I have watched quite a few criminal investigation shows in my day. The thing a crime drama show must do to be successful is differentiate from the rest in the bunch. A show that can do that, especially when differentiating from shows that aired in the past, is most likely going to be success. It has gotten over the first hurdle. Now it just has to be interesting enough to keep people watching. This relies on the plot, the actors, and the writing. If everything can mesh in these areas, then the show will be (or should be) a success. This is what the hit CBS television show, Numb3rs, has managed to do.

Numb3rs relies on mathematical equations teamed up with state of the art criminal investigation procedures to determine not only who committed a crime, but how the crime was committed. In each episode, the writers must devise clever, real world connections to mathematical situations to explain how quantum physics, engineering, and mathematical principles can determine whether a crime was accidental, murder, and suicide, how much the perpetrator weighed based on water levels in a bathtub, and other things you’d not typically think of when trying to solve a crime.

Numb3rs was the brainchild of creators Nicolas Falacci and Cheryl Heutron. While you may not know their names, they’ve teamed up with some of the biggest names in Hollywood including the show’s producers Ridley Scott (What hasn’t he done?), Tony Scott (Domino, Spy Game, Beverly Hills Cop II, Hostage), Barry Schindel (Law & Order), Brooke Kennedy (Pushing Daisies, Third Watch), and David W. Zucker and directors Andrew Dettman (LAX, The Pretender, Young Hercules), Don McGill (Navy NCIS, JAG), and Liz Friedman (House M.D. , Young Hercules).

The creators pulled out all the stops when choosing actors for this television show. You’re bound to recognize at least one face, and the great thing about the cast of Numb3rs is it is made up of superb actors. There isn’t one performance I can complain about in any of the episodes contained in the Third Season Box Set. This just adds to an already excellent script and outstanding writing. This is why Numb3rs is still going strong in its fourth season.

The show revolves around a genius mathematician, Charlie Eppes (David Krumholtz – Bobby, Ray, Life with Mikey), who spends his time between teaching at Cal Sci University and consulting for the FBI. He uses equations and other math related concepts to help them solve cases. Numb3rs uses a team of real life experts in mathematics to make the show more realistic and help in the writing of the mathematics that is used to help solve each case.

Charlie works with his brother, FBI Agent, Don Eppes (Rob Morrow), and is often given practical advice by his intelligent yet non-mathematical father, Alan (Judd Hirsch). Charlie’s somewhat mentor, whom he sometimes consults (and Charlie is sometimes used as a consultant for him), is another professor, Dr. Larry Fleinhardt (Peter MacNicol). Other important characters, which round out the cast, include David Sinclair (Alimi Ballard), Colby Granger (Dylan Bruno), Amita Ramanujan (Navi Rawat) and Megan Reeves (Diane Farr).

While I had never seen Numb3rs before Season Three, it didn’t take very long to figure out the premise and who the characters were. I was quickly engulfed in the storylines of each episode and I couldn’t wait to see the entire box set of discs. Numb3rs: The Complete Third Season is made up of 24 episodes. None of the crimes are predictable, and most of them have twists that are unexpected. Each episode also contains inventive ways Charlie has developed to help solve each crime. It was hard to narrow down the episodes to a few favorites. A few of the episodes that stuck out as particularly interesting are “Nine Wives” (where the FBI hunts down a pedophile polygamist on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted List), “The Janus List” (A bomber on a bridge requests negotiations with Charlie & Don – an investigation into the bombers background reveals something startling about a member of their FBI Team), “Spree” (a couple who goes on killing sprees is hard for the FBI to profile due to the nature of their crimes), and “The Mole” (a woman is the victim of what appears to be a hit and run, though the secret she hides may affect a member of the Numb3rs team).

The audio quality of the Numb3rs: The Complete Third Season Box Set is Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. This means there is a clear, crisp sound. It couldn’t get any better if you were watching the show in a movie theater or on an HD television. While you cannot turn on any subtitle features, if your television allows for closed captioning, you can use that instead. The music, sound effects, and verbal speech are all vibrant sounding. The visual quality is as impressive as the audio quality. The show was transferred to disc at an aspect ratio of 1.78:1. The enhanced anamorphic widescreen quality of the show won’t be a problem for anyone watching the DVDs included in the box set.

Split up on six discs, Numb3rs: The Complete Third Season features 24 episodes and multiple extra features. There is audio commentary available on five different episodes including “Two Daughters”, “Nine Wives”, “One Hour”, and “Killer Chat”. The commentaries contain various members of the Numb3rs creative team including David W. Zucker, David Krumholtz, Rob Morrow, and special guest star, Lou Diamond Phillips. Other special features in this set are a blooper reel and multiple featurettes; “Crunching Numb3rs: Season Three”, “Set House Tour”, and “Eppes Central”.

Bottom Line: If you like inventive crime dramas, you will love Numb3rs. If you love Numb3rs already, then you need to check out Numb3rs: The Complete Third Season. You won’t be disappointed with this box set or the quality of each of the episodes included in it.

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