#Seriously when they dig up Hardison in that one episode

[dna-d2]

Leverage Redemption, and How it Handled Character Replacement

(Long Post Alert, so I’ll put a TL;DR down at the bottom)

(Also Spoilers for Leverage Redemption if you haven’t seen it)

So I recently got around to watching Leverage after way too long, immediately followed by Leverage Redemption. To start off with, if you love found family and eating the rich, watch this show. If you don’t like that stuff, also watch it, because I promise that by the end of it, you will. It has quickly become one of my favorite shows and I find myself smiling consistently throughout watching it. (Especially when Eliot is on screen because goddammit, I always end up picking the tough guy as one of my favorites. Though it’s much better when Hardison is on screen too because I fucking love their dynamic)

Anyway

Before I get too far into this, let me give you a pretty quick rundown on Leverage as a whole, to help contextualize all this. Also so I can finally talk about why I love this show in general, because no one else I know watches this and I need to talk about it.

So Leverage is basically a show where a group of ex-cons (convicts, con-men, you decide) teaming up with the guy who used to help catch them to pull off a heist for what they think are the right reasons at the time. (Spoiler alert, they got tricked, and then had to pull another heist to fix what they messed up) After that, they basically decided to remain teamed up to basically pull heists and con various types of rich douchebags who were gaming the system at the expense of the people. This is basically the whole show.

The Crew is comprised of five people. Sophie Devereaux (if that is her real name), the Grifter. She’s basically a master at pulling cons and tricking people. She’s basically the actress of the group, who pulls a lot of weight in getting the mark ready for their tricks and whatnot.

Eliot Spencer, the Hitter. And also my favorite character. He is literally what he’s advertised as. He hits things. REALLY well. In all seriousness, I can only think of one or two times in the entire series that he actually lost a fight, and he usually managed to get them back pretty quickly. He’s basically the violent older brother of the group, and as per sibling rules, he must always torment his younger siblings. Especially the middle child. That’s important. But also HE’S the only one allowed to torment them, because the second anyone else tries to mess with them, he (sometimes literally) jumps in out of nowhere to beat the everloving shit out of them. It’s great.

Alec Hardison, the Hacker. He’s also what he’s advertised as. A master hacker, as well as a Jack of All Trades in most technological and non-technological type stuff. You never know what knowledge he’s gonna pull out of his bag of tricks, but you can bet your ass he’s gonna use it to pick a fight with Eliot. As stated previously, he’s basically the middle child, though I get I a little iffy on the expression right around here as it regards Parker. Since they start dating about mid-way through the series. But not in terms of his relationship with Eliot. Honestly, I see their dynamic as one of the big selling points of this show, and I fucking love seeing them interact with each other. One minute Eliot is literally threatening to kill Hardison over a sandwich, the next he’s punching the shit out of someone because they threw Hardison over the side of a building and NO ONE throws Hardison over the side of a building, godammit. Except maybe him. (His words, not mine)

And then Parker, first/last name unknown, the Thief. She is an expert thief who, fun fact, canonically has high-functioning autism. (Technically the producer or whoever said that she had Asbergers, but that was back when the first season was running, and during a time when the autism spectrum probably wasn’t really a thing, or at the very least not well-researched) She’s crazy. At least that’s how people keep describing her, but personally, I just think she’s neat. She’s actually my second favorite character. VERY close second. It fluctuates depending on the episode, honestly. (Btw I wasn’t joking when I said first/last name unknown. We know one of her names is maybe Parker. Is it her first name? Is it her last name? Is it even her name??? Literally no one knows, not even the CIA. It’s great. I love it)

And then of course there’s Nathan “Nate” Ford, the Mastermind, He was once an Insurance investigator who chased these four down multiple times and probably got them all caught at least once (though clearly not for very long). He’s the guy you see in memes with the galaxy brain playing 4D chess backwards. He’s smart, he’s an alcoholic, and his son died. A perfect recipe for a hot mess to play team dad with a newly formed found family.

These five spend five seasons ripping off mostly rich white dudes and eating the rich. (not literally. If that’s what you’re looking for, watch Hannibal. I’ve never watched it, but something tells me that’s a little closer to the whole eating people thing) They quickly became a family, pretty much, and had lots of fun doing it. Each of these characters were a huge part of why Leverage was as good as it was. However, before the revival series began, there had to be some changes.

Between Leverage and Leverage Redemption, there were some issues with Nate’s actor, Timothy Hutton, and due to those issues, the show runners elected not to bring him back for the Revival series. And I’m not gonna go into that because it’s not really the main point of this analysis.

However because of this, that left a huge, and very important, gap in the main cast. The Mastermind, the LITERAL reason these guys were brought together has now been killed off due to casting issues. So what is a team of writers to do in this scenario?

Surely they’re just going to bring in some guy who has the exact same skill-set as Nate, who is also ultra-mega-smart, who we just HAPPENED to have never seen during the five seasons of the show, right?? That would make total sense, wouldn’t it??

So the writers did exactly NOT that.

Instead, they got Noah Wyle, of the Librarians (another series that a lot of the producers and writers actually worked on) and cast him as a good bad lawyer named Harry Wilson. The kind of lawyer who’s GREAT at his job, however he was not helping the right people. Eventually he realized that he was in fact NOT the good guy, and decided that he was gonna screw over one of this douchebag clients by stealing a painting of his from a museum, on the EXACT same day that Sophie, Eliot, Hardison, and Parker happened to have decided to steal a painting from a museum to cheer themselves up on the anniversary of Nate’s death.

So they of course figure him out immediately, observe how he does this, and watches as he immediately trips an alarm and almost gets caught. After this, they decide to help their brand new Mr. Wilson screw this guy over, and after that, he joins the team.

Now, what does this add to the team, you may ask? The new Mastermind, right???

WRONG

Mr. Wilson is a good lawyer, but he is by NO MEANS a criminal like the rest of them. He’s inexperienced, a little naïve, overall just not a con-man like the rest of them. He does however bring a lot of legal information and fancy lawyer-y loopholes to the game, which proves to be pretty useful throughout the season.

But I know what you’re thinking. If Mr. Wilson didn’t replace Nate as the Mastermind, then who did??

Well, no one, really. Instead, the rest of the team stepped up and each started pitching in their ideas for the overall plan, with Sophie mostly taking the lead. And this is kind of the genius of how they handled replacing Nate. Instead of just bringing in some rando smart dude that we just never heard of or something, they bring in a new guy who covers a new skill-set that they didn’t have before. While he is the new Fifth guy, he is not JUST the new Fifth guy.

He’s the new guy. He’s filling in the place Nate left on the team, but he is by no means a replacement for him. He’s not the Mastermind, he’s the…Well, Sophie keeps calling him “Our Mr. Wilson” so I think that’s just his title. You’d think he’d be the Lawyer, but nah. So he’s not the Mastermind, and he’s not the New Nate Ford. And he never will be. Nope.

He’s the Mr. Wilson.

And btw I know I didn’t really address Breanna and how she actually more closely fills in the archetypical “Replace Character A with Character B who has the same skills” but that’s because one: This was mostly about how they handled Mr. Wilson. Two: I think her integration with the cast is almost flawless. I say almost because I miss Hardison. And Three: She also wasn’t a carbon copy of Hardison. She was less experienced in certain fields, but more experienced in others, and is also a Gen-Z kid who’s more than willing to fight the power. 

(I’m serious about Hardison though. Please put him in more episodes next season I miss him. Have them both, I would LOVE to have them both. That’s a new dynamic that I think would be great. They’re sitting in Leverage, tag-teaming the bad guys’ security systems, it would be awesome)

TL;DR: They had to kill off a major character but instead of replacing him with some random-ass carbon copy that we just somehow never heard of in five seasons, they brought in an actual new guy who covers a new set of skills, but also is very inexperienced regarding the field they work in, and instead all the veterans of the group help fill in the role that the dead character left.

Also if you wanna watch it but don’t care where to start, I have two personal picks for ”Episodes I show Someone to Introduce them to the Show”

First is Season 3, Episode 11, “The Rashomon Job”

Second is Season 4, Episode 12, “The Office Job”

They’re both very good, and are basically my favorites

(Edit: I was gonna put more recommendations in the tags but I guess today is the day I learn there's a 30 tag limit. Who knew? NOT ME)

[cheshasleverage]

The Miracle Job Rewatch

Wow it sure took me a while to watch this episode damn. Also I’m gonna start putting these under read mores because they’re too long

Anyways, I think I understand why they might’ve switched the Two Horse Job with The Wedding Job, on account of it would explain why Nate is ordained and can marry off a couple without anyone questioning the validity of it

If we think about it going in the order it was supposed to though, with Nate marrying off the couple before telling the team he was a priest (or was going to be anyways) its kind of funny because that means the team didn’t care about its validity and just wanted to get the con over with

The mural in the church though, it’s gorgeous. The statue? can’t stop laughing at his little Y arms

The priest is definitely a guy Nate would be friends with, what with his humor and all

Listen I’m not religious and I know this is a running theme throughout the episode but seriously who beats up a priest, or any holy man for that matter? Unless the guys a fucking asshole I understand but come on

How did Sophie get that role? Knowing her the actual cast member dropped out or something and she jumped on the chance to play

Eliot playing Russian roulette with a bunch of criminals is somehow not as bad as watching Sophie’s play and I want to think he’s just exaggerating to get his point across but also Death of a Salesman is almost 2 and half hours long so maybe it really was that bad (either way I think Eliot needs to lighten up on Sophie)

Ok Ok, smooth Nate really smooth

Do you think Nate actually watched the play? He probably already knows the premise of Death of a Salesman so he can cover his ass if he fell asleep but the way he was watching Sophie in the first episode makes me think that maybe he is just fascinated with watching how her version plays out

First mention of Maggie, and with Sophie’s tone and with what we already know, we can kind of figure out that whatever she’s telling Nate is important and that the client is possibly connected to Nate (great writing tbh)

“You read the police report?” “Yeah, I do that.” 

The back and forth with Nate being All Business and Paul trying to get him to tell him if it had been Maggie he was talking to is very.... telling of how Nate feels about his “job” and his old life. Nate lost everything, including the wife he really loved, and now he’s driven himself into the ground trying to do anything that might distract him from what happened to Sam and his old life basically. 

I never realized before but parker has probably never actually experienced church or interacted with any religion in a....... religious way

Nate trying desperately to convince the team to help out his old friend like they hadn’t already helped out Sophie’s against the mob, or like they wouldn’t be all over it after learning some dudes jumped a priest. 

They have better hearts than I think themselves, and Nate, give them credit for

They were fully prepared for Nate! Hardison knew he was gonna start asking about who wanted the church and got signs of each place.

“I don’t do gangs” Do you think this is the episode that Hardison started to learn how to defend himself from attackers?

oof, look at how happy and proud Nate looks. That little boy was his life

This scene really drives home the fact that Hardison and Eliot have had very different experiences in life. While Hardison has mainly done cons behind the safety of his hacking and never really had to fight anyone, Eliot has done this before. He knows where gangs have their hideouts, he knows walking into their turf will draw them out, he knows they’ll pull guns or knives etc.

Side note: Eliot grabbing that dudes gun and holding it down his pants while he interrogates them? kind of hot ngl

“A specific range of efficacy” Yeah ok sure, he hates them because most inexperienced people use them in the least effective range instead of the fact that he’s probably got PTSD 

ANYWAYS DISARMING THAT DUDE WITH A HEADBUTT IS KIND OF HOT ALSO

However, Hardison freaking out is exactly how I would feel in that situation, mainly because I (and Hardison) realize that Eliot is there and after seeing what Eliot can do there’s very little chance he would let anything happen

What was that move, Hardison? Did he shove him??

Hey, at least he noticed that dude was acting weird. He’s very observant and picks up on a lot of things which helps out when he’s hacking

“Somebody’s gotta fight the injured, shoot that’s my niche”

Can we talk about how Eliot keeps looking back? Like he’s expecting a gunshot, whether it’s at the gang member or at them

God when the team is going hard against someone they really go hard. First smacking him with wood and changing his pills, then dumping his assistant on the floor to get him alone in an elevator

“You gave speed?” Hardison’s half-assed attempt to make an excuse for Parker because he did beat up a priest but also, speed?

Parker is so smart. Like, especially when she’s doing anything involving stealing but there are moments like this where she comes up with an elegant way of saying “let's ruin this dude”. 

I peg Hardison for being agnostic. Or something along those lines. Mainly because I feel somewhat similarly toward what they’re doing. Cus there’s a difference between taking advantage of someone’s greeds/fears vs taking advantage of their religion and faith

DID PARKER REALLY DRAW BLOOD FROM HIM

Sophie is vicious. I think they all are in their own way but Sophie gets next to her mark, gets cozy and they trust her and then she turns around and uses them for her con

1) Hardison is an amazing artist 

2) Eliot’s got a point because at 10 feet when you’re not moving and your target is standing still, you should have time to aim and hit it

Alright so digging in: Nate harbors guilt over Sam’s death and the falling apart of his marriage..... and his little game of cat and mouse with Sophie. He never cheated on Maggie, there may have been some flirting but he was honest and never slept with Sophie or anyone else, and I highly doubt Sophie ever tried to push him to sleep with her knowing he was married. But he still feels guilty because, well come on, one guilt piles on another and soon it’s snowballing. He’s thinking about every little mistake, whether Maggie cared about it or not, and wondering if he could’ve done things differently, how would things have turned out?

Sophie, on the other hand, knows he was honest, knows there’s nothing he should be feeling guilty about, at least not when it comes to what they had before the team. Maybe she harbors some envy toward Maggie, but she’s also in a very unstable and unsure spot. She doesn’t know where she stands with Nate personally, only professionally as a grifter on his team. And maybe she does feel somewhat guilty, but she’s trying to lessen the burden that Nate’s put on himself (not that she’s supposed to do that, and it’s another reason I’m glad the writers pushed off their romance)

You know you fucked up when the Vatican rolls up

(now I wanna see a job that takes place in/near the Vatican where the team has to avoid the Vatican and try not to get themselves smited for another fake miracle because Hardison, Parker, and Eliot booked it as soon as they heard the Vatican)

Paul really nailed Nate. At this point, Nate is an alcoholic and he’s depressed, like severely. Nate is using this team as a way to maybe redeem some part of himself, and possibly end him in a way that’s well.... it either does some good for someone or it ruins his reputation

I also wonder if Nate ever did go back before they moved. Maybe just once or twice, even if it was just to talk to Paul. 

Also very clever to use Saint Nicholas. After digging around (googling about him) I found out he’s technically the patron saint of repentant thieves

[sandalaris]

10 for 10 for 10

I’ve been tagged by @yossariandawn Thanks for thinking of me! and for all the great questions! (and sorry it took so long. I had a hard time thinking of 10 questions of my own.)

Answer 10 questions, ask 10 questions, tag 10 people.

1. If you could learn a new skill instantly, what would you choose? I’m not sure. I think that if it’s a skill you really enjoy than taking the time to learn becomes part of the enjoyment, so it’d have to be a skill I either only kind of wanted or that I felt was a need over a want. Oo, MMA, good exercise and the ability to defend myself or someone else if I ever need to, and it’s not something I feel really passionately about going through the process of learning.

2. What part of the world (that you’ve never been to) would you choose to live in for a month? Hyère, France. Don’t even have to think about it. About eight years ago I was planning a move and it was on the short list of places I was considering going to. The climate seemed the most ideal to what I wanted to live in and all the pictures were beautiful. 

3. Favorite kind of sandwich or wrap? Grilled cheese? I don’t like sandwiches (or wraps) typically.

4. Show swap! Bring back 3 shows you love, but you also have to choose 3 you like to cancel instead. Oo, gotta think about this one. I don’t want to bring back a show that was already past its peak and I don’t want to say to cancel a show that isn’t ready to end.

Cancel: (I stuck only with shows that I watch and enjoy so I’m not digging at any show just because it’s not my personal preference)

NCIS – I love the show, seen every last episode and will continue watching it until the end, but it’s time for it to wrap up. It well past its prime.

Lucifer – Listen, I love this show, and there’s a ton of great characters and material here to make a long running series, but they have started going in circles with it and that’s making it feel old. How many times can the same characters learn the same lessons before it just feels like the writers are just forcing things back into the same ol’ mold? Let the story grow or move on.

Shameless – It’s a stretch because the finale season has already been declared, but it’s a show that I don’t really need that finale season, even if I will watch and enjoy it, because it’s reached its natural end.

Bring back:

From Dusk till Dawn: the series – I debated on this one. It wrapped everything up so nicely and I’m quite happy with how it ended, but at the same time the writers had plans for the next season and it was never officially cancelled and there’s so much more story that could be told.

Firefly – Although it’s been enough time that it might have to be more of a reboot maybe? Or are we doing the impossible and it’s coming back shortly after it was canceled? Either way, that show was cancelled way too soon.

The Gifted – Yes, it was a bit cheesy but it’s just as good, if not better than, a lot of the comicbook shows still going AND it ended on a cliffhanger. It needed to continue

5. What fandom would you want to get into, but haven’t yet? I don’t know. I feel like I don’t exactly pick my fandoms. I start watching a show or go see a movie or read a book and then if I feel like looking up fandom stuff after I do.  

6. What show or movie do you watch to cheer you up? Probably Community. It’s a good show that has that nice balance of being a ridiculous comedy, but not too silly at the same time. And it hits so many of my favorite tropes. (Leverage could also count.)

7. Favorite condiments? ….salt? That’s technically a seasoning, but I am not a condiment fan. They are mostly gross and just cover up the flavor the food with their grossness.

8. What characters (from different universes) do you think would love hanging out together? Pick as many as you want. I wrote for fun a Kisa (FDtD) and Troy (Community) scene and discovered I really like them interacting (there was other people in the scene, but they stole all my attention in a matter of moments). They connected in a weird way and I loved writing Kisa’s bizarre and confused reactions to Troy. Britta (Community) and Richie (FDtD) would get along well I think. They’d click in that odd way that Richie has with random people and Britta would be a little too oblivious to Richie’s more social flaws/creepy nature, as is her way when it comes to guys with even the tiniest bit of charm and intelligence. Not gonna lie, I kind of ship them now.

I would also put Shawn from Psych with the entire Leverage crew. Sophie is the only one I feel would find him a bit much at times, mainly because she can spot a grift a mile away and Shawn’s kind of always “on” and think it would mess with her trust issues too much for her to be entirely comfortable around him. Nate sees his potential, especially if Shawn’s been brought in to help on a job, and the guy is ultimately one of the Good Guys, and he would go a long way to helping put Sophie at ease. Because Nate’s too smart to be taken in by someone like Shawn and Sophie wouldn’t feel like she’s the only one who sees him for the conartist he is. Eliot would groan and grumble for show, but in the end Shawn’s like a combination of  his two favorite people in the world; Parker and Hardison. Plus, I headcanon Shawn and Eliot as cousins. I think Hardison might find Shawn a little too like himself to ever be best buddies with the guy, but overall they’d get along just fine. As for Parker... I feel like they’d be almost like two kids on the playground who both found out they like the same obscure cartoon none of the other kids have seen. 

I have a little headcanon about Parker (Leverage) and Clint Barton (MCU) having been in the same foster home as kids and having this kind of a past-sibling-esque connection. I like to think that with both their careers they don’t meet up often, but whenever they realize they are in the same place at the same time, it’s a given that they’ll hang out while there.

My roommate keeps yelling over my shoulder Starlord and Micheal (from the movie starring John Travolta) until I agreed to put them. They would get along in a weird sort of fun way that would be fun to watch but hard to be a part of, but since I haven’t see that movie since I was a kid it’s not one I think of.

9. What’s the most underrated show or movie or book or artist that you love and people should really check out?

Ilona Andrews is an amazing author and more people should check their works out. But the most underrated show I think I’ve ever gotten into… honestly would probably be From Dusk till Dawn. I feel like most of my followers are at least aware of it though because I post enough about it, but it was just really good and sort of cut off before its time. A really close second would be Leverage. It’s still the number one show I recommend when people ask me and I just adore it to pieces.

10. What were you obsessed with as a kid?

So many things, but probably Jasmine from Disney’s Aladdin the most. Pretty sure I named more than one stuffed animal after her.

My questions:

1.      What was your first fandom? Are you still a part of it?

2.      Current self care method(s)?

3.      What are three (3) shows you keep meaning to binge watch but haven’t yet?

4.      Do you stay active in fandoms after a new one catches your eye, or are you more a one at a time person?

5.      What was the last movie you saw with someone else? What would you rate it?

6.      Favorite guilty pleasure?

7.      What’s a highly underrated show/movie/book series that you would recommend?

8.      Any new hobbies you’ve started during quarantine? Any you want to start?

9.      What meme do you wish would just die already?

10.  Spread the love to your followers and post at least one link to a fic you’re reading/have read/wish to read/you’ve written yourself/etc. 

I tag: @shyesplease @valeskaj @ithoughtiwasflying @c-sand @mygutsforgarters @bethanyactually @crystallinee-waters @evanberries @nevergonnabemuchmorethanweather @katwithlove and anyone else who wants to do answer! Seriously, I love having people respond even if I didn’t tag someone. 

[afraschatz]

Leverage - The Studio Job

It feels like ages since I’ve done one of these, and I MISS MY SHOW, so I popped in a random DVD and whohoo it is “The Studio Job”. So here is a random amount of things that I love about this episode. I love...

... the sheer swagger of Hasselhoff err Schneider err Kirkwood. Not many people can pull off that leather jacket, dude

... the fact that Eliot is present during the initial client meeting. I’ve been wondering about this actually, I mean obviously it’s clear why Eliot is here because he clearly is the only one with a decent taste in music and whatnot (what violin? Hardison who?). But, like, does Nate have a diary on his desk where he pencils in potential clients and he hasn’t yet figured out that the team reads that thing and just “happens to show up” to meetings they think interesting? Is the entire team actually present for the inital “hello” and then just randomly decides “nah, not today, today’s client is harshing my vibe, I’d rather hang out with my horde”? How do these meetings come about? I NEED TO KNOW THESE THINGS

... hahahaha, that music video is just the BEST THING. I kinda need a video like that with Eliot staring in it.

... Hardison dumping info like a boss. I know it’s common knowledge that Aldis Hodge was (in part) hired because of exactly that skill but seriously, he is SO good at it.

... “I don’t know how to play the fiddle” (Hardison probably does) and Hardison’s and Eliot’s reactions hahaha

... Kirkwood being a creepy douche. “But the computer...” - “Say it again.” Such a dick (and such a great little bit of characterisation)

... we are not talking about Hardison’s HORRIBLE outfit. Okay, maybe we are. We all know that Hardison has the best style of all of them (don’t fight me on this), so clearly the only explanation for this terribly mustard/brown combo is that he went to a thrift store and deliberately bought the most ridiculously 70s retro country shit he could find. Why? Well, to piss of Eliot, of course

... Nate wearing the white hat. Who are you trying to fool, mate? Oh, right. The mark.

... Parker’s dance theft. Hands down my favourite lift. Possibly ever. (Such a nice use of lazy sensual music there as well)

... Hardison’s clever strategy of responding to suspicion and anger by just mirroring that and instantly forming a bond of mutual pissed-off-ness

... Hardison’s condescension in reaction to the DJ’s super bad lie. Because lying is cool. But bad lying? That’s just offensive.

... Hot diggity dagum. Hahahaha, Hardison

... the notion that the entire time during that interlude Kirkwood is chewing Nate’s ear off

... Nate’s stutter - I love that he regularly uses these more obvious go-to-personas / tactics (like that stutter when he wants to come across as slightly gullible and not a threat) that aren’t that refined as those his team would chose. Why? Not because he can’t do any better. Just because he can’t be bothered. Ha, Nate, I love your casual arrogance

... sunglasses in that badly lit a club, Sophie? Really :)?

... Nate’s FACE the moment Kirkwood turns his back. You sexy, devious bastard. I love you.

... Parker and her refusal to buy into metaphors. Her sense of humour is just so - I mean OBVIOUSLY she gets it, like she gets every other metaphorical expression (“I didn’t even get to see the emerald!” anyone?). But yeah, I agree with you, it’s hilarious when the rest tries to be patient / loses their shit

... HELLO FIDDLE!

... that shot with Eliot and the blue and yellow lights

... Eliot being offended all over the place. Parker startled him! Parker was a kid!catburglar? (Dude, this is, what, the third season? How can that surprise you?) Eliot CAN sing!

... that little bit of maybe-stage-fright. And the fact that Parker is up there with him and her overacted astonishment. Which is a. seriously funny, and b. such a neat reaction because of course it pisses Eliot off, and a pissed off Eliot is not a nervous Eliot. I love these weird bits of their friendship

... Hardison following suit. - Darth Vader Eliot and Smurf Eliot. Parker’s genuine laughter. Oh God, could I love the friendship these three have any more? I think not. (And what’s the greatest thing? This isn’t even talked about, this isn’t even supposed to be the POINT of the scene. Other shows create entire episode’s, entire fucking seasons around moments like this one. Leverage? Just casually dishing it out. Because this show is perfection.)

... Hardison first comparing Eliot to Britney Spears, then calling him “baby”

...NATE poking fun at him for it

... Hardison being startled, not because of the “baby” bit obviously, but oops, there he was flirting with his best girl and his best guy and he might’ve forgotten that the coms were live

... HOW OLD ARE YOU, Nate :D

... “This must be the Southern charm I heard so much about”. Sophie, being brilliant with the “fuck you, you sleazebag” without the sleazebag actually noticing. I seriously love her throughout this episode. She has very little to do, but everything she does just reeks of that special brand of low-key arrogant professionalism and pride in her grifter skills. So much love for her.

... Nate’s sexy white hat profile!

... Eliot letting himself be seduced. Not gonna lie, there are plenty of his dates that I like better than the one in this ep, but this still is a great little scene. I really dig Eliot’s way with people (and it’s not just women; it’s people). Because he LISTENS.

... Sophie being a food snob. Again.

... Sophie’s outfit. The hair? The frigging jacket? So rad.

... Sophie’s way with Kirkwood compared to Nate’s earlier. See, this is the expert at playing people, the Shakespeare of grifters

... Eliot’s fucking voice

... Hardison’s little panic attack

... Nate’s FOCUS when he looks at Eliot. That’s not just because the con works. That is his super sharp shark focus of pride (which is totally an expression).

... seriously, Eliot’s voice. I need to dig out my old Kane CDs

... Eliot’s little smile at the end

... reward sex. You earned that, man.

... why do you take out your com? Everyone knows what you’re doing anyway. And now Nate has to beat up goons on his own. Jeez.

... “You two work out together” - hahaha, oh Nate

... “Forever 21, don’t hit me” - another seriously nice bit of interlacing the imminent danger of Nate potentially getting killed with teenage groupies. Not only is that little tidbit funny in its own right, it also tells us, before we even see it, that Nate’s all right. Eliot already knows, obviously, he has the ear bud back in and he is taking his sweet time to give that autograph and whatnot while definitely listening to Nate dealing with that problem. That is my version of how it went down and I’m sticking with it

... “Oh, ELIOT’s the fiddle” hahaha

... Parker’s outfit. Hardison’s COAT (btw, the way Parker and Hardison interact here? This is probably pretty close to how they must seem to the unsuspecting casual observer ALWAYS, just minus the outfit).

... “We was cool, we was vibin’”

... Eliot being chased, and all of this having such a retro Beatles vibe to it

... “Contrary to what you all believe, I do not control everything that happens on the internet”... five seconds later “Boom, fansite nuked”

... “I’m pretty certain a fatwa was issued!” - “You’re so vain, man.” (Because yes, Hardison. Eliot brags by telling people how many governments want him dead. That is absolutely how Eliot rolls.)

... “seriously, for breakfast?!” - I love you, Sophie

... Sophie’s superfast reactions and the joy of getting to slap Nate

... Parker’s traipsing and Hardison’s gangsta walk

... you know what is better than Hardison half naked in a recording studio? Hardison, half naking in a recording studio, yanking Eliot’s chain.

... Parker’s scale of what is weird being VERY different than anyone else’s

... “This is not from an iceberg”

... Hardison moving with Eliot’s music, then interrupting him, THEN cutting off communications :)

... niiice little bit of storytelling-by-superzoom, and Parker solving the case while Hardison and Eliot are just mucking around

... Ribs, Ribs, More Ribs

... “The guy who’s buying our fiddle? He thinks he IS the fiddle.”

... Locked off comedy frame - my favourite ever, actually. SO many great OT3 scenes in this episode

... beating goons up with a mic stand AND drumsticks

... black-hat-Nate (now, doesn’t that look more right?) impersonating Hannibal Smith

... nice shot of the four of them in the hotel

... a conveniently parked random motorbike

... Eliot err Kenneth Crane t-shirts

... Kirkwood lip-syncing

... a groupie flashmob

... Parker on stage. Because this is important. For the con. For Eliot.

... Eliot once again proving that he is a great actor (second best on the team) in that staged conversation with Kirkwood

... a conveniently placed cow-hide

... Eliot and Nate doing the gloat together.

... Nate’s black hat, toothpick combo (he is really loving this week’s outfit theme, isn’t he?)

... Eliot’s little laugh at the proposal of being one half of the next Johnny and June. I love that because it’s both sweet and kinda flattered as well as absolutely-not- are-you-kidding-me- as-that-could-tempt-me-away- from-the-sweet-gig-I-already-got

... that little beat, again with just Nate and Eliot. God, I love their friendship sosososo much. I should write a 5k essay about it. And by essay I mean ode.

... that way that Nate is not looking people in the eye when he wants to give them a bit of privacy. Or when he wants some himself

... “Notes on my performance” - “How were you?” - “No complaints” - And Eliot’s and Sophie’s relationship? SO different. Equally awesome.

... I also what to know what time it is, Eliot.

 Perfect episode. Perfect show.

[baegin-ace-blog]

Oh Juliet, Juliet, wherefore art thou Juliet: Why I (sometimes) Love Romance in Fiction

I love to read. A lot.  I read everyday on the train and before bed.  I read a little of everything: non-fiction, sci-fi, fantasy, historical fiction, mystery, young adult, you name it.  And anyone who’s spent any amount of time with me watching shows or movies knows how angry and annoyed I get at the romantic subplots in a lot of media.  So it might surprise you to learn that I devote a significant amount of my time to reading romantic fiction.

The big question here is why?  As an unromantic person who rolls their eyes at romantic subplots, why am I so obsessed with romance in fiction?  And it’s not just books and fanfiction, although a good portion of my favorites are there.  I do also enjoy romance in tv and film sometimes too.  So what’s going on here?  Well to answer that question, we need to talk a bit about the mainstream portrayal of romance.

I often find romance as portrayed in media as deeply flawed.  Either the relationship itself is not healthy or the characters don’t seem to mesh correctly.  One of my least favorite kinds is the tendency of shows to end with their lead man and woman winding up in a relationship at the end of the series.  Now sometimes this dynamic works, so long as the characters have been building up to this point, but often times it doesn’t work because it is a last minute get-together for the sake of heterosexuality.  Two examples I can think of off the top of my head are Kim Possible and Warehouse 13 (two shows I love dearly, so don’t hate me!).  In KP, the two main characters, Kim and Ron, spend the whole series as bffs; there are never any psuedo-romantic moments between them.  Their friendship is very comfortable, they never show any desire to be a couple, and are very supportive of the other’s dating life.  Then, in the movie, all of sudden I’m supposed to believe they’re into each other? Just like that, with no leadup at all? And then, in the last season, the entire dynamic of their relationship completely changes once they're dating!  It was awful!  Part of what made KP so much fun was the subversion of gender roles they played with, but as soon as their male and female leads started dating, they fell back into the same old patterns. I was supremely disappointed.

In a similar vein, in Warehouse 13, main characters Myka and Pete spend the whole show with a brother/sister dynamic.  Somewhere in the last season Pete realizes he likes Myka, but she doesn’t realize she likes him back until the last episode.  It’s played out really sloppy.  There’s no significant build up to these relationships, they just happen, as if the endgame of all male-female friendships is always romance.  Not only is this not true, it damages real male-female friendships by making society expect them to always end in romance.  

But now let’s look at an example of romance done right: the best slow-build relationship show ever, Leverage.  Leverage is my favorite live-action show of all time.  It’s absolutely wonderful, and part of the reason why is the respect it has for its characters.  The romances that unfold on the show have a long and realistic progression.  They aren’t rushed, they aren’t forced, and they follow the character arcs already in place with the plot.  While in other shows I will roll my eyes at romantic scenes, every Hardison/Parker scene has me squealing and clutching my chest.  Why? Because their romance is believable; it makes sense for who they are as characters, the developments that do happen only occur when they feel right for where they are in their character arcs, and overall, the culmination of their romance becomes rewarding to watch, not just another plot point to check off the list.  

So I have no problem with romance plots, as long as it’s done with intent; if the romance is thrown in as a way to give our characters something to do or to show their desirability, I’m out.  If the romance is well developed, paced, and executed, then I am right there squeeing along with all of you.  This is also why I read a lot of romantic fanfiction.  People who don’t read fanfiction have a very limited view on what it is.  They either think it’s all bad teenage writing with Mary-Sue author-stand-ins or all erotica with bad sex scenes (side bar: sex scenes in published novels are often a million times MORE awful, when compared to some of the scenes I’ve read in fanfiction. Seriously, I don’t understand).  And yes, fanfiction can most definitely be both of these things.  There are TONS of really, really bad fanfictions out there, just as there are tons of really, really bad published novels too. But just like I’ve read lots of great novels, I’ve also read the best “novels” of my life in fanfiction (Sansukh, you superstar, I’m looking at you).  I admit, though, that most of fanfiction plots either involve or are about some romantic pairing.  The really good ones, of course are about more: action, adventure, horror, mystery. However, the core of fanfiction is character relationships and digging out emotions over plot, and one thing a fanfiction can do well is a good romance.

Now, again, obviously there are bad fanfictions, do not get me wrong.  There are fics with unhealthy romances and fics where the romances make no sense and so on.  But because fanfiction is a genre largely devoted to fleshing out already existing character interactions and relationships into romance, already each story starts with a base of character interactions to build the romance upon.  Fanfiction is a medium about filling in the blanks of media, and so these romances can often follow the path I wish mainstream romances followed.  And, yeah, I’ve read my fair share of truly awful fanfictions, but I’ve also read more good ones than I’ve seen romances in media that I find appealing.  

Another great thing about fanfiction: it tends to be super gay.  Obviously there’s nothing wrong with the standard heterosexual romance, but I honestly find queer romances to be 100% more interesting, if given the choice.  Gay/lesbian? Sign me up! Trans/genderqueer? Wonderful! Happy, consensual polyamory? Please!  And also, heterosexual romances are often written in very sexist  and problematic ways.  The women are like prizes, the relationships often involve coercion or unhealthy power dynamics, and the standard tropes of miscommunication and lying really bug me.  That’s also why I tend to love shows with openly queer characters so long as the characters are written with care and respect.  A fine example: Steven Universe.  Not only is the show amazing in terms of story, mythology, character, and humor, but it also has amazing representation of the LBGT+ community.  Lesbian characters, bi/pan characters, genderqueer characters, and the deconstruction of gendered expressions.  I adore it!  So it’s no wonder that I love romantic fanfiction that explores the nuances of queer relationships.  (And, no, I won’t deny that fanfiction has a tendency to skew towards male/male, has a track record of mistreating female characters, and often fetishizes gay relationships; all valid criticisms! The bad exists; I happen to be talking mostly about the good in this post).

So the question we started with: why does a mostly aromantic person like to read romance?  And the answer is, well, I’m not sure, really.  I don’t know what it is that draws me to well-written romance stories.  I don’t know why they make me squee in happiness and fill me with joy.  I suppose you could ask why some people really like reading/watching shows about serial killers.  It’s not like they want to become killers (we hope); it’s that there’s something (darkly) fascinating about killers to them.  Same for me: there’s something fascinating and rewarding about good romance stories.  I can’t explain it, I can only say it’s so.  So definitely expect me to tear apart romances in fiction, especially when I think they are poorly done.  But also expect to find me reading large quantities of romance and squealing over the results.  I contain multitudes of likes and dislikes.