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TV | Leverage (Season 3, Rewatch)

Rewatch of the third season of TNT's LEVERAGE (2008-2012), created by John Rogers and Chris Downey together with Dean Devlin and his production company Electric Entertainment.

In anticipation of the show's reboot / revival / sequel LEVERAGE: REDEMPTION coming to IMDbTV on 09 July this year, I am rewatching the original 77 episodes and writing about my favourite moments and things from each episode, season by season.

301: THE JAILHOUSE JOB

D: DEAN DEVLIN. W: JOHN ROGERS: Original Air Date: 20 June 2010.

What a completely excellent season-opener. I love this episode. Love it. I also absolutely adore that we get the tags again like in the pilot episode -- because this is Sophie telling Nate the plan, this is a story being told, the story of his prison break. So it's a lovely touch that we get the little tags again telling you who's who. Charming, really.

This episode has so much great stuff in it, once again. Nate not being allowed to know Sophie's real name yet (I do wonder though, if she actually did tell the others her name, or if they're just toying with Nate), the earbud in the kielbasa, Mr Edwin Hodge, Aldis' brother, as Billy Epping, the team still operating out of Nate's apartment despite him being in prison, Eliot using the Abernathy alias already (see 311), to name a few small things.

I am also incredibly fond of the scene where Sophie takes Worth to 'her' office to talk about his election, because the walls are filled with posters containing names of people involved in the show -- Geoffrey Thorne (writer), Scott Veach (writer), Doug Young (Production Assistant), Emily Weston (Production Assistant) -- and I absolutely adore when they do something like that (just like I loved them using Kirsch Industries in the S2 finale, referring to writer Rebecca Kirsch).

My most favourite thing of this episode, though, is the mapping out the prison sequence, with Hardison creating a digital map, Parker marking the security measures with colour-coded dots on a paper map, and Nate recreating it for himself on his chessboard. I absolutely love it when we get to see process stuff, the team making things for their con and not just the grifting or stealing or punching.

I, of course, also love the return of Bonanno to clear up the case and arrest Worth. I absolutely adore how he talks about Nate here -- "I don't know, Nathan Ford is a very bad man" -- especially given what he did for the Bonanno family just an episode ago. I love Bonanno a whole lot. This episode also introduces us to a major player this season and gives us the overarching villain: the mysterious Italian and her blackmailing the team into going after Damien Moreau. I actually quite enjoy the Italian, mostly because I love it when I get to hear Italians speak their language. Just beautiful.

302: THE REUNION JOB

D: JONATHAN FRAKES. W: MICHAEL COULTON & JOHN ABOUD. Original Air Date: 20 June 2010.

One thing straight off the bat: I know they had to change it because 'Mastermind' is a longer word than 'Leverage' but I am slightly bitter about Nate now getting the 'Brains' attribution. Otherwise, I am still very fond of the intro, it's perfectly cheesy and I adore it.

This episode is amazing. There is just so much to love about this one. First of all, the mind-games. Exquisite. Hardison disliking that Nate is playing with him, Sophie using neurolinguistic programming on Eliot in retaliation for him not removing the cockroach at the Irani restaurant, Eliot's "Sophie, not again!" (I desperately want to know when she did this to him before), them using NLP to hack Duberman's brain and getting him to change the password to the one they chose -- just excellent all the way through. I am pretty sure that the NLP book sitting in my shelves is there because of this episode (it's either that or because of THE MENTALIST).

I also absolutely love Hardison and Eliot as health inspectors. They are so funny together. And then the Irani breaking into Duberman's office and finding Eliot there waiting for him, just going, incredulously, "The health inspector?" and Eliot replying, "I gotta dock ya again!" *Chef's kiss* Just excellent. I love it.

The con at the reunion is obviously also just perfect. I love how, once you know what they're doing, you can pick out the hints toward the password in everything that happens. Sophie touching Duberman with her purse, what she says. The set decoration, Parker in the mascot costume. It's so nicely done. And the reunion part is obviously also incredibly funny because of Nikki the assassin and how Sophie reacts to her ("I always hated cheerleaders. It's mean girls like you that always ruined high school for the rest of us" Sophie, girl, would you like to talk about something?).

My favourite bit of this episode has got to be the ending though. Nate and Sophie being crowned king and queen and their awkward dance. Hardison dancing with a still harnessed in Parker. And of course, Eliot's grumbling back at Dubertech: "Hello? Everybody having a good time at the dance? Anybody wondering if Eliot made it out? [punches a guy] Anybody's wondering if Eliot's alive? Hello??" Just, perfection.

303: THE INSIDE JOB

D: JOHN ROGERS. W: GEOFFREY THORNE. Original Air Date: 27 June 2010.

Oh this one, this one I also love a whole lot. I absolutely adore the opening scene of Nate and Sophie in the apartment. Nate cooking? Nate having Sophie try some of the food? Them talking about the kiss and the slap? Nate leaning all the way into Sophie's space to grab his phone? Most excellent, thank you Messrs Rogers and Thorne.

This episode also introduces us to another beloved character: Archie Leach, thief extraordinaire and Parker's first CrimeDadTM. We would also very much like to see him back in Redemption (does Richard Chamberlain even still work?). I absolutely adore Archie, I think he is a fantastic character. Having the juxtaposition of him and Nate in this episode as dad figures for Parker and how they both have influenced her and helped her grow in some way -- it is so great to watch. I think this is from one of the novels actually but it works with this episode: Archie helped make Parker into the magnificent thief she is, but it was Nate and the rest of the crew who helped make Parker into a person. But I also really like that at the end of the episode, Archie acknowledges that he could/should have done more for Parker. That scene between Parker and him at the end is very lovely (also big Stitch "I found this family on my own" vibes for my girl). Also? Nate's "what I know is that we'd both die to protect her" comment to Archie. Yessir.

Speaking of Parker, what a brilliant episode for her. Beth Riesgraf is absolutely fantastic here. I love the warehouse location a lot. I especially like Sophie's comment there: "This is as clean as one of yours, Nate." The foreshadowing to Parker eventually taking the lead as mastermind is so nicely done. Also just, the growth? Parker being this close to being home free but then turning around and convincing the others to finish the job? Because this is what they do? Beautiful. She's come so far, I love her so much.

We also have some fantastic comedic beats in this episode, but I especially love the sexting bit with the employee. I absolutely adore Eliot pinning him to the wall and Parker's explanation when the guy asks who that was is simply "boyfriend." Yes, yes he is, Parker, yes he is. Speaking of boyfriends, I am also very emo about Nate asking Hardison if he can crack the Steranko and him just rambling, and Nate going: "No, Hardison. For Parker. Can you crack it?" And then he goes and figures it out. Also very fond of Archie calling Hardison Nate's "young man." Very nice. "You got a way out for our girl yet?" *Chef's kiss*

Finally, the gloating on the window cleaner lift is probably one of my favourite gloats in this whole show. Sophie shaking out her hair and then Eliot doing the same just a bit after? Amazing. Just fantastic.

304: THE SCHEHERAZADE JOB

D: PETER WINTHER. W: CHRIS DOWNEY. Original Air Date: 27 June 2010.

Oh I adore this episode! Scheherazade is one of my favourite classical pieces of music. And yes, I discovered it because of this episode. But man, where to even begin with this episode. There is so much goodness in it. Let's see...

Parker and Nate: As mentioned countless times, I love how Nate teaches Parker things, how Parker always wants to learn things from him, and how we establish the mastermind bit like this. The two of them looking over the plans together, orchestrating the break-in together, observing the footage from Hardison's button cam during the con together. Nate hands the organisation of the break-in to Parker, has her run him through the whole thing. They completely work together on this and I absolutely love it.

Eliot: Him watching Hardison manipulate the image of the mark for the article? I love it. "That's good, now make him drunker. And richer." / "What d'you want me to do, give the man a pet tiger?" And then Eliot, his voice tiny and filled with so much hope and awe: "Can you do that?" Your honour, I love him so very much. I love them so very much.

Sophie: Her retelling the story of Scheherazade is absolutely beautiful. She is so fond of this story, you can just hear it. "She's one of literature's all time great grifters." I love it. I also love her, carefully, inquiring about Nate picking up new skills in jail. And obviously, obviously, Sophie -- proud mom that she is -- watching Hardison play the concert. That's her boy, man. I love them. And finally,

Hardison: My man. There's so much to say. I love that he wants to run his own crew some day, that he wants Nate's advice, that he wants to learn, too. I love how he drops the accent for a second when he sees the Stradivarius violin. Like, this is our tech guy, our computer nerd. And he nerds out about a violin. I love him. And of course, Hardison's solo. It is beautiful. I am incredibly emo about everyone of the team stopping in their tracks, just listening to him play. I love that they fuck up the get away because they are so in awe of Hardison playing. It's just beautiful.

This episode is so wonderful, all the way through. I adore it so much.

305: THE DOUBLE BLIND JOB

D: MARC ROSKIN. W: MELISSA GLENN & JESSICA RIEDER (GRASL). Original Air Date: 11 July 2010.

I love this episode specifically for the fact that it shows us a case where it was not the client coming to them, but they decided to step in when they see someone in need of help. We see this kind of in The Order 23 Job (203) where they stop Ronald from shooting Eddie, or later this season in The Boost Job (108), where Nate bails out the teacher, and The Big Bang Job (315) where they go and save Yasmin thanks to the intel of the Italian. We have it in other episodes as well, but those are usually more closely connected to the team (The Miracle Job (108) and The Bottle Job (211), for example), so it is lovely to see that they see an injustice being done to a random stranger, and decide to step in. They are, in fact, good people after all.

There is also other great stuff in this episode. I like that Sophie calls out Nate after he pushes Parker to get what they need even with security nearly on top of her. "You still run this crew, but you're a thief now, just like me." Nate then, later, showing that he isn't going to put any of them at a risk he isn't willing to take himself is an interesting call-back to The Inside Job, too, with Archie's surprised "you're going in after her?" Those scenes make for an interesting look into Nate's character development, I think.

As for comedic beats, this episode has excellent ones. Hardison and Eliot, in the beginning, running into Ashley being chased by Hoffman's goons is excellent. (I love that they, apparently, went to get coffee together? The two of them, alone?) Eliot's "adventure" with the real Jennifer Pearson is also just fantastic. "Dude, we walked the Freedom Trail twice." / "Nice!" / "No, the actual Freedom Trail." Eliot, we all suffer with you. And then he gets dumped for not being spontaneous and adventurous enough? Hysterical.

Of course, what takes the win in this episode, is the pretzels. This show crafts the relationship between Hardison and Parker so masterfully. It is done with so much care and attention, and it is the slowest of slow burns, but so worth it. Parker dealing with jealousy in this episode is so well done. And I love how careful Sophie is when she talks to her about it, at the end. They never treat Parker as fragile, but they also all know her well enough to know with how much care certain things and topics need to be approached, and her relationship with feelings and emotion is definitely one of them. And I think it's done excellently. Hardison, too, is just so good here:

Parker: So, I have to tell you something. Hardison: Okay. [beat] Do you wanna talk now? Parker: Yeah, okay. So the thing is ... I think that maybe, I might be having feelings. Like weird ... weird feelings for ... pretzels. Hardison, seeing the bowl of pretzels between them: Pretzels? Okay. Well, they're right here. When you want them.

Just, the way he says this and how he looks at her. Parker understands what that means. She gets it. Hardison hasn't been hiding the fact that he is romantically interested in Parker since day one. But he knows that Parker has a hard time with interpersonal relationships and so he just waits. He never pushes, he never whines about being friend-zoned or any such bullshit. He just waits. And you know, he would wait forever, even if nothing ever came of it and they would just remain friends. Hardison would have been okay with that. He is so incredibly patient with Parker, it is beautiful. The care this show puts into the development of the individual relationships of these characters is simply masterful and has yet to be matched by anything else I've seen.

306: THE STUDIO JOB

D: JONATHAN FRAKES. W: M. SCOTT VEACH. Original Air Date: 18 July 2010.

I would like to extend my personal thanks, gratitude and everlasting indebtedness to Messrs Frakes and Veach for this episode. I would also like to tell one Mr Kane that he needs to stop hogging. It's unfair to the rest of us that he is good looking, a brilliant actor, skilled at fighting and cooking, and then also sings like that. We'd like some talent too, thank you very much.

Anyway, this episode is absolutely fantastic and I adore it with my whole heart. Kirkwood is an excellently portrayed major prick and you love to hate him. I always feel bad for actors who are very good at playing characters I would like to punch in the face, because that always feels like an insult to them. No offense to John Schneider, but I'm glad Eliot got to beat you up.

This is obviously a very Eliot-centric episode, but before I get to him, I wanna lose a few words about the others. The cowboy look is continually one that just works for Nate, and I am mad about it. Sophie's European producer look is a choice and I love it. I also love how she is, once again, upset about the food choices available to her. I am entirely fond of her laughing at Parker's antics when she is stalling so that Eliot and Kaye Lynn can arrive.

Speaking of Parker, she is wonderful in this episode. Her dancing-pick-pocket sequence? Beautiful. Her Bjork parody? Most excellent. Her stalling for Eliot? *Chef's kiss* I also absolutely adore that she doesn't get that Eliot is the fiddle for the longest time. Hardison, too, is great in this episode and I would like to extend my personal gratitude to the ever-fantastic Nadine Haders for Hardison's recording studio outfit. Aldis Hodge has been fine long before he had to take his shirt off in WGN's Underground. I love his pitchy bit with Eliot in the recording studio a whole lot, because I feel like that could just as well be Chris and Aldis playing around on set.

Now, Eliot. I've always said, Eliot's character arc throughout this show is one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen, and this episode is a key stone in that arc. Obviously, we get some of the usual Eliot gruffness. Him being followed by a bunch of fangirls, grumbling to Hardison about how he can't have people recognise him on the street with what he's done in his life. His fight with Kirkwood's goon in the studio, how mad he is at Hardison for forgetting the tape. The way he is still fully alert and on the outlook for threats at all times ("Who do you work for? / "Forever21, don't hit me." Hysterical). His dislike of Hardison's Spencer Smurf voice.

But Eliot also offers so much of himself again, in this episode. We had some of it in The Tap-Out Job (202), which I talked about, as well as The Two Horse Job (106), and this episode does some similar things -- we get a similar stunt of "screw everything, we get this done" when he races Kirkwood to the studio with Kaye Lynn as we had in 106 with the horse-riding -- but it also adds much more. We see Eliot a smidge insecure and vulnerable. He startles when Parker walks up to him, and he shows genuine nerves about his performance. He wants to do well for the con and for Kaye Lynn, and I think he genuinely needs that advice she gives him on how to play, and where to play from. Much like the Aimee's family comment in 106, I am incredibly fond of this conversation Eliot has with Kaye Lynn.

Kaye Lynn: You ever been in love? Eliot: Once. Kaye Lynn: How'd it end? Eliot: I made her a promise that if she ever needed me that I'd be there for her. Kaye Lynn: What's wrong with that? Eliot: Because I made the same promise to the United States government. And I found out you can't make that promise to more than one person.

One the one hand, it gives Eliot the right context to play the song as it is meant to be played. On the other, it gives us such incredible insight into Eliot as a person. But what makes this stand out for me specifically, just like Aimee's family thing, is that last bit. "You can't make that promise to more than one person." And then he goes and, two seasons later, makes that promise to both Hardison and Parker when he says "'Till my dying day." Drop your location, John Rogers, I swear I just wanna talk. Eliot, sir, I am emo about you.

307: THE GONE FISHIN' JOB

D: JOHN HARRISON. W: REBECCA KIRSCH. Original Air Date: 25 July 2010.

First of all, shout-out to that pride flag in front of the client's house. This episode is of course heavy on the Eliot/Hardison content, so I'll talk mostly about that, but before I do, some other highlights: Sporty is a good look on Nate and I am mad about it. That one woman who keeps up with Parker's pace on the bike at the gym? Excuse me, that is a whole lesbian right there. The way she smirks at Parker? Thas some gay shit (thanks Becky!). Nate stealing his boys a whole damn train? Thanks Becky. Also I adore how worried Sophie is and how much not knowing what is happening to her boys is distracting her from the con. The Mom is strong in this one. Parker deleting the list of outstanding payments from people? This show, guys, this show! But now, my boys.

I adore how Eliot jumps on the opportunity to take Hardison with him to the bank so they can go fishing after together. He is so damn excited about it, too. Like, sir, you are a professionally trained murder machine, stop being so fucking adorable okay? It's giving me emotions. Their whole escape journey is completely excellent too. Hardison's panicked fear, Eliot's steady calmness. It's a wonderful dynamic. The high-five for morale thing? *Chef's kiss* is all I'm saying. But what stands out most, to me at least, is them having the same moment of hesitation that Parker had in THE INSIDE JOB. They can't just walk away, this is not what they do. They help, they protect. So they let Nate's stolen train go by and turn back.

The conversation Eliot has with Hardison when they come up with their plan and prepare their traps is just wonderful.

Eliot: You feeling confident? Hardison: Noooot really. Eliot: Good. 'Cause overconfidence will kill you faster than a bullet any day. Fear's good. Hardison: Oh I have fear. And doubts. And really serious regrets. I should be fine.

It's just perfect. And then they go and whoop some hillbilly ass and it is beautiful. Hardison's high-five for morale and Eliot's laugh at that? The way those two smile at each other when Hardison tells Nate he made a bomb out of a menthol light? The ending with the two of them fishing digitally and Eliot being upset about it in his sad little hat? Drop your location Becky Kirsch, I am sending you a fruit basket. Or a case of wine. A huge teddybear. Anything you want.

308: THE BOOST JOB

D: MARC ROSKIN. W: ALBERT KIM. Original Air Date: 1 August 2010.

Another excellent episode, as I've been saying about every single episode on this show, and will continue to be saying about every single episode of this show. And the reboot, too, very likely.

I like this one for several reasons. Of course, this is a good episode for Parker, but there is generally just so much fantastic stuff going on. I adore that, when the crew needs to get rid of someone, clear out a place, they just send the people on holiday. Oh whoops, guess you win an all-inclusive holiday to some exotic beach resort. It's just lovely. They're so good to these random people. They're giving the Bauers an entire holiday just so they can borrow their business for a few days. How nice is that?

I am absolutely in love with the kids in their overalls posing as Nate's race crew when he goes up against Duke Penzer in Eliot's car. It is such a good look. There's just something about overalls and grease that works for me every damn time. And to have all three of them in that outfit? Thank you, Nadine Haders, all my love to you.

Other highlights of this episode include Sophie selling Mr Carey that car, Eliot speaking Spanish, the Nate slaps Sophie's ass / Sophie knees Nate "to sell the bit" bit, Eliot blowing out Hardison's EMP gun like a revolver after using it on the stolen cars, the entire "Nate's gonna kill you" bit in the car after Josie comes to get them from the docks, and of course, Nate handing Eliot the cardboard cutout of himself to take back to Boston.

The Parker subplot is also just dear to my heart. Her confiding in Hardison about having been a car thief and her stint in Juvie, the way she immediately recognises herself in Josie and tries her best to make sure she will get out of this safely. Sophie's right -- the fact that she thought about doing the right thing at all, is such an improvement for Parker. She has come so far, she has grown so much. And I adore how Sophie tells Nate to go easy on Parker, and that he does. If we look back at the first season with THE JUROR #6 JOB where she is punished for acting out (or maybe just being herself?), to now? It's beautiful.

And what they do is just beautiful too. Penzer and Lefty's gang go down, but they save Josie, they make sure she gets out. And I adore that they have their client take her on, make sure she's getting a legit job so she can leave the life of crime behind. Nate and Parker's conversation there is just absolutely excellent too.

Nate: Well, you know, she's not a bad kid. Parker: No, she isn't. Nate: She's just got to be around the right people. Parker: Yeah. Don't we all?

And I love that this, yes, is about Parker having found the right people in this family right here (also reminiscent of Sophie's comment to the director of the rehab facility in THE 12 STEP JOB when they get Parker out at the end), but it is just as much also about Nate as well. About all of them, really. And they both recognise that.

309: THE THREE-CARD MONTE JOB

D: DEAN DEVLIN. W: CHRISTINE BOYLAN. Original Air Date: 8 August 2010.

Ah yes, the introduction of Jimmy Ford played by the excellent Tom Skerritt. I don't think they could have found a better person to portray Nate's dad, the facial similarities are astonishing. The shot of Nate through the projection of Jimmy's face is both an excellent visual and highlights the similarities perfectly. Y'know, I genuinely like Jimmy Ford. I know not many do -- fair enough, I can see why -- but I do quite enjoy that character.

This episode has some great moments in it. From Hardison's "I swear on my mama I will blow a whole through your bedroom and Spider-Man out the side of this building" to Parker throwing a crowbar at Eliot's head, from Hardison and Eliot's cop aliases (Detectives Moffat and Davies. We love a good DOCTOR WHO reference) to Sophie calling them cupcakes.

I love the pill scam Nate does with his dad. It's a really great moment between the two of them, and it quite nicely highlights the world Nate grew up in having Jimmy as his dad. I adore the bit in the pub's backroom before that, too. Nate's line to Pietr when he complains about his inclusion is just excellent: "Gee, does that mean I can't come to your birthday party and ride the pony?" Perfect delivery, too.

I like this episode, and I like Jimmy, because it gets us another insight into Nate as a character. We get to see another side of him here. Not just Nate, the ex-insurance cop. Not just Nate, the ex-con who's finally accepted that he's now a thief and not really a "good" guy anymore. When he's with Jimmy he is just a smidge more Irish, just a smidge more of the Boston accent. He does it, too, when he uses Jimmy's name as an alias in other episodes (201 comes to mind). When he's with him, he becomes just a bit more Jimmy's son Nathan, and not Nate Ford, provider of leverage. And I always like learning more about a character, so this episode is great, to me.

310: THE UNDERGROUND JOB

D: MARC ROSKIN. W: MELISSA GLENN & JESSICA RIEDER (GRASL). Original Air Date: 15 August 2010.

Another episode where I have to extend my gratitude to our beloved costume designer Nadine Haders for Eliot's looks. Yessir, I am all about that. That get-up he wears in the final scene with Nate and the client? I am speechless. High mix of gender envy and damn sir going on right there. Thank you, Nadine.

This episode is generally just marvellous, honestly. Another excellent instance of Eliot bonding with a kid and making sure he's alright at the end of it. Parker grifting. Taking notes. It's just so good. I love the scene where Sophie gives her advice on how to con Pierce.

Sophie: Tell me how you break into a bank. Parker: Clock the cameras, count the guards, find the silent alarms, look for a weak spot to enter, pick the vault's combination, and steal the money. Sophie: Just analyse Pierce the same way you would a security system. Here. Take notes. There's your mark. Find her weak spots. With politicians, it's usually a need for adoration. The same way that you wear black to mask yourself from security cameras, flattery can mask your intentions. Find the right combination, and you can unlock the mark's trust. And then you can steal her... Parker: ...Soul. Sophie: I was gonna say "confidence."

And then Parker goes and grifts beautifully. I adore how, at the end, she goes into the back of Lucille, pulls out a blanket and a pillow from one of the storage drawers and just lies down for a nap right there. The thing about her notes and Hardison touching his chin is also just excellent.

Another moment I really adore in this episode, is Nate, Eliot and Hardison in front of the mine, before Eliot goes in to find the bomb. The handshake and hug? For morale? Eliot being pretend-upset about it and then smiling so big when he walks away? Hardison's "My dude. Go with God."? Just so damn good. I love them very much.

Just, a lot of excellent content in this episode. Another absolute hit by the wonder twins. That moniker is so well deserved, honestly. These two just knocked it out the park in every damn thing they put on paper.

311: THE RASHOMON JOB

D: ARVIN BROWN. W: JOHN ROGERS. Original Air Date: 22 August 2010.

RASHOMON JOB MY BELOVED <3 This is the one episode where I make an exception to my "I refuse to choose a favourite episode" rule about this show. This, this episode is my favourite. I think part of it is, because it can stand alone so nicely. Yes, it's embedded into the plot of this season with the threat of Damien Moreau hanging over their head, but just like they all tell Nate, this is more important right now.

This episode is absolutely fantastic and I love it with all my heart and soul. I could wax poetically about this episode for hours. It has everything. Absolutely everything. Mr Rogers, sir, if I had anything to give, you could have all of it. My house, my boat, my wife. I have none of those things, but you can have 'em all, for this episode alone.

There are so many reasons to love this episode. It is an excellent study in character. It's a wonderful example of unreliable narration. I just adore it. I love how they all butcher Sophie's accent to hell -- except, of course, for Nate, who'd probably be hanged for it, let's be honest. I love that in all their stories Coswell is a smart, cunning, capable man, always on their tail and this close to catching them -- except, of course, for Nate, where he is a bumbling fool, an idiot in love with Sophie's museum staff role.

It needs exceptional talent and a fantastic show to make watching the same plot unfold five times exciting, and this show does it flawlessly. I adore the insertion of Nate in his pub clothes into the scenes of the story being told (they'll do a similar thing in the last season again in THE FRAME-UP JOB which is also just excellent). There is just so much greatness in this episode.

But, what I think really makes this episode for me, are the parts back at the pub. Parker leaving the argument to go grab Nate in a way that screams "Dad come help." Nate being completely full of shit throughout their re-tellings because from the moment Sophie says Dagger of Aqu'abi he knows what this is about and exactly where this is going. I adore how all of them (well, except Parker) tell their story as "and then I had it!" which they then have to backtrack. Eliot's reveal that he is Dr. Abernathy, using the shot glasses to give himself Abernathy's glasses. Hardison's laugh at the end of Eliot's story. Hardison's "I beat you (Sophie), and I beat you (Eliot) too, and nothing else matters" and Nate inquiring what else doesn't matter. Eliot mocking Hardison's laugh when he reveals that he didn't get the dagger either. And of course, Parker's little shell game, Nate tapping her fist, and the utter shock and betrayal on Sophie's face when she reveals the crumpled piece of paper. "What? I'm a thief!" Most excellent.

I absolutely adore how they all move around the bar to tell their stories. Sophie behind the bar, Eliot and Parker at the table across the room, Hardison by the dart board, Nate once again behind the bar. It just makes it so obvious that this is their space, fully. They feel comfortable and at home there. Not just Nate's apartment, but the bar too. And of course, I love Nate's whole entire bit throughout this episode. From the surprise at the reveal of Eliot as Abernathy, to how he inquires about Hardison's interest in the dagger. How he talks to Parker and plays her game. And of course, the way he just goes silent and then crosses to the bar, very smug, and asks about the insurance of the dagger.

The way this episode is designed and visually realised is just so damn good. And then of course, Nate reminding them why they are here now, together. And them going after the dagger again, as a team. And Nate's "ah what the hell" before he slides over the bar and goes after them. This episode is absolute perfection and I love with with my whole heart. This show is a masterpiece and I will not hear a single negative word about it, ever.

312: THE KING GEORGE JOB

D: MILLICENT SHELTON. W: CHRISTINE BOYLAN. Original Air Date: 29 August 2010.

For all accounts and purposes, a Sophie episode! Who, by the way, looks just gorgeous in that opening sequence at the airport. I really like how this episode is constructed. After the very outside-the-plot episode that was Rashomon, this one quickly brings us back into the overarching season narrative of going after Moreau. And I like that it sets us up in one place, but then we have to go elsewhere.

This is also one of the first times, I think, where they have to readjust their con not because they did their job too well, but simply because they had not calculated for their mark playing another, bigger game than they anticipated. Keller using children to smuggle art wasn't even on their radar. When A'Yan is arrested because of the artefact in her bag, the team immediately reassesses and works up a new plan. It also gives the episode a sympathetic client and not just a villainous mark.

There is a lot of great stuff happening in this episode. I like that we get a bit of an insight into Sophie's past when the Countess of Kensington shows up. It's a reminder how real Sophie's cons are, how intricately constructed the personas she assumes. And this one -- Lady Charlotte Prentiss -- is likely one of the realest, most intricate ones. Sophie is such an enigma and doing episodes centred around her like we have around the others is difficult without giving too much away. We want Sophie to remain a mystery.

Learning about Hardison's foster family, or Parker's difficult childhood doesn't take away from their characters, it builds. So does what we learn of Eliot and Nate. But it is incredibly difficult to do something like that with Sophie, because her character relies on being shrouded in mystery, that we never really know who she is or where she came from. So the way this episode does it, hinting at the life she lived as Lady Charlotte, it's just the right amount of backstory. It's very nicely done.

Hardison is also just excellent in this episode. I love his quip about the ancient computers: "Okay apparently their computer system is also an antique. Possibly steam-powered, which would be cool." And then of course his adventure with the fake diary. It's such a nice look into how insanely talented this man is. He's a hacker, he's a computer guy, he's the nerdiest of nerds. But he's also just so damn smart.

That he figures out a way to do exactly what Sophie needs him to make, to do it in a way that is doable in the given time they have, and that it is good enough to actually fool Keller? He, truly, is a damn genius. And an excellent forger, at that. Which, I think, sometimes we forget. He's the hacker after all. But I mean, he painted Old Nate (and I'm assuming also the other paintings in the LA office). He creates law enforcement clothing that looks genuine. Yes, he's a hacker, but damn he's a fine forger too.

I also just love the bit where Eliot comes to bring him supplies and touches the paper. Eliot and Parker returning later to see how far Hardison has come with the diary is also just completely fantastic. "In a single day I've gone from apprentice to journeyman to master." Yes, yes you have my man. "I've hacked history, people!" Yes, yes you did.

My overall favourite moment of this episode, though, is without a doubt the bit around the table with the statue of Ra, with Sophie explaining to all of them why Keller knew Nate was lying to him. It's a really lovely moment. Hardison smelling it, Eliot feeling the texture of the foot, Parker asking if she can taste it. It's such a great moment. I adore it when we get to see how they learn from each other, how they teach each other the tricks of their trade and all become better for it. Just. Beautiful.

313: THE MORNING AFTER JOB

D: JONATHAN FRAKES. W: CHRIS DOWNEY. Original Air Date: 05 September 2010.

Oh I love this one, actually. This is one of those where the thought of it doesn't quite make me go "oh yay!" because of the mark, but when I watch it, it is always excellent. So many good little bits throughout.

Parker back again on the main grift and she is doing so well! I adore the moment with her and Nate at the airport very much. How he encourages her, the way she hides behind him when he points out that the assigned FBI handler for Vector is our dear friend McSweeten, the fact that he stays nearby and makes sure she's gonna be alright. Nate and Parker have so many great "take your daughter to work" moments and I adore them so much.

I have, of course, a huge soft spot for McSweetheart. I adore him, truly. He is the sweetest fucking thing. The way his face lights up when he sees Parker is just beautiful. I am also terribly in love with the fact that they end up stuffing the prisoner in McSweeten's car so that he gets another win since they made a mess for him when they stole away Vector for their con. McSweetheart deserves only the best (please, Dean and Kate, bring him back. I want him back).

Eliot and Hardison are also just fantastic in this episode. They make those uniforms look so damn good. There's just something about the gloves and the hats that just fucking works. I love how they just bicker and argue the whole episode -- about the car, about the con, about the convict, about taking the detour to deal with the couple yelling at each other -- but when it comes down to it, when the corrupt cops show up at McRory's, they work together immediately and flawlessly. The way Eliot just says "Hardison, dark" and then does his thing? Perfect. I love them very much.

Nate and Sophie are also just good this episode. I love the little moment in the bar before Nate goes upstairs to deal with Vector. Sophie fixing his tie, asking him if he's worried ("About you? Never"). It's just lovely.

There is one thing about this episode, that I would just like to address to both John Rogers and whoever the set designer of this episode was: What the fuck is it with the many canvas pictures of praying mantises in Nate's bedroom? I have so many questions.

314: THE HO HO HO JOB

D: MARC ROSKIN. W: MICHAEL COLTON & JOHN ABOUD. Original Air Date: 12 December 2010.

Our first Christmas episode! And what a lovely one it is. Nate, of course, is a complete Scrooge, with a "bah, humbug" line and everything. Because of course he is. And I adore that Parker is the polar opposite of that. She loves Christmas and it is wonderful. I love her outfit, her antlers are cute (and I do wonder if her wearing antlers is a low-key DOCTOR WHO reference to Wilf wearing very similar antlers in David Tennant's final episodes as the Doctor). And I adore that she hits Nate in the head with them.

Their client can't be any other than Santa, of course. Because who else would they help in their first Christmas episode? And who else would be behind the mark's evilness than our resident Grinch himself, Mr Wil Wheaton, aka Chaos. It's the perfect Christmas episode, no doubt about it.

Santa-Eliot is, of course, excellent. I love how he even wears the costume to break into the Yakamoto building. And then he leaves the guard a candy-cane? And tells the team that he did that? Just lovely, honestly. His fight with the other Santas is also just fantastic. "We doing this with or without beards, boys?" Most excellent.

Other highlights include: Parker decorating their Christmas tree with diamonds she stole. Parker trying to give Eliot a gingerbread house. Chaos in the jester outfit. "The plan is -- to figure out the plan in the car." Pretend-drunk couple Nate and Sophie during the Yakamoto break-in. Hardison's EMP gun carol. That one little girl giving one of the Santa-goons a kiss on the cheek. And this:

Chaos: You have to admit, it was a good plan. Hardison: Yeah. But there's one thing you didn't count on. Chaos: Oh, no. Hardison: You forgot about the true meaning... Chaos: No. No. Don't you say it! Hardison: ...of Christmas. Chaos: Aah! That barely applies here!

The best thing about this episode, however, is definitely the ending. The way Nate tries and fails to express that they got the kids gifts. The way these gifts are just utterly perfect. I adore Eliot's whole reaction to the Hanzo sword. The way his face just softens in awe. He is completely speechless. Hardison's completely shocked face is absolutely perfect too. And Parker's sweet patient giddiness. Oh, she's the cutest. And then when she gets the envelope with the money? I love her. I also adore how Nate and Sophie just watch them all completely absorbed in their gifts. Parker counting and smelling the money, sorting it on the table. Hardison with his gadget, completely focused on it. Eliot trying out the sword on the chair. Just, pure excellence this episode. And then, of course, the snow, and Parker's reaction to it. I love them all so very much.

315: THE BIG BANG JOB

D: MARC ROSKIN. W: CHRIS DOWNEY & GEOFFREY THORNE. Original Air Date: 19 December 2010.

This episode is pure brilliance and it is making me very emo about my man Eliot Spencer. It is an absolutely excellent episode for him. The whole bit with Moreau is fantastic, but it is the scene in the park after, with the team, that really makes it. The whole exchange is worth mentioning here:

Hardison: Hey, Eliot worked with Moreau back in the day. A lot. Tell them. Nate: We've been chasing Moreau for six months, and you didn't tell us. Eliot: Because I was trying... Nate, talking over him: Because what? Eliot: ...to figure out a way around this, all right, maybe take my shot before -- Nate: 'Cause you're protecting him? Is that what you're -- Eliot: I'm protecting you! All right? Last time I checked, that's my job. Nate: Look, we can handle Moreau. Eliot: We're out of our league, Nate. Every one of Moreau's men has innocent blood on their hand, every one of 'em. Every one of 'em... are worse than me. You think you know what I've done? The worst thing I ever did in my entire life, I did for Damien Moreau. And I -- I'll never be clean of that. Parker: What did you do? Eliot: Don't ask me that, Parker. Because if you ask me, I'm gonna tell you. So, please, don't ask me.

It is just so good. The way he delivers that line to Parker? The emotion there is absolutely astonishing.

The whole bit at the end in the warehouse is, of course, also absolutely fantastic. I watched the BTS for that shoot-out just recently, and the way they designed the whole sequence is just so good. It's a great action sequence but also such an important character moment for Eliot. We have, until now, never seen him fire a gun. It has been a conscious choice that every time Eliot gets his hand on a gun, he unloads it and takes it apart, making sure it cannot be used. It's such a strong beat in his arc that now, to do what needs to be done so they can finally take down Moreau for good, he does the one thing he continually said he doesn't do. So he uses the guns. But it's also just such a badass fucking scene. And the costuming is also just excellent.

I also wanna quickly mention the bit of Hardison/Parker we got in this episode. I really liked those exchanges of "I have an idea" / "Am I gonna hate it?" / "No, but I/he (Hardison) is." And of course, once they manage to blow up the bomb, the exchange they have at the back of the train before getting picked up by Sophie.

Parker: You know what I'm in the mood for? Hardison: What? Parker: Pretzels. Hardison, with dawning realisation: Heeeeeeey.

It's just such a lovely call-back. I adore them, your honour.

I also absolutely adore how mad Moreau gets at Nate in the final scenes. He keeps asking him who he is, and Nate never says, and it's fantastic. It's gonna continue in the next episode and I love it very much. I am also very fond of Nate holding back Eliot, and them then making sure the Italian is okay instead. I've honestly really enjoyed the dynamic of Nate and the Italian throughout this last rewatch, and I'm not sure I had before. But I think it's a very interesting combination of characters.

One last thing, I really appreciate that after the initial irritation that Eliot kept his connection to Moreau from the team, Nate doesn't even hesitate when Eliot asks him to keep what he did in that warehouse to himself. That the others don't need to know what horrible things he is truly capable of. And Nate doesn't hesitate or ague for a second. And I love that.

316: THE SAN LORENZO JOB

D: MARC ROSKIN. W: JOHN ROGERS & M. SCOTT VEACH. Original Air Date: 19 December 2010.

Let me open with Nate's plea:

Nate: Now, we've been in this situation before, when I pushed you into it. Parker: You were drunk. Super drunk. Nate: Thanks, Parker. I remember that. So I've pushed you, I've tricked you, I've lied to you. So now, I'm just going to ask you. And if any of you -- any of you -- say no, then it's done. We don't do it. Please. Help me get rid of this Moreau guy for good.

It's so good. Nate's character arc is an incredibly interesting thing, and when I think about it too much, I end up sending way too long text messages to friends about it. But it's so well done. And this bit here, it's a key stone in that whole arc.

This episode, though, is so much fun. Moreau's growing frustration with Nate and his team, Ribera's annoyance at Moreau dragging these people to San Lorenzo and causing trouble. The team building up Vittori as Ribera's opponent, Sophie's act as Vittori's fiancée. It's just so good.

Also, the fact that Nate is running an American campaign? "In the absence of truth, the press will report rumour. Didn't you get it, Moreau? I mean, from the beginning, I was running an American campaign. No need win, you just declare victory from the start, first, and you stick to the story." It's both hilarious and also such fantastic commentary on how the US political system works. Ah, John Rogers, you mad bastard. I love you.

I am incredibly fond of how quick Ribera is to give up Moreau. This whole election has been an annoying nuisance to him and he'd much rather enjoy himself. As soon as Nate mentions Moreau's villa, Ribera is all aboard. It's just so funny.

I also very much love Nate's line about Hardison: "I have a 24yr old genius with a smartphone and a problem with authority. You really never stood a chance." And of course Sophie dying -- again -- and showing up at her own memorial -- again. Nate's invitation to a "friendly drink" is also just excellent. And, finally, them ending up in bed together. It's been a long time coming, but we have finally arrived. "Uh-oh" indeed, Sophie.

One moment that really stands out for me, though, is when we have Eliot and Parker down in the bunkers, trying to find a way to break out Flores and his people. The way Eliot looks back at Parker when Flores asks him if he would ever leave his team behind is just perfect. Makes me incredibly emo, gives me lots of feelings, and I'd like to have a few friendly words with Christian Kane and John Rogers about them, but it's perfect.

As is, of course, Moreau yelling after Nate, asking again who the hell he is, because he still hasn't gotten a single answer to that question. What a brilliant finale. This show hasn't had a single bad season finale. Well, this show hasn't had a single bad episode, but y'know. I can only say it so often.

[image taken from the electricnow website]

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TV | The Good Fight (503)

503: AND THE COURT HAD A CLERK...

D: TYNE RAFAELI. W: WILLIAM FINKELSTEIN. Original Air Date: 08 July 2021.

Non-spoiler-free recap and review of episode three of CBS' THE GOOD FIGHT (2017-) season five.

RECAP

Thanks to her success with Rivi, Carmen is personally chosen as representation by another high-profile client, Craig Wolfe-Coleman, an accused rapist. DAVID LEE (ZACH GRENIER), who is currently in charge of STR Laurie which Reddick & Lockhart is a subsidiary of, is at first confused about the demand for Carmen but is quick to recognise a profit to be made.

While Carmen is busy taking on this new client, Marissa is left to deal with menial paperwork older associates deem to be below them. Frustrated with being ignored and being denied actually valuable work, Marissa finds herself returning to Judge Wackner's copy-shop court 9 3/4. Wackner is delighted to see her and, after aiding him in deciding on a case about fanfiction copyright, offers her a job as a law clerk with him. Unsure at first -- because this is, after all, not a real court -- Marissa eventually accepts the offer.

Marissa's career at Wackner's court is seemingly cut short after Diane discovers what she is doing, because a client sent her hundreds of Build-A-Bears after she helped them. Diane doesn't want Marissa's activities to get the firm in trouble, so she tells her if she wants to keep working at R&L she needs to stop going to Wackner's court. However, Wackner seeks out Diane and decides to hire the firm for their consultation services -- thus effectively hiring Marissa in a more official manner which is acceptable to Diane.

At the same time, Diane is dealing with a personal matter as well. Her husband KURT (GARY COLE) discovers that he recognises one of the people on the FBI's wanted poster regarding the Capital riots of January 06. Finding out about this, Diane asks him about it, but he refuses to name names. However, with what he discloses and Jay's investigatory talent, Diane eventually has a name and decides to anonymously report it.

FBI's MADELINE STARKEY (JANE LYNCH) investigates the report and visits Kurt at his job to ask him about the names of the other veterans belonging to the same group he was teaching at the shooting range. Kurt, of course, refuses. As Kurt tells Diane more, she decides to take matters into her own hands and represent him legally. Meeting with Starkey, they find out that the man Kurt recognises has now, in his statement, made Kurt part of the whole conspiracy. Throughout, Diane is conflicted between her love and support for her husband, and the justice she wants to have served against the people involved in the Capital riot.

While Diane is engaged in personal matters, Liz is handling a defamation case against a small bike store owner who lost his business because a neighbour spread rumours online about him grooming and molesting young boys. Although the representing lawyers meet to decide on a settlement in favour of Liz's client, it turns out that the neighbour is bankrupt and cannot even pay her lawyer.

Liz is then approached by DAVID CORD (STEPHEN LANG) who offers the firm 12 million dollars if they continue the defamation suit, but go after Section 230 -- which protects online platforms and social media from being sued, unlike what can happen to newspapers -- and sue the online platform ChumHum where the rumours have been circulated instead. Taking on Julius as her second because their sponsor does not take well to Democrats (he's a GOP operative), Liz continues working on the case. And although they, arguably, win the case in the eyes of JUDGE CLAUDIA FRIEND (BEBE NEUWIRTH), she cannot legally rule in their favour because of Section 230. Their sponsor is, however, interested to continue the case for as long as possible.

REVIEW

There was a lot going on this episode, but as always I've quite enjoyed it. I don't know what it is about this show exactly, but I really dig it. It's so far out of my usual tv watching pattern, but for some reason I am always super invested while watching this.

I am still a huge fan of Mandy Patinkin's copy-shop court. I've always enjoyed him as an actor, and he is just magnificent here. I am so happy that we will likely see a lot of him this season, especially with Marissa now working for him. I think he is delightful and I cannot wait to see where that plot line is going exactly. I love the story he tells to Diane to convince her that him hiring the firm so he can keep Marissa is a good idea. And I was glad that she accepted.

I am still very suspicious about Carmen. There is so much hidden depth in that character and I want to know more. I loved Liz's line: "I have no idea what I am about you." Carmen is an enigma, a puzzle, and I can't wait to learn more about her. There has got to be something behind that cool, confident exterior.

The whole Kurt dilemma is going to be big drama, I suspect. But I am very happy we have Jane Lynch back with her terrible office. Agent Starkey is such a great character. But yeah, I smell a lot of tension in the Lockhart-McVeigh household coming up about this whole Capital riots thing.

Also, uhm? Shout-out to the return of AARON TVEIT's lawyer character SPENCER ZSCHAU? I forgot he was in this show before, to be honest. But yay, Aaron! We love him here.

And of course, lest I forget, we had another wonderful musical short explaining Section 230 this episode! Those musical shorts are one of the fantastic things about this show, and I am glad we have them back this season too.

Anyway, I really quite enjoyed this episode. Looking forward to next week!

[still image taken from vulture's recap article of this episode]

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TV | Loki (105)

105: JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY

D: KATE HERRON. W: TOM KAUFFMAN. Original Air Date: 07 July 2021.

Non-spoiler-free recap and review of the fifth episode of LOKI, which airs every Wednesday on Disney+.

RECAP

Picking up from last week's mid-credit scene, we find Loki stranded in an unknown place, where he is found by four other Loki variants. The place, it turns out, is the Void, and it is where all destroyed timelines end up. The Void is home to Alioth, a cloud creature which devours everything thrown into the Void and removes it from existence permanently.

While Loki and his new companions hurry to safety -- a bunker they have survived in together since arriving in the Void --, back at the TVA, Sylvie is forcing Renslayer to give her the answers about the TVA and the Time Keepers she is looking for. Claiming to want those answers herself as well, Renslayer teams up with Sylvie and they use Miss Minutes to access data. They realise that, much like Sylvie had been able to hide from the TVA in apocalypses, whoever is behind everything may be hiding beyond the timeline, inside or behind the Void. However, going beyond the Void is impossible, except with a spacecraft specifically designed to do so. However, it turns out, Renslayer lied about the craft and has merely been stalling. She has no intentions to betray the TVA and join forces with Sylvie. In a stand-off with Renslayer and her agents, Sylvie -- still in possession of Renslayers TemPad -- decides that the only way to be sure about her theory, is to prune herself and be sent to the Void.

Meanwhile, Loki had learned about the individual stories of the Variants as well as the reality of the Void and Alioth, and has decided that the only way to leave the Void, is to kill Alioth. The variants laugh at this plan, so Loki decides to go at it himself, however, before he can leave the bunker, an army of other Loki variants led by PRESIDENT LOKI (TOM HIDDLESTON) infiltrate the bunker and seek to overthrow Kid Loki who is, among the Lokis, the current ruler. As it is a main characteristic of Lokis to betray others, a fight among the variants for the throne breaks out, and Classic, Kid, Alligator, and our TVA Loki make an escape. Reluctantly, the others decided to help Loki get to Alioth.

Having pruned herself, Sylvie has arrived in the Void and immediately has to escape from Alioth. In her escape, she uses magic to defend herself and realises that the creature could be enchanted. While running from Alioth, a small Pizza delivery car races towards her to aid her in the escape. The driver, it turns out, is none other than Mobius. While driving away from the creature, Sylvie makes a similar realisation as Loki: the only way out of the Void is through Alioth, so she has Mobius turn around.

While our Loki variants are in the Void, Renslayer seeks answers herself. Hunter B-15, who had aided Sylvie in her escape, had been imprisoned, and Renslayer goes to her for intel about Sylvie. B-15 realises that Renslayer was not entirely lying when she told Sylvie she, too, wanted to know who is behind the TVA. However, she tells Renslayer, Sylvie would manage to find out way before Renslayer would ever get to her, because she needed to, and Renslayer only wanted.

Back in the Void, the Loki variants arrive near Alioth and our Loki starts to lay out his plan of attack -- only to witness a ship being dumped into the Void and immediately being completely devoured by Alioth, making him reassess his plans. Sylvie and Mobius arrive at the same spot and Sylvie lays out her plans to them -- she wants to enchant Alioth and make it show them what it is protecting. While Sylvie and Loki share a moment outside, talking about the future and themselves, Mobius and the other Lokis are talking in a decaying house nearby.

The Lokis decide to remain in the Void, despite the possibility of escape with Sylvie's TemPad. Our Loki, too, decides to stay and help Sylvie defeat Alioth and find out who is behind the TVA. Taking the TemPad, Mobius says his good-byes to Loki and Sylvie and then returns to the TVA with the plan to burn the whole thing to the ground. Taking on Alioth, Loki starts to distract the creature in order to give Sylvie time to enchant it, however, his efforts are too small. In an act of extreme power, Classic Loki conjures up Asgard as a distraction, allowing Loki and Sylvie to enchant Alioth together. Just as Classic Loki's powers fail and he is, presumably, devoured by Alioth, who is now rapidly approaching the enchanters, the plan works. Within the clouds of Alioth, a space opens, revealing a building beyond the Void.

FAVOURITE MOMENTS

I think unsurprisingly at this point, my favourite moments in this episode feature Mobius. I loved the moment when he picks up Sylvie in his little Pizza car. I may have yelled quite a bit when I saw his face again. Their conversation in the car is also quite lovely.

I also really liked the scene with Mobius and the Loki variants in the little hut while our Loki and Sylvie are outside. I just thought it was delightful how they immediately take to him and ask him questions.

Most favourite moment goes, of course, to the hug. I definitely cheered. I love their dynamic so very much. I just hope that this wasn't the last they see of each other. That would be a shame.

FAVOURITE CHARACTER(S)

Our main man Loki, once again, of course. Also, of course, again Mobius (I am still kinda mad about how much I like him). But I gotta say I also really enjoyed the Loki variants. Richard E. Grant as classic Loki was amazing. And I loved Hiddleston as President Loki also very much. That is an excellent costume.

Also, shout-out to Hunter B-15 for being a badass. I love her and I hope she gets to kick some TVA ass next episode.

QUESTIONS, CURIOSITIES

Of course, like everyone else, I am wondering who is behind the TVA and the Time Keepers, but I am assuming we will find out exactly that next week. So, I'll talk about something else.

I am still very unsure about the whole Sylvie thing. She's definitely a Loki, that's for sure. But seeing all the other possible Loki variants who are all (if applicable) male, having her as the only female version kinda irks me. The comment about it, too. What was it, "that's a terrifying idea"? Something like that? It just doesn't really land right. Loki is, canonically, a genderfluid character. But if Sylvie is the only female version of him, that's not genderfluid. That's just an alternative timeline. And that bothers me.

OVERALL IMPRESSION

While overall quite a fun episode with some amazing visuals and lovely moments, something about this one was kinda off. I liked it very much, still, but the whole Sylvie/Loki thing feels very odd and the fight between all the Loki variants felt kinda thrown away for comedic effect. I thought the episode was great, but it had potential to be even better. But I am really pleased with this show generally.

[still image taken from the episode's imdb page]

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dtrhwithalex · 3 years

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TV | The Good Fight (502)

502: ONCE THERE WAS A COURT...

D: MICHAEL TRIM. W: JONATHAN TOLINS. Original Air Date: 01 July 2021.

Non-spoiler free recap and review of episode two of CBS' THE GOOD FIGHT (2017-) season five.

RECAP

In this second episode we follow two main threads throughout the episode — Marissa and her first week as a lawyer, arguing one of Diane‘s cases in an unofficial court on the one hand, and on the other, the first week of a new associate at the firm, CARMEN MOYO (CHARMAINE BINGWA), in which she becomes the primary lawyer of a convicted murderer.

Among the new associates, Carmen stands out immediately as the singular person voluntarily choosing to be assigned to the case of OSCAR RIVI (TONY PLANA) who was convicted and imprisoned for murder. Due to the invalid ID of BARRY POE (TYRONE MITCHELL HENDERSON), the lawyer she is meant to accompany and learn from, Carmen meets with Rivi and his translator by herself and decides to ignore Barry‘s advice of not saying anything. Instead, she makes it her mission to actually help Rivi. Because she speaks Spanish she is able to properly communicate with him and, meeting with another convict imprisoned for similar crimes, is able to bring her case to court to prove the wrongful conviction of her client.

Meanwhile, Diane has Marissa accompany her associate PHOEBE (ZOE MANN) and their client TONI HEDGER (HEATHER BURNS) to court where they were summoned by the people suing Toni. However it turns out that the judge summoning them does not work in the regular courts. Following clues and signs marked with 9 3/4, Marissa and Toni eventually end up in an improvised court room in the back of a copy shop, where HAL WACKNER (MANDY PATINKIN) presides. Judge Wackner is unlike any lawyer in an official court — he hits his gavel on a bell on his desk, indicating a point having been scored by either side, which is then marked on a scoreboard to his left.

Diane who, once she arrives, does not fare well in this type of court, is incredulous when she finds out that Toni would prefer their case be decided here than in any other court. Eventually, at the suggestion of Judge Wackner, Marissa takes the lead on the case while Diane has Jay investigate how long Wackner has been holding court like this. With the young associate in the lead and Jay‘s findings, Diane and Marissa manage to sway Wackner in their favour and he rules accordingly.

During this first week, Diane and Liz also have to deal with the issue of Adrian‘s absence and the image the firm wants to uphold. After talking to Julius, as well as CALEB GARLIN (HUGH DANCY), who Liz had a fling with in an earlier season, Liz decides she wants to hire Julius as a senior associate. Meanwhile, Diane decides that she wants the two of them to decide on a third equity partner, and that this person would have to be African-American in order to let the firm remain a Black firm. However, she also makes Liz promise that she would not be pushed out of her name-partnership for this same reason.

REVIEW

I thought this was a very interesting second episode for this season. After the first episode provided a wrap up of last season and a review of the events of the past year, this episode already brings us back into the thick of it. I really enjoyed Marissa's story thread of this episode. Although I really liked her as an investigator, seeing her as a lawyer now is really intriguing and I am curious to see how that'll go for her.

I am already a huge fan of Mandy Patinkin's lawyer character. I think he is hilarious. I loved that Marissa took very quickly to his style of doing things and that Diane did not cope at all at first. Just goes to show that we do things for so long in these ways of "it's always been like this, it can't be any other way, this is how it's done" that we forget there are always other options, other ways of doing things, that work just as well, or even better. I thought it was great that, thanks to the intel Jay collects, Diane does find a way to communicate with Wackner after all, but she still lets Marissa take the lead on the argument. I really hope we get to see more of Wackner's court and especially Marissa practicing law there.

I also quite liked the character of Carmen. Although I can understand the criticism that she seems to be just a replacement of Lucca, I thought she was an interesting addition to this set of main players in this show. I am very curious to see where her philosophy of treating every client, no matter the severity of their actions, as a human being, will take her and if she will be able to sustain it. There was also something about her that I found suspicious and I do wonder how much more there is to her than appears to be on the surface. I think that might be something that may come up in scenes with Liz, because their current character dynamic would allow for it the best, probably.

I am also curious to see how the relationship between Liz and Diane will develop or change due to the whole situation concerning a third equity partner for the firm, and the firms image of being a Black firm, and how that clashes with the fact of Diane as a name partner. I also wonder how much bringing Julius back into the mix is gonna upset the current order of things.

This show falls a bit outside of the kind of shows I usually tend to watch, I think, but I am enjoying it quite a lot, and I am very intrigued by it. Looking forward to the next episode, definitely.

[still image taken from the episode's imdb page]

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dtrhwithalex · 3 years

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TV | Loki (104)

104: THE NEXUS EVENT

D: KATE HERRON. W: ERIC MARTIN. Original Air Date: 30 June 2021.

Non-spoiler-free recap and review of the fourth episode of LOKI, which airs every Wednesday on Disney+.

RECAP

As Loki and Sylvie watch the world around them slowly but surely fall into complete destruction and collapse, the TVA is scrambling to locate the two and recapture them. Ravonna Renslayer especially is desperate to have the two variants located, being put under pressure by the Time Keepers. It is also revealed that is was Renslayer herself who was the one to pluck Sylvie from the time line and declare her a variant -- when Sylvie was merely a child, still on Asgard. It is also from Renslayer that Sylvie subsequently escapes and, as she reveals to Loki, has been on the run and in hiding ever since, growing up in apocalypses which were the only place her mere presence did not cause any nexus events.

Sharing a heartfelt moment as Sylvie recounts her life, she and Loki create enough chaos to spark a nexus event even within an ongoing apocalypse, allowing the TVA to locate and recapture them. Once captured, they are separated, with Renslayer forbidding anyone to interrogate Sylvie, while Mobius has Loki thrown in a time-loop -- where he is repeatedly threatened and beaten by LADY SIF (JAIMIE ALEXANDER) in a memory from Loki's earlier life on Asgard, where he as a joke cut off Sif's hair. After finally admitting that he played jokes out of loneliness and a desperate need for attention, Mobius retrieves Loki from the time-loop and takes him back to one of the TVA's interrogation rooms.

Loki tries to make Mobius understand that everything about the TVA is a lie -- as Sylvie has told him -- but Mobius does not trust him. He baits him into revealing what caused the nexus event on Lamentis-1 by telling him Sylvie has been disintegrated, and gets Loki to admit that he cares for her. Accusing him of such narcissism that he fell in love with himself, Mobius closes the case and has Loki returned to the time-loop.

Despite his distrust in Loki, Mobius questions Renslayer about what had happened to C-20 and her intentions behind not letting him talk to Sylvie, and eventually steals her TemPad to investigate the matter further. He learns that C-20 confirmed what Loki had tried to tell him: everyone at the TVA is a Variant, plucked from the timeline and brainwashed to serve the Time Keepers. Returning to Loki's time-loop he admits that Loki was right and wants to help him, but they are quickly found out by Renslayer, and she disintegrates Mobius.

Meanwhile, Hunter B-15, despite Renslayer's orders, went to see Sylvie and took her back to the apocalypse they had found her in. Questioning her about her powers, B-15 reveals that she, too, had been having memories of another life since Sylvie had controlled her. Sylvie shows her the memories again, effectively gaining B-15 as an ally.

Following the disintegration of Mobius, Renslayer takes Loki and Sylvie to see the Time Keepers who wish to witness their destruction. However, once in their chambers, Loki and Sylvie are freed from their constraints by B-15 and a fight between them and the TVA ensue. Gaining the advantage, Loki and Sylvie eventually find themselves free of any enemies, and Sylvie attacks one of the Time Keepers with her sword. The Time Keeper is beheaded and, as the head falls to their feet, Loki and Sylvie realise that these three beings are merely robotic avatars and not the real Time Keepers.

Without any way to destroy the Time Keepers and the TVA, Sylvie is lost. Loki, reminiscent of their moment on Lamentis-1 and Mobius' accusation of romantic feelings between the two, tries to communicate to Sylvie whatever it is he is feeling, but before he can make her understand, he is disintegrated by Renslayer who turns out to be alive, still.

The mid-credit scene reveals that Loki did, in fact, not die, but finds himself in another realm where he is greeted by various other incarnations of himself. Prominently among them: CLASSIC LOKI (RICHARD E. GRANT), KID LOKI (JACK VEAL), and BOASTFUL LOKI (DEOBIA OPAREI).

FAVOURITE MOMENTS

Loki is back in Mobius' presence and we are immediately back to bantering like an old married couple and I very much appreciated that. These two have such a lovely dynamic, I adore it. Never thought I would say that, but I really do. I love Owen Wilson in this role very much and he and Tom have such great chemistry.

I also really liked Hunter B-15 taking Sylvie back to the apocalypse they had found her in, and asks her about C-20 and the memories the both of them have lived while Sylvie controlled them. Her chocked back sob and then the "I looked happy" was just so nicely done. I was very happy to see that B-15 was immediately ready to team up with Sylvie and drop the TVA at a moment's notice.

The same goes for Mobius. I loved that, despite Loki's betrayal and the fact that he was so set in not wanting to trust him again, Mobius still couldn't shake the feeling that Loki's comment was more than just a quip and went to investigate. He is not just a mindless follower of orders and I love that very much about him.

FAVOURITE CHARACTER(S)

My main man Loki, always and forever. I adore this version of Loki so much. He is so much fun! I love that we get this actually, truly mischievous Loki, this chaotic mess. He isn't brooding and full of evil plans. No! He wants shenanigans and fun. I love it. And I love that we get to see more of his vulnerable side too.

But also, Mobius! My man! He's back!!! If this man doesn't get to ride a jet ski at least once I will be very upset. I will also be very upset if he is actually gone now. (Cannot believe I am saying this about an Owen Wilson character. This is new. Good on you, Owen, good on you.)

QUESTIONS, CURIOSITIES

Less a question and more a demand: if the mid-credit scene means Loki exists somewhere after being disintegrated, Mobius better be alive somewhere. I want that lad back, whole and in one piece. You hear me, Marvel? Otherwise you might have yourself another CoulsonLives on your hand, you just watch.

I've already seen a bunch of reactions to the whole Loki/Sylvie thing and most either go with happily shipping along, or being very against this concept out of some sort of incestuous concerns. And I feel like, am I the only one who watched that scene as neither romantic nor incestuous as such, but more as Loki being very confused?

Apart from Frigga, and possibly, to some degree and especially earlier in life, the brotherly love of Thor, I don't think Loki has ever felt love. And for the first time there is someone who not just understands him completely, but also accepts him exactly as he is. Especially following their conversation about love in 103, I think what was between Sylvie and Loki on Lamentis-1 that caused the nexus event, and makes Mobius accuse Loki of being in love with her, is not a romantic sense of love, but in a way a certain self-acceptance?

I'm sure Loki has some kinds of feelings but he doesn't know what they are or how to categorise them. And he is very confused about liking Sylvie and caring that she is alright. But I don't think he would have understood it as romantic love without Mobius' accusation of it. I don't think it's narcissism either. What I saw, was a glimmer of Loki realising that he can love himself, he can accept himself. If Sylvie, who is him, understands and accepts him, then so can he. But yeah, I'm curious to see where they're gonna go with this, certainly.

OVERALL IMPRESSION

Generally, this episode was absolutely amazing. Every week I keep finding myself becoming the shocked Pikachu meme while watching the episode, but this week especially. I can't wait to see what next week brings, and I hope very much that we find out Mobius is, in fact, still alive somewhere.

[still image taken from the episode's imdb page]

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dtrhwithalex · 3 years

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TV | The Good Fight (501)

501: PREVIOUSLY ON...

D: BROOKE KENNEDY. W: ROBERT KING & MICHELLE KING. Original Air Date: 24 June 2021.

Non-spoiler-free recap and review of episode one of CBS' THE GOOD FIGHT (2017-) season five.

You know, I came to this show when my rabbit hole consisted of MICHAEL SHEEN's entire filmography, and I decided to watch the entire thing instead of only S3 which he appeared in. I've stuck with the show, because I find it incredibly fascinating.

Last season got cut short due to the pandemic, and this episode serves to remind the viewer where we left off a year ago, and fills in the gaps of this past year.

This show has always had a great talent at incorporating current events and news into the goings-on of the episodes, and so does this season premiere. Being a legal drama that came out of THE GOOD WIFE and started its run early in Trump's first term as president, the tie to the real world events are strong and important, and I've felt this show does a fantastic job at creating a story around and including them.

This first episode really serves to make up the missing year in short time. ADRIAN (DELROY LINDO) announces he will be leaving the firm because of the Democratic Party's offer he got at the end of last season, to be a presidential candidate in 2024. The death of George Floyd and the following protests stand as a conflict between who the Party wants Adrian to be (the token Black candidate), and who he actually is as a Black man. At the end of the episode following Biden's win and the insurrection of January 6th, Adrian tells LIZ (AUDRA MCDONALD) and DIANE (CHRISTINE BARANSKI) that he will be moving to Atlanta and try to help facilitate change there.

Diane, meanwhile, is still engaged in her fight against Memo 618 and serves as JULIUS' (MICHAEL BOATMAN) lawyer against the bribery charge. Using intel from Adrian against JUDGE HAZLEWOOD (TAMBERLA PERRY), Diane gets a new judge assigned to the case -- who turns out, is a worse choice, and eventually sentences Julius to seven years in prison. Trump's last ditch pardoning effort before his term is over also extended to Julius, as Liz informs the others at the end of the episode. Diane is also engaged in a Supreme Court gun law reform case.

With the pandemic, the show also deals with the firm having to shift into online mode and what that means for job security of its employees. Liz and Diane see this as the moment they had been waiting for to finally comply with the order to lay off 20% of their employees. While MARISSA (SARAH STEELE) is one of the first to go -- she is now attending law school to become a lawyer --, Liz is concerned that many of those 20% are Black associates, meaning the firm may soon not be a Black firm anymore. In order to fix this problem without having to demote Diane, they offer LUCCA (CUSH JUMBO) a position as equity partner on the firm. Being in London on behalf of BIANCA (CHASTEN HARMON) who offers her the post of CFO and much more money than her old firm can afford, Lucca eventually decides to leave the firm as well.

While Marissa is let go, the other investigator JAY (NYAMBI NYAMBI) is hospitalised with Covid. At the hospital he begins hallucinating Frederick Douglass, Karl Marx, Jesus Christ, and Malcolm X, who advise him on how to deal with the rise in police brutality on Black people and the question of resistance vs retaliation. Even after he is healthy enough to leave the hospital, he still sees these hallucinations around him.

This episode, while structured around the individual character beats, makes sure to stop a moment at important key dates of the past year. We have the beginning of Covid and the first lockdowns in March, followed by the death of George Floyd and the demonstrations against police brutality which are strongly tied to Jay and Adrian's character beats. We have the announcement of Kamala Harris as Biden's vice-president, and also the death of Supreme Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, which are found in the beats of our female main characters. We have election night and the following days -- and may I just say, Diane watching the election is a damn mood -- and finally, at the end, the Capital riots on January 6th.

I quite liked this episode as a season-opener. I think the creators did a great job book-ending the last season and working in certain moments that had been meant for the end of season four. We get a proper goodbye for Adrian and Lucca who are leaving the show, goodbyes that were cut short due to the pandemic. The episode tied in all the important points we have had throughout the last season, and reminds the viewer nicely where we left off, where we still have unfinished business, and where these characters are currently situated in their lives. It's very nicely done. Looking forward to what this season brings.

[still image taken from the j99news article breaking down the episode with the showrunners]

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dtrhwithalex · 3 years

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TV | Leverage (Season 2, Rewatch)

Rewatch of the second season of TNT's LEVERAGE (2008-2012), created by John Rogers and Chris Downey together with Dean Devlin and his production company Electric Entertainment.

201: THE BEANTOWN BAILOUT JOB

D: DEAN DEVLIN. W: JOHN ROGERS. Original Air Date: 15 July 2009.

We here at the Rabbit Hole adore the Beantown Bailout Job very much (and by we I mean me). It is such a great season-opener and everything about it sets up the season so nicely. Also let me just say, I love the cheesy intro. I like to imagine that this plays on whatever website the clients usually end up finding the team. It would be so confusing. And wonderful.

This episode, of course, also introduces another of my favourite characters: Lt. Patrick Bonanno, State Police. And I am very sad that there is zero chance we'll ever get to see him in the reboot, since the wonderful Robert Blanche has unfortunately passed away last year. Bonanno was such a fantastic addition to this show and I love him very much. He is just brilliant in every episode he is in.

Aside from the introduction of Bonanno, Beantown is a brilliant episode for various reasons, but I wanna talk about this one most of all. John Rogers talked about this on his blog, I think -- not one member of the team can come straight out and admit that they need the others. It is the impromptu meeting at Sophie's performance that brings them together again (very much against Nate's best attempts). Only once they're at McRory's and Parker suggests stealing something to cheer up Sophie is when they all fess up and tell Nate that they want this team back together again. And then, of course, we have one of my favourite sequences in this entire show: Nate forcefully being bullied back into this family. They do exactly what he did to them in The Second David Job -- they get him to contribute knowledge to the case that they, allegedly, lack. And he knows what they're doing, of course, he's not an idiot. Well played, indeed.

I would also like to personally thank one Nadine Haders, this show's most brilliant costume designer, for every single piece of clothing she put on Christian Kane for this episode. That green sweater with the brown jeans jacket? All my love to you, Nadine. All of it. Also, uncharacteristically, Nate has some very good looks in this episode (the man looks healthy for once!) and I am unreasonably mad about it (actually, he has some very good looks this entire season).

One last thing: I would like to have a word with whoever decided to play the Andy Lange song here that Sophie's departure in The Two Live Crew Job is set to. It makes this first half of the season a circle. Who do I need to have words with? Who?

202: THE TAP-OUT JOB

D: MARC ROSKIN. W: ALBERT KIM. Original Air Date: 22 July 2009.

An absolutely amazing episode for Eliot but also very much for Sophie. They are the Conference Of Mom Friends, and I adore them very much, thank you. It is a fantastic episode for them individually, but especially also for the specific relationship these two people have. There is an amazing post floating around on this website (this one here) talking exactly about this episode and Eliot and Sophie in the role of protectors in their team, their family.

There are a few scenes here that I really like and really, most of them are about or with Eliot. I love in the briefing at the hotel that Eliot does not just dismiss Sophie's misunderstanding of wrestling, but takes the time to explain to her what the sport is about -- and she listens. We also here get a nice glimpse at the fact that Eliot teaches them certain fighting skills and self-defence techniques, which I just love so much. Just as Sophie coaches them all in their grifts, he makes sure that they all have a certain know-how in fighting and protecting themselves. It's so good.

I am also very fond of both the moment where Eliot brings Sophie to the restaurant to meet with Rucker, but also Sophie showing up at the gym at night to talk to Eliot while he's preparing for the fight against Tank. Eliot gives away so much of himself in this episode, and it is very interesting to me that the person he does this with is, continually, Sophie. The others may be on comms, and might be, for all we know, listening in, but it is Sophie he tells these things to. It's like Hardison says later in The Two Live Crew Job: "We trust Nate to make sure the plan works, we trust you (Sophie) to make sure we're all okay." While I would not necessarily call Sophie the heart of the group (that's Hardison), she is very much the emotional centre of it.

This episode is also just very lovely to see how they all take to an environment that is, for once, not big city life. Eliot takes to it immediately, which makes sense, because he probably is from a town not much different from this one. Parker, somehow, fits in immediately as well (I love her I <3 Nebraska shirt). I feel like Nate never has any issues fitting in anywhere, he just takes things as they come. It is Hardison and Sophie who have difficulties -- Sophie because she is, after all, a bit posh and needs certain standards met, and Hardison because his world of technology does not mix well with a small, rural Midwestern town ("Can't hack a hick" anyone?).

203: THE ORDER 23 JOB

D: ROD HARDY. W: CHRIS DOWNEY. Original Air Date: 29 July 2009.

I occasionally see some posts on here that call what the team does to Charles Dodgson in 512: The White Rabbit Job the worst thing the team does to a mark. I have to say, objectively, I think what they do to Eddie Maranjian in this episode is much worse. Of course, Dodgson is a good person, and Eddie is a crook, but still. Objectively? This episode is more evil.

Anyway, this episode has some fantastic moments that I adore a whole lot. I love Eliot and Hardison as cops, Sophie's act is absolutely amazing, and I have a super soft spot for both Nate teaching Parker what he is doing, and also Eliot and his side quest of helping Randy.

I am so incredibly fond of all these little moments where Parker's eventual role of Mastermind is already being planted. She always asks Nate questions, if she doesn't have a part to play in the con, she is with Nate, learning. She says it in the pilot episode already: "I'm really good at one thing, only one thing, that's it. But you, you know other things, and I can't stop doing my one thing, can't retire." And then she does her best to learn the other things Nate knows. This episode particularly, how Nate explains to her how NLP works, that what he is selling is fear. Nate is so patient with her, too. I love them both so very much.

Eliot's side quest with Randy and his abusive dad is an absolutely excellent addition to this episode. Especially after the previous Eliot-centric episode, this small thing just goes to show that, at their core, these are good people. Yes, they are criminals, the lot of them. But they are not bad people. Things like this just make me think that, it had to have been this exact combination of people Dubenich put together. Any other thief, any other hacker, and Nate would have walked away from this alone. It had to be Parker, Hardison and Eliot for this to work exactly as it did. And Eliot looking out for Randy even though they are in the middle of a con, taking his time to make sure Bob, the U.S. Marshall goes to see Randy, is exactly something that brings this point home.

Lastly, I adore that everyone shows up at the court house when Eddie goes to find his money. He knows they all conned him, but they know no one is ever going to believe him. It's a fantastic gloat scene. And I also really love that Nate explains why this works to the others: "So, here's everything you need to know about criminal law. Every crime has two elements, Actus reus, the act itself, and mens rea, Literally "The Guilty Mind." ... Now, for escape, the prisoner has to both break out of custody and show the intent to escape. ... Which brings us back to our friend Eddie and how the brain reacts to fear. In the heat of the moment Eddie didn't ask himself a simple question, who would doubt his guilty mind?"

204: THE FAIRY GODPARENTS JOB

D: JONATHAN FRAKES. W: AMY BERG. Original Air Date: 05 August 2009.

This one was Bernie Madoff inspired, if I recall correctly, who was arrested in 2008, around the time Berg, Downey and Rogers were already bouncing ideas back and forth for this season.

There is so much to love in this episode! Where to even begin. Maybe with Parker replacing Sophie at the client meeting? Or Sophie immediately heading for both popcorn and the cookie tin after the breakup? How about Parker perching on Eliot's arm rest with her food? Nate's headmaster act? Eliot as Coach Brewer (red is a fantastic colour on him, thank you Nadine)? Hipster rich newlyweds Parker and Hardison? The return of my beloved FBI fools McSweetheart and Taggert? Taggert being McSweetheart's biggest supporter in his affection for Parker? Sophie and Widmark? The actual science-sical with all these adorable kids singing about science?

So much to love. Chock-full of greatness, this episode. Also Frakes, once again, directed the hell outta this. I love this episode so very much.

One moment that does, however, absolutely win out over everything else, is the scene at Nate's apartment after Hardison and Parker meet McSweeten and Taggert again:

Eliot: One of you two can identify the gunman, right? Hardison: Oh, yeah, sure. He stopped and let me take a picture of him as I was chasing him. Eliot: Hey, you know what, man? I've been around little kids all day. I don't need to come home and do all this crap.

That line, Mr Spencer? "I don't need to come home and do all this crap"? Home? Sir, we are four episodes into the second season, and you are already calling Nate's apartment home. Honestly, that boy has been invested into this group as a family from the moment Hardison hands him a check in the pilot episode, if not earlier. And I am very much here for all of it.

205: THE THREE DAYS OF THE HUNTER JOB

D: MARC ROSKIN. W: MELISSA GLENN & JESSICA RIEDER (GRASL). Original Air Date: 12 August 2009.

This is another one of those episodes which, when I think about it, I am not entirely into, but then when I watch it, I always love it. It's a brilliant episode, but the mark rubs me in all the wrong ways and I think that's why my general reaction to this episode in theory is mostly "ew". Which I think is kind of the point, as well.

There is much to love in this episode, though. Sophie being Nate in this one, Nate being very wary of this concept and also having difficulties letting someone else take control ("If you don't mind, I would still do the 'Hardison, run it' thing" Nathan you precious little man, I love you so much). I think it's so nicely done. I mean Sophie has run cons before -- she was the Mastermind behind the First David Job, and she runs their con in the Second David Job as well -- but then she was confident, now she is going through things, on the brink of rediscovering herself for who she is. And of course, it bites her in the ass a little bit.

I absolutely adore Conspiracy Nut Hardison and his fantastic apartment. Set Design did a magnificent job here. I am so fond of Parker asking Eliot about the different things -- the council, the moon landing, Loch Ness monster -- and also very much the bit at the end where he and Hardison answer Parker's questions while he prepares food. That ending bit overall is just absolutely excellent and I love it with my whole heart. Eliot cooking for all of them in Nate's kitchen, giving Parker stuff to try, while Hardison sits there and sips his orange soda out of a wine glass. Meanwhile Nate pouring wine for Sophie, and then going over to her to make sure she is alright. For his slightly more sadistic streak in this season, Nate is so good with Sophie here. And honestly I think this conversation here is one of the reasons why Sophie feels able to leave them for a while. It is Nate's reassurance of "Whatever you need, I'm here for you" that lets her take this leave of absence.

206: THE TOP HAT JOB

D: PETER O'FALLON. W: M. SCOTT VEACH & CHRISTINE BOYLAN. Original Air Date: 19 August 2009.

I adore this episode! The fantastic Veach and Boylan on the keyboard for this one (who, I've had to find out, are both tangentially involved with my latest hyperfixation, SHADOW AND BONE -- Veach having written my favourite episode, and Boylan being married to the showrunner), which is just lovely, because they are both excellent.

First off, I would like to, once again, give all my love to Nadine Haders for that Pizza Guy outfit she put Kane in for the recon sequence. A+ costuming, thank you Nadine.

This episode has so many excellent comedic beats and a wonderful many Hardison/Eliot moments. Sophie trying to set up Nate with their client is absolutely hysterical -- especially considering that she had just been broken up with and had been urging Nate to figure out what it is that is between them since day one. I especially love her attempt at finding things Nate has in common with Jameson: "She's a scientist. And well, you're a bit nerdy, aren't you? ... And food, she works with food. Well, you eat, don't you?" Like, girl, what are you trying to do here, really?

I absolutely adore Hardison and Eliot trying to get into the server room so Hardison can access the data they are trying to get before anyone can get rid of it. Eliot hooking Parker's rope to Hardison's belt, Eliot's complete awe at Hardison's ability to remote access their mark's phone ("You can do that?" Eliot, honey, he can do so much more), the two of them wedged underneath the desk, and then, of course, Eliot's huge smile when Hardison hacks the scanner at the door with the help of his gummy frogs. I love these boys together so much, and this episode has given me so many great moments.

I am also incredibly fond of Nate's magician act. That is a brilliant role and it suits him so well. And I love how genuinely enthusiastic he is about magic.

207: THE TWO LIVE CREW JOB

D: DEAN DEVLIN. W: JOHN ROGERS & AMY BERG. Original Air Date: 26 August 2009.

This is an absolutely brilliant episode for so many different reasons. Let me get two things out of the way straight off the bat: 1) Where do I address my "Chaos For Leverage: Redemption" campaign to? and 2) Where do I address my "Apollo Robbins For Leverage: Redemption" campaign to? I want both of them back desperately!

Of course, this episode is important as a major stepping stone in Sophie's character arc. Because of Chaos and his bomb, she has to kill off one of her aliases which is the last thing that then leads to her taking a leave of absence to figure out who she is and who she wants to be. That scene in her apartment with the bomb is also just an excellent moment for the team as a family. The care with which everyone interacts with Sophie, Parker's instant pudding hack, Eliot's instructions on how defuse this situation, Sophie's immediate shift into protector mode once it becomes clear that the only real solution is to run and telling everyone to leave immediately, Nate staying behind and even when Sophie tells him to leave, waiting for her by the apartment door -- they care for each other so much.

I also really love the con-off with Starke's crew. It is so nice to see how similar yet different he and Nate are, and the same goes for the other crew members. I adore their individual confrontations a lot. Eliot's non-fight fight with Mikel Dayan, Parker's thief-off with Apollo, Hardison and Chaos' baby monitor fight. It just really highlights who our beloved characters are and what makes them them, now that we see them, metaphorically, in front of their mirror.

And then, of course, the actual heist is also just amazing. I adore that Starke chooses Nate as his alias to gain access, it is such a great move. Parker and Apollo talking in the ventilation shaft about birds is also just so lovely. And as an admirer of Eliot's arms, I am also very fond of his fight with Mikel. Good choices have been made, I appreciate all of them. The reveal at the end is also absolutely amazing. To beat them they had to save them? Brilliant.

Lastly, of course, Sophie's goodbye at the graveyard with Nate. What a spectacular moment. Also just, the visuals are so beautiful. I love the lighting here. And of course the return of Andy Lange's song, which is just perfect. I am so happy that this is the journey they decided to give Sophie when it became clear that Gina would not be able to be in the full seasons due to her pregnancy. They accommodated her so beautifully and gave Sophie such an amazing moment of character growth. This is why I love this show and the people who made it so much. All my love, to all of them.

208: THE ICE MAN JOB

D: JEREMIAH CHECHIK. W: CHRISTINE BOYLAN. Original Air Date: 02 September 2009.

We love The Ice Man Job! Another fantastic episode by one Christine Boylan who we love in this house. Our very first episode without Sophie being there, and it's a great one. I absolutely adore how they worked in moments with our favourite grifter in a way that so wonderfully accommodates Gina's pregnancy.

I absolutely adore the moments where all of them eventually end up calling Sophie. Parker, hiding underneath the bar after Nate tells her she'll be the grifter in this one, calling her mom Sophie in a panic without wanting the others to know, but still needing her advice and missing her so much. Then Eliot, calling to complain to his mom Sophie about Hardison going overboard again with the grift, needing the knowledge that his concerns are being heard and aren't unfounded, needs to hear the other protector of the family acknowledge his rightful fear that things will go sideways. And of course also Hardison, calling mom Sophie so she can pick him up from the party help him out of the mess he's made, hoping against all hope that she'll be able to help without having to involve Nate. The others both had the luxury to ask Sophie not to tell Nate -- Hardison had no other choice but to let her call it in. Lastly, Nate too, at the end, calling his wife Sophie. And honestly, I love that Sophie drops her phone into her drink after the call, because Nate is the only one not giving her what she wants to hear. The kids, all of them, called with an "I need you" and that is the one thing Nate doesn't give her.

There are many other things in this episode that I love very much. The opening briefing, Parker feeling alone on the big empty couch, trying to sit next to Eliot, but he makes her move. Nate's big DadTM moment of "Eliot, can you please sit next to Parker" and Eliot's very long-suffering oldest child answer "No! I'm sitting here now."

Then of course Eliot and Hardison's two moments -- Eliot telling Hardison "I ain't bailing your ass out" and then when he eventually does anyway, Hardison's smug joy, forcing Eliot to sort-of-hug him back at McRory's. Eliot's unsuccessful attempt to make him helping Hardison a decision forced onto him by Parker, and Parker refusing to accept the "blame" immediately. Their whole dynamic this episode is just so good. Neither Eliot nor Parker being happy with Hardison in this role (Parker's refusal to ride with him in the Ferrari), Eliot proudly watching Parker do her thing over the security camera ("Stuck it!").

Lots of love also to Pasha Lychnikoff as our main Russian goon, who is just fantastic here, our much beloved Lt. Patrick Bonanno, and also Nadine Haders for so many amazing looks, especially on Eliot.

209: THE LOST HEIR JOB

D: PETER WINTHER. W: CHRIS DOWNEY. Original Air Date: 09 September 2009.

Court-room episode, which means we have our friend Chris Downey on the keys here, and he gave us an absolutely excellent introduction for Tara Cole played by the lovely Jeri Ryan. Honestly, the more often I watch this episode, the better it gets. Tara is just so good.

Highlights of this episode include: Sophie's immediate "who died?!" when Nate shows up at her apartment in London, Hardison playing "Where is Waldo Ford," Hardison and Eliot in prison, the first appearance of Nate's lawyer alias Jimmy Papadokalis who wears brilliantly loud and obnoxious suits in outrageous colour-combinations, Hardison stalling Blanchard at court security with his keys, Nate's reveal of Ruth as Kimball's daughter (I am fascinated that he completely drops the character here -- he is just Nate now), and of course, the reveal of Tara at the end.

Honestly, this is such a magnificent episode to introduce Tara's character. We have just watched the team scramble and fuck up without Sophie, and then their next job gets more complicated because of this random lawyer who shows up. And she's so righteous and law-abiding and absolutely not someone they should be taking with them on their job. And Tara plays it perfectly. Her honest try at getting Orson to talk to them, her confusion about her "dogs", her excited smile when she gets to con Blanchard and be a bit dishonest -- it is so good. And then we get that complete 180° when the team finds her in Nate's apartment. Not just visually, but the personality. Her voice drops a bit too. Jeri fucking rocked this introduction. The reveal is so damn good.

210: THE RUNWAY JOB

D: MARC ROSKIN. W: ALBERT KIM. Original Air Date: 13 January 2010.

I have zero interest in fashion but I honest to God love every single one of these characters at fashion week. Fashion!Eliot is absolutely fantastical and I love him. Julien, my beloved. Fashion!Parker is very cute with her braid and even before she gets the model makeover she outshines every single other person at the event. Fashion!Hardison is surprisingly understated but I dig it. Tara as Caprina is also just excellent. And I absolutely, un-ironically adore Fashion!Nate. Jacques is such a character. Nate exchanged the usual "obnoxious and greasy" with "gay," slapped some would-be-French that sounds like German on top of it, and called it a character. And I love it.

I also very much love the three video calls with Sophie in this episode. The kids calling in the beginning, complaining about Tara. I absolutely adore both the "she's hot" moment and Eliot's "...and all the way to Europe?" when Sophie says Nate lets what is good for him walk out the door. Parker's little "I just miss you" before they hang up has me all the way up in my emotions every damn time. Tara calling Sophie to complain about Nate is also just excellent. The whole bit with Nate's "I'm sexy because I'm broken" thing is just *chef's kiss*. And of course Nate's call at the end. I love that Sophie hangs up on him, it is so fair, it is absolutely justified. And I think he knows that too.

So many great other moments too -- Hardison's Steven Seagal comment about Eliot's clothes, Nate's "Julien, sweetheart" and Eliot's little clap before taking the money, Nate and Parker at the mark's house, Eliot and Tara vs the Triads, Eliot and Parker at fashion week together ("It's a fashion show, not Thieves'R'Us"), and of course Tara's "For what it's worth, Sophie was right. You guys are the best I've ever seen ... But no one in the world, is as good as you think you are."

211: THE BOTTLE JOB

D: JONATHAN FRAKES. W: CHRISTINE BOYLAN. Original Air Date: 20 January 2010.

This episode has got to be one of my favourites, if I were forced to chose some. I love a bottle episode, and this one is just magnificent. Excellent client, great mark, fantastic additional characters, wonderful episode for the team. All around just, so good. Not surprising if Frakes and Boylan are at the wheel together, of course.

The addition of Cora is so lovely. I would have loved to see more of her, to be honest. She is such a great character. I love what her presence does to who we see Nate as. I adore when characters get to show new sides of themselves, it's so nice. Also, Nate's comment to Eliot about him not wanting Eliot to like Cora because she's like his niece? Most excellent.

I adore our three police officers too. Mickey, Danny and Johnny are such great additions. I really liked them. How they just went with whatever Nate was planning and in the end decided to just pretend none of this ever happened, it's just so good.

Doyle and the Liams as our villains of the week are also just fantastic. Also I just love Irish accents, it sounds so good. I love to hear it.

Other highlights of this episode include: Tara's "I'm Trish and I'm lonely", the kids going for their individual emergency funds stashed in Nate's place (they are all so fantastically in character, I love it), Nate using his dad's name as his alias, everyone stopping to see if Nate is going to succumb to the booze again, Hardison's excitement about pulling off the wire in under 2h, Hardison faking the weather, Eliot and Parker on safe duty. Also, rewatching this episode, I am absolutely 100% convinced that what Eliot is doing to distract the Liams from Tara conning Doyle, absolutely categorises as flirting. The way he throws that dart at the board and then buys them beer? Mr Spencer, sir, you are flirting with these guys.

212: THE ZANZIBAR MARKETPLACE JOB

D: JEREMIAH CHECHIK. W: MELISSA GLENN & JESSICA RIEDER (GRASL). Original Air Date: 27 January 2010.

The wonder twins with yet another magnificent episode. No surprises here. We have not just the return of Maggie but also of Sterling! We love this!!! (Seriously, I want both of them back in the reboot. I don't care that they're most closely tied to Nate. Bring them back.)

This episode has so many absolutely excellent moments as well. I love the opening sequence in the bar, with them going over possible next clients together, Nate kicking Eliot for flirting with the bartender, and then of course also Sterling walking in. The interaction Nate and Eliot have here is just fantastic.

Sterling: *walks in* Nate: Eliot, I'm gonna ask you not do do anything violent. Eliot: Wha-what are you talking about? I only use violence as an appropriate response. Sterling: Hello, Nate. Eliot: *responds appropriately*

And to think that Sterling only gets beat up here because Mark Sheppard's son was visiting the set that day and wanted to see his dad get beat up by Eliot. We stan one Sheppard Jr.

I very much love the scene where Nate and Sterling go over what they have on Lundy, and then Parker interrupting them out of nowhere, just sitting there on the counter, like she's been there forever (which she probably has). Also just, fantastic clothes on Parker, thank you Nadine. Maggie showing up here is of course also brilliant and I am very fond of Parker making Maggie a fugitive bag. It is so completely adorable. I love my girl so much.

Another favourite moment is, of course, Tara and Eliot getting Chernov to tell them where the sale of the Fabergé egg will take place. Tara not saying a damn thing, Eliot grumpily doing what Tara tells him to ("Do that thing with your eyes that scares people" / "What -- I don't know what you're talking about"), Chernov's complete unease about this whole entire situation, and then of course Tara and Eliot's other interaction:

Tara: What we imagine is always so much better than reality. Eliot, with the tiniest voice possible: Like love? Tara: *just stares at him, confused*

Just, *chef's kiss* this scene.

The scenes in the embassy are also just excellent. Tara and Nate pretending to be a couple, Nate's inability to deal with the idea of Maggie and Alexander, Maggie and Tara hysterically giggling while talking about Nate, Sterling pretending to be drunk (and incredibly gay) to get Parker access to the egg room -- brilliance, all the way through.

I adore Eliot taking charge of the situation once it becomes clear that Maggie and Nate have been taken hostage. Parker doing her magic and switching the bomb with the empty briefcase in the elevators is beautiful. Maggie kissing Nate instead of Lundy in what could have been their final moment and regretting it instantly the moment Parker shows up is excellent.

And the final scene back at McRory's is also just wonderful. The kids watching the news about Sterling with Tara ("I hate this guy" / "Now, you're part of the team"), and Nate talking with Maggie. I adore Maggie in this scene so much. Her and Nate's relationship is so lovely. We know Sophie understands how Nate ticks, but Maggie knows him so well too, still.

213: THE FUTURE JOB

D: MARC ROSKIN. W: CHRIS DOWNEY & AMY BERG. Original Air Date: 03 February 2010.

This episode is so good for so many reasons. First off, I adore Luke Perry (I'm still sad about him) even if he plays creeps like Rand in most everything I've seen him in. He was just so good. Second, Medium Tara is probably my favourite role of hers. It's a lot softer than many of the other characters she's done, and I love it. Also the costuming is just excellent.

But I want to talk about Parker most of all. The scene where Rand cold reads her is so well done. Riesgraf knocked it out of the park here. Also, I love how Nate, as soon as Rand starts approaching and doing his act, barely ever takes his eyes off her. He occasionally glances at Rand, but his attention is on Parker at all times. And it just makes me feel things.

The team coming back to Nate's to find Parker sitting on the floor in front of the couch, crying also makes me super emo. They are all so very careful with her here. Even Tara, who hasn't been with them for that long. I quite like how Eliot and Hardison choose to sit a bit away, giving her space, and Nate carefully approaches and sits closest to her. They are all so good with her here, I love them all so much. And I absolutely adore this part of the conversation:

Tara: So what do we do now? Parker: Cut off his arms. And his head. Yeah. I wanna kill him. Can we make that happen? Eliot: Yeah, I can...I mean, I could...

Also earlier, after Tara acknowledges that Rand is good at what he does, Hardison says "He should be shot." I adore how both our boys would not hesitate to end this man for hurting Parker like this. That's their girl and he went too damn far. And even though Nate suggests a way of retaliation that is less final, he isn't above hurting the man either. Because that's his girl, too:

Hardison: Nate had me rig the table with a mild electrical current. Eliot: You electrocuted him? Nate, smugly: Yes, I did. It helped sell the bit. Parker: I approve. Nate: Thanks, Parker. Eliot: No, her agreeing with you is not a good thing. Nate, whispering to Parker: Thanks.

And add to that the absolute joy each and every one of them have when fucking with Rand to fulfil Tara's predictions? *Chef's kiss.* Absolutely beautiful.

There is so much more absolutely fantastic content in this episode, but I just wanna point out the ending where they meet with the client again. Nate is so good with them here. The way he talks to Jodie about her baby and how she will see her late husband in the child, makes me cry every damn time. Just like Tara says, "Yeah, now I see why you do it," this is why this show is so damn good. It's because of this exactly. Because for one shining moment within so much suck and tragedy, there is goodness and a wrong that has been made right. They help people and it isn't just fleeting momentary relief. They change people's lives for the better. I love this fucking show so much.

214: THE THREE STRIKES JOB

D: DEAN DEVLIN. W: JOHN ROGERS. Original Air Date: 10 February 2010.

First half of the second finale! Patrick Bonanno my beloved! I get so sad every time he gets shot here. My man deserves better than this. I love Bonanno so damn much, man. I absolutely adore that Nate goes to see his family at the hospital. Like, this is a cop. The very opposite side of the law Nate and his people operate on. But he goes to see him anyway, because this is their cop. And I love that Bonanno's wife recognises Nate's name. "He wanted to buy you a drink. And then arrest you." That's just so good.

I also absolutely love Richard Kind as Brad Culpepper, the corrupt mayor. I would love to see him back in the reboot, but I doubt there'd be any reasonable explanation why on earth they'd have to see this particular mayor again. I just think Richard Kind is an absolutely fantastic actor.

Anyway, favourite moments. Hardison and Eliot at Bonanno's house is beautiful. I am so fond of how Hardison deals with law enforcement while impersonating law enforcement. He tears them down and builds them back up again, every single time. And I adore how Eliot just smiles at his antics. He crawls around on that carpet with the young cop and Eliot just stands there and smiles. I love them, guys. I really do. Parker pretending to be Brad's pregnant lover with Tara's help is also just most excellent.

And of course: Roy Chappell. Baseball Eliot, my most beloved. There is so much to love about this whole concept. Eliot's reluctance at first because he doesn't like baseball. The discovery that baseball is actually something cool and something he is good at. His absolute childlike joy at the energy drink commercial Hardison made him. His damn hair during the actual game. The sandwich! The enthusiasm about the sandwich. Hardison admitting that the sandwich thing is cool.

I also absolutely love Hardison and Parker as Beavers Fans. The badly photoshopped picture of Dean Devlin and John Rogers as the radio hosts makes me smile so much. So does hearing their voices on the show. Both Hardison and Parker's phone calls to them are also brilliant. Parker speaking Spanish? Marvelous. The two of them demonstrating the Beavers leaving? *Chef's kiss.*

The final showdown with Brad and then the FBI is also just most excellent. Nate going ballistic on Brad because of Bonanno. Hardison and Lucille. Parker giving Lucille a little kiss before they send her to explode as a distraction. Hardison quoting Spock to say goodbye to Lucille. Hardison being pissed at Nate about Lucille. And of course: Jim Sterling, Interpol. The bastard. I love him.

215: THE MALTESE FALCON JOB

D: DEAN DEVLIN. W: JOHN ROGERS. Original Air Date: 17 February 2010.

Second half of second finale! And it's a good one, too. This show has absolutely brilliant finales, lemme tell you.

What do we love about this episode? MUCH. Tara's naked bit is excellent. Eliot and Parker sharing a look after watching Tara's naked bit is even better. Parker turning on the porn channels on the hotel tv is hilarious. Eliot talking to the receptionist about the gym is hysterical ("Ah, the fitness spa. Isn't the Zen Steam Garden divine?" / "Yeah....delicious").

Nate on stairs vs Sterling in elevator is probably the pettiest thing I have ever watched on television and it is absolutely amazing. I don't think anything can ever top this as pettiest moment. It is just so good.

Sterling, of course, is always great fun. I love that he has his own little villain theme that announces him before he even enters the screen. Love a good villain theme. And I adore his moment with FBI Bob outside Brad's hotel room.

Sterling: Name's Bob, right? Bob: Yes, sir. Sterling: You've been here the whole time, Bob? Bob: Yes, sir. Sterling: And nobody's gone in or out, Bob? Bob: No, sir. Sterling: Then would you mind explaining, where the HELL THE MAYOR IS?!

Absolutely perfect.

Nate going back to his place always has me all up in my emotions. Also, I think Sterling here absolutely believes that what he is offering Nate, is good for him. That he can save him from himself or something. They were something like friends at some point, after all. And of course, Nate calling Sophie. She is, of course, unbeknownst to him, already on the way to save his ass. But he calls her and finally tells her exactly what she wanted to hear at the end of The Ice Man Job: "I need you. Not the team, me." Sir. I am emo about you.

And then of course the final con and the reveal of Sophie's return. I absolutely love that Parker's first reaction to Tara possibly betraying them was to try and throw her off the roof. That's my girl (I love Tara, but that was fair). Also just, if you pay attention on the boat scenes, you can see Sophie from as early as Kadjic hearing Nate's offer and then leading Nate and Eliot below deck. If you can pick out her hair and know the colour of her coat from the scene in the helicopter, you know that she is there. And then, below deck, you can see her so many times -- at one point essentially back to back with Nate -- before any of the characters know she's there. And can I just say, I absolutely love Nate's completely shocked face when he hears her voice. Those comedically big eyes are just excellent.

Everyone seeing Sophie again is done so well. Hardison and Eliot's confused "Sophie?" when she walks past. Eliot winking at Sophie after they free Nate. Parker hugging her immediately once her and Tara arrive on the ship. Hardison putting his hand on the small of her back as he passes by her to go down the stairs. I just love them all so much.

And lastly of course, the reveal of the plan, Nate cuffing himself to the railing and making Sterling leave his family alone. What Nate says to them always makes me so emo too: "You guys are the most honourable people I have ever met in my life. You have become my family, my only family. And I will never forget that." John Rogers, sir, we need to have some words once I get this lake out of my eyes. And I obviously can't not mention the kiss. Finally, finally Nate gets his shit together. And she slaps him and it is perfect. And then they leave and he sits down and bleeds and Sterling, for a moment, is genuinely concerned about Nate as a person and not merely about Nate as his only way to nail Kadjic.

Bob: Who the hell is this guy? Sterling: I have no idea. Nate: My name is Nate Ford. And I'm a thief.

Yes. Yes you are, you magnificent bastard.

[image taken from the electricnow website]

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dtrhwithalex · 3 years

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TV | Loki (103)

103: LAMENTIS

D: KATE HERRON. W: BISHA K. ALI. Original Air Date: 23 June 2021.

Non-spoiler-free recap and review of the third episode of LOKI, which airs every Wednesday on Disney+.

RECAP

We open on the Variant and Hunter C-20 in a bar, having drinks. It quickly becomes clear that this is a memory the Variant is manipulating in order to extract information from C-20 about where the Time Keepers are located and how to get to them.

Picking up from last weeks episode, we see that the time window the Variant has opened, leads to the TVA. The Variant makes her way to the golden elevators leading to the Time Keepers and, confronted by Minutemen finds out that her magical powers are useless here, so she sticks to physical combat and using the TVA's disintegration staffs to fight the Minutemen.

Having followed the Variant, Loki finds himself back at the TVA as well. Taking his knives from Hunter B-15's locker, he goes after the Variant. Their fight in front of the elevator is interrupted by Ravonna Renslayer showing up, and in order to escape, Loki grabs the Variant's TemPad and transports them out of the TVA.

The escape lands them on the moon Lamentis-1 in 2077, during one of the worst apocalyptic events in recorded time. Unable to escape this place and return to the TVA because the TemPad has run out of charge, Loki and the Variant find themselves stranded. Albeit reluctantly and with a lot of argument, Loki and the Variant -- who introduces herself eventually as Sylvie -- decide to team up and find something with a big enough power source to recharge the TemPad which Loki has magic'd away out of Sylvie's reach.

Coming upon an old woman in a largely abandoned place, they learn that there exists an escape pod -- the Ark -- which a train nearby is taking people to. Smuggling themselves onto the train through disguise and manipulation, Loki and Sylvie head to the Ark. They exchange a few details about what kind of Variants they are and then decide on a momentary truce to get them both out of this apocalypse. However, while Sylvie rests, Loki gets drunk and engages the other passengers in a sing-along of a Lamentian folk-song (or maybe Asgardian?). Having shed his guard disguise, the guards eventually catch on, and after a brief fight, Loki is thrown out of the train. Sylvie follows because her only hope of getting off the planet is the TemPad in Loki's possession -- which, it turns out, just broke when Loki was thrown off the train.

Deciding their only chance at escape is highjacking the Ark, Loki and Sylvie make their way to the train's destination and find the city full of guards trying to keep more people from getting to the Ark. Fighting their way across the city and toward the Ark's launch pad, Loki and Sylvie, for the first time, really fight together. However, before they come near the Ark, the planet above is torn apart and they watch as large meteoric pieces destroy the Ark and with it their hope of escape.

FAVOURITE MOMENTS

All the banter scenes, to be honest. There was so much fun dialogue in this episode. The whole tech-savy bit, what makes a plan a plan, Loki conjuring a feather and parchment to take notes sarcastically -- just so good.

Overall favourite has got to be their conversation about love on the train though. I absolutely love this show for the bit about what kind of lovers Loki had.

Sylvie: How about you? You're a prince. Must have been would-be-princesses...or perhaps, another prince. Loki: A bit of both.

We have a male and a female Loki (although I'm still suspicious about Sylvie and still not entirely sure about the whole two actors playing the same genderfluid character thing) and now we have this magnificent dialogue -- finally I get my canonically bi/pan genderfluid God of Mischief in the MCU! Huzzaaaah!!!!

And coming back to the love thing, I also absolutely adore Loki's analogy he comes up with while drunk off his ass: "Love is a dagger. It's a weapon to be wielded far away or up close. You can see yourself in it. It's beautiful. Until it makes you bleed. But ultimately, when you reach for it... *makes the dagger disappear*". I absolutely love it. I love this Loki so much. Finally, he is the chaotic, mischievous idiot I love so much.

FAVOURITE CHARACTER(S)

Still very much Loki, obviously. I love him more the longer this show goes on. I love this Loki so much. He is so much fun. And Tom Hiddleston is marvellous.

I do really like Sylvie so far, too. Her banter with Loki is fantastic, and I enjoy their dynamic a lot. But I wanna know more about her, I can't wait to find out more of who she is, exactly.

I also very much liked the old woman in the abandoned town who blasts both their asses away. You go, lady. You show them.

QUESTIONS, CURIOSITIES

Uhm? The whole "all TVA agents are Variants" reveal?? That opens up so many doors. Cannot wait to see that explored. I mean, that is huge??

Again, who exactly is Sylvie. I've seen some theories floating around that she isn't a Loki but rather Enchantress, but I am not very well versed in Marvel Comics knowledge, so I don't actually know who that is or what that means, and I won't google it because I like finding out stuff as it happens. But...very curious.

OVERALL IMPRESSION

I really liked this episode, it was great fun. I loved the banter, I loved the character dynamics. I did find myself missing Mobius a lot, though. I really like him. One of my favourite things in this episode was the sequence at the end with Loki and Sylvie fighting their way to the Ark. I love the visuals of that city a lot. And the camera movements and the specific shots in that whole sequence was absolutely fantastic. It honestly felt very much like a video game to me, and I kept thinking that I really would love to play this sequence in a game. Absolutely brilliantly shot. Also fantastic opening song choice. Overall, yeah, great episode, once again. Can't wait to see where next week takes us.

[still image taken from the marvel homepage]

#tv blogging #review blogging #recap blogging #loki spoilers #loki series spoilers #loki show spoilers #the loki show spoilers #loki #loki series #loki show #mcu loki #loki laufeyson #tom hiddleston #loki variant #sophia di martino #hunter c 20 #sasha lane #ravonna renslayer #gugu mbatha raw

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dtrhwithalex · 3 years

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TV | Élite: Historias Breves (2021)

Over the course of the week leading up to the release of the show's fourth season on 18 June 2021, Netflix released four instalments of 3-episode Élite short stories, filling in some of the time gap between the last and the upcoming season.

Non-spoiler-free thoughts on the different stories under the cut.

GUZMÁN, CAYE, REBE

I think out of the four shorts, I liked this one best. Probably because it was the most fun with the least amount of (relationship) drama. I also really enjoyed this combination of characters, because if memory serves, they did not generally hang out with each other much. Guzmán had Ander and Polo as well as Lu and later Nadia. Rebe was usually more around Samuel than anyone else. And Cayetana was, of course, with Polo.

Actually, I think this short is where I liked Caye best so far. Her character always annoyed me during the regular episodes and I've never really taken a liking to her, but she was good fun in these three short episodes. I've always liked Rebe, and Guzmán, while not a favourite, I always quite enjoyed watching. The three of them together did make for a great dynamic, I feel.

I really enjoyed them all completely high, each in their own little worlds, and then of course having to deal with the coke situation in that state. So many fantastic comedic beats in this episode. Caye's final acting bit was absolutely brilliant. The girl's a very talented grifter, I have to admit. Although playing on fear is, of course, one of the easier ways. And damn, those coke dealers definitely did not know how to deal with any of this. Two dead kids, coke everywhere, and a blood-covered hysterical girl screaming for her mom? Yeah, I probably would've bounced too at the sight of that, if I were them.

Yeah, I really like this one. I am very curious to see how the events here get picked up on in the upcoming season.

NADIA, GUZMÁN

I liked very much that this was the second short, that we get that tidbit of Guzmán being worried about the relationship in the first short, and then we get to see them in the second.

This short, overall, was very them. Lovely moments, a lot of misunderstandings and miscommunication, but also quite fun. Guzmán and Nadia have a very intriguing relationship, I think. Their story has always been quite fascinating to me. They are from such different worlds and want such different things, but ultimately, they also really do care for each other and want this to work out.

I thought it was interesting that Nadia is the one to break their promise and goes to see Guzmán. I thought it would be the opposite, and he would show up randomly at her sister's wedding. Which, speaking of, I was not entirely sure I liked much. It felt so random, in a way. Unless I am mistaken -- which is possible as I haven't seen any of the previous seasons in a while now -- we have never heard about a third Shanaa sibling before, right? So this sudden appearance of a sister and the fact that she was getting married, felt very random and, well, sudden to me. But I guess we'll see how it shakes out over the whole of the season.

Overall, I did quite like this short, too. Guzmán trying his best to give Nadia an average date (loved that the blanket was a stained tablecloth. A+ for effort, Guzmán) was absolutely hilarious. And I really loved the phone call toward the end. They're a mess in person, but on the phone they are great. That was a very lovely moment.

OMAR, ANDER, ALEXIS

This one's quite depressing, huh. However, I did very much like that this picks up the mention of Omar and Ander from the first short and tells us what exactly happened.

Alexis is a very interesting character, and I think it gives Ander so much more depth, that we see him care about Alexis so much. I've always really liked Ander, and I thought he was great in this short (Aaron Piper is also just an excellent actor, let's be real).

Of course, we always get our comedic beats, and this, too, had some amazing ones. But largely, this one was a heavy one. Alexis' conversation with Ander in the pool and, especially, the final moment between the two at the hospital carried a lot of weight.

I do wonder how much we'll be seeing of Ander dealing with Alexis' departure during the fourth season, how he handles that goodbye and the knowledge that within two or three months, Alexis will have died.

I quite liked the conversation Omar had with Alexis, about how he behaved while Ander was sick, and how he understands what he is going through now, trying his best to help Alexis, make him happy. I think that will make for a certain solidity in his and Ander's relationship, and how Omar can help him deal with Alexis' departure and certain death.

CARLA, SAMUEL

The woman at the airport may have said that this isn't a Julia Roberts movie, but it very much felt like one. Samu showing up at the airport to stop Carla from leaving (well, not Julia Roberts, but my brain immediately went to LOVE, ACTUALLY), the whole "promise me when I come back you won't be here" bit, the sudden yet inevitable delayed flight, and of course also how the short ends with Carla leaving after all. Big Julia Roberts romcom energy right there.

Samu and Carla were never my favourites, to be honest. I liked Samu especially in scenes with Nano, and then later with Rebe, but I never really cared for his relationship dramas. While I did like Carla especially with Polo during their time with Valerio, I also did not much care for her.

Nevertheless, this short was quite lovely. Although I have to say the airport bit and Carla leaving were probably the parts I enjoyed the most. Samu's meltdown when he thinks Carla has left was also quite good. I do tremendously enjoy the acting in this show. And the language. Spanish is very sexy, even if I don't understand most of it and have to watch it with subtitles.

I wonder if this will be the end of this particular relationship and we get to see both of them move on in the next season, and this short therefore serves to put an actual end to it, or if we will see them together again at some point.

[images taken from the individual imdb pages]

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dtrhwithalex · 3 years

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TV | Loki (102)

102: THE VARIANT

D: KATE HERRON. W: ELISSA KARASIK. Original Air Date: 16 June 2021.

Non-spoiler-free recap and review of the second episode of LOKI, which airs every Wednesday on Disney+.

RECAP

We open this episode in what looks like the medieval period, but turns out to be a Renaissance Fair in the 1980s. Another TVA team has been deployed in the search of the rogue Loki Variant and is promptly attacked by said Variant. Taking control of HUNTER C-20 (SASHA LANE) similarly to how we have seen Loki do during THE AVENGERS, the Variant eliminates the team and leaves the Fair through a time-window, taking C-20 with them.

Hunter B-15 and her team, as well as Mobius and Loki travel to the event to investigate and reinstate the sacred timeline. During the investigation, Loki plays at analysing his rogue counterpart, but Mobius sees through his stalling for time, and calls for the timeline to be restored. Hunter C-20 is declared MIA.

Back at the TVA, Mobius meets with Ravonna Renslayer to discuss the failed mission and the risk Mobius is taking with using Loki to find the Variant. Mobius insists Loki is, if not trustworthy, still useful to them. He tasks Loki with researching every Loki variant that has ever existed and "bans" him to the archives. Begrudgingly studying the files, Loki eventually tires of reading the exact same thing over and over again, and attempts to read up on the secrets of the TVA. However, his attempts are foiled by the Archivist, who only allows him to read one file -- his own.

However, in reading the file, Loki finds out about the events of RAGNAROK and realises that this is the key to finding the Variant. Disrupting Mobius' lunch to explain his theory -- and ruining Mobius' salad in the process -- Loki convinces him to go to an apocalyptic event such as Ragnarok to test the theory that, because of the complete destruction, nothing able to create new timelines would actually register as such. Reluctantly, Mobius agrees and takes him to Pompeii in 79 AD shortly before Mount Vesuvius erupts. Despite Mobius' warnings, Loki does as he does best: he creates chaos. He frees goats, throws things around, tells the people of the imminent eruption, that he is from the future -- and to Mobius' surprise, none of it registers as a deviation from the timeline.

Returning to the TVA, Loki and Mobius attempt to narrow down the specific apocalyptic event the Variant may be hiding in. However, it is not until Mobius remembers the child from the French church, that they are able to do so. Using the specific brand of chewing gum the Variant gave the child to create a specific time-window, Mobius and Loki find the one plausible catastrophe: New Haven, Alabama in 2050, destroyed by a hurricane.

Once on location, Loki is paired with Hunter B-15, despite Mobius' objections. While Mobius and the other Hunters take to the refugee camp, they search the store and come upon a single shopper. Touching him he drops to the floor and the possessive energy is transferred to Hunter B-15. Loki realises that this is the Variant, using their powers to, essentially, make ventriloquist puppets out of other beings.

While Loki tries to find out what it is the Variant wants, and offers up his own secret plans -- infiltrate the TVA, gain their trust, be granted an audience with the Time Keepers and take them out, ultimately wanting to rule the TVA himself -- Mobius and his team find the traumatised C-20. Although strongly disoriented, C-20 is able to reveal that she gave up the location of the Time Keepers to the Variant.

Meanwhile, Loki discovers that the Variant has been rigging the entire store with the time-reset devices. As they go active and vanish through individual time-windows, the real Variant reveals themself to Loki: the VARIANT (SOPHIA DI MARTINO) is a blonde, female version of Loki. Shocked by this revelation, Loki watches as the Variant opens another time-window and vanishes. Hearing Mobius and the Hunters approach, Loki makes a decision and follows the Variant through the time-window, which closes before Mobius can reach it.

As the time-reset devices vanish, the TVA registers anomalies and the agents monitoring the screens watch as multiple new timelines branch out of the sacred timeline, leaving only one conclusion: the timeline is being bombed. Watching her own screen in shock, Renslayer grabs her Hunter gear and leaves her office.

FAVOURITE MOMENTS

There were quite a few moments in this episode that I really loved. I adored this vibe of 'Loki Has A Day Job'. His whack-a-mole fight with Miss Minutes was a lot of fun. I loved the scenes in the archive, his somewhat flirty attempt at getting the Archivist to let him read classified files (also shushing the lady behind him? Hilarious). His chaotic energy and great Latin speech in Pompeii was absolutely fantastic too. God of Mischief indeed.

And I just adored all the banter scenes with Mobius. They have such a great buddy-cop dynamic, I really love it. The whole salad scene was just A+ comedy (also big yay for Casey!!). Their conversation about existence and free will was so good, too. And I adored the scene where Loki explains the difference between the two powers of projection. What a nerd. I love him.

I thought the reveal of Sophia di Martino as the Loki Variant was amazing. I think it's really interesting that this doesn't seem to be a version Loki himself was expecting to meet, which I'm sure will make for some great moments between the two in upcoming episodes.

Oh and, of course, lest I forget: setting the opening fight between the Variant and the TVA team to Bonnie Tyler's "Holding Out for a Hero"? Whoever made that choice is an absolute genius.

FAVOURITE CHARACTER(S)

I mean, Loki, duh. But I also really enjoyed Ravonna Renslayer in this one. I am really intrigued by her character and I can't wait to see more of her -- especially in action. Also I am very curious about her and Mobius' relationship. I smell history.

QUESTIONS, CURIOSITIES

Do all Hunters know the location of the Time Keepers? Or did the Variant have to keep nabbing them until finding C-20 who had the information they were looking for?

Also I am not entirely sure about the Variant being played by another person. I mean I get it from like a visual storytelling perspective, that it is easier to have two different faces when Loki and the Variant interact, and like, from an acting perspective too. I get that Loki is a shapeshifter, so whatever body he assumes does not necessarily have to look like himself -- in this case Tom Hiddleston -- and I guess some people would have complained about him playing a female version of himself as being drag or a mockery thereof or something, but... I don't know, I am just not entirely sure about it. It just feels very gendered, somehow, if that makes sense. A very "gender is tied to body" kind of thing. But I'm gonna wait until I see more of it before forming more of an opinion.

OVERALL IMPRESSION

An absolutely brilliant and compelling second episode of this show. I am enjoying it tremendously. I completely adore the Loki we get to see in this show and the character dynamic between him and Mobius is so funny and so well done. Loved the reveal of Sophia di Martino as the rogue Loki Variant, and I cannot wait to see more of her in this role. Next Wednesday cannot come soon enough!

[still image taken from imdb page of the episode]

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dtrhwithalex · 3 years

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TV | Leverage (Season 1, Rewatch)

Rewatch of the first season of TNT's LEVERAGE (2008-2012), created by John Rogers and Chris Downey together with Dean Devlin and his production company Electric Entertainment.

(Just a note, this first season was aired out of order, so the dates won't actually form a chronology, since I'm going with the intended order rather than the one they were aired in.)

101: THE NIGERIAN JOB

D: DEAN DEVLIN. W: JOHN ROGERS & CHRIS DOWNEY. Original Air Date: 07 December 2008.

I have lost count of how many times I have seen this episode (or any episodes of this show to be completely honest), but it holds up every single time. It is one of my favourite, if not the favourite TV pilot episode I have ever seen.

The way this pilot sets up who the main characters are and what the core of this show is, is simply perfect. The introduction of Nate at the bar being approached by Dubenich, then the intercut between him convincing Nate to do the job and the actual job happening -- just wonderful. The same goes for the individual introductions of the other players. Nate's comment about Parker ("no, but Parker is insane") which plants a thread for the rest of the show already, the flashbacks of each character to exemplify who they and what their talents are, combined with the episode then showing you those talents and what Nate can do with them -- which is, of course, his talent -- sets up this whole show so well.

So many seeds that come to fruition throughout the show are already planted right here. Nate's mentoring of Parker to become his eventual successor as Mastermind ("Haircuts, Parker, count the haircuts" -- "I would've missed that"), Eliot's role as protector, the iconic overhead shots and the gloating, the alternate revenue streams, "Hardison dies in Plan M" -- it's all already right here in this episode. A brilliant piece of writing. Hats off to Rogers and Downey, no questions asked.

Rewatching this episode made me think of what this show is about, in its essence. Yes, it is about standing up for those who can't do so themselves, taking on the bigger bad, showing how corrupt and terrible the world can be, but also how much good there is to still find in the world. But also, this show is about a lonely man being actively bullied into the family he didn't know he needed or wanted, but will eventually come to realise is the one thing, the only thing that is keeping him alive. LEVERAGE is the story of a man and his crusade to avenge the death of his child, but is is very much also the story of a man who finds a reason to keep getting up every morning in the four people who are on this crusade with him. And this pilot episode already holds the seed and the potential of all of that. And that is why this show is to this day still my favourite show of all time, because it is utterly perfect in every way.

102: THE HOMECOMING JOB

D: DEAN DEVLIN. W: JOHN ROGERS. Original Air Date: 09 December 2008.

I absolutely love how John Rogers was like okay first episode, some greedy asshole who does whatever he wants for his own gain, we'll take him down a notch. Episode two? Hmm, oh yeah, the government is completely corrupt, filled with rich greedy assholes who do whatever they want for their own gain and always get away with it. Not on my watch (I love him very much, thank you).

This episode, once again, so good. The re-introduction of every character in this new reality of Nate's crusade is just as brilliantly done as the original introduction of them all. Sophie at an audition (love the John Rogers cameo here) completely butchering it once again, Eliot beating up some thug, Parker stealing valuable art, and Hardison doing what he does best: creating a beautiful office-slash-home space for the team, putting his all into their backstories, the equipment, the behind-the-scenes workings of what they need to get the job done. My man.

The message of this particular episode is also just something I am very fond of. The rehab facility doctor's words in the beginning, and then in the end again -- "people don't just show up to help. that's not the way the world works" -- as well as Nate's ultimate answer to her, "so change the world." That right here is the message of this show. It's already right here, all up in your face, episode two.

I completely adore what this episode does for the character dynamics already. The detail Hardison puts into the other's backstories, the interactions around the conference table, Eliot sharing his knowledge, Nate explaining the money laundering scam, the whole thing about laws being in a wooden box, Sophie elaborating why she knew Congressman Jenkins was lying to her -- they don't just work together, they already start giving the others insight into their talents and their knowledge and share that. It's beautiful. I especially adore the shot of them at the end, everyone leaning against the car while watching Corporal Perry and the other veterans debating what to do with the money. They are already so comfortable and at ease with each other, leaning into each other's spaces. They're family. You can see it here already.

Absolutely fantastic episode. For a long time, whenever I thought about The Homecoming Job, I somehow associated a more negative emotion with it than with other episodes, but I don't quite know why, because this is a brilliant episode and I love watching it.

103: THE WEDDING JOB

D: JONATHAN FRAKES. W: CHRIS DOWNEY. Original Air Date: 13 January 2009.

We love Jonathan Frakes in this house and every single time his name shows up with the director tag on this show, I know that I will enjoy every last second of the episode I am about to watch. Frakes directed the hell outta this thing. The Wedding Job is an absolutely excellent episode. Dan Lauria as our main baddie Nicky Moscone is perfect casting and there are so many great comedic beats in the scenes with him and Nate. Everyone, generally, is so weirded out by Priest!Nate, but Moscone just takes the weirdness in stride. This episode holds a very special place in my heart because it contains the introduction of my favourite FBI duo -- McSweeten (McSweetheart, as we call him) and Taggert. I adore these two bumbling fools so much, and I am so glad they kept being brought back, because they are both just so lovely. McSweetheart especially is very dear to me because of the D.B. Cooper Job from the last season (where, I ask, do I start my McSweetheart for Leverage: Redemption campaign?). Overall just such an excellent episode, really. So many great moments between our main characters--Sophie and Nate and their little "relationship" problem, Hardison and Eliot talking about marriage, Parker pretending she was waiting in the screening room to have sex with Hardison, Hardison appreciating Eliot's cooking. I also absolutely adore the beginning, the four of them convincing Nate that Teresa is definitely the type of client they take on. And Nate's resigned "Yeah, okay, yeah. Let's go rob Nicky Moscone. A guy who kills people and lives in our city. Yeah, let's go do that" as if they weren't going to go above and beyond any of that in the five years they will spend together on this crusade of his. You're so precious, Nathan. Of course, the ending of this episode is beyond brilliant, and lives both in my heart and my head rent free. It is such a magnificent found family moment. Getting Teresa the restaurant back, the news footage regarding Ray's appeal, and of course, Eliot cooking for them all, and them celebrating together, all of them. It is such a beautiful moment.

104: THE SNOW JOB

D: TONY BILL. W: ALBERT KIM. Original Air Date: 27 January 2009.

I adore what the client says to Nate in the beginning of the episode: "You work hard, you play by the rules, but when you need help, you really need help? They let you hang. They let you hang and it's your kid who pays the price." This show hammers home its message so many times in such great character moments and it makes watching these brilliant people take on these greedy bastards and robbing them for all they've got that much sweeter. It is such a satisfying thing to watch. Especially because they're all so damn good at this.

This is a great episode but it is infinitely funnier if you know and speak German, because it makes the scenes between Sophie and Eliot absolutely hysterical. And the delivery of the line that Ute Ausgartner says when she discovers they replaced her with Sophie is just wrong enough to crack you up.

Again some wonderfully brilliant comedic beats -- the Frakes cameo in the hospital waiting room, Parker casually hanging off the ski lift, Hardison and Eliot arguing over who puts dye in the dead body, Eliot carrying off a pissed of Parker, and so many more.

This episode also, for the first time, really gives insight into Nate's drinking problem. We had the one moment in The Homecoming Job, but this episode starts to explore it more in depths. And something that I've always appreciated about this show is that it never glorifies the drinking, but Nate is also never vilified for it. It is a fact of Nate's life and they explore different aspects of it, and everything is done with such care (which does not surprise me one bit since this is John Rogers' show).

The ending of this episode is also, once again, so beautiful and nicely done. It is just so incredibly satisfying to watch these greedy bastards get what's coming to them, and to see the clients be compensated beyond anything they'd ask for.

105: THE MILE HIGH JOB

D: ROB MINKOFF. W: AMY BERG. Original Air Date: 20 January 2009.

Another fantastic episode (you will realise that I will say this about every single of the 77 episodes this show has)! Amy Berg wrote some excellent stuff for this show, and this episode is one of them. Always a lot of great character relationship moments, and absolutely brilliant comedic beats.

I am very fond of the fact that here, in the early days, we have the whole team present around the table during the client meeting. We see all their reactions and inputs here already, and not later when Nate or Hardison (usually) relays the information of their next job to the rest of the gang. It's a very lovely moment.

I am also very fond of the entire recon bit at the GenoGrow office. Sophie's French rave-girl act, the others having to climb stairs, Hardison's absence, the cut from Parker's bomb to the microwave at the HQ, Nate, Eliot and Parker yelling "Oh it's right behind us, it's chasing us!" and grabbing Sophie on the way out, meanwhile the security guys completely buying it. Absolutely brilliant, all the way through.

Both Hardison's adventure at GenoGrow as well as the others on the plane contain so many great comedic moments. Hardison's Spanish maintenance guy act, his interactions with both Cheryl and Steve (talking into the cupboard? His fake meeting and getting Steve to take a dive? The whole birthday thing? A+ all around. Amy Berg, everyone) and of course the reaction he has to the plane safely landing on the highway ("lord I was so scared, I wanna cry and call my momma" I love him so much, y'all). I also have big feelings about Nate's pep talk to Hardison, "you can do this, I trust you ... the only guy I can count on in a situation like this." Sir, I am experiencing an emotion alright.

The sequences on the plane are of course also absolutely fantastic. Nate and Sophie's domestic, Parker's day job and her interactions with Marissa, Eliot being a big softie who holds Marissa's hand all the way up to the in-flight bar and hugs the woman he sat down next to when they safely land (womaniser, big softie. tomayto, tomahto). Also big shoutout to the fake names Nate and Sophie have. We love our DOCTOR WHO references in this show. I love these nerds very much, thank you.

106: THE TWO HORSE JOB

D: CRAIG R. BAXLEY. W: MELISSA GLENN & JESSICA RIEDER (GRASL). Original Air Date: 16 December 2008.

This episode also holds a very special place in my heart because it contains the introduction of our dearly beloved antagonist, Mr Jim Sterling, the absolutely amazing Mark Sheppard. We love Sterling in this house, yessir (again, where do I have to address my Jim Sterling For Leverage: Redemption campaign to?). Every moment he is in is fantastic, but I especially adore the conversation he has with Nate at the race track (especially the "Nathan Ford is a common criminal" -- "Common. That's just hurtful" bit of it).

This, of course, is an episode by our wonder twins, Glenn and Rieder (now Grasl), which they ended up naming the in-universe safe company after. Always fantastic work when the two of them are involved. Some amazing character moments again here.

We get to see some of Eliot's backstory with Aimee which in turn gives us two fantastic moments with him and the women of the team. I love his interaction with Sophie at the racetrack: "I like Aimee, I do. I mean it, I like you both, Eliot. I just, I don't know what comes of chasing the past, you know." -- "Well Sophie, sweetie, I don't think you and Nate get to serve me that particular meal." Just fantastic moment between these two, who I like to call The Conference of Mom Friends whenever they are in scenes together. The other interaction is with Parker in the car: "We need you to do this. I need you to do this." I adore Eliot and Parker's relationship and this already is a very early glimpse at the dynamic they develop which will eventually lead to beautiful moments like that in the ice cave in The Long Way Down Job in season four.

I also love how it is Hardison and Parker's discussion about horses that ultimately reminds Nate of the Lost Heir con. Aldis' delivery of "Wilbur loved Mr Ed! He loved him like a second cousin twice removed" is absolutely brilliant. Unsurprisingly, however, my favourite interaction of this episode is the one Eliot has with Aimee at the end: "You're never gonna be the kind to settle down, but I'm glad you found a family." -- "Th-those guys?" Yes, Eliot, those guys. You might not know it just yet, but that is absolutely your family, and the fact that an outsider already comments on it this early is simply perfect. My deepest gratitude to you, wonder twins.

107: THE BANK SHOT JOB

D: DEAN DEVLIN. W: AMY BERG. Original Air Date: 30 December 2008.

Amy Berg on the typewriter once again (typewriter? Alex what are you talking about this was 2008...)! I really like this episode a whole lot. An excellent one for Nate/Sophie, as well as Hardison/Parker. I have a huge soft spot for my crime children pretending to be law enforcement. Any combination of them is good, but Parker and Hardison as FBI agents especially is just exquisite.

This episode is also just fantastic for illustrating some of the small town criminal activity that happens from the top down. Judge Roy's entire bit about how "these little people" will do and say whatever he tells them to do and that, because he is the law in the town, he gets to decide what is actually true and what is not. To then have Hardison fake security footage and them turning the story against Judge Roy is of course poetic justice. I adore the moment when the bank manager Frank decides that sticking with the false facts these random people have come up with is the better choice than having the judge remain in charge.

I also really love the interaction Derrick has with Sophie and then later with Parker, as well as the moment of uncertainty in-between. His "I don't know what to do with that" when Sophie tells him she's a thief is so funny and so good. The turn of "but they're criminals....then again" when he looks out of the window on the way to Parker is also just a nice moment to illustrate exactly what Parker then later says, "sometimes bad guys are the only good guys you get." Ethics and justice are such muddy concepts and especially in situations like Derrick is currently in, there is no way of knowing who is actually good, who is bad, and who is just trying their best. It is a lovely moment and once again, one of those great instances of "important message within character moment" that this show does so well.

Of course, I am also very fond of Hardison's mention of DOCTOR WHO, his "Geek power baby, stay strong" line, Eliot's fight scene with the crack dealers ("stay in the car!"), Hardison's bullshitting the demands at the bank (Hall & Oates!) and, of course, last but not least, the return of my favourite FBI fools, McSweetheart and Taggert, getting yet another win laid in their lap by the Leverage crew. This episode is filled to the brim with greatness.

108: THE MIRACLE JOB

D: ARVIN BROWN. W: CHRISTINE BOYLAN. Original Air Date: 23 December 2008.

An absolutely excellent Nate-centric episode! We finally get a bit more of a view into Nate's past, aside from the ever-present flashback to Sam's death at the hospital. I really like the relationship of Nate and Father Paul, which I think is very interesting and so well done. Through Paul we get another side of Nate, which may have stayed hidden otherwise. I am also very fond of how Maggie is introduced here. She doesn't get a voice yet, but we learn about her through Nate, Sophie and also Paul, and I quite like that. It sets up expectations for her appearance in the finale, which is really intriguing.

This episode has so many great comedic beats as well, and I barely even know where to begin. From the team's inability to deal with Sophie's acting talents (or lack thereof) to the whole "It's not Santa" gag, the amazing faces Sophie pulls when the mark tells her about Bibletopia, Hardison's "God will smite us" thing -- there is just too much good stuff in this episode.

One of my favourite interactions in this episode was on the construction site, after Grant takes what he thinks are his meds.

Sophie: What is that you just took? Grant: Xanax. For my nerves. Parker: Actually caffeine. With a dash of dextroamphetamine. Eliot: You have him speed? Hardison, shrugging: He beat up a priest!

The look Eliot gives them then with a half-shrug, an expression which cannot be described as anything but "aight, fair enough" -- just absolutely excellent.

What I also really loved about this episode, is that we get to see more of the HQ than just the conference room. We have the team meeting in Nate's office, we see Sophie picking through her mail, Hardison making space so he can build fake Saint Nick statues. Added to that, the team is setting into such a nice familiarity with each other. Eliot brings Sophie a cup of coffee to the meeting in Nate's office. The fact that they all do get mail at the office. This is their space. I love it so much.

What this episode also gives us, is a first instance of the con possibly going side-ways because of how convincing it is. I adore that their possible downfall will never be incompetence, but rather over-competence. They are so good at what they do that sometimes their talent comes to bite them in the ass. We see this again, a bit different, in The Juror #6 Job.

The ending of this episode is very dear to me. It is a very lovely moment between Nate and Paul, but also Nate and the team. It creates such a beautiful moment of intimacy between these characters, which I think is done with extreme care, and it shows. This episode also very nicely sets up a nice sort of grounded-ness for the next episode, which I think the subject matter really deserves and needs.

109: THE STORK JOB

D: MARC ROSKIN. W: ALBERT KIM. Original Air Date: 06 January 2009.

This one and the next episode are excellent Parker-centric plots and this one in particular also has some wonderful Parker/Hardison content. Nate, also, is just very good in this episode as well. Keeping the tone the last episode established especially toward the end, this episode has such a nice grounded-ness to it. Nate's first meeting with the client is so careful in a way, and we don't always see that. Generally, Nate is careful and considerate in this episode, I think. Even when Parker goes rogue, he is so good with Parker (I attribute the brashness entirely to his director role here). It meant so much that he doesn't shoot down the idea of coming back for the other orphans, he knows how important this is to Parker (and Hardison).

With this episode we learn that both Parker and Hardison have grown up in the foster system. I really adore the conversation they have at the van after they find out about the orphanage -- Hardison telling Parker about his Nana, Parker's fear that foster system will be cruel to those children, Hardison's "I like how you turned out" -- it is such a lovely and meaningful moment. This and the "we're a team" / "a little more than a team" moments are such great instances that highlight the importance of these characters and their relationships in this show. It isn't just some crime procedural where every characters is replaceable at any given moment -- this show is about people, and about these specific people.

On a lighter note, I also really adore Nate and Sophie's dynamic in this. How they coach Parker and Eliot individually but at the same time, while also arguing about Sophie conning Nate back in the day, is just brilliant. Their "delightful banter" as Hardison calls it, is so good, and I absolutely love that Nate figures out the way to con Irina is the same way he would have to con Sophie. It's just too good.

David S. Lee as Nicholas is also incredibly good, although since watching THE LIBRARIANS I always expect him to swoon over a blonde and call her Duchess any minute.

110: THE JUROR #6 JOB

D: JONATHAN FRAKES. W: REBECCA KIRSCH. Original Air Date: 10 February 2009.

The lighter of the two Parker-centric episodes, but a brilliant one nonetheless. This episode also brings us the introduction of Peggy played by the lovely Lisa Schurga. We love Peggy in this house and, once again, I ask: where do I address my Peggy For Leverage: Redemption campaign to?

This episode is great for many different reasons, one of course being that Hardison is so good at what he does, that Parker's alias has to go to jury duty. What a talent, we absolutely have no choice but to stan. I love him so much. Other fantastic things that make this episode absolutely excellent are

- Nate's "there is not some evil conspiracy lurking behind the curtain of every routine civic activity" speech which he then has to retract,

- Sophie teaching Parker about persuasion with the help of Eliot who is absolutely precious in this interaction,

- Eliot's friend Donnie, who poses as another employee from the company Sophie pretends to be from, who then turns out to be Scottish,

- Nate and Sophie sending the kids off to work at the door, with a briefcase and handshake for Hardison and a snack and high-five for Parker,

and Hardison's entire act as a lawyer. He is so good. Of course his stalling is brilliant, but the turn-around once he has to actually try and win the trial? A masterpiece. I love how he tears the doctor apart for his drunken airplane misconducts, but what takes the cake by miles is of course his closing statement. He is just, so good, and such a goodhearted, wonderful person. I love how he directly addressed Parker. Hardison is full of sunshine and I love. him. so. much.

And I would be remiss not to mention how incredibly fond I am of the rest of the team watching the feed of the jury room from the HQ with such proud looks on their faces as Parker leads the other jury members and they vote in favour of the plaintiff. This is their girl and she's done so well. What a brilliant episode. My love to Becky Kirsch, honestly.

111: THE 12-STEP JOB

D: ROD HARDY. W: AMY BERG & CHRIS DOWNEY. Original Air Date: 03 February 2009.

Another episode, another instance of me asking the question: Where do I address my Hurley for Leverage: Redemption campaign to? We love Hurley! Drew Powell is absolutely fantastic, I adore him. Also huge shoutout to Joseph LoDuca for that absolute banger of a song that plays during the intro and the credits.

This episode has some fantastic Eliot/Hardison moments that are very dear to me. The two of them looking for Hurley and fighting over Hardison's slushy spill is just lovely. The whole car bomb sequence is also just completely brilliant. It's such a step in their relationship and I love it so much. The moment of "D'you want me to kick it?" / "God, I'm gon' die" is a wonderful comedic beat in this tense situation, but it is the bit after that I really adore. Hardison figuring out how to trick the bomb and then,

Eliot: What's our margin of error here? Hardison: 'bout half a second. Eliot: Run the ba-bag of bricks by me again? Hardison: Are you ready? Eliot: No.

I am just, so fond of these two. Also the fact that Eliot's hand shakes when he reaches for the cables and waits for Hardison's signal always puts me all up in my feelings about him. I also of course adore the scene at the rehab facility with Hardison's "I'm with him. No, I am with him. See, he thinks the flirting makes me jealous, but it doesn't. But if you was like Brad Pitt or Denzel or somebody, oh girl it would be on." It love it so much.

Nate, of course, is also just great in this episode. His entire experience in rehab is another wonderful insight into his character, his issues, how he sees himself and so on. The hallucination of Sterling says so much about him. I think this also very nicely sets up how Nate behaves in the finale double episode.

I also really want to mention Parker here, because Parker in rehab is also something I am very fond of. I love the moment where she pickpockets the Koreans searching for Hurley and then so innocently comes to Nate to confess what she's done and tells him in this tiny voice "I didn't meant to, it was just instinct." I love her so much. And her, at the end of the episode, skipping along and then running toward her people, jumping on Eliot while tossing her stuff at Nate, and then going to hug Hardison, is such a lovely moment. I love how the three of them then walk toward the car arm in arm, too. I love these kids.

112: THE FIRST DAVID JOB

D: DEAN DEVLIN. W: JOHN ROGERS. Original Air Date: 17 February 2009.

First half of the first finale! I gotta say I really love the David Jobs very much. It is such a fantastic first finale. I really adore how the opening of this episode is mirrored in the opening of the second half.

Given the set-up of the previous episode, I really like how for a first time watcher, this opening sequence very much looks like Nate is completely off the rails doing his own thing getting revenge on the man who, basically, killed his son. It isn't until Blackpoole introduces Nate to 'Portia' and we see Sophie turn around that it becomes clear that we're on the con, which I think is done very nicely. Only then giving the viewer the "how we got here" part is just great.

This episode of course also brings us, finally, Maggie (yes, I'll ask again: where do I address my Maggie For Leverage: Redemption campaign to?). I absolutely love how she is introduced here as Eliot's date. I also love how absolutely terrified Eliot looks once he realises that she isn't just anyone, but Nate's ex-wife. Maggie is such an excellent character, and I adore her. I also am very appreciative that this episode holds the singular moment of jealousy Sophie has toward Maggie. After her momentary outburst as Maggie tells Nate she hasn't stopped caring about him, we never see it again. Even better, once Maggie learns about Nate's crew, Sophie and her even become friends. And it is lovely.

We also have some great Parker/Hardison moments in this episode as well. I adore Parker and her enthusiasm for their "little naked man" and Hardison being weirded out about it (and turning the little David around so Parker can change in private). I, of course, absolutely love the kiss (and Eliot's grinning question at Sophie who of the two of them Parker had kissed) and then the theft of the First David. Hardison is so in awe of Parker and it is a sight to behold.

I also quite enjoy the "downfall" in this episode. Sterling showing up (we love the bastard), the fight between Eliot and Mr Quinn, the conversation about Sophie conning them on the roof, and then of course the final confrontations on that same roof as well as the HQ. This whole thing of "and then I asked myself, what would Parker do?" / "but then I thought, what would Hardison do?" is just brilliant and lovely. It shows how far they have all come throughout this first season and how much they have learned from each other already. I am very fond of it.

I am sad about the offices being blown up, though. As much as I love both McRory's pub and Nate's apartment in Boston, as well as the Brewpub in Portland, I've always really liked the LA offices as well. It was their first home and it was lovely. I am however very happy that Old Nate made it out unscathed.

113: THE SECOND DAVID JOB

D: DEAN DEVLIN. W: JOHN ROGERS & CHRIS DOWNEY. Original Air Date: 24 February 2009.

And the last episode! As I've said above, I adore how this opening sequence mirrors that of The First David Job. Similarly, I also love how until Sophie notices Parker's laser pointer and Eliot sees Hardison, as a viewer you assume they are on the job together, which is again the reversal of the first half of the finale. Just lovely storytelling, I adore it. Speaking of mirrors, the scene in the MC Hammer mansion where Nate inconspicuously manages to get them all thinking about the con together and putting their differences aside once more, also mirrors one of my favourite scenes from the first episode of season two, where the team does the same to Nate.

This episode on the whole I also just marvellous. Eliot's awkward date with Maggie, Nate finally telling Maggie about Blackpoole's involvement (or lack thereof) in Sam's death, the team involving Maggie in the planning of the con and her, precious as she is, questioning Nate's ability to just get people to do what he wants -- it is all just so good. I love Maggie on the con, too. Sophie coaching her, how good Maggie is at it immediately. Just lovely.

Then, of course, the entirety of the con from the moment Nate shows up at the museum. Sterling hurrying all over the place trying to figure out what Nate's plan is, finding out about the mummy, the release of the gas, the evacuation, the David statue replicas, them finally getting in and finding Nate alone in the exhibit room. I adore that shot of him leaning against the display case with the two Davids still inside, only highlighted from the open hatch in the roof. It is such a beautiful shot. I really enjoy Nate and Sterling's dynamic here, too. And I am very happy that Maggie gets to punch Blackpoole just like Nate got to in the episode before. They both deserve to give this man hell.

The ending of this episode and therefore this season always has me in all of my emotions. If I didn't know there would be more after this, I would just go lie down and weep for a while after watching it. The trademark overhead walkaway shot is of course a must, but the fact that they stop, that all of them hesitate, thinking about turning around, thinking about changing their minds. And then it cuts to black, and if this had been it, we would've never known! Ah, what a show, what a first season. I am completely in love with this show, as pretty much everyone knows, but I just -- this show is so damn good. It gets me every single time. Every time.

[image taken from the electricnow website]

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dtrhwithalex · 3 years

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TV | Loki (101)

101: GLORIOUS PURPOSE

D: KATE HERRON. W: MICHAEL WALDRON. Original Air Date: 09 June 2021.

Non-spoiler-free recap and review of the pilot episode of LOKI, which airs every Wednesday on Disney+.

RECAP

Picking up where AVENGERS: ENDGAME left off, we follow LOKI (TOM HIDDLESTON) in his escape. Crash-landing in the Gobi Desert, he tries -- as usual -- to assert his dominance over the people, but is quickly apprehended and taken prisoner by the Time Variant Authority (TVA for short) where he must face the consequences for his actions.

Loki quickly finds out that at the TVA, his powers and his godly status have no impact. Together with the viewer, he learns what the TVA does in the universe, that multiple timelines are held in balance by three ancient beings, and that variants, such as himself, are generally destroyed to reset the timeline into the state it is supposed to be.

His own destruction, or "reset" as the TVA calls it, is delayed by MOBIUS (OWEN WILSON), who takes him to something of an interview room, where he tries to understand what it is that Loki wants, and shows him sequences of his life (from his appearances across the MCU), including a scene in which it is revealed that Loki was the infamous plane high-jacker D.B. Cooper. Loki is insistent that what he wants is to rule but Mobius questions his motifs, especially given his assigned "role" as God of Mischief. During this conversation, Mobius also shows Loki the death of his mother, which to this version of Loki, has not happened yet.

The interview is interrupted by HUNTER B-15 (WUNMI MOSAKU), who informs Mobius that yet another of their teams has been killed by a rogue variant they have been hunting. Earlier, we saw Mobius in a French church investigating a similar assault. Returning, Mobius realises that Loki has vanished and is trying to escape. During his escape, Loki learns that the TVA has multiple infinity stones in its possession and that they are all powerless here. Retrieving the Tesseract nonetheless, Loki returns to the interview room and rewatches some of the scenes from his life -- the death of his mother, and later his father Odin, the rekindling of his relationship with Thor, and ultimately his own death at the hands of Thanos.

Despite successfully ridding himself of his restraint in a confrontation with Hunter B-15, Loki remains in the room until Mobius returns, and admits that killing people is merely part of the role of villain he has cast himself as, to protect the part of himself that he considers weak. This admission leads Mobius to reveal what it is he wants from Loki: to help them find the rogue variant, which is also Loki. In the final scene we see (presumably) that Loki killing yet another TVA team and obtaining one of their timeline reset devices.

FAVOURITE MOMENTS

There are a ton of fantastic moments in this first episode already, but for those who know me well, the choice for overall favourite moment can obviously only be one: Loki is D.B. Cooper. I mean I saw the sequence of that in the trailer and I was already excited then, but I didn't think that it would actually mean that he is D.B. Cooper in the MCU. That is bloody fantastic and I absolutely love it.

I am also super fond of Loki's complete disgruntled-ness in the scenes at the TVA before Mobius shows up. His sarcasm, his attitude, the moment in the "elevator" where he gets the jumpsuit, his scared scrambling for the ticket so he doesn't get disintegrated -- just, so many fantastic comedic beats.

Him watching scenes of his future by himself was a stab to my heart, but so nicely done. I've always loved the scenes in the movies where we get to see behind the mask, behind the facade of Loki "I am burdened with glorious purpose" Laufeyson, and saw something real, something honest and, for lack of any better terms, something human. And this scene was exactly that, and I loved it. Hurts me, but I loved it.

FAVOURITE CHARACTER(S)

I mean obviously it is Loki, no questions here, but I also really adored CASEY (EUGENE CORDERO) and I hope we get to see him many times throughout this show. I adore that he had no idea what fish are, because why would he? Lovely, lovely character.

I was surprised to find how much I like Owen Wilson in this role. He is one of those actors where I find myself annoyed rather quickly, but I am really enjoying him as Mobius so far. It is good on him.

QUESTIONS, CURIOSITIES

They only partially addressed this and I am wondering if it will come up again, but, the whole situation of the Avengers doing time-travel. RAVONNA RENSLAYER (GUGU MBATHA-RAW) tells Loki when he brings it up at his, I guess hearing, that the Avengers were meant to do that, and that it was part of the overall sacred timeline. My question though, does that include Steve going back to live his life with Peggy? Because if I recall, that action meant that another timeline was created. I have questions!

OVERALL IMPRESSION

I really enjoyed this episode a whole lot. It does a fantastic job setting up this show, the world it operates in and already grounds the characters in this new reality. I love the version of Loki this episode has established, and I can't wait to see where we go next with him. Also super excited to get a first look at rogue variant Loki hopefully very soon. Genuinely, this episode was dope. I have missed my boy so much, and he is finally back.

[still image taken form imdb page of the episode]

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dtrhwithalex · 3 years

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BOOK | Grisha Trilogy (Leigh Bardugo)

Shadow and Bone (2012), Siege and Storm (2013), Ruin and Rising (2014)

I came to this world through the Netflix adaptation SHADOW AND BONE which came out earlier this year, and after, to my huge surprise, falling in love with these stories, I decided I would have to give these books a go as well. I've been aware of the Grishaverse for quite some time now but probably especially since SIX OF CROWS came out in 2016 and tumblr went completely batshit for one (1) Kaz Brekker. I am always kind of wary when it comes to entertainment that tumblr goes nuts for, especially when it is YA fiction, because I do not quite trust the general consensus (I was sorely disappointed by Donna Tartt's THE SECRET HISTORY which I found tremendously boring). So actually, I've been actively avoiding reading this book series until now. But then the Netflix adaptation happened and well—you can blame (or thank) Ben Barnes, because he is pretty much at fault for this alone. Anyway, enough preamble.

I've just recently finished reading the last book of the trilogy and I have to say, I have to my surprise really enjoyed these books! I've also read the short stories THE WITCH OF DUVA after the first book, and THE TAILOR and THE TOO-CLEVER FOX after the second, and will be reading LITTLE KNIFE and THE DEMON IN THE WOOD before I move on to the Crows duology. I am reading the short stories according to publication year and not specific date, so they might not be completely in release order.

Reading SHADOW AND BONE I was very much always thinking back and comparing to the plot of the show since that was my original basis for the story. I am not too fond of first person narratives as I prefer things to be written in third person, but I've found that it did not bother me all that much in these books. What I realised though, was that I liked the show a bit more than the book, because it goes beyond Alina's story and the information a reader gets through her focalisation. We get to see Mal's story instead of only hearing of some of it when he and Alina are finally reunited once she leaves the Little Palace, which to me also made the character a whole lot more likable and interesting than in the books. I've also found that I really enjoyed the integration of the Crows in the show because it made the time leading up to and including the Winter Fete that much more interesting. Generally, I really liked most of the changes they made to the story for the adaptation—Alina scheming to get on the skiff, the Darkling's claw ring instead of the knife, that Alina seems to ride the entire way to Os Alta with the Darkling, the explicit consent given at the Winter Fete, erasing the scar, the fact that Alina and Mal don't kiss during the search of the stag. I would have loved to see some of the early scenes like in the book though, especially Alina and Mal on the way to Kribirsk and nearly getting run over by the Grisha carriages. I am also not entirely sure what I want to think about the change of Morozova's collar. I thought it was super dope that it was actually mended into her collarbone, but I am uncertain about her being able to completely melt it into her body and have it disappear like that. But generally, I really liked this first book. I think it does a pretty good job of establishing the world through Alina's eyes and gearing up the plot of the three novels.

SIEGE AND STORM then, of course, gave me my first look into the Grishaverse that was not completely informed by the adaptation. I was super surprised how quick it became clear to them that the Darkling had survived the events in the Fold and for him to catch up with them. I loved the sequences on the Volkvolny with Sturmhond though. And although I was aware that there was a character called Nikolai in this universe, it took me forever to catch on that he was Sturmhond, and when that reveal came I was very much happily blown away. I am super excited to see that character translated to screen (when, not if, the show finally gets renewed for a second season). I really enjoyed the hunt for Rusalye, the introduction of Tamar and Tolya, and for the role Genya gets to play in that sequence. Also, when first getting into this universe, my immediate first thought was, why don't they just fly over the Fold. Do airborne crafts not exist in this world (yet)? No balloons or something like it? And then of course Sturmhond delivered which definitely helped solidify how much I like his character. I am an incredibly visual person, so I think my favourite bits of this book are all somehow related to how much I would like to see them brought to screen (it's either that, or just how much I want to see Ben and Jessie be brilliant in scenes together). The bond between Alina and the Darkling I really enjoyed a lot and also absolutely the scene in the chapel at the end with him believing that she has finally chosen his side, only for her to then try and kill him with their combined powers and merzost. An absolutely extraordinary scene and if Netflix does not renew this show and I never get to see Ben and Jessie fucking nail this scene, I might just riot.

I had to take a bit of a break in-between books two and three because of uni responsibilities, but I finally got around to reading RUIN AND RISING and finished it two days ago. I am very unsure if I liked the ending or not, but more on that later. I was very glad when they finally got out of the White Cathedral and back to the world above ground, because as cool as this undergound world is, the Apparat creeps me out and so does religious culty stuff. I loved the plotting and scheming though and the fact that Alina can control shadows to some extent. Very cool. Prince Nikolai to the rescue once more was also fantastic and the existence of the Spinning Wheel fascinates me to no end. That I definitely want to see translated on screen. Make me a beautiful observatory to fall in love with, Netflix, make me one! Loved the return of Baghra as well, and generally all of her moments at the Spinning Wheel. The Darkling's attack too was right up my alley, and nichevo'ya!Nikolai? Fucking dope, I love it. This novel especially makes for some great visuals that I can't wait to see on the show. Just gimme, all of it. I liked that the Firebird was not the third amplifier, and I find the idea of Mal being the amplifier instead quite intriguing. What I am not so sure about is the actual ending. I once again really loved the bond scenes between Alina and the Darkling, and I now absolutely see why some fans are upset about him giving up his real name so quickly in the show. I do wonder how that is going to play out eventually. I did like the Darkling's ending—his desperation at Alina losing her power, his plea to her that there will be no grave, and him asking for her to speak his name one last time. And I loved that, as horrible of a person he was, as much gruesome things he did, Alina still understood what drove him and still felt a certain kinship to that, and ultimately did also mourn him in a way. There is this echoing of that line from the show—"we could have had this, all of it"—if only he'd asked, and I absolutely love that. Their dynamic is just incredibly intriguing. The thing I am not sure about is Alina losing her power. Mal coming back to life, yeah okay maybe. The power of the Sun Summoner splitting and finding root in every otkazat'sya in the vicinity, that was amazing. But Alina completely losing her power? I don't know. I am not sure what I want to think about that. I see where it comes from but I don't think I like it.

Overall, I have to say, I really enjoyed this trilogy. I don't think I've read a YA series since the HP one which I grew up with. I am honestly very positively surprised by this fact. I am very excited to read on, especially since summer break has now officially started for me and I actually have the time to read. I know I mentioned some of the short stories in the beginning, but I think I will talk about those separately once I've read them all.

For now all that I can say is, damn you, Ben Barnes, for being this attractive as a bad guy, you alone are to blame that I am falling down this particular rabbit hole. Thanks so much.

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dtrhwithalex · 3 years

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TV | Shadow and Bone (2021-)

Non-spoiler-free review of the first season of Netflix's adaptation of the 'Grishaverse' novels by Leigh Bardugo, which was released on the streaming platform on 23 April 2021.

Directors: Lee Toland Krieger (101, 102), Dan Liu (103, 104), Mairzee Almas (105, 106), Jeremy Webb (107, 108). Writers: Eric Heisserer (101, 102, 108), Daegan Fryklind (103, 108), Vanya Asher (104), M. Scott Veach (105), Nick Culbertson (105), Shelley Meals (106), Christina Strain (107).

Having never read any of the source material, I did not particularly know what to expect when I started this show. It also, at that point, had not dawned on me yet that 'Six of Crows', which I had occasionally seen being talked about by people I followed, was related to this story. Honestly, my initial assumption was that this show would probably appeal to me as much as THE WITCHER did, of which I had also not read any of the books (and neither have I played the games), which was essentially: Oh look, a slightly dark fantasy show with great visuals and an actor I recognise and appreciate on screen, this could be some nice downtime watching which I will walk away from with the thought "Hey, that was fun" and not think about it much further, until more episodes come out.

But, honestly, SHADOW AND BONES is great. I tremendously enjoy the characters, the world this is set in is very intriguing and I am absolutely curious to see where this goes next. The visuals are stunning and the costuming is fantastic as well. There was the occasional visual, I guess, effect where the periphery becomes slightly blurry and/or warped which kind of threw me off, but other than that it was really wonderful to look at.

My favourite character is without a doubt, and also unsurprisingly so, Ben Barnes as the Darkling, Aleksander. Ben is a fantastic actor and I've enjoyed him in everything I've seen him in so far, and he is really excellent in this, too. His performance is so nuanced and he brings so much to every scene he is in. The difference in his performance between the present-day Aleksander and that of the flashback revealing how the Fold was created, is so nice to watch. I am very excited to see him bring even more to this character as the story goes on. The gorgeous costuming obviously helps, but he has such a presence every time he enters a scene, it is wonderful to watch. The final shot of him coming out of the Fold has me very excited for what's to come. And, of course, he is just incredibly attractive as the Darkling. Not gonna lie, that definitely is the reason why I started watching it. I will always love the villains, and Ben is doing a tremendous job with this role.

I also highly enjoyed the dynamic between Aleksander and Alina throughout the show, and while I was at first reluctant to ship it, after 'Show Me Who You Are' I was definitely on board with that, and it is now very much my favourite episode (interestingly, it was co-written by M. Scott Veach, who was also a writer on LEVERAGE, my favourite show of all time). Both Jessie and Ben bring so much to their characters and their relationship, and I think it is very obvious in their performance that, as actors, they are very comfortable with each other and trust each other in their scenes together. It is wonderful to watch. I've also really enjoyed Jessie as Alina, and I think they're doing a terrific job in bringing this character to life. She's also just incredibly adorable and a literal ray of sunshine.

I've also tremendously enjoyed the Crows. Kaz, Inej and Jesper are a lot of fun to watch and their scenes were definitely among my favourites. Jesper especially has very quickly become a favourite. I can definitely see why tumblr is so enamoured with this small gang of criminals. While I did not particularly care for the storyline of Nina and Matthias, I am curious to see how that changes now with the overlap of their story with that of the Crows. I did enjoy their banter a lot, though, which I think might only be elevated through the association with especially Jesper.

I don't mean to leave Mal out, not at all, but I really also did not particularly care for his character. That isn't to say that Archie did not do a tremendous job in that role, he was great. I just much preferred the dynamic between Alina and Aleksander over that of Alina and Mal. I hope that the second season will be able to change my mind about Mal, especially since, from what I can tell, he and Alina will be together for a lot longer than in this first season.

Overall I think this is a tremendous first season of this show. It definitely managed to make me excited for this story and for upcoming seasons. It even intrigues me enough to consider getting my hands on the novels. Or at least take a glimpse into one and see how I'll like it.

I'm not good with ratings, I am not objective enough for that, so I'll leave that out. But if you enjoy fantasy stories with great, charming villains, this is a good pick.

. . .

[the image is the show's official poster taken from the imdb page]

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dtrhwithalex · 3 years

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What's Down This Rabbit Hole Anyway

Hi, hello.

This blog is currently very much still under construction and probably won't have much on it for a while, but I thought I'd give some sort of overview of what I have planned here, what kind of things one might expect, and so on.

Really the big blogging probably won't begin until June when I am planning on doing a rewatch of the original run of LEVERAGE which I will be posting on season by season, before then with the premiere of LEVERAGE: REDEMPTION on July 09 the recapping of the new episodes begins. Just so I already said it, this blog will not be spoiler free, but I will try my best with tagging everything accordingly.

Other than LEVERAGE, I'll likely be doing a similar (re-)run of THE LIBRARIANS and ALMOST PARADISE as well as other shows that I might rewatch or start anew.

I am currently watching SHADOW AND BONE so, possibly, there might be a post about that before the LEVERAGE marathon begins in June.

As for movies, we'll see what comes out when and if, given the current circumstances, I'll be able to see them at the theater, but you can definitely expect some sort of post about especially Marvel stuff, likely some DC, and other sort of Blockbuster-y type movies. This blog is very much an experiment for now, so we'll see how it goes.

Cheers for now.

Alex

#alex talks #content overview

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dtrhwithalex · 3 years

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Dammit, Dean Devlin.

Once upon a time, there was this little show called Leverage.

It first aired in 2008. It had 5 seasons, 77 episodes, 5 main characters.

I was probably fifteen when I first laid eyes on this little show. I was at my dad’s, it was some time after dinner, we were watching TV. And there it was, that first episode. We watched it, it was fun.

Over the course of a couple of years, I kept catching that episode on TV. But only the first one. Never more than that.

I forgot about it and was surprised every time I saw the episode. And I kept thinking, I wanna check this out, this looks like fun.

I think either shortly before the last season aired in 2012, or shortly after, I finally remembered the show well enough to go, okay, let’s watch this. I have not been the same person since.

This little show called Leverage is without a doubt the best show I have ever seen in my life, and it is to this day still the only thing that has never disappointed me once. I loved Chuck, but it was not perfect. I had issues with it. I love the Marvel Netflix stuff, I think it’s fun. But it’s not perfect. I adore NCIS and The Mentalist. Are they perfect? Nope.

But I cannot find one single flaw about Leverage. I love it with all my heart and I would not change one single thing. Well, maybe I would’ve not cancelled it after five seasons. But even with that….it rounds off so perfectly. The last season, the finale, it is so fucking perfect.

One of the things that made Leverage so perfect, were the absolutely fantastic main characters and the development they had over those five seasons. I feel like I could write endlessly about the character development in this show. It’s so marvellous and so well done.

You have Nate Ford, the “leader” of the group, this little family. The ex-insurance fraud detective, so broken, so flawed, such a wonderful jerk. He makes sure that the plans work, he is the mastermind behind their cons, their grifts, their thefts. He is the puppet master. Ah, I adooooore him. His alcoholism and control issues were never glamorised, it wasn’t sugarcoated, and he was not vilified for it. He grew so much in those five seasons, he changed a lot, and yet he never betrayed his own character. Tim Hutton just smashes this role. I really, truly adore him.

You have Sophie Devereaux, femme fatale, grifter extraordinaire, a character so diverse, so beautifully portrayed by Gina Bellman, from episode to episode different, and yet still only one very complex and wonderfully crafted character. While Nate is the one who makes sure that the plan works, Sophie is the one to make sure that everyone gets out of it alive, unharmed, safe. She is the caretaker. To watch a grifter struggle with identity issues is such a great thing. Watching Sophie finding herself, finding her own dreams and ambitions, finding her calling over those five seasons, was such a treat.

That’s the “parents”. Then you have the “kids”.

Alec Hardison, a motherfuckin’ ray of sunshine. Hardison is the nerd, the geek, master of computers, the best hacker on earth, and just an all around joy. Only 22 when they started filming, Aldis Hodge is so fucking young but he plays him like a master. Aldis absolutely acts the shit out of that character. Hardison is such a sweetheart. On my first round through the show, he was definitely my favorite character, I identified with him so much. He was handsome, he was elegant, he had style, he was such a beautifully crafter character, and he still was the nerd and he is still black. You don’t usually get that. Hardison is so incredibly kind and loving and all he wants is for his little family of criminals to feel good, to be safe, to feel loved. He gives them a home wherever they go. Aldis Hodge fucking rocked this role and I can’t do anything but applaud him.

Then you have Parker, the all around misfit. Usually, in every other show, her character would be dismissed as either the “beauty” just there for the male gaze, or the weirdo who is the butt of every joke. But not with Leverage. Just like the other characters, she is wonderfully portrayed by Beth Riesgraf, has so many interesting layers and we learn so much about her over those five seasons. Parker is the world’s greatest thief, she likes money for money’s sake, she experienced a lot of bad things, was hurt in so many ways, and came out of it anyway. She found her own family, the people who did not dismiss her as a freak, an outcast, but embraced her being different, maybe a little weird, and loved her anyway. The relationships she builds with the other characters are so very different from each other, so well thought out, so wonderfully done. And what Leverage does so masterfully is that it does not pit Sophie and Parker against each other. It gives you a beautiful friendship between those two women, who could not be different from each other. There is so much love, respect and understanding between those characters. It’s so refreshing to see. Have I mentioned how much I love this show already? I fucking love this show.

And then you have Eliot Spencer. Oh, I could cry buckets just thinking about him. I have never in my life seen such beautiful character development. What they did with Eliot over those five seasons is an absolute masterpiece of writing. Eliot – the hitter, the fighter, the stone cold cowboy, whose fists say more than his mouth – that guy changes so much. But not just that, he’s not just the fighter. He’s the “beau” mostly, and not Sophie. And he is incredibly passionate about cooking. You have this knife-wielding, punch-throwing, fucking badass, and he loves cooking. There is so much history revealed over the course of the show and he learns so. fucking. much. He goes from “You all annoy me and I’m just here for revenge and money” to “I will protect these people from this unjust world with my life and I would take on dragons and mountain trolls if it meant that they are safe and protected”. Christian Kane is such a wonderful actor and he gives this character an immense amount of depth and he has more than three dimensions. Eliot is a masterpiece. And I love him to pieces. I could write ESSAYS about him. Long, wordy, essays.

You have this beautiful little family of thieves, of criminals, con-men, flawed, hurt, wonderful people. Incredibly gorgeously crafted characters, played so magnificently by all these great, amazing actors.

Leverage has rocked my world and sparked so many different interests in me. I would be a completely different person without it. I have no idea how many times I have watched it through. I spent at least half a year just going through it over and over and over again. As soon as I watched the finale, I put the first season on again, no stops, no pauses. It never got boring, I kept seeing new things, kept making connections between certain things. This show brought me so much joy. I love it with all my heart.

What Dean Devlin and John Rogers created is a show that makes me feel at home, that makes my heart swell with love, that was just absolutely fucking perfect. And still, it got cancelled and the last season ended in 2012.

Two years later, a NATO counter terrorism agent is in the middle of taking down terrorist and stopping a bomb from exploding, when suddenly an arrogant, brilliant, kind of dashing guy shows up, talks about ancient artefacts and curses and mythologies, and helps the agent stopping the bomb.

And with that, The Librarians is born. Or better yet, reborn into a tv show. By whom? None other than John Rogers and Dean Devlin.

What is it? Well, it’s a little show that just finished it’s fourth season. It’s a show about a team of people who would’ve never found together if they had not been thrown into this adventure. They could not be different.

You have Flynn Carsen, a kind of arrogant, incredibly brilliant and well-versed guy, who is kind of dashing, has a tendency to go off and do things by himself, and is, more or less, the “leader” of the group.

You have Eve Baird, ex-NATO agent, the actual leader of the group, the protector, who sees to it that everyone gets out of the adventures alive. She is the guardian. Eve is a strong, independent woman who don’t need no man, but chooses to have one anyway, because that self-destructive, arrogant idiot is so very intriguing, and he genuinely cares about her.

You have Ezekiel Jones, a Korean-Australian, nerd, computer genius, thief and, deep down, a sweetheart. He is more arrogant than anyone, he loves nothing more than himself, and saying his name, but he does have a heart. A big one. And he loves his new-found family.

You have Cassandra Killian, a quirky, pretty, absolutely brilliant young lady, who does not always fit in. She gets excited about things at the wrong time, she is overly hyperactive at times, but so so loyal, and caring, and loving.

And then you have Jacob Stone. The fighter. The brawler. The country kid from Oklahoma. The one you look at and think, that guy has skin like stone, nothing can hurt him, and he has no soft side. You have this tough ass bitch of a guy…. and he is soooooooo passionate about art, about architecture, about literature, about poetry. He quotes some author in every episode. He gets excited about museums and buildings and old symbols and engravings. And he cares so much about these people he only just met, he will protect them with everything he’s got. A big teddy bear, a softie.

(Then you also have Jenkins who is just absolutely fantastic and I adore him and I could go on for ages about him but words could not make him justice, so I’m not trying. Also, he is kinda not relevant for my point.)

Now look at those five characters.

Leader guy, arrogant, self-destructive, cares so much but can’t really express it, runs from commitment for the longest time, but actually wants to stay, just doesn’t know how?

Strong, independent woman who’s actually kind of the leader, sees to it that everyone feels good, doesn’t need a man, but falls for the one who runs away anyway?

Nerdy, non-white computer guy, who knows he is awesome at what he does, is unconventionally stylish compared to the usual type of this character, cares about his new found family a lot and tries to support them with new ideas?

Brilliant, weird woman but absolutely beautiful in her own way, very caring but can’t express it sometime, quirky and hyperactive?

Badass softie with a super specific interest he is brilliant at despite it maybe being considered effeminate in comparison to his other super manly, buff-ness, played by Christian Kane?

Sound familiar?

Nate or Flynn, Sophie or Eve, Hardison or Ezekiel, Parker or Cassie, Eliot or Jacob?

I am NOT saying these are exactly the same characters, far from it. They are all their own wonderful selves. But there are similarities there that I just adore so much. I admit, I think of Jacob as just an alias of Eliot’s that he had before he joined the Leverage crew, and he is indeed the very same person. But that’s just me, because I love Leverage so much and I miss it with all my heart and having the opportunity to have Eliot live on in something else? I’ll take it in a heart beat.

I started watching The Librarians a few weeks ago. I am close to finishing season three now. It took me about two seasons to warm up to Flynn, and I admit I still don’t like him as much as I loved Nate. I admit, Ezekiel still pisses me off a lot because of his constant “I am Ezekiel Jones”. And yet… I still like them. I still think they are wonderfully crafted characters.

I did not mean to like The Librarians. I did go into this show thinking that I probably won’t like it because it’s not Leverage. These are not my beloved characters and this is not the best show on earth. But it’s a good show. It’s a beautiful show. It’s lovely.

And I fucking HATE that I like it so much, because I really did not want to love another show. I am so pissed at myself for really liking it.

But I do. And I wish this show all the best. Season four just ended and the campaigning for a fifth season is on its way. I think it really deserves it. I am so on board for a fifth season.

I have one more thing to say.

Dammit. Dammit, Dean Devlin. Dammit, John Rogers. I did not want to like this show. And yet your wonderful show is exactly that. Wonderful. Adorable. Lovely.

I really miss Leverage. I miss it so much. And I wish you’d make a movie, get the gang back together again for one last job. Just one more time breaking the law, no encores.

(Thank you Dean, John, and also Chris Downey, for Leverage. It still is everything I ever wanted from a TV show and still the only show that never disappointed me. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. You guys are the best.)

#rb from main #leverage #the librarians #tv blogging

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