#the season 2 cliffhanger? showstopping

[bobby-turner]

THE FINALE FOR ABH WAS CRAZY FUCKING GOOD!!!!

[bellis-apis]

April Books!

Hell Bent: the sequel to Ninth Hell - I really liked it although I didn't find it quite as charming (probably the lack of Darlington) as the first one. Overall really good though, could NOT put it down and cant wait for more. I really like Leigh Bardugo better as an adult writer vs YA, or at least the way she writes these books compared to her Grishaverse books. This is reminding me that I didn't finish season 2 of shadow and bone.

The Last Graduate/The Golden Enclaves: BRILLIANT INCREDIBLE SHOWSTOPPING LIFE CHANGING I don't even know what else to say I just loved these so much. Fully made me cry so points for that. I was fully prepared for a sad ending but I was really happy they turned it around even tho it was maybe a cop out I didn't even care. I loved the way the last graduate ended too, the cliffhanger was insane I literally started the next one immediately after finishing it. I want to read them again. Possibly book(s) of the year so far already. Wow.

The Stardust Thief: kind of a reverse Aladin story, another fantasy with jinn which I did not realize when I started it. Are jinn the trendy new fantasy creature now? I feel like fairies had a stranglehold on it for so long but this is like the 3rd or 4th time I've seen jinn. Anyways. This was fine, not great, I will probably not read the sequel.

The Frugal Wizards Guide to Surviving Medieval England: this was the Q2 Brandon Sanderson Kickstarter book. Even tho it wasn't cosmere it really felt like a Brandon Sanderson book, which I'm not sure was a good thing? Kind of a formula. I really liked the memory loss + magic system (this guy fucking loves a magic system). It had some cute moments and it was a fun read, but not my favorite by him! That's okay they can't all be bangers. Tress was amazing so I forgive him.

We are at 15 books for the year! I need to find something amazing to read I'm feeling a hole in my heart from the scholomance series. @waytooseriousabouteverything pls help

[nerteragranadensis]

assorted thoughts on my first Leverage rewatch since I binged the whole series in 2016 (spoilers for everything through s3e4 The Scheherazade Job):

it’s really cool to see just how much character relationship stuff is set up in the early seasons, before it gets stated more explicitly in s4/s5.

Hardison/Parker is a perfect example- Hardison flirts with Parker in "The Nigerian Job”, and there’s explicit romantic tension btwn them in “The Wedding Job”. That’s episode seven in the broadcast order, but if you watch in the DVD/intended order, that’s episode three. it’s amazing to see how early that relationship is set up and how slow the burn is, especially considering it’s an interracial ship- and it’s great to have the writers follow through with it by the end of the show.

another example is Parker becoming the mastermind- there’s a handful of episodes in s2 where she’s clearly shadowing Nate and observing his plans (The Order 23 Job, The Top Hat Job, The Lost Heir Job, and The Runway Job come to mind), and in The Inside Job Nate and Hardison straight-up say that Parker’s plans for breaking into the steranko building were as solid as anything Nate ever came up with. In season 3.

y’all were right, Parker grifting in The Iceman Job is incredibly hot

every episode is good, I love all of them, but the two-parter of The Three Strikes Job/The Maltese Falcon back-to-back blew my fucking socks off this time around

it’s so good. it’s so good. there are so many small things that I love. Eliot having to play baseball and actually getting really into it. (”They named a sandwich after me!”) The mob stuff, which is especially funny when every other episode of s2 involves some kind of mob activity (you’ve got the Armenian mob, the Russian mob, the Irish mob, the Chinese triads... seriously). Sophie coming back at the end, a twist that I completely forgot about, which made it that much better--seriously, I probably made the same face Nate did when she showed up.

Nate and Hardison pretending to be mob guys to interrogate the mayor... ngl, I thought it was a little bit hot

I love any kind of grift/subterfuge where the characters pretend to be People They Definitely Aren’t, so it was fun on that level too

and the ending of The Maltese Falcon Job... wow. I remember being impressed even the first time I saw it, because it’s an ending that ties seasons 1 & 2 together into one big arc not only for Nate but for the team. It’s incredibly dramatic (the double cross! the self sacrifice! the kiss! Nate gets shot!) but it’s not a cliffhanger, it gives us a real ending for these characters... they truly could’ve ended the show after season 2 and it would’ve been a complete, compelling story. Obviously I’m glad they didn’t! but just the fact that they could have... the writing on this show, I swear

If I didn’t already know that Sophie’s arc in s2 was written that way to shoot around Gina Bellman’s pregnancy, I would’ve never figured it out. Sophie’s arc in s2 is so good! It actually makes sense why she would want time off to explore and maybe find herself! and the rest of the team ends up growing from it, too! so many fun episodes of s2 hinge on Sophie, even if she’s not physically there. And again, the fact that she’s gone for most of the second half of s2 makes her return in the finale that much better.

Sophie cons her own team at the end of season one and Nate cons his own team at the end of season two. it’s parallelism

Moving on to season 3- The Reunion Job is so extra. I’m not even sure if it’s a good episode, but it sure as hell is fun

The last episode I saw was The Scheherazade Job, which I remember disliking the first time I saw it. I thought the hypnosis twist was dumb, came out of nowhere, and took agency away from Hardison. On review... I think I’ve softened to it. The episode points out that the hypnosis was kind of an asshole move; Nate outright tells Hardison that being the mastermind sometimes means manipulating your own team (and that’s something Hardison won’t do, because he’s a sweetheart <3). And the episode also notes that Hardison always had the skill to play that violin solo, just not the confidence. I still think the hypnosis thing is a little out there, but what holds the episode together for me is that final heist sequence. Organizing a heist set to a musical performance? Amazing. Brilliant. Showstopping. The opera scene from mission impossible: rogue nation wants what this episode has

and then Hardison gets up to play his solo and he plays it and it’s so beautiful that literally everyone stops to listen. Everyone is moved, including me. Parker starts crying. the team almost blows the entire con, just to hear Hardison play, and it’s worth it. It’s just... a breathtaking scene.

I... really like Nate. I love the whole team, obviously, and if you asked me to pick a favorite character I’d have a really hard time, but I do like Nate. I think he’s interesting and even relatable (in a few specific ways. Nate is also an asshole and I do not want to be like him). This is kind of unfortunate in light of the recent allegations against Timothy Hutton (tw for sexual assault if you follow that link). I’m still working through my feelings w/r/t Leverage since this news broke. obviously it hasn’t stopped me from rewatching the show, but... I don’t know. I still struggle w/ how to engage with media that I love when one or more of the people who created that media (and those characters) was a sexual predator. At the very least, I am glad that Hutton won’t be returning for the Leverage reboot.