Disturbed (Numb3rs)
Encyclopedia
"Disturbed" is the 21st episode of the fifth season of the American television show Numb3rs
. 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 (Rob Morrow
) injury, FBI Special Agent David Sinclair
(Alimi Ballard
), 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.
The producers brought back one previous guest star and almost had a special guest star. For the 100th episode, series producers brought back Josh Gad, who amazed producers in a previous episode. Dr. Stephen Hawking
, who visited the set during filming, almost became a guest star in the episode.
"Disturbed" first aired in the United States on May 1, 2009. Critics generally liked the episode. One critic liked Gad's performance while another like the twists.
(David Krumholtz
), who has found a temporal
pattern in a series of unrelated murders, tells skeptical FBI Special Agents David Sinclair
(Alimi Ballard
) and Colby Granger
(Dylan Bruno
) that the murders, including the woman's murder, must be the work of an undetected serial killer. Charlie's obsession with the serial killer worries David, Colby, and FBI Special Agents Liz Warner
(Aya Sumika
) and Nikki Betancourt
(Sophina Brown
), as they suspect that Charlie may be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder
(PTSD). Five days before, Charlie's brother, FBI Special Agent Don Eppes
(Rob Morrow
), suffered a life-threatening stab wound while investigating a home invasion, and Charlie blamed himself for Don's injury. At Charlie's house, Don, who is there recuperating from his injury, confronts Charlie about his behavior.
The next morning, a postal worker is found murdered near the scene of the previous murder. Since the recent murder does not match the timeline of the other murders, Charlie asks David, the team leader during Don's recovery, for more data. David directs Charlie to Roy McGill (Josh Gad), an amateur police consultant who consulted with the FBI on a previous case involving conspiracy theorists. McGill and Gene Evans (John Rubinstein), a retired accountant
/amateur police consultant, identify several unsolved cases in Fresno
and Bakersfield
, California, which fit Charlie's timeline. FBI technician Matt Li (Matthew Yang King) gives Charlie a copy of Dr. Kim Rossmo's methodology. Using the information from Evans and Li, Charlie realizes that the killer has previously moved twice before arriving in Los Angeles. A couple of days later, Charlie and McGill visit Evans for more data and find Evans and his wife dead. While investigating Evans' murder, the FBI team learns that Evans had a restraining order against Mark Horn (Daniel Sauli), who had been stalking Evans. Upon arrest, Horn asserts that he only wanted Evans to help him appeal an Internal Revenue Service
decision that was based on a mistake that Evans made on Horn's tax returns.
Meanwhile, McGill finds another victim, Nancy Kershaw from Stockton
, California, whose murder shared commonalities with some of the other victims' murders. He and Dr. Larry Fleinhardt
(Peter MacNicol
), Charlie's friend and fellow FBI consultant, think that Charlie should consider her murder as the serial killer's first murder. Charlie hesitates, since her murder does not fit into the timeline. After finding no errors in Charlie's logic, Dr. Amita Ramanujan
(Navi Rawat
), Charlie's girlfriend and a fellow FBI math consultant, informs Don that Charlie is right about the serial killer's existence. At the FBI office, Don and the team figure out that the serial killer is eliminating those who either witnessed and investigated the unsolved murders. Earlier in the investigation, the FBI team learned of the murder of Bakersfield Police Department Detective Driscoll, who investigated the unsolved Bakersfield cases that Evans identified. The witnesses' and investigators' murders showed up as anomalies in Charlie's timeline. At the house, Charlie, Don, and their father, Alan Eppes
(Judd Hirsch
) reminisce about the brothers' first case
. Inspired by his memories of the first case, Charlie applies the mathematical model of hot zones, the locations of the crimes to determine the most likely area where the suspect lives, to the current case. This time, Charlie uses the model to identify several potential targets. As the team surveys the identified targets, the killer strikes one house but escapes when the agents attempt to arrest him.
To narrow the focus of the investigation, Charlie and David compare the social security numbers of the residents in the hot zones with census records. McGill provides the FBI with a crucial clue—years ago, the killer had spoken to Nancy Kershaw's then-boyfriend. The agents find that one man, Robert Posdner (Brian Howe), faked his identity four times during the same time period as the murders. They ask him to come in for questioning. Meanwhile, Kershaw's former boyfriend identifies a modified version of Posdner's voice as the one he heard years ago. The team arrests Posdner at home, and Posdner brags about how he eluded detection for so long. After the case is closed, the brothers are at the house with Alan, Amita, and Larry. Charlie decides to unpack his new office, which he has not started since Don's injury. Don informs Alan that he will be returning to full duty Monday. As the sprinklers go off, the brothers share a laugh before going inside.
and Nicolas Falacci
decided to revisit the pilot. In the previous episode "The Fifth Man", Don's stabbing forced David to become the team leader. For "Disturbed", David was still the team leader, a change from his first day on Don's team during the pilot.
Heuton and Falacci included Easter eggs for fans of the series. For example, the physics chair was the Walter T. Merrick chair, named after Walter Merrick (Anthony Heald
), the FBI Assistant Director in Charge of the Los Angeles FBI field office and Don's boss in the second pilot. Rossmo and Rooker were two other Easter eggs. Dr. Kim Rossmo developed the criminal geographic targeting
model that was featured in the "Pilot". Michael Rooker
was cast in the original pilot as a FBI agent but left the series when the pilot was refilmed. Heuton and Falacci also included references to other episodes in the series. When asked about the 100th episode in separate TV Guide interviews, actors Alimi Ballard and Rob Morrow alluded to the Easter eggs.
During the filming of "Disturbed", Dr. Stephen Hawking
, a fan of the show, surprised the cast and crew with a visit to the set while visiting Los Angeles. He was offered a role on the episode, but, due to issues involving obtaining a work permit on short notice, was unable to appear in the episode.
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 written by series creators/executive producers Cheryl Heuton
Cheryl 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:...
and Nicolas Falacci
Nicolas Falacci
Nicolas Falacci is a television writer and producer. Along with his wife and writing partner Cheryl Heuton, he co-created the television series Numb3rs. His only directing credit is the season 6 finale of the program. Falacci also wrote the story and screenplay for the 1991 horror film Children of...
, skeptical 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 track an undetected serial killer while their math
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
consultant
Consultant
A consultant is a professional who provides professional or expert advice in a particular area such as management, accountancy, the environment, entertainment, technology, law , human resources, marketing, emergency management, food production, medicine, finance, life management, economics, public...
copes with his brother's recent injury
The Fifth Man (Numb3rs)
"The Fifth Man" is the 20th episode of the fifth season of the American television show Numb3rs. In the episode, Federal Bureau of Investigation agents and mathematicians attempt to find a group of home invaders while dealing with the injury of the agents' boss. For FBI Special Agent David...
. After 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...
's (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...
) injury, FBI Special Agent 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....
), 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
Pilot (Numb3rs)
"Pilot" is the first episode of the American television show Numb3rs. Based on a real-life serial rape case, "Pilot" features two brothers, an agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and a mathematics professor at a Southern California university, using their individual skills to capture a...
" and from some of the previous 99 episodes.
The producers brought back one previous guest star and almost had a special guest star. For the 100th episode, series producers brought back Josh Gad, who amazed producers in a previous episode. Dr. Stephen Hawking
Stephen Hawking
Stephen William Hawking, CH, CBE, FRS, FRSA is an English theoretical physicist and cosmologist, whose scientific books and public appearances have made him an academic celebrity...
, who visited the set during filming, almost became a guest star in the episode.
"Disturbed" first aired in the United States on May 1, 2009. Critics generally liked the episode. One critic liked Gad's performance while another like the twists.
Plot summary
A woman is killed in her house in broad daylight. FBI math consultant Dr. Charlie EppesCharlie Eppes
Charles Edward "Charlie" Eppes, PhD is a fictional character and protagonist in the CBS crime drama Numb3rs.Dr...
(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...
), who has found a temporal
Time
Time is a part of the measuring system used to sequence events, to compare the durations of events and the intervals between them, and to quantify rates of change such as the motions of objects....
pattern in a series of unrelated murders, tells skeptical 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:...
) that the murders, including the woman's murder, must be the work of an undetected serial killer. Charlie's obsession with the serial killer worries David, Colby, and FBI Special Agents Liz Warner
Liz Warner
Liz Warner is a fictitious character on the American television show Numb3rs. A former girlfriend of FBI Special agent Don Eppes, she has since become a part of Don's team.-Evolution over the series:...
(Aya Sumika
Aya Sumika
Aya Sumika was born Aya Sumika Koenig on August 22, 1980 in Miami, Florida. She grew up in Seattle, Washington.She is an American actress best known for her semi-recurring role as FBI Agent Liz Warner in the television series Numb3rs.Her mother is Japanese-American and her father is of European...
) and Nikki Betancourt
Nikki Betancourt
Nikki Betancourt is a fictitious character on the American television show Numb3rs. Developed as a replacement for a regular who had left the series, she joined FBI Special Agent Don Eppes' 's team at the beginning of season five...
(Sophina Brown
Sophina Brown
Sophina Brown is an American actress who had a starring role on the CBS drama series Numb3rs where she played Nikki Betancourt, an "adrenaline junkie" and former LAPD officer....
), as they suspect that Charlie may be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder
Post-traumatic stress disorder
Posttraumaticstress disorder is a severe anxiety disorder that can develop after exposure to any event that results in psychological trauma. This event may involve the threat of death to oneself or to someone else, or to one's own or someone else's physical, sexual, or psychological integrity,...
(PTSD). Five days before, Charlie's brother, 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...
), suffered a life-threatening stab wound while investigating a home invasion, and Charlie blamed himself for Don's injury. At Charlie's house, Don, who is there recuperating from his injury, confronts Charlie about his behavior.
The next morning, a postal worker is found murdered near the scene of the previous murder. Since the recent murder does not match the timeline of the other murders, Charlie asks David, the team leader during Don's recovery, for more data. David directs Charlie to Roy McGill (Josh Gad), an amateur police consultant who consulted with the FBI on a previous case involving conspiracy theorists. McGill and Gene Evans (John Rubinstein), a retired accountant
Accountant
An accountant is a practitioner of accountancy or accounting , which is the measurement, disclosure or provision of assurance about financial information that helps managers, investors, tax authorities and others make decisions about allocating resources.The Big Four auditors are the largest...
/amateur police consultant, identify several unsolved cases in Fresno
Fresno, California
Fresno is a city in central California, United States, the county seat of Fresno County. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 510,365, making it the fifth largest city in California, the largest inland city in California, and the 34th largest in the nation...
and Bakersfield
Bakersfield, California
Bakersfield is a city near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley in Kern County, California. It is roughly equidistant between Fresno and Los Angeles, to the north and south respectively....
, California, which fit Charlie's timeline. FBI technician Matt Li (Matthew Yang King) gives Charlie a copy of Dr. Kim Rossmo's methodology. Using the information from Evans and Li, Charlie realizes that the killer has previously moved twice before arriving in Los Angeles. A couple of days later, Charlie and McGill visit Evans for more data and find Evans and his wife dead. While investigating Evans' murder, the FBI team learns that Evans had a restraining order against Mark Horn (Daniel Sauli), who had been stalking Evans. Upon arrest, Horn asserts that he only wanted Evans to help him appeal an Internal Revenue Service
Internal Revenue Service
The Internal Revenue Service is the revenue service of the United States federal government. The agency is a bureau of the Department of the Treasury, and is under the immediate direction of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue...
decision that was based on a mistake that Evans made on Horn's tax returns.
Meanwhile, McGill finds another victim, Nancy Kershaw from Stockton
Stockton, California
Stockton, California, the seat of San Joaquin County, is the fourth-largest city in the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. With a population of 291,707 at the 2010 census, Stockton ranks as this state's 13th largest city...
, California, whose murder shared commonalities with some of the other victims' murders. He and 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...
(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...
), Charlie's friend and fellow FBI consultant, think that Charlie should consider her murder as the serial killer's first murder. Charlie hesitates, since her murder does not fit into the timeline. After finding no errors in Charlie's logic, Dr. 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 a fellow FBI math consultant, informs Don that Charlie is right about the serial killer's existence. At the FBI office, Don and the team figure out that the serial killer is eliminating those who either witnessed and investigated the unsolved murders. Earlier in the investigation, the FBI team learned of the murder of Bakersfield Police Department Detective Driscoll, who investigated the unsolved Bakersfield cases that Evans identified. The witnesses' and investigators' murders showed up as anomalies in Charlie's timeline. At the house, Charlie, Don, 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:...
) reminisce about the brothers' first case
Pilot (Numb3rs)
"Pilot" is the first episode of the American television show Numb3rs. Based on a real-life serial rape case, "Pilot" features two brothers, an agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and a mathematics professor at a Southern California university, using their individual skills to capture a...
. Inspired by his memories of the first case, Charlie applies the mathematical model of hot zones, the locations of the crimes to determine the most likely area where the suspect lives, to the current case. This time, Charlie uses the model to identify several potential targets. As the team surveys the identified targets, the killer strikes one house but escapes when the agents attempt to arrest him.
To narrow the focus of the investigation, Charlie and David compare the social security numbers of the residents in the hot zones with census records. McGill provides the FBI with a crucial clue—years ago, the killer had spoken to Nancy Kershaw's then-boyfriend. The agents find that one man, Robert Posdner (Brian Howe), faked his identity four times during the same time period as the murders. They ask him to come in for questioning. Meanwhile, Kershaw's former boyfriend identifies a modified version of Posdner's voice as the one he heard years ago. The team arrests Posdner at home, and Posdner brags about how he eluded detection for so long. After the case is closed, the brothers are at the house with Alan, Amita, and Larry. Charlie decides to unpack his new office, which he has not started since Don's injury. Don informs Alan that he will be returning to full duty Monday. As the sprinklers go off, the brothers share a laugh before going inside.
Writing
For "Disturbed", series creators/executive producers 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:...
and Nicolas Falacci
Nicolas Falacci
Nicolas Falacci is a television writer and producer. Along with his wife and writing partner Cheryl Heuton, he co-created the television series Numb3rs. His only directing credit is the season 6 finale of the program. Falacci also wrote the story and screenplay for the 1991 horror film Children of...
decided to revisit the pilot. In the previous episode "The Fifth Man", Don's stabbing forced David to become the team leader. For "Disturbed", David was still the team leader, a change from his first day on Don's team during the pilot.
Heuton and Falacci included Easter eggs for fans of the series. For example, the physics chair was the Walter T. Merrick chair, named after Walter Merrick (Anthony Heald
Anthony Heald
Philip Anthony Mair Heald, known professionally as Anthony Heald , is an American actor known for portraying Hannibal Lecter's jail nemesis, Dr. Frederick Chilton in The Silence of the Lambs and Red Dragon, and for playing assistant principal Scott Guber in David E. Kelley's Boston Public...
), the FBI Assistant Director in Charge of the Los Angeles FBI field office and Don's boss in the second pilot. Rossmo and Rooker were two other Easter eggs. Dr. Kim Rossmo developed the criminal geographic targeting
Geographic profiling
Geographic profiling is a criminal investigative methodology that analyzes the locations of a connected series of crimes to determine the most probable area of offender residence. By incorporating both qualitative and quantitative methods, it assists in understanding spatial behaviour of an...
model that was featured in the "Pilot". Michael Rooker
Michael Rooker
Michael Rooker is an American actor.-Early life:Rooker, who has eight brothers and sisters, was born in Jasper, Alabama and studied at the Goodman School of Drama in Chicago, where he moved with his mother and siblings at the age of thirteen, after his parents divorced.-Movie career:He made his...
was cast in the original pilot as a FBI agent but left the series when the pilot was refilmed. Heuton and Falacci also included references to other episodes in the series. When asked about the 100th episode in separate TV Guide interviews, actors Alimi Ballard and Rob Morrow alluded to the Easter eggs.
Casting notes
For the 100th episode, the writers and producers brought back Josh Gad. They were impressed by his performance in "Conspiracy Theory".During the filming of "Disturbed", Dr. Stephen Hawking
Stephen Hawking
Stephen William Hawking, CH, CBE, FRS, FRSA is an English theoretical physicist and cosmologist, whose scientific books and public appearances have made him an academic celebrity...
, a fan of the show, surprised the cast and crew with a visit to the set while visiting Los Angeles. He was offered a role on the episode, but, due to issues involving obtaining a work permit on short notice, was unable to appear in the episode.
Celebration of 100th episode
Temporarily stopping production, the cast and crew celebrated the 100th episode on March 25, 2009. On April 21, 2009, the cast and crew celebrated both the episode and the end of the season at the Sunset Tower Hotel. To celebrate, the press was in attendance.Reception
Over 9.70 million people watched "Disturbed". Critically, the episode was very well-received. Calling the episode "a knotty murder mystery", Tim Holland of TVGuide.com included "Disturbed" in TVGuide.com's Hot List for May 1, 2009. Jeffrey Robinson of DVD Talk stated that McGill's presence in "Disturbed" made the episode interesting.External links
- Numb3rs: Disturbed 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: Disturbed (2009) 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...