Scorpion

Team up a computer prodigy, a mechanical whiz, a Sherlock Holmes–like shrink, and a human calculator with the combined IQ of nearly 700—and you get a group of socially awkward, emotionally stunted misfits. Oh, and they also save America as a career.

That’s the premise of debut TV show Scorpion on CBS. Based on the real-life works of Walter O’Brien, an Irishman with an IQ of 197 (Einstein’s was a measly 165), Scorpion is a fun, family friendly drama about the freak show that happens when modern-day brainpower partners up with Homeland Security to solve America’s complicated, high-tech problems.

They call themselves “Scorpion”: Team leader Walter (Elyes Gabel) talks to computers, Toby Curtis (Eddie Kaye Thomas) reads people’s behaviors, Sylvester Dodd (Ari Stidham) tangos with numbers, and Happy Quinn (Jadyn Wong—finally, a full-Asian co-star who isn’t Lucy Liu!) manipulates machines.

Unlike other Los Angeles–based TV series that film establishing shots of the city’s palm trees and glitz, Scorpion chooses overshots of L.A.’s grit and dirt. The recurring theme is that the grass on the other side isn’t all that green: Having an off-the-chart IQ can be a curse. All of the team members share bleak backgrounds that will unravel throughout the season.

For example, the pilot episode shows some cringe-worthy moments in which Walter unintentionally offends people, including his crush Paige Dineen (Katharine McPhee), a diner waitress who is later hired to be the team’s EQ translator. Paige thought she was having trouble connecting with her 9-year-old son, who has autistic traits, because he’s “challenged”—until Walter flatly tells her, “I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but your son’s a genius.”

One scene has Sylvester trying to comfort the worried, guilt-ridden Paige: “It’s not your fault. … It’s just how we are.” Paige asks, “How did your parents handle it?” And Sylvester, clueless, answers blithely, “Oh, I haven’t spoken to them in 10 years.” It should be interesting to see how the show will weave together such ordinary human interactions with high-speed action.