The Art of Reckoning (Numb3rs)
Encyclopedia
"The Art of Reckoning" is the 21st episode of the third season of the American television show Numb3rs
. 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.
"The Art of Reckoning" first aired in the United States on April 27, 2007. Critics gave the episode positive reviews. The episode was also a favorite for series regular David Krumholtz
.
(David Krumholtz) and Amita Ramanujan
(Navi Rawat
), Charlie's girlfriend and fellow colleague, watch the space shuttle
carrying their friend and fellow colleague Dr. Larry Fleinhardt (Peter MacNicol) from the International Space Station
land at Edwards Air Force Base
in California
. Meanwhile, FBI Special Agent Don Eppes
(Rob Morrow
), Charlie's brother, accompanies Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) Alvin Brickle (Jeremy Sisto
) to a California
prison to visit death row inmate Pony Fuñez (Wood Harris
), who is scheduled to be executed within the week. Fuñez, a former mob hit man, claims that he could lead Don and Brickle to the body of a mobster and can tell Don what happened to Senator Randall Amato (Bruce MacVittie)'s son (Preston Bailey), who disappeared in 1997. FBI Special Agents David Sinclair
(Alimi Ballard
) and Colby Granger
(Dylan Bruno
) find the mobster's body exactly as Fuñez described, proving Fuñez' legitimacy and his claim to having an eidetic memory
.
To obtain information about Senator Amato's son, Charlie, at the FBI office trying to reach Larry at Edwards Air Force Base, suggests using tit-for-tat to exchange information with Fuñez. Reluctantly, Don transfers Fuñez to the FBI office for questioning. David, in the meantime, goes to Fuñez’s house to talk to Rene Moreno (Rosa Evangelina Arredondo), Fuñez’s wife, and discovers that Lucy Fuñez (Rhyon Nicole Brown), Fuñez’s daughter, wants to see her father before his execution. Back at the office, Don lets Fuñez see the picture of Lucy that Rene gave David. Fuñez offers the location of the body of Senator Amato’s son. He also describes the death of the boy and the weather
conditions for the night in question. This time, the team finds the body of a mob leader, and Don refuses to cooperate with the hit man. At Charlie's house, Don finds Charlie and their father, Alan Eppes
(Judd Hirsch
), barbecuing to celebrate Larry's return. Don informs Charlie of the situation, and Charlie suggests cooperating when Fuñez refuses to, tit-for-two-tats, in hopes of Fuñez cooperating again. The team determines that a living mob leader killed the dead leader to gain control of the mob. A polygraph test ordered by Senator Amato demonstrates that Fuñez is telling the truth about the death of the senator’s son.
Meanwhile, Larry surprises Charlie by showing up at CalSci to see Charlie. Larry invites Charlie to the beach where Larry had been staying since his return to Earth
. There, Charlie learns that Larry is experiencing space transcendence and does not want to lose that feeling. Charlie and Larry return to the FBI office, where Larry is greeted by Don. They heard Fuñez's confession about Senator Amato's son, and Larry realizes that Fuñez has confabulated
his memor
ies of the night the boy was killed. Charlie and Don use fMRI to determine the truth about Fuñez's memories. The fMRI seems to confirm the polygraph test. When Charlie confronts Fuñez with contradictory weather conditions for the night in question, Fuñez tells Don that the mob leader killed Senator Amato's son. Fuñez's description confirms Colby's earlier suspicion that Fuñez could not bring himself to kill a child. A FBI team finds the child's body right where Fuñez said it was. Meanwhile, David and AUSA Brickle, en route to Fuñez's house to talk to Rene, engage in a shootout with a couple of members of the mob. As a result of Fuñez's cooperation, Don personally brings Lucy to the FBI office to see her father before his execution. After enjoying an al fresco dinner with Alan and Charlie at the house, Larry informs Charlie that he will be staying at the Buddhist
temple in Altadena, California
, for a spiritual retreat.
, and Jeremy Sisto, of Kidnapped, guest-starred in "The Art of Reckoning".
It also marked the final appearance of season three for Kathy Najimy's character, Dr. Millie Finch. Although scheduled to appear in two to three episodes, Najimy's role was expanded to cover series regular Peter MacNicol's departure to film 24.
, producers were uncertain as to the date of MacNicol's return, but, as of an interview with TVGuide.com's Michael Ausiello, they already developed a few story ideas to write Larry back into the script. Shortly after MacNicol's return to the series, he became a regular again..
NUMB3RS
Numb3rs is an American television drama which premiered on CBS on January 23, 2005, and concluded on March 12, 2010. The series was created by Nicolas Falacci and Cheryl Heuton, and follows FBI Special Agent Don Eppes and his mathematical genius brother, Charlie Eppes , who helps Don solve crimes...
. In the episode, Federal Bureau of Investigation
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
(FBI) agents investigate the confessions of a mob hit man
Assassination
To carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...
before his execution. Written by Julie Hébert, the episode also highlighted the return of series regular Peter MacNicol
Peter MacNicol
Peter MacNicol is an American actor. He may be best known in films for his roles of Janosz Poha in Ghostbusters II, Stingo in Sophie's Choice, Thomas Renfield in Dracula: Dead and Loving It and David Langley in Bean...
as his character, Dr. Larry Fleinhardt
Larry Fleinhardt
Larry Fleinhardt PhD is a fictional character in the television show Numb3rs, played by Peter MacNicol.Dr. Lawrence Fleinhardt is a professor of physics at CalSci and best friend and colleague of Charlie Eppes...
, returned from space.
"The Art of Reckoning" first aired in the United States on April 27, 2007. Critics gave the episode positive reviews. The episode was also a favorite for series regular David Krumholtz
David Krumholtz
David Krumholtz is an American actor best known for playing Professor Charlie Eppes in the television series Numb3rs. He appeared as Seth Goldstein in Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle and its two sequels, Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay and A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas...
.
Plot summary
Drs. Charlie EppesCharlie Eppes
Charles Edward "Charlie" Eppes, PhD is a fictional character and protagonist in the CBS crime drama Numb3rs.Dr...
(David Krumholtz) and Amita Ramanujan
Amita Ramanujan
Amita Ramanujan is a fictional character from the TV series Numb3rs. 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 . First introduced in "Pilot", the character of Amita has received...
(Navi Rawat
Navi Rawat
Navi Rawat is an American television actress, known for her roles as Theresa Diaz on the drama series The O.C. and math prodigy Amita Ramanujan on the drama series Numb3rs. She is the niece of Prem Rawat....
), Charlie's girlfriend and fellow colleague, watch the space shuttle
Space Shuttle
The Space Shuttle was a manned orbital rocket and spacecraft system operated by NASA on 135 missions from 1981 to 2011. The system combined rocket launch, orbital spacecraft, and re-entry spaceplane with modular add-ons...
carrying their friend and fellow colleague Dr. Larry Fleinhardt (Peter MacNicol) from the International Space Station
International Space Station
The International Space Station is a habitable, artificial satellite in low Earth orbit. The ISS follows the Salyut, Almaz, Cosmos, Skylab, and Mir space stations, as the 11th space station launched, not including the Genesis I and II prototypes...
land at Edwards Air Force Base
Edwards Air Force Base
Edwards Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located on the border of Kern County, Los Angeles County, and San Bernardino County, California, in the Antelope Valley. It is southwest of the central business district of North Edwards, California and due east of Rosamond.It is named in...
in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. Meanwhile, FBI Special Agent Don Eppes
Don Eppes
Don Eppes is the main fictional character in the television show Numb3rs. He is played by Rob Morrow.Don is an FBI Special Agent who runs the FBI Violent Crimes Squad in Los Angeles. Don recruits his mathematical genius brother, Charlie Eppes, to help him and the Bureau solve some of their most...
(Rob Morrow
Rob Morrow
Robert Alan "Rob" Morrow is an American actor. He is known for his portrayal of Don Eppes on Numb3rs and as Dr. Joel Fleischman on Northern Exposure, a role which garnered him three Golden Globes and two Emmy Award nominations for "Best Actor in a Dramatic Series."-Personal life:Morrow was born in...
), Charlie's brother, accompanies Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) Alvin Brickle (Jeremy Sisto
Jeremy Sisto
Jeremy Merton Sisto is an American actor. Sisto has had recurring roles as Billy Chenowith on the HBO series Six Feet Under and Detective Cyrus Lupo on Law & Order on television and also starred in the films Jesus, Clueless and Thirteen.-Early life:Sisto was born in Grass Valley, California, the...
) to a California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
prison to visit death row inmate Pony Fuñez (Wood Harris
Wood Harris
Sherwin David "Wood" Harris is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his roles as drug kingpin Avon Barksdale on the HBO television drama The Wire, and as high-school football player Julius Campbell in the 2000 motion picture Remember the Titans.-Life and career:Harris was born in...
), who is scheduled to be executed within the week. Fuñez, a former mob hit man, claims that he could lead Don and Brickle to the body of a mobster and can tell Don what happened to Senator Randall Amato (Bruce MacVittie)'s son (Preston Bailey), who disappeared in 1997. FBI Special Agents David Sinclair
David Sinclair (Numb3rs)
David Sinclair is a fictitious FBI agent in the TV show Numb3rs. First introduced in the Pilot episode, he has become the usual partner of FBI Special Agent Colby Granger and has also become the primary relief supervisor for the Supervisor of the FBI Violent Crimes division, Don Eppes...
(Alimi Ballard
Alimi Ballard
Alimi Ballard is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his role as FBI agent David Sinclair on the CBS drama television series Numb3rs....
) and Colby Granger
Colby Granger
Colby Granger is a fictitious FBI agent on the American television show Numb3rs. First introduced during the second season, he has become a part of the team led by FBI Special Agent Don Eppes and is usually partnered with David Sinclair...
(Dylan Bruno
Dylan Bruno
Dylan Bruno is an American actor and former model. He portrayed FBI agent Colby Granger in the CBS series Numb3rs.-Personal life:...
) find the mobster's body exactly as Fuñez described, proving Fuñez' legitimacy and his claim to having an eidetic memory
Eidetic memory
Eidetic , commonly referred to as photographic memory, is a medical term, popularly defined as the ability to recall images, sounds, or objects in memory with extreme precision and in abundant volume. The word eidetic, referring to extraordinarily detailed and vivid recall not limited to, but...
.
To obtain information about Senator Amato's son, Charlie, at the FBI office trying to reach Larry at Edwards Air Force Base, suggests using tit-for-tat to exchange information with Fuñez. Reluctantly, Don transfers Fuñez to the FBI office for questioning. David, in the meantime, goes to Fuñez’s house to talk to Rene Moreno (Rosa Evangelina Arredondo), Fuñez’s wife, and discovers that Lucy Fuñez (Rhyon Nicole Brown), Fuñez’s daughter, wants to see her father before his execution. Back at the office, Don lets Fuñez see the picture of Lucy that Rene gave David. Fuñez offers the location of the body of Senator Amato’s son. He also describes the death of the boy and the weather
Meteorology
Meteorology is the interdisciplinary scientific study of the atmosphere. Studies in the field stretch back millennia, though significant progress in meteorology did not occur until the 18th century. The 19th century saw breakthroughs occur after observing networks developed across several countries...
conditions for the night in question. This time, the team finds the body of a mob leader, and Don refuses to cooperate with the hit man. At Charlie's house, Don finds Charlie and their father, Alan Eppes
Alan Eppes
Alan Eppes is a fictional character on the television show Numb3rs, played by Judd Hirsch. Alan is the father of the main characters, brothers Charlie and Don Eppes...
(Judd Hirsch
Judd Hirsch
Judd Hirsch is an American actor most known for playing Alex Rieger on the television comedy series Taxi, John Lacey on the NBC series Dear John, and Alan Eppes on the CBS series Numb3rs.-Early life and education:...
), barbecuing to celebrate Larry's return. Don informs Charlie of the situation, and Charlie suggests cooperating when Fuñez refuses to, tit-for-two-tats, in hopes of Fuñez cooperating again. The team determines that a living mob leader killed the dead leader to gain control of the mob. A polygraph test ordered by Senator Amato demonstrates that Fuñez is telling the truth about the death of the senator’s son.
Meanwhile, Larry surprises Charlie by showing up at CalSci to see Charlie. Larry invites Charlie to the beach where Larry had been staying since his return to Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
. There, Charlie learns that Larry is experiencing space transcendence and does not want to lose that feeling. Charlie and Larry return to the FBI office, where Larry is greeted by Don. They heard Fuñez's confession about Senator Amato's son, and Larry realizes that Fuñez has confabulated
Confabulation
Confabulation is the process in which a memory is remembered falsely. Confabulations are indicative of a complicated and intricate process that can be led astray at any given point during encoding, storage, or recall of a memory. Two distinct types of confabulation are often distinguished...
his memor
Memory
In psychology, memory is an organism's ability to store, retain, and recall information and experiences. Traditional studies of memory began in the fields of philosophy, including techniques of artificially enhancing memory....
ies of the night the boy was killed. Charlie and Don use fMRI to determine the truth about Fuñez's memories. The fMRI seems to confirm the polygraph test. When Charlie confronts Fuñez with contradictory weather conditions for the night in question, Fuñez tells Don that the mob leader killed Senator Amato's son. Fuñez's description confirms Colby's earlier suspicion that Fuñez could not bring himself to kill a child. A FBI team finds the child's body right where Fuñez said it was. Meanwhile, David and AUSA Brickle, en route to Fuñez's house to talk to Rene, engage in a shootout with a couple of members of the mob. As a result of Fuñez's cooperation, Don personally brings Lucy to the FBI office to see her father before his execution. After enjoying an al fresco dinner with Alan and Charlie at the house, Larry informs Charlie that he will be staying at the Buddhist
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
temple in Altadena, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, for a spiritual retreat.
Casting notes
Wood Harris, formerly on The WireThe WIRE
the WIRE is the student-run College radio station at the University of Oklahoma, broadcasting in a freeform format. The WIRE serves the University of Oklahoma and surrounding communities, and is staffed by student DJs. The WIRE broadcasts at 1710 kHz AM in Norman, Oklahoma...
, and Jeremy Sisto, of Kidnapped, guest-starred in "The Art of Reckoning".
It also marked the final appearance of season three for Kathy Najimy's character, Dr. Millie Finch. Although scheduled to appear in two to three episodes, Najimy's role was expanded to cover series regular Peter MacNicol's departure to film 24.
Writing
"The Art of Reckoning" marked series regular Peter MacNicol's return to Numb3rs after wrapping up "24". During the filming of season three, writers and producers learned that MacNicol would return to Numb3rs. Writers then wrote a story which explored Larry's new attitude since his mission. According to creator and executive producer Cheryl HeutonCheryl Heuton
Cheryl Heuton is an American television writer and producer. Along with her husband and writing partner Nicolas Falacci, she co-created the television series Numb3rs.-External links:...
, producers were uncertain as to the date of MacNicol's return, but, as of an interview with TVGuide.com's Michael Ausiello, they already developed a few story ideas to write Larry back into the script. Shortly after MacNicol's return to the series, he became a regular again..
Reception
Over 10.15 million people watched "The Art of Reckoning". Cynthia Boris of DVD Verdict calls the episode "well plotted, engaging". The episode also was a favorite episode for actor David Krumholtz as it highlighted some of Larry’s inner struggles.External links
- Numb3rs: The Art of Reckoning at TV.comTV.comTV.com is a website owned by CBS Interactive. The site covers television and focuses on English-language shows made or broadcast in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and Japan...
- Numb3rs: The Art of Reckoning (2007) at Internet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...