Arrow of Time (Numbers)

While Dr. Charlie Eppes (David Krumholtz), a CalSci math professor/FBI math consultant, rehearses a lecture on entropy and his brother, FBI Special Agent Don Eppes (Rob Morrow), is at temple, federal prisoner Buck Winters (David Gallagher) escapes from prison along with two other prisoners. As Winters and his fellow escapees are federal prisoners, the Los Angeles Police Department calls FBI Special Agents David Sinclair (Alimi Ballard) and Nikki Betancourt (Sophina Brown) to the scene of an abandoned car and hands the FBI agents a rope made from dental floss. David explains to Nikki that, two years prior, Buck's wife, Crystal Hoyle, kidnapped fellow FBI Special Agent Megan Reeves (Diane Farr).[1] Don allowed Buck to be tortured in order to learn Megan and Crystal's location.[2] At a briefing at the FBI office, Don acts as though he is not bothered by the news of Buck's escape. Don's girlfriend, Assistant United States Attorney Robin Brooks (Michelle Nolden), becomes worried about Don as the case should be personal to him. FBI Special Agent Liz Warner (Aya Sumika), who knew only about Megan's kidnapping and had learned about Don's actions from FBI Special Agent Colby Granger (Dylan Bruno), confronts Don about his actions. David and Liz take the rope to CalSci to be analyzed by Charlie and Drs. Amita Ramanujan (Navi Rawat) and Larry Fleinhardt (Peter MacNicol), Charlie's friends and fellow FBI consultants. When Charlie and Larry learn of Buck's escape, Charlie is surprised, as Don had not told Charlie about the escape. Larry is visibly upset as Megan was his girlfriend at the time of her kidnapping.

Charlie's calculations reveal that the prison break had been planned for months and that someone outside of the prison had to supply the dental floss. Colby and Nikki bring the girlfriend of one of the prisoners in for questioning. The girlfriend points to a friend of the prisoner's cellmate. David and Colby question the friend, who denies any knowledge of Buck or the floss. Meanwhile, Robin confides to Larry that she wishes that Buck would be found dead, and Larry tells Robin what he was thinking when Megan was kidnapped. Don and Charlie's father, Alan Eppes (Judd Hirsch), confronts Don about his recent behavior. Don confesses that he fears having to kill Buck in a confrontation. Charlie analyzes Buck's movements and realizes that Buck is after Don. At the FBI office, Charlie confronts Don, who is reviewing a tape of the Crystal Hoyle shooting. They discuss the ability to control a situation. Charlie tells Don that Don has to focus on the present since he cannot change the past. As Charlie leaves, Don receives a phone call from Buck.

David, Colby, Nikki, and Liz find one of the escaped prisoners dead at a hotel. While discussing the development, they learn that Don had called Buck. Later, David, Colby, Nikki, and Liz arrest the accomplice. As Don and David prepare to arrest Buck, David confronts Don about Don's recent actions. Don gives David two options: report Don or trust him. Unarmed, Don confronts Buck at Don's synagogue. Don learns that Buck, thinking that his arrest disappointed Crystal, wants Don to kill him. Don explains that he had to shoot Crystal and that the decision has haunted him for some time. The team, who has been positioned around the synagogue, arrests Buck without firing a shot. Robin, who has been outside during Buck's arrest, enters the synagogue and finds Don leafing through a copy of the Tanakh. Meanwhile, Alan, Charlie, Amita, and Larry discuss Don's predicament during a discussion about forming a think tank. Charlie realizes that he contradicted himself while at Don's office; Charlie felt that the situation was irreversible. Larry uses Maxwell's Demon as a metaphor for outside circumstances forcing a change in the situation.

Over 10.14 million people watched "Arrow of Time".[11]

• Numb3rs: Arrow of Time (2009) at Internet Movie Database