The Fifth Man (Numb3rs)
Encyclopedia
"The Fifth Man" is the 20th episode of the fifth season of the American television show Numb3rs
. In the episode, Federal Bureau of Investigation
(FBI) agents and mathematician
s attempt to find a group of home invaders while dealing with the injury of the agents' boss. For FBI Special Agent David Sinclair
(Alimi Ballard
), the case is his first as team leader. The art department built a new office for Dr. Charlie Eppes
(David Krumholtz
), which reflected his own professional growth within academia
. Brought in several times before to audition for various guest appearances, Debbon Ayer, Rob Morrow
's real-life wife, guest-starred as the victim of a home invasion.
"The Fifth Man" first aired in the United States on April 24, 2009. Critics gave the episode positive reviews.
(David Krumholtz
) moves into a new office and receives some inspiration for his cognitive emergence theory. Some time later, FBI Special Agent Nikki Betancourt
(Sophina Brown
) visits the new office. She reminds Charlie that her boss and Charlie's brother, FBI Special Agent Don Eppes
(Rob Morrow
), asked Charlie to run some equations for a home invasion case. Later, Don, Nikki, and FBI Special Agents David Sinclair
(Alimi Ballard
), and Colby Granger
(Dylan Bruno
) stake out the next target predicted by Charlie's equations. The team rescue the couple inside, Sara and Gil Fisher (Debbon Ayer and Michael Gaston), as the home invasion takes place. During a shootout, the home invaders escape. While Don and Nikki check out the backyard, a fifth man (Michael Khmurov) emerges from the Fishers' guest house and stabs Don. Charlie rushes to the hospital, joined by his girlfriend and fellow colleague Dr. Amita Ramanujan
(Navi Rawat
) and his and Don's father Alan Eppes
(Judd Hirsch
). Charlie wants to stay with Don, but Alan tells Charlie that Don would want Charlie to continue working on the case.
Stunned by their team leader's injury, the team, including FBI Special Agent Liz Warner
(Aya Sumika
), proceed with the investigation, with David, who had recently been promoted to primary relief supervisor, taking over for Don. Meanwhile, Assistant United States Attorney Robin Brooks (Michelle Nolden
), Don's girlfriend, arrives at the hospital from a conference and stays with Alan while Don is in surgery. A partial print found at the scene leads the team to Los Angeles Unified School District
's 2007 Teacher of the Year Tom Kardum (Shea Whigham), who is a suspect in the disappearance of an investment banker. Kardum denies any knowledge of Don's attacker. After the surgery, Don goes into cardiac arrest
and temporarily flat lines as the doctor explains the extent of Don's injuries to Charlie, Alan, Robin, and Amita.
Meanwhile, the team learns that the home invaders, who had no previous criminal records before the home invasions, all lived in the same town in Croatia
. While visiting Don in the hospital, Charlie confides to Alan that he feels as though he rushed the FBI work to return to work on his cognitive emergence theory. Alan's response is to tell Charlie to set some priorities. Back at CalSci, Charlie and Amita realize that all of the home invasion victims, including the Fishers, had remodeled their homes about the same time that the investment banker started his latest scheme. They also learn that the home invaders' true target was Don's attacker. The Fishers are brought in for questioning, and they tell the FBI that the investment banker asked them to help hide Don's attacker. The team then learns that he was Slobodan Radovic, a Serbian war criminal who had murdered the home invaders' families in Croatia. The FBI team also learns that the investment banker, through an intermediary who is found murdered during the investigation, wanted to pay Radovic in diamonds.
After seeing a still from a confiscated surveillance video, Charlie replicates a key to the investment banker's safety deposit box, which is at a jewellery store. Unaware that the investment banker and the intermediary are dead, the jewellery store owner (Alan Blumenfeld) assumes that Charlie, who is there to look at the diamonds, is the intermediary and lets Charlie have the diamonds. Charlie then confronts Radovic, and the team arrests Radovic. Some time later, the team, Charlie, and Amita visit Don, who is now awake. Don informs the team that he can return to part-time desk duty upon his release from the hospital and that he can return to full-time work in a few weeks. After everyone else leaves the room, both brothers agree that neither of them initially wanted Charlie to experience Don's life. As Charlie leaves Don's room, Charlie tells his brother that Don would see Charlie at the FBI office.
On the "Crunching Numb3rs: Season Five" bonus feature, series regulars Alimi Ballard and Sophina Brown reflected on the impact of Don's stabbing on David, Colby, and Nikki. According to Ballard, David had to balance his professionalism with his desire for vengeance. Brown felt that the stabbing forced Nikki to recognize how arrogant she had been. Ballard also mentioned that Colby's desire for vengeance.
's real-life wife Debbon Ayer was cast as a victim. Friends with the cast and crew, Ayer wanted to have a role on the show. Although he had previously done so on several occasions, casting director Mark Saks rarely offered roles to actors' family members or friends. Saks had Ayer audition for various roles on several occasions before he learned that Ayer was Morrow's wife. When Ayer auditioned to be Sara Fisher, Saks felt that she was the best candidate for the role. She had one scene with her real-life husband, one in which Don rescued Sara.
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 and mathematician
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...
s attempt to find a group of home invaders while dealing with the injury of the agents' boss. For 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....
), the case is his first as team leader. The art department built a new office for Dr. Charlie Eppes
Charlie 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...
), which reflected his own professional growth within academia
Academia
Academia is the community of students and scholars engaged in higher education and research.-Etymology:The word comes from the akademeia in ancient Greece. Outside the city walls of Athens, the gymnasium was made famous by Plato as a center of learning...
. Brought in several times before to audition for various guest appearances, Debbon Ayer, 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...
's real-life wife, guest-starred as the victim of a home invasion.
"The Fifth Man" first aired in the United States on April 24, 2009. Critics gave the episode positive reviews.
Plot summary
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...
) moves into a new office and receives some inspiration for his cognitive emergence theory. Some time later, FBI Special Agent 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....
) visits the new office. She reminds Charlie that her boss and 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...
), asked Charlie to run some equations for a home invasion case. Later, Don, Nikki, and 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:...
) stake out the next target predicted by Charlie's equations. The team rescue the couple inside, Sara and Gil Fisher (Debbon Ayer and Michael Gaston), as the home invasion takes place. During a shootout, the home invaders escape. While Don and Nikki check out the backyard, a fifth man (Michael Khmurov) emerges from the Fishers' guest house and stabs Don. Charlie rushes to the hospital, joined by his girlfriend and fellow colleague 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....
) and his and Don's 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:...
). Charlie wants to stay with Don, but Alan tells Charlie that Don would want Charlie to continue working on the case.
Stunned by their team leader's injury, the team, including FBI Special Agent 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...
), proceed with the investigation, with David, who had recently been promoted to primary relief supervisor, taking over for Don. Meanwhile, Assistant United States Attorney Robin Brooks (Michelle Nolden
Michelle Nolden
Michelle Nolden is a Canadian actress. She has appeared in numerous films and television shows including ZOS: Zone of Separation, Numb3rs, Street Time, Earth: Final Conflict, The Time Traveler's Wife, Men with Brooms, Republic of Doyle as well as directing and writing a film called Loonie...
), Don's girlfriend, arrives at the hospital from a conference and stays with Alan while Don is in surgery. A partial print found at the scene leads the team to Los Angeles Unified School District
Los Angeles Unified School District
Los Angeles Unified School District is the largest public school system in California. It is the 2nd largest public school district in the United States. Only the New York City Department of Education has a larger student population...
's 2007 Teacher of the Year Tom Kardum (Shea Whigham), who is a suspect in the disappearance of an investment banker. Kardum denies any knowledge of Don's attacker. After the surgery, Don goes into cardiac arrest
Cardiac arrest
Cardiac arrest, is the cessation of normal circulation of the blood due to failure of the heart to contract effectively...
and temporarily flat lines as the doctor explains the extent of Don's injuries to Charlie, Alan, Robin, and Amita.
Meanwhile, the team learns that the home invaders, who had no previous criminal records before the home invasions, all lived in the same town in Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
. While visiting Don in the hospital, Charlie confides to Alan that he feels as though he rushed the FBI work to return to work on his cognitive emergence theory. Alan's response is to tell Charlie to set some priorities. Back at CalSci, Charlie and Amita realize that all of the home invasion victims, including the Fishers, had remodeled their homes about the same time that the investment banker started his latest scheme. They also learn that the home invaders' true target was Don's attacker. The Fishers are brought in for questioning, and they tell the FBI that the investment banker asked them to help hide Don's attacker. The team then learns that he was Slobodan Radovic, a Serbian war criminal who had murdered the home invaders' families in Croatia. The FBI team also learns that the investment banker, through an intermediary who is found murdered during the investigation, wanted to pay Radovic in diamonds.
After seeing a still from a confiscated surveillance video, Charlie replicates a key to the investment banker's safety deposit box, which is at a jewellery store. Unaware that the investment banker and the intermediary are dead, the jewellery store owner (Alan Blumenfeld) assumes that Charlie, who is there to look at the diamonds, is the intermediary and lets Charlie have the diamonds. Charlie then confronts Radovic, and the team arrests Radovic. Some time later, the team, Charlie, and Amita visit Don, who is now awake. Don informs the team that he can return to part-time desk duty upon his release from the hospital and that he can return to full-time work in a few weeks. After everyone else leaves the room, both brothers agree that neither of them initially wanted Charlie to experience Don's life. As Charlie leaves Don's room, Charlie tells his brother that Don would see Charlie at the FBI office.
Writing
Earlier in the season, series co-creators/executive producers Cheryl Heuton and Nicolas Falacci developed a storyline in which David became a leader. In "The Fifth Man", David was forced to take over as team leader when Don was stabbed. The case was one of the few times in which David and Colby, who were friends with each other, had to adjust to being in an employer-employee relationship.On the "Crunching Numb3rs: Season Five" bonus feature, series regulars Alimi Ballard and Sophina Brown reflected on the impact of Don's stabbing on David, Colby, and Nikki. According to Ballard, David had to balance his professionalism with his desire for vengeance. Brown felt that the stabbing forced Nikki to recognize how arrogant she had been. Ballard also mentioned that Colby's desire for vengeance.
Set design
Late in season five, set designers from the art department rebuilt Charlie's office. In the storyline for season five, Charlie had grown in his professional career as a professor. The art department wanted that reflected in his office. When series regular David Krumholtz saw the set for the first time, he was moved.Casting notes
Rob MorrowRob 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...
's real-life wife Debbon Ayer was cast as a victim. Friends with the cast and crew, Ayer wanted to have a role on the show. Although he had previously done so on several occasions, casting director Mark Saks rarely offered roles to actors' family members or friends. Saks had Ayer audition for various roles on several occasions before he learned that Ayer was Morrow's wife. When Ayer auditioned to be Sara Fisher, Saks felt that she was the best candidate for the role. She had one scene with her real-life husband, one in which Don rescued Sara.
Reception
Over 8.82 million people watched "The Fifth Man". Critically, the episode received a positive reception. Tim Holland of TVGuide.com included "The Fifth Man" in TVGuide.com's Hot List for April 24, 2009. Jeffrey Robinson, a reviewer for DVD Talk, called "The Fifth Man" one of "the best" of the season.External links
- Numb3rs: The Fifth Man 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 Fifth Man (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...