‘Scorpion’ Jumps Into Action When Walter Puts His Team in Jeopardy

A “smart” building turns sinister when the geniuses of CBS’s Scorpion find themselves trapped in a high-rise on tonight’s special 90-minute episode. The team is tasked with overseeing the construction of the state-of-the-art headquarters for billionaire Richard Elia’s (Andy Buckley) tech company, which includes cutting-edge zero-footprint software. But the opening party goes haywire after Walter (Elyes Gabel, above) discovers his computer has been compromised with malware, locking everyone inside. The situation escalates when a fire erupts and swiftly moves through the structure.

“This is essentially our Towering Inferno,” executive producer Nicholas Wootton says. “Every one of our episodes is such a big event, but this is bigger than what we normally do. This is movie magic.” (Producers even built some interiors and exteriors of the 70-story skyscraper on one of the show’s soundstages.)

As the night unfolds, the team learns how the virus came to infect Walter’s computer—it turns out their socially awkward leader was seduced and roofied by a beautiful woman at a hotel bar the night before the party while he was attending a tech conference. Those details don’t sit well with Paige (Katharine McPhee), who partners with federal agent Cabe (Robert Patrick) to try to track down the mystery lady.

“Our viewers know that Walter’s heart belongs to Paige and he didn’t do anything untoward with this woman,” says executive producer Nick Santora. “But you get to see what happens when Paige is really jealous, and it’s quite funny.”

 Scorpion, Monday, Oct. 26  9:30/8:30c, CBS