Numbers (season 1)

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Numbers
Season 1
Numb3rs season 1 DVD.png
DVD cover
No. of episodes13
Release
Original network CBS
Original releaseJanuary 23 (2005-01-23) –
May 13, 2005 (2005-05-13)
Season chronology
Next →
Season 2
List of episodes

The first season of Numbers , an American television series, premiered on January 23, 2005 and finished on May 13, 2005. The first season sees the start of the working relationship between Don Eppes, an FBI agent, and his genius brother Charlie, an applied mathematician and professor at a local university. The rest of Don's FBI team consists of Terry Lake and David Sinclair. Don and Charlie's father, Alan Eppes, provides emotional support for the pair, while the brilliant Professor Larry Fleinhardt and promising doctoral student Amita Ramanujan provide mathematical support and insights to Charlie.

Contents

Cast

Main

Recurring

Guest

Episodes

No.
overall		No. in
season		TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air dateProd.
code		US viewers
(millions)
11"Pilot" Mick Jackson Nicolas Falacci & Cheryl Heuton January 23, 2005 (2005-01-23)10124.92 [1]

Charlie assists Don on a serial rapist case by calculating a "hot zone", an area where the rapist is most likely to live. Don is removed from the case after Charlie's formula fails to turn up any leads but later a comment from their father then leads Charlie to change the equation to calculate two points of origin, instead of one.

Mathematics used: Geographic profiling, probability theory, 11-dimensional supergravity theory and projectile motion
22"Uncertainty Principle" Davis Guggenheim Nicolas Falacci & Cheryl HeutonJanuary 28, 2005 (2005-01-28)10415.46 [2]

Charlie successfully predicts the time and place of a bank robbery using what he says are elements of Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, but when the planned arrest goes bad, he retreats into the math problem P vs. NP.

Mathematics used: P vs. NP and Heisenberg's uncertainty principle
33"Vector" David Von Ancken Jeff Vlaming February 4, 2005 (2005-02-04)10311.55 [3]

A deadly strain of influenza is spreading through Los Angeles, killing many people. Don investigates whether the strain was released deliberately, and Charlie tries to calculate the origin and likely spread of the virus.

Mathematics used: Patient Zero, Viral vector, Vector and SIR model
44"Structural Corruption" Tim Matheson Liz Friedman February 11, 2005 (2005-02-11)10510.68 [4]

An engineering student dies by suicide, but Charlie suspects foul play. Don disagrees, but he agrees to help Charlie investigate whether the student was murdered because of his research into a building's structural integrity.

The Hyatt Regency walkway collapsed in 1981 as did the Hartford Civic Center in 1978.

The episode concludes with Don Eppes saying that Occam's razor says "that the simplest answer is usually the right one."

Mathematics used: Pendulum and Foucault pendulum
55"Prime Suspect" Lesli Linka Glatter Doris Egan February 18, 2005 (2005-02-18)10610.49 [5]

A young girl is kidnapped, but her parents refuse to cooperate with Don's investigation. The girl's father (Neil Patrick Harris) is a innovative mathematician, and the kidnapping may be related to his work on the Riemann hypothesis.

Mathematics used: Cryptography, prime numbers, Riemann hypothesis and Riemann zeta function
66"Sabotage" Lou Antonio Liz FriedmanFebruary 25, 2005 (2005-02-25)10211.46 [6]

Don is investigating a series of train accidents which are recreations of previous wrecks. The saboteur leaves a note composed entirely of numbers.

Mathematics used: Kasiski examination, Cryptography, Fibonacci sequence, golden ratio and Beale ciphers
77"Counterfeit Reality" Alex Zakrzewski Andrew DettmanMarch 11, 2005 (2005-03-11)10710.55 [7]

A strange series of robberies leads Don into a case involving counterfeit money, kidnapping and murder. Don is assisted by Secret Service agent Kim Hall while Charlie uses math to analyze fake bank notes and track their spread.

Mathematics used: Guilloché pattern and wavelet analysis
88"Identity Crisis" Martha Mitchell Wendy West April 1, 2005 (2005-04-01)10810.00 [8]

A new case with disturbing similarities to an old case leads Don to question whether he put the right man in jail. While Don tries to find the connection between the two cases, he asks Charlie to look for mistakes or flaws in the first case.

Mathematics used: Poker, geometric progression – paper folding, pyramid scheme, fingerprint and Schrödinger's cat
99"Sniper Zero" J. Miller Tobin Ken SanzelApril 15, 2005 (2005-04-15)10910.54 [9]

Don is investigating a series of sniper killings, and Charlie is searching for an underlying pattern to the attacks. What appears to be bad data can't be eliminated from the analysis, because it fits the only pattern he can find.

Mathematics used: Projectile motion, Tipping point, regression toward the mean and exponential growth
1010"Dirty Bomb" Paris Barclay Andrew DettmanApril 22, 2005 (2005-04-22)11011.50 [10]

A truck carrying radioactive waste disappears, and Don figures that a dirty bomb will be set off in downtown Los Angeles. When three suspects are caught but refuse to turn on each other, Charlie must try to convince one of them to give up the others and also the location of the waste.

Louis Slotin used his body to cover a plutonium explosion in 1940s; he died 9 days later after his "walking ghost phase".

Mathematics used: Prisoner's dilemma and radioactive decay; Caesium-137
1111"Sacrifice" Paul Holahan Ken SanzelApril 29, 2005 (2005-04-29)11110.80 [11]

A researcher is murdered in his home, and Charlie must reconstruct data erased from his computer while Don investigates possible suspects.

Final appearance of: Sabrina Lloyd as Terry Lake

Mathematics used: Sabermetrics and econometrics; bathythermograph; Van Eck phreaking
1212"Noisy Edge"J. Miller TobinNicolas Falacci & Cheryl HeutonMay 6, 2005 (2005-05-06)11211.80 [12]

An unidentified flying object travels over Los Angeles and then disappears. Don suspects terrorist activity, and Charlie tries to find out more about the object and its flight path.

Mathematics used: Combinatorics and conditional probability distribution – "squish-squash" with Fourier analysis
1313"Man Hunt"Martha MitchellAndrew DettmanMay 13, 2005 (2005-05-13)11311.29 [13]

A prison bus crashes, allowing two dangerous convicts to escape. Don is joined by his former partner from Fugitive Recovery, Billy Cooper as the Bureau launches an effort to recapture them.

Mathematics used: Bayesian inference, Markov chain, Chapman–Kolmogorov equation and Monty Hall problem

Related Research Articles

<i>Numbers</i> (TV series) American crime drama television series (2005–2010)

Numbers is an American crime drama television series that was broadcast on CBS from January 23, 2005, to March 12, 2010, for six seasons and 118 episodes. The series was created by Nicolas Falacci and Cheryl Heuton, and follows FBI Special Agent Don Eppes and his brother Charlie Eppes, a college mathematics professor and prodigy, who helps Don solve crimes for the FBI. Brothers Ridley and Tony Scott produced Numbers; its production companies are the Scott brothers' Scott Free Productions and CBS Television Studios.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charlie Eppes</span> Fictional character

Charles Edward Eppes, Ph.D., is a fictional character and one of the protagonists of the CBS crime drama Numb3rs. He is portrayed by David Krumholtz.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Larry Fleinhardt</span> Fictional character

Larry Fleinhardt, Ph.D., is a fictional character in the CBS crime drama Numb3rs, played by Peter MacNicol. He is the best friend and colleague of Charlie Eppes.

<i>Numbers</i> (season 2) Season of television series

The second season of Numbers, an American television series, premiered on September 23, 2005, and its season finale was on May 19, 2006. Season two sees several changes to Don's FBI team: Terry Lake is reassigned to Washington DC and two new members join Don and David Sinclair: Megan Reeves and Colby Granger. Charlie is challenged on one of his long-standing pieces of mathematical work and also starts work on a new theory, Cognitive Emergence Theory. Larry sells his home and lives a nomadic lifestyle, while he becomes romantically involved with Megan. Amita receives an offer for an assistant professor position at Harvard University but is plagued by doubt as her relationship with Charlie is challenged and her career is in upheaval. Alan begins working and dating again, though he struggles with the loss of his wife.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amita Ramanujan</span> Fictional character

Amita Ramanujan, Ph.D., is a fictional character from the CBS crime drama Numb3rs, played by Navi Rawat. Over the course of the series, she has become a professor at CalSci and has since become romantically involved with her former thesis advisor, Dr. Charlie Eppes. She was first introduced in "Pilot". She also works as an FBI consultant with Charlie and Larry.

<i>Numbers</i> (season 3) Season of television series

The third season of Numbers, an American television series, premiered on September 22, 2006 with the episode "Spree" and had its season finale "The Janus List" on May 18, 2007. Charlie and Amita intensify their relationship, as do Larry and Megan. Amita has troubles adjusting in her new role as a CalSci professor, and Larry announces his leave of absence—he will be on the space station for six months, which greatly distresses Charlie. Dr. Mildred Finch, the newly appointed Chair of the CalSci Physics, Mathematics, and Astronomy Division, initially troubles Charlie and his colleagues, as Alan dates her. Don dates Agent Liz Warner, questions his ethics and self-worth, and receives counseling. Charlie sees Don's therapist and the two understand one another more. Alan engages in some FBI consulting with his knowledge of engineering, and Larry returns from the space station, although disillusioned. The finale wraps up with a revelation that shakes the whole team.

<i>Numbers</i> (season 4) Season of American television series

The fourth season of Numbers, an American television series, first aired on September 28, 2007 and ended on May 16, 2008. Because of the Writers Guild of America strike, only 12 episodes were initially produced for this season. Following the end of the strike, six more were announced.

<i>Numbers</i> (season 5) Season of television series

The fifth season of Numbers, an American television series, first aired on October 3, 2008 and ended on May 15, 2009. The season premiere was moved back one week as a result of the presidential debates.

<i>Numbers</i> (season 6) Season of television series

The sixth and final season of Numbers, an American television series, first aired on September 25, 2009 and ended on March 12, 2010, on CBS. This season featured only 16 episodes.

"Harvest" is the 14th episode of the second season of the American television show Numbers. Inspired by a Christian Science Monitor article about organ tourists, people who travel to a different country to give their organs for money, and an algorithm developed in the United States, the episode features Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents and mathematicians attempting to locate a missing organ tourist before she is killed.

"Provenance" is the third episode of the third season of the American television show Numbers. Inspired by real-life instances, the episode features a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) investigation into a stolen painting which may have a tainted provenance. Gena Rowlands, who works as an advocate for Holocaust survivors, portrayed a Holocaust survivor who claimed that the painting was originally her family's painting. Within the series, the episode also depicts the Eppes family as Jewish.

"Spree" is the first episode of the third season of the American television show Numbers The episode features Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents pursuing a couple of spree killers. Series writer Ken Sanzel drew inspiration for the episode from pursuit curves. "Spree" also launches a more general trend toward the serialization of the series.

"Killer Chat" is the 11th episode of the third season of the American television show Numbers. In the episode, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents investigate the murders of several child molesters while a pair of mathematicians prepare to say goodbye to a friend. Stories about child molesters and his own experiences as a parent inspired series writer Don McGill to write the episode.

"The Art of Reckoning" is the 21st episode of the third season of the American television show Numbers. In the episode, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents investigate the confessions of a mob hit man before his execution. Written by Julie Hébert, the episode also highlighted the return of series regular Peter MacNicol as his character, Dr. Larry Fleinhardt, returned from space.

"When Worlds Collide" is the 18th episode and the season finale of the fourth season of the American television show Numbers. In the episode, two brothers, one a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Special Agent and the other a mathematician, disagree with each other on the issue of academic freedom after one of the mathematician's friends is arrested on terrorism charges. Series creators Cheryl Heuton and Nicolas Falacci, who wrote the episode, first mentioned the idea for the brothers' conflict during a season two commentary. When Heuton and Falacci wrote the episode for season four, their episode launched a story arc that was later resolved during season five.

"Disturbed" is the 21st episode of the fifth season of the American television show Numbers. In the episode written by series creators/executive producers Cheryl Heuton and Nicolas Falacci, skeptical Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents track an undetected serial killer while their math consultant copes with his brother's recent injury. After FBI Special Agent Don Eppes's injury, FBI Special Agent David Sinclair, who was the newest member of the team at the beginning of the series, served as team leader. Falacci and Heuton also included Easter eggs from the "Pilot" and from some of the previous 99 episodes.

"Angels and Devils" is the 23rd episode and the fifth season finale of the American television show Numbers. In the episode, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents search for a mathematician who has been kidnapped by a cult leader. The episode ended with a character's priorities changed and a marriage proposal left unanswered. James Callis guest-starred as the cult leader, Mason Dureya.

"Cause and Effect" is the 16th episode and the season finale of the sixth season and series finale of the American television series Numbers. In the episode, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents and mathematicians attempt to find one agent's gun before it is used in a violent crime. When series creators/executive producers Cheryl Heuton and Nicolas Falacci learned that the number of episodes airing during the season was reduced, they felt that they needed to finish storylines in case the series was cancelled. To do so, they wrote an open-ended story to serve as either a season finale or a series finale.

References

  1. ↑ "Weekly Program Rankings". ABC Medianet. January 25, 2005. Retrieved February 10, 2010.
  2. ↑ "Weekly Program Rankings". ABC Medianet. February 1, 2005. Archived from the original on December 21, 2008. Retrieved February 10, 2010.
  3. ↑ "Weekly Program Rankings". ABC Medianet. February 8, 2005. Archived from the original on December 21, 2008. Retrieved February 10, 2010.
  4. ↑ "Weekly Program Rankings". ABC Medianet. February 15, 2005. Archived from the original on May 28, 2010. Retrieved February 10, 2010.
  5. ↑ "Weekly Program Rankings". ABC Medianet. February 23, 2005. Archived from the original on March 11, 2015. Retrieved February 10, 2010.
  6. ↑ "Weekly Program Rankings". ABC Medianet. March 1, 2005. Retrieved February 10, 2010.
  7. ↑ "Weekly Program Rankings". ABC Medianet. March 15, 2005. Retrieved February 10, 2010.
  8. ↑ "Weekly Program Rankings". ABC Medianet. April 5, 2005. Retrieved February 10, 2010.
  9. ↑ "Weekly Program Rankings". ABC Medianet. April 19, 2005. Retrieved February 10, 2010.
  10. ↑ "Weekly Program Rankings". ABC Medianet. April 26, 2005. Archived from the original on December 21, 2008. Retrieved February 10, 2010.
  11. ↑ "Weekly Program Rankings". ABC Medianet. May 3, 2005. Retrieved February 10, 2010.
  12. ↑ "Weekly Program Rankings". ABC Medianet. May 10, 2005. Retrieved February 10, 2010.
  13. ↑ "Weekly Program Rankings". ABC Medianet. May 17, 2005. Retrieved February 10, 2010.
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