Numb3rs - Season 1 [DVD]

I hope the meaning of this saying is clear. Usaually I'm too lazy to write reviews, but when you get to see something that good, you kind of want to share the joy: buy it, watch it, enjoy it!

We do not have Numb3rs on TV here in Lithuania, I just happened to stumble on it by chance. As a "somebody who once tried, but failed to become a pro of applied maths" myself, I considered it as a great challenge to the authors: to create cases, that can be solved by mathematical methods. In fact in some cases the maths does seem overimposed a bit, but it never, never leaves you disappointed. The plots are really good, there's not even a moment, when you'd feel bored, you get some good characters, not only the two brothers Don (who is with FBI) and Charlie (a professor of applied maths), who use different ways to solve crimes. Plenty of close-ups to appreciate the actors' work, if you are up to it. And this little moment at the end of every episode, to create an incredibly warm atmosphere, like when Charlie pretends he got interested in golf, just to please his father.

Just a couple of minor nuisances. The discs are packed in quite a stupid way, one atop on another. And then it seems quite unfair to have only 12 episodes in season 1. So it's "only" 5 stars. If not for these flaws, it might be 6!

A cry for help for the end: what about season 2 for region 2??? And it's already 24 episodes, as far as I know.

On the face of it, a TV show about a guy that helps to solve crimes by using mathematics sounds a little bit far-fetched and boring. However, this is a show that will appeal to more than just mathematics geeks (me included). It brings together a number of interesting characters, very well portrayed by the various actors, and creates a believable and interesting story every week. The use of maths is a new twist on the standard crime TV show and adds a freshness and new feel to the program. David Krumholtz provides a believable and, perhaps more importantly, a likeable persona to the main man Charlie Eppes and after just one or two episodes you really begin to understand and sympathise with his character (if not the maths that he uses).

Numb3rs is a program that will have something for everybody, and now that it has dropped so low in price it is definitely worth a try.

Never play cards with Charlie Eppes. You will lose - not only at cards but at practically everything else, except perhaps golf. Numbers are his passion, he able to see permutations few others can, results startling and accurate.

FBI brother Don increasingly calls on his services, Charlie promptly to become immersed in equations and formulae to help steer LA cops onto the right track. Almost unerringly he pinpoints where the serial rapist lives and where he is next likely to strike, outwits computer hackers, anticipates the bank robbers' next port of call, traces the source of a killer flu virus, locates a railway saboteur - and much else besides.

Maths has been made interesting, which cannot often be said. The series owes more to cerebral activity than to action (although there is still quite a bit). The outcome may not appeal to those who prefer their cop shows jampacked with corrupt colleagues, mavericks, messy divorces, torrid romances, alcoholic excesses and other ploys to boost the ratings. Here the officers are competent, simply getting on with the job.

Strengths? An unusual premise (numbers the key to everything), a fine script, charismatic leads. Rob Morrow and David Krumholtz impress as Don and Charlie, their bond palpable and movingly depicted. Tactfully Don is coaxing Charlie out of an often reclusive existence. There, numbers have been his safety blanket when he is otherwise unable to cope - as throughout their mother's terminal illness. Family scenes with their dad (Judd Hirsch) generate a real warmth, they all in different ways getting on with life after their loss. For light relief Peter MacNicol stars as Charlie's former mentor, quirkily entertaining as he offers insight and occasionally urges caution to correct wobbles in the thought process.

Eleven episodes. Alas, no extras. Also alas, an over-abundance of music which often distracts - depriving the series of the five stars it would otherwise have received.

(Watch out for an in-joke. The film showing in one episode? "Sorry Wrong Number".)