Both the fun and the difficulty of Touch is that there are so many moving pieces to keep track of that I wish the show would cut down on just one or two. That said I enjoyed "Safety in Numbers" more than last week's episode, even if all of the pieces didn't quite seem to fit.

First, the things that worked: Martin's relationship with his son continued to grow, bit by bit. When Clea told Martin not to jump every time Jake called, I understood what she was trying to say. To an outsider, Martin would look a little crazy constantly responding to his son's random stream of numbers. But telling a parent not to respond to his child's cries for help, no matter what form they come in, was a lost cause.

Jake pulled yet another Houdini act, but at least this time it was only out of his bedroom and down the hall. Where did he find the phone to call Martin, though? And perhaps more importantly, what was really behind door number 6?

When Martin was working with Walt to unravel the mystery of #3287 I wondered if Martin worried about the similarities between Walt and Jake. Could this be Jake's future, homeless and running through the city streets with a magical ledger?

Could Martin really take away Jake's pain by following the numbers? 

The best part of the episode for me was when Martin came across Rush, the reporter he used to send out for coffee. We finally got a glimpse of Martin before his wife was killed and his world fell apart. Working the story the way a reporter would gave him a confidence and spunk that we haven't seen. 

I'd love to see Martin get back to his roots as a reporter. Jake may be the most important thing in his life but he shouldn't be the only thing. Martin needs to be able to care about more than just his son and his former career as a reporter might help give the show more focus.

Arthur Teller made his way out of his house and over to Jake's board-and-care facility and we got some clues to his past, as Sheri asked why he'd want another patient after everything that happened. What happened? This could be bad, or more specifically, bad for Jake. There are just too many horrifying possibilities to that story but I'm definitely intrigued.

The parts of the episode that didn't work... the story of the South African village was the weak part for me. Other than Grace's test ID number as 3287, I didn't really see how her story correlated to Jake's and, worst of all, I didn't care. 

The dance contest just seemed silly. Anyone who calls himself the Beastmaster deserves to get beaten.

Will this be the last time we see the Japanese girls? They keep popping up in each episode for no particular reason except this time they dropped the video phone. Is that storyline going anywhere because it isn't something that's holding my interest and I'd rather see more insights into Jake and Martin.

But I really did enjoy Martin and Jake's story this week. When Walt told Martin in one of Touch's quotes this week…

You don't know much about magic swords, do you? | permalink

... I had to smile. He doesn't but he's learning to believe in patterns and messages and things he can't see. The universe is calling and if little fire ants can band together to survive floods that should drown them, then Martin and Jake can certainly find a way to communicate with one another and figure out why little toy cars roll back out from under doors of empty rooms.

Just when I think Touch is a touch too complicated, it finds a way to peak my curiosity and have me waiting for more.

C. Orlando was a TV Fanatic Staff Writer. Follow her on Twitter.