Leverage Squee--The DB Cooper Job
Disclaimer: These are my opinions.
I loved the idea! I LOVED the setting! I love the '70s anyway, and it was so much fun to see Beth with big hair and Chris and Tim with big 'staches. And Hardison rocked the 'fro. And the nod to '70s crime drama was so much fun (car slide FTW!). I really disliked "The Van Gogh Job," so I was a little leery (but excited) about this one. It was SO MUCH FUN. I loved it, and I don't care if anyone else agrees with me (though I've read mostly positive comments on the episode so far).
McSWEETEN!!!!!! I was so excited when I found out he was going to be in the episode. I never thought we'd learn so much about him and his family. Little!Todd was adorable ("You wouldn't lose as many bikes." "But I wouldn't find any lost dogs."), and McSweeten Sr. was pretty amazing. Todd's rapport with Parker is just so sweet. I sort of wanted her to tell him the truth today, but it would have taken away from the moment between him and Nate over Steve.
Okay, so Fred Ward is a favorite actor of mine. (Anyone remember Remo Williams?) Kudos to the folks at Leverage for bringing him on. I love Steve Reynolds and would be totally okay if he came back for another episode. I'd like to see him and Eliot interact.
The interaction between Peter McSweeten and Nate was so good (daddy issues, they have them). I love the growth we see from Nate this episode. Yes, Pete. Nate knows all about obsession. (And Pete totally knew about Steve.)
Loved the reveal that Reynolds was DB Cooper. Nicely done. Basically Pete McSweeten is Nate and Reynolds is Eliot. And I don't mean in the flashbacks. Obsessive, noble McSweeten saved veteran/criminal Reynolds the same way obsessive, noble Nate saved veteran/criminal Eliot. Such a great dynamic between the two FBI agents and such a great way to highlight the Nate-Eliot rapport. I have so many feelings about the parallel between the older and younger characters, but I have to get up early tomorrow.
Beth got to do a kissing scene with Chris! She was a lucky lady this episode. Rawr. She and Chris have a lot of chemistry. I was reading comments on GetGlue and Twitter. Some of the Parker/Hardison shippers were flipping out, lol. I know I have shippers on my list, and you guys are great. Some of shippers on Twitter, though, are over-the-top. Anyway, I've made no bones about the fact that I don't ship Parker/Hardison (although, I'm not as annoyed by it this season as last season), so it was funny to see the metaphorical veins in the necks of shippers on Twitter about to burst. First of all, it was Steve and Stephanie kissing not Eliot and Parker. Get a grip.
Great scene between Nate and Sophie at the end. Nate is doing a lot of soul searching this season, and I like it. I have so many feelings about this scene, too.
My only criticism is that they never made it clear where Eliot was in the present day. I rewatched the team briefing, and they never said a word. I assume he was working on their other job, but I don't like to have to assume. That's one of my pet peeves as a writer. Give me a one-liner to tell me where he is. On the other hand, I've decided to explain it away with head canon. I'm convinced that he made himself scarce, because he knew that former-FBI agent Steve Reynolds would recognize him. *nods* Yes, that's it. Steve worked a case tracking Eliot a few years ago, so Eliot had to lay low.
And thank you, costume department, for putting Nate in a black t-shirt. You're doing an A+ job this season.