyfriend, I should also mention the current on-again/off-again boyfriend who shows up in fic all the time, Agent Ian Edgerton (Lou Diamond Phillips), who has appeared in five episodes.

Edgerton is the FBI's top sniper/tracker, did a tour of duty in Afghanistan, and is an all-around total badass. He is also sarcastic and intelligent and a lot of fun to watch interact with the other characters. He has been brought in as a consultant on several of their cases, during which he has had strong chemistry with the brothers Eppes, both individually and collectively. This has lead a fair portion the fic involving Edgerton pretty much exactly where you'd expect it to especially when one of the strong OTPs is already the incest. Oh, fandom, never change.


/ETA

Fandom Resources

Numb3rs Online--I haven't explored this site thoroughly but I feel I should give their screencaps a shout-out, because they are disgustingly complete and saved my bacon for finding pictures of characters who only appear once ever.

numb3rs_fic--bit of everything.
numb3rsficathon--specifically slash ficathons.
numb3rsflashfic
eppescest--because yeah, Don and Charlie.

Numb3rs fanfic awards in various genres--a good place to go to start looking for the best of the fandom.

ETA: spikedluv's Guide to Numb3rs Fandom on LJ, a more complete list of comms by type.

Comments

[bredalot.livejournal.com]

I've only seen season 1. I should get on that. Also: yay, Amita! I'm glad she stays. I didn't like her at first, but she's grown on me, and now I'm quite fond of her.

Also, Don has the prettiest mouth I have ever seen on a man. Just saying. :D

(Here, have a gratuitous kind-of-FBI-and-therefore-almost-related icon!)

[jmtorres.livejournal.com]

When Amita wins, she TOTALLY winz! (see: MMORPGs.) And when they forget she's supposed to be smart, at least we still get boobs?

Also, Don has the prettiest mouth I have ever seen on a man. Just saying. :D

I crushed hard on Charlie and I probably never would have quite caught the Don-mouth except that niqaeli, who is the other half of my brain, got quite sweet on him, and all the sudden I was curled in a ball going, "oh my god, the pretty, WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME WOMAN." Also I may have downloaded all 6 seasons of Northern Exposure. *cough*

[pandarus.livejournal.com]

Awesome introduction! I went ahead and spoiled the hell out of myself, having not seen any of Season 4 yet, and I was pleased to hear that things unfolded thus. Sounds fascinating.

Bless. Aw, David. So much pretty.

And, yes, OMG, the awesomeness of Larry! And of Megan! Loving Megan/Larry is the only thing that keeps my Charlie/Larry fervour from getting OMG Totally Out Of Control.

And I do heart Don to bits too, mind you. Yes yes yes. Bless him, with his issues and his prettiness and his gun and his honorability and his issues. I love that he always chews gum when he's wearing his bulletproof jacket and in Action!Don mode. Presumably he used to smoke at these times, back before Mum got the cancer. Bless. (Got to love Rob for thinking about these things.)

[jmtorres.livejournal.com]

Yes, the general sounds of fans watching the s4 opener:
"Whew. And, uh, DUH."

I heart Charlie/Larry an awful, awful lot, but Megan/Larry is adorable too. She's been incredibly patient with him, it's sweet.

Don and Charlie are competing for Most Issues Of The Year award *G* *hearts them*

[denorios.livejournal.com]

You didn't mention the awesomeness that is Agent Edgerton! LOL! But other than that, this is an awesome sum-up of the show. I love Larry and Megan so much, and Don is far too hot when he's decked out in jeans and kevlar.

[jmtorres.livejournal.com]

It came down to a choice between getting it posted last night and not getting it posted at all. But bugging me to add him is on niqaeli's list of things to do (I've also authorized her to go in add edit herself, if she feels up to writing the blurb).

[ariss-tenoh.livejournal.com]

*dies laughing*
I love your overview and the comparison between Don and Aral is hilarious.

[jmtorres.livejournal.com]

Hee, I'm glad that was meaningful to someone, I wasn't sure there was overlap for those fandoms!

[almightychrissy.livejournal.com]

I watched an episode of this while subbing for a math class (yes, he was indeed the coolest math teacher ever. He's on the pi memorization list!) and was utterly charmed by it, especially Peter MacNichol who I love very much. So thanks for this overview should I ever find the time to start watching!

[jmtorres.livejournal.com]

Ahhh yes I should have mentioned! Numb3rs is the basis for the Texas Instruments-National Council of Teachers of Mathematics educational tool "We All Use Math Every Day." *grins* Not that I was a slouch at math but I would have stayed awake in trig so much easier if David Krumholtz had been around to read it to me.

[flyingtapes.livejournal.com]

This was hilarious, and spot on. Nicely done.

[jmtorres.livejournal.com]

*beam*

[karaadora.livejournal.com]

awesome overview!

[jmtorres.livejournal.com]

*bows*

[jmtorres.livejournal.com]

And pssst... it's Aya SumikA

Hee. Serves me right, trying to do the whole damn thing from memory.

Have you ever seen Thoughtcrimes? Rawat plays a telepath recruited and trained by the NSA. And her cover? Is that she does math for them.

Sometime or another I'm making a vid with bits of Numb3rs and bits of Thoughtcrimes and Rawat kicking the asses off people all over.

[laughingacademy.livejournal.com]

Omigod, the comic book episode was the Best Thing Ever. The moment Wil Wheaton’s character shoved an extra costumed as a Romulan out of his way, I knew the writers had been smoking the good crack.

I’d also like to cast my vote for adding Edgerton to the overview. C’mon, he’s canonically described as the lovechild of Clint Eastwood and Yoda!

[jmtorres.livejournal.com]

*laughing* Would someone like to PEN the Edgerton blurb, and I'll stick it in?

[celli]

I love this show like pie. :) Great recap!

[jmtorres.livejournal.com]

Pie, or PI?

More communities

[eotu.livejournal.com]

Thanks for this very nice overview. Here are a few more Numb3rs communities on LJ:

numb3rs_slash Numb3rs slash fiction -- a lot of Don/Charlie incest!fic, but by no means exclusively so.
red_gumballs A Charlie/Colby com.
wolf_tickets A Colby/David com.

Re: More communities

[jmtorres.livejournal.com]

They're on this guide, yes? I just added this as the More Complete Listing of Numb3rs on LJ.

http://community.livejournal.com/newbieguide/11697.html

[rothesis.livejournal.com]

Excellent overview. I never made the comparison, but as soon as you said Aral Vorkosigan I knew exactly where you were heading. So true.

[jmtorres.livejournal.com]

Heh heh heh ahem.

[gelliaclodiana]

I love this overview -- and the show, because Numb3rs is a show that makes me very, very happy. And there is fic! yay!

[just-katarin.livejournal.com]

Dude yes! I love how Numb3rs managed to really get it together after that shaky 2nd season. They had trouble with everything but once they got it together they really got it together.

After the recent episode with Sean Patrick Flannery though, I think it's safe to say David has a thing for emo white boys with a military sob story... am I right or am I right? Oh David, between this and being a comic dork... I don't see how I could love you more.

[ljs-lj.livejournal.com]

This is an excellent review of the show - I'm a casual watcher, reading the occasional fic if it shows up on my friends list, and you reminded me of a number of things that I frequently forget. I'm not surprised to see my assumption that Numb3rs is full of Eppescest fic be confirmed: I sometimes think that Numb3rs is just an alternate universe of Supernatural, just minus the demons and ghosts, and Supernatural made brother'cest mainstream in fic circles.

[jmtorres.livejournal.com]

They both grew up and went to college, and their mother died of cancer instead of impaled, flaming, to the ceiling. But it had a similarly traumatic effect on them. And in fact sometimes Charlie does have prophetic dreams involving his mother. *G*

[dawnebeth.livejournal.com]

I laughed until tears came out of my eyes reading your overview of Don's love life--a ho indeed. The man cannot meet a female agent and not start up something with her.

Charlie and Larry lurv--yes, let's go there. I actually have not read any yet, but it interests me more than the brothers do, even if I enjoy Megan messing with Larry's head by announcing wild card dates.

Three hours to go until my Numb3rs ration for the rest of the year--sigh. Luckily, I have some fics to read now!


Dawn

[jmtorres.livejournal.com]

...I started to write a fictional account of Don attempting to hook up with Megan (it went something like: "You doing anything tonight?" "Nothing you need to know about") and it sounds so very familiar, some episode tag, that I'm going to go crazy trying to figure out if it actually happened.

I love Larry and Charlie. Second rec up was to one of miriam_heddy's, and she's got tons of Charlie/Larry. *G*

[rubynye.livejournal.com]

I have been waiting to see this overview for *years* now. Hooray! And it is even better done than I'd been hoping.

*goes to see what NUMB3RS recs there've been*

Other Resources

[the-hobbet.livejournal.com]

I have to add some other great resources for Numb3rs fans; the CalSci Library, http://www.cslibrary.us/index.html, and Running The Numb3rs, http://www.redhawke.org/content/section/1/11/

Enjoy

[duonoaikouka.livejournal.com]

I just had to write to let you know how beautiful a job you did with this overview. You gave wonderful character descriptions that were factual and yet had that wonderful wit you have evidenced in this writing. I found myself chuckling many a time reading this. Now I've got another fandom to revisit after Sentinel, Highlander, and Battlestar Galactica. Just fantastic job all around!

[10pmpacifictime.livejournal.com]

I would like to note that the fourth season to an extent and particularly the fifth season have been meeting the DTWOF test. Nikki/Liz are love.

[jmtorres.livejournal.com]

Good to hear!

[silver-wick.livejournal.com]

I adore this summary! I love Numb3rs sooooooo much. I can only imagine how awesome your summary of the last couple season added to this might be like. *wink wink*

Also: So we'll just move onto the ex-boyfriend. *dies laugh* I love it! Course my own personal OTP here is Don/Colby! Cause come on like we're suppose to believe they're just co-workers...

~~~Silver_Wick (aka Prncssflutterby)