Episode 7, entitled "Primacy," of our fourth season was written by Julie Hébert and directed by Chris Hartwill and focuses on the world of video gaming, namely online role-playing games. I was thrilled that we were finally doing something about nerd culture (we do it again in two weeks with a great episode about comic books) because the show from its inception was meant to speak to that very wide-ranging audience of geeks, dweebs, dorks, nerds and four-eyes. I mean, just take one look at me, then get to know me and you'll quickly recognize a true nerd.

I collected comics as a kid, and I am and have always been heavily into video games. From the Commodore system I had as a kid to the Nintendo 16bit system to the legendary Sega Genesis, to PS2, and now XBOX 360 (not to mention Game Boy and PSP), I've played them all.

In fact, embarrassing tidbit: I broke my hand playing video games. How? I was playing a game called NBA Ballers for PS2, and I had made it to the unbeatable Yao Ming level. Yao was very frustrating, and I spent weeks attempting to conquer him on the virtual court. In the moment I realized all my efforts were futile and that he was impossible to defeat, I screamed an expletive and simultaneously karate-chopped my apartment floor. It was a typical gamer rage moment, and I immediately knew I had broken my hand... I felt really stupid.

Numb3rs had just begun filming, and I'm lucky I didn't have to wear a cast, just a splint. But my hand is broken in the second and third episodes of Season 1. I spent the weeks following the injury lying to people about how I had broken my hand. I told them I punched a wall, or a door had slammed on it. One night, outside the Coronet pub in Los Angeles, I ran into an inebriated gamer who looked at my splint and asked me how I had broken my hand. I was inebriated as well, and very sick of making up stories. I told him that it happened when I got angry at a video game. I expected him to laugh at me, but instead he was curious, and quickly asked "What game?" I said, NBA Ballers. He responded knowingly: "The Yao Ming level?" he asked. I broke down and gave him a hug because I knew he understood my pain.
Needless to say, this episode was a lot of fun to make. A break from the norm for us. It guest-stars D.J. Qualls and James Urbaniak, both awesome actors, and centers in on Amita Ramanujan, played masterfully by the lovely Navi Rawat. Turns out Amita has been involved in an online RPG group for a while, and Charlie wonders why she's never mentioned it. It brings up a lot of natural relationship paranoia for Charlie, who begins to question who Amita really is. In the end, we learn that their bond is stronger than ever.

The video game Amita plays in the episode was completely designed, from top to bottom, by our ultra-talented video design group. They develop every on-screen video application for each episode, but they outdid themselves with their work on "Primacy." It's really cool. And Amita's avatar is one hot video-game chick.

Come back after Friday's episode to see what my favorite scene was!

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