Anger Management

Anger Management
Season One, Episode Three
Air Date	July 25, 2011
Written By	Ira Steven Behr Robert Hewitt Wolfe
Directed By	Nick Copus
Episode Guide
"Cause & Effect"	"Rosetta"

"Anger Management" is the third episode of Alphas. It originally aired on Syfy from 10:00 pm to 11:00 pm on July 25, 2011.

Summary

After relocating to a new home office in Queens, the team is settling in — well, for the most part. Meanwhile, across town, a confrontation on a train leads to murder. It isn't long before Agent Wilson is on the phone to Dr. Rosen with a new assignment. Turns out it's not just this train that's unusual — four trains in various parts of the country have had extreme incidents, adding up to five fatalities. Agent Wilson thinks this could be an Alpha at work and wants Dr. Rosen to find the culprit.

Based on Rachel's assessment of the crime scene, Rosen thinks the Alpha in question is able to fire off bursts of pheromones when he or she feels threatened in order to cause mayhem. After taking a look at the surveillance tape, the team finds the Alpha they are looking for: A 17 year-old woman named Tracy Beaumont.

Working from home because the buzzing of the microwave tower across the street from the new office distracts him, Gary is able to locate Ms. Beaumont and Dr. Rosen calls in the team. This call is just in the nick of time for Rachel whose parents are trying to marry her off—seemingly by the end of the night. When the team spots Beaumont, she sees them too and ducks into a youth hostel. Immediately, her pheromones cause a riot in the building. Tracy gets away but the team is able to catch her "brother", Matthew Hurley, who seems to be aware of, but immune to, Tracy's powers.

Back at headquarters, Rosen gets Matthew to open up about himself and Tracy, though he claims her real name is Alice, but when Agent Wilson shows up, his aggressive demeanor (and reference to being held at Binghamton) makes Matthew feel threatened and we find out that it is Matthew who shoots pheromones, not Alice. Bedlam ensues and Matthew is able to get away in the confusion but Wilson isn't so lucky: he gets pummeled to death.

The team also discovers that Tracy isn't his sister at all. Alice Hurley is dead, probably a victim of Matthew's powers. Before the melee, Gary was able to learn that Tracy had recently purchased a bus ticket to Chicago. It makes sense for them to reacquire Matthew there. At the bus stop, Matthew professes his love to his girlfriend Tracy, the only person he knows isn't affected by his power, but when he finds out that she's been running from him all along, he gets angry and uses his power to cause a riot and flees the scene.

Bill, the only Alpha member who isn't affected by Matthew's power, catches Matthew and knocks him out cold. Meanwhile, Hicks manages to fight off Matthew's power by use of a serotonin shot, is able to save Tracy's life. With Matthew safely secured at Binghamton and his ex-girlfriend safe from harm, the team is left to ponder what will become of them now that Agent Wilson, their Homeland Security handler, is dead. Ironically, Gary and Hicks, the two team members who had the most trouble adjusting, are the two who are least worried. Especially after Hicks fixes the humming only Gary can hear.

Quotes

Wilson: Score one for Rain Man.
Gary: That's a movie I'm not allowed to watch.

Bill: Learn to follow instructions, you were a marine weren't you?
Hicks: Yeah, and now you know why I'm a civilian.

Bill: Hicks you have got to be kidding me.
Hicks: What?
Bill: You leave a crime scene to go get a cup of coffee?
Hicks: You know I would have brought you a donut but they ran out.

Gary: Bill, you need to shoot it.
Bill: I'm not shooting anything, okay. Look, I'll call them again.
Gary: No, Bill, no more talking. It's time for action. Give me the gun, I'll shoot it.
Bill: Gary, I'm not giving you my gun.
Gary: Yeah, give me your-no, you're right. Give me a grenade.
Bill: Gary, out.
Gary: Bill, give me a grenade.
Bill: Gary, goodbye.
Gary: You don't even have a grenade. Goodbye, Bill.

Hicks: So this is, like, a real job, I mean... I'm on call?
Rosen: People are being killed, Mr. Hicks, and we have to find out how. If it's any consolation, you now have an excellent health plan.

Gary: But I should be sleeping now, and there's still a hum. so I'm upset, and I'm complaining. I just complained.
Hicks: You sure did.

Rachel: You know, Agent Wilson always creeped me out. Did you know that he smelled like stomach acid and Tums? And now that he's dead, I feel bad that I didn't like the way the guy smelled.

Production Notes

• Don Wilson is referred to as being an agent with "Homeland Security." The US Department of Homeland Security does not have agents; it has agencies, which in turn employ agents.