Numb3rs is possibly the most testosterone-y intelligent show on television. Unfortunately, it keeps getting more and more testosterone-y and less and less intelligent. It's a shame: it was a way to show that math can be fun and interesting.
The first season was great: a fabulous new premise, lots of family and relationship conflict and soul-searching. But as the years have progressed, the show has become more and more formulaic and dumbed-down. Every time Charlie (David Krumholtz, though an excellent actor) mentions something even remotely mathematical, even something any 12 year old should know, he jumps into an ultra-simplistic metaphor. Perhaps that's necessary but it is presented exactly the same way each time to the point that I cringe each time he pauses and says, "okay, take xxx for example..." Each episode the math seems more and more contrived. Oddly, the one episode that made total sense (the mathematics of music) was the one where everyone on the show doubted it.
Worse, though, is the dearth of regular strong female characters. Of the eight top billed characters each season, only two are ever women. With the notable exception of Amita (Navi Rawat), Charlie's love interest, who is intelligent, strong and funny, the women in the show are either whiny or end up in bed with Don (Rob Morrow). (You would think that someone that high up in the FBI would learn not to sleep with people who report to him. He would have been fired by now.) I have nothing against Diane Farr but her character, Megan, was weak. She's supposed to be a profiler, but unlike the smarties in Criminal Minds, she feels like an armchair psychologist and forget having her in the field. I can only think of one episode where she actively ran down the criminal. Other times she was emotional and drippy.
I really like Liz (Aya Sumika) but she's not in enough episodes and, of course, is a failed love interest of Don's.
The saving grace of the show is Larry (Peter MacNicol). The episodes he wasn't in were almost boring. His character has such an interesting and unusual take on everything and is so believably intelligent, it's a joy to watch. I'm also glad that this season both Alimi Ballard (the token Black, David) and Dylan Bruno (Colby) finally got some real story lines. Colby is the sweetest guy in the world and you just want to take him home and bake him cookies.
Over all, with the exception of Larry, the men are very male and the women very female. The men are much smarter than the women (Amita is brilliant but not as smart as the other two male academics) and very two-dimensional emotionally (again, with the exception of Larry). The women are almost non-existent. A male-oriented show doesn't have to be this way. Supernatural, for example, has only two or three main characters (depending on the season) always male and all kinds of male stereotypes, yet the characters are very three-dimensional, have believable emotional moments, and all the recurring women characters are always very intelligent, strong and kick butt.
By the end of season 4 I was at the point where I wasn't sure I'd even watch season 5. Fortunately, the cast and crew pulled it together for a season finale that made the grade for me, renewing my faith in the series.
It was intelligent and gripping, unpredictable and full of pathos and angst. The issues were real and thought-provoking. Krumholtz's superb acting was given a chance to shine. His character was again three dimensional and the others all played against each other beautifully. Even Farr played her character in a way that was both emotional and strong. (She had been positively drippy lately.) The math wasn't over-explained with silly metaphors and some of it was even believable.
I'm not yet caught up with Season 5 but it's looking better so I haven't given up yet.
The first season was great: a fabulous new premise, lots of family and relationship conflict and soul-searching. But as the years have progressed, the show has become more and more formulaic and dumbed-down. Every time Charlie (David Krumholtz, though an excellent actor) mentions something even remotely mathematical, even something any 12 year old should know, he jumps into an ultra-simplistic metaphor. Perhaps that's necessary but it is presented exactly the same way each time to the point that I cringe each time he pauses and says, "okay, take xxx for example..." Each episode the math seems more and more contrived. Oddly, the one episode that made total sense (the mathematics of music) was the one where everyone on the show doubted it.
Worse, though, is the dearth of regular strong female characters. Of the eight top billed characters each season, only two are ever women. With the notable exception of Amita (Navi Rawat), Charlie's love interest, who is intelligent, strong and funny, the women in the show are either whiny or end up in bed with Don (Rob Morrow). (You would think that someone that high up in the FBI would learn not to sleep with people who report to him. He would have been fired by now.) I have nothing against Diane Farr but her character, Megan, was weak. She's supposed to be a profiler, but unlike the smarties in Criminal Minds, she feels like an armchair psychologist and forget having her in the field. I can only think of one episode where she actively ran down the criminal. Other times she was emotional and drippy.
I really like Liz (Aya Sumika) but she's not in enough episodes and, of course, is a failed love interest of Don's.
The saving grace of the show is Larry (Peter MacNicol). The episodes he wasn't in were almost boring. His character has such an interesting and unusual take on everything and is so believably intelligent, it's a joy to watch. I'm also glad that this season both Alimi Ballard (the token Black, David) and Dylan Bruno (Colby) finally got some real story lines. Colby is the sweetest guy in the world and you just want to take him home and bake him cookies.
Over all, with the exception of Larry, the men are very male and the women very female. The men are much smarter than the women (Amita is brilliant but not as smart as the other two male academics) and very two-dimensional emotionally (again, with the exception of Larry). The women are almost non-existent. A male-oriented show doesn't have to be this way. Supernatural, for example, has only two or three main characters (depending on the season) always male and all kinds of male stereotypes, yet the characters are very three-dimensional, have believable emotional moments, and all the recurring women characters are always very intelligent, strong and kick butt.
By the end of season 4 I was at the point where I wasn't sure I'd even watch season 5. Fortunately, the cast and crew pulled it together for a season finale that made the grade for me, renewing my faith in the series.
It was intelligent and gripping, unpredictable and full of pathos and angst. The issues were real and thought-provoking. Krumholtz's superb acting was given a chance to shine. His character was again three dimensional and the others all played against each other beautifully. Even Farr played her character in a way that was both emotional and strong. (She had been positively drippy lately.) The math wasn't over-explained with silly metaphors and some of it was even believable.
I'm not yet caught up with Season 5 but it's looking better so I haven't given up yet.