#4x16 Gas Pump

[aspiestvmusings]

SCORPION: ”PARALLELS”- S4 FINALE VERSUS OTHER EPS

AN “ANALYSIS” POST... THAT IS INCOMPLETE:

SEASON 4/S4 FINALE  VS PAST SEASONS/EPS/S3 FINALE: 

in S4 finale (a lie in the sand) we get Walt being “buried alive”under sand...and the team digging him up VS in S3 finale we have Ralph & Scotty being buried alive and being rescued by the team 

in S3 finale we have a parents/kids theme and a guest character (Scotty,the PIlot) protecting Ralph while a team member/Paige thanking them for it VS in S4 penultimate ep, 4x21 we have parents/kids theme and a guest character (Kenny’s dad) protecting Ralph  while the team/Paige is protecting theirs (Kenny). Even the lines spoken by characters are almost identical at one point. 

in S4 finale we have the team divided and working against each other... in he end  VS in  S3 finale we have a team divided and Sly and Ralph addressing the issue, and all agreeing that the team is the best when working together, united, not in parts/divided. The same plot with minor changes. So...Scorpion is a team divided #SlyPredictedThis

in S4 finale we have Ralph missing (with no mentions of him) throughout the episode.. as the team is fighting/splitting up/divided VS in S3 finale we have Ralph “missing” and working alone to save them and reunite the team (when he “steals” the crank & goes to the beach & then later his speech about their childish behaviour) 

in S4 finale we have an actual 2 week timejump in the end... between the team split and the reveal of 2 teams (The Gettleman Pitch)   VS in S3 finale we have a promise of a 2-week time jump & vacation time for all team members, when Quintis say they are taking their honeymoon time off now... and not to be contacted for 2 weeks  

in S4 finale we have a theme of keeping secrets (again..like in many eps/during many plots in the past: S1/S1 end plot:1x21 Walt/Cabe and Baghdad, S2 finale/ep 304: secret green-card marriage, S3: 303/322 space love confession, S3 finale “i have a past”) 

in S4 (season 4B: eps 417, 419, 421) Sly is engineering a water filter system that gives you drinking water purer than the LA tap water VS in S3 finale Walt/Happy/The Team engineer a water pumping system which gives them cleaner driningwaterthan LA has. 

in S4 finale we hear about Sly’s writing, about his pen-pal Alex and his letters to him, where he bends the truth a bit VS in S3 finale we see Sly writing.. a journal/book.. about their island adventures. While on the island,and after... Sly is the narrator of the story here. #SlyTheStoryTeller

in S4 finale Paige comments that Walt’s EQ went from ”age 9″ when they met in 2014 and she started coaching him to “age 15″ (or so)... now. This fits with my estimate that Ralph was 9, when the show started/we met him & would be around 15 in he series finale...if there was a 6-season plan for the show...

OTHER SMALL DETAILS: 

Walter and head injuries: S1 finale/S2 premiere car accident, 2x19 car crash (”I have a bump”), 3x03 major trauma (spacefall), 3x22 hitting his head (fall in the biodome), 4x02 inhaling toxins, 4x12 head trauma (fall from stairs), 4x16 injuries from jumping from a chopper/building.... to name the biggest”head bumps” 

S4 premiere starts seemingly right after s3 left off, and it starts with  Walt daydreaming... (the musical number) only... is he? Because later in the episode 401-402 he has similar visions, only now it’s “hallucinations” due to the toxic gas inhaled 

in the S3 finale a radio plays a part in the ”how to get off this island” plan. The RADIO EXPERT and ex team-member is one Mark Collins. 

Flo’s speciality is CHEMISTRY! 

Collins setup the doubt in Walt & Paige’s (teams) minds in S4 premiere about their differences and they voiced their concerns regarding it all in season 4A. In season 4B he was “forgotten” (no mentions of him since the trial, no mentions of CLAM, no nothing... quiet before the storm), and the IQ/EQ issue was re-set with another plot for some reason...instead of using the original seed of doubt (do they really think the audience’s memory span is that short that they can’t use the premiere idea to lead to the finale reveal... even if the man himself can’t be present?) Why the double re-set? 

Biggest mysteries of S4 finale: why not bring fuel (at least ”emergency” amount) with them  from the US if time is of the essence & “fuel is running out”? Why, as usual with this team, go into unpredictable situations, unprepared? (answer: then the “suspense” of the “mission” would not happen for regular viewer... who get sucked into the story...)

Biggest mysteries of S4 finale: What purpose (other than the writers really not knowing what to write and hence going back to the most boring plot device.. creating a sort of love triangle... even if fake.. like Chet/Happy/Toby was in s2... ) did Flo’s “confession” about developing feelings have? None...besides used as a plot device.. either for the “loved-by-TV-writers-but-actually-most-boring-and-uninteresting-plot”  and/or to just make the waitress more insecure OR an actual twist reveal setup. (this goes together with: Why would mr. 197 include the chemist in the new team...other than it’s most convenient and wanting to hurt the waitress back..aka more childish behaviour from both sides... and why did everything seem so perfectly in place... as if it was all planned?

There are ton of small fun “parallels”and “similarities” between S4 and past episodes, and between just eps in general... Use of same themes, same plots... (as usual for network TV... things get “repeated”)