Leverage 4x04 Episode Reaction
I watched the episode in between editing my essay this morning (I still haven't finished but I'm waiting on some copies of academic essays so can't really do much more right at this moment). The reactions I've seen on my flist have been mixed but I have to say that I really liked this episode. Obviously, though, people are entitled to their own opinions (there are so many different ways to percieve this show and that's what I love about it) and I'd be happy to discuss things with you in the comments.
There are spoilers beneath the cut but can I just say (and I don't think this counts as a spoiler) how perfect Chris Kane's haircut is! He looked so, so good in this episode and it was actually quite wonderfully distracting. Anyway, onto other things such as plot :) I should warn you all, this got long and I actually think *gasps* it's gone from being an episode reaction to being meta which is a first for me. Anyway, see what you guys think :)
Okay, so I know some people will disagree with me about this and think there should have been more focus on the present tense in the episode but I really loved the way the dual narrative ran through the episode. Danny Glover was fantastic as present-day Charlie (loved his 'I don't care if you're Vincent Van Gogh!) and Aldis Hodge was just amazing - the episode really gave him a chance to show off what he can do, in my opinion, because there was the comic element in the modern parts and then the more serious, heart-wrenching moments when he was playing Charlie. Beth Reisgraf was equally amazing, I found myself forgetting that it was the same people, that this was Hardison and Parker and really investing in Charlie and Dorothy and that says a lot about their acting skills.
As I said, I got very invested in the story of the couple and, dammit Leverage, we're only four episodes in and you've made me cry twice this season already.
Most of you know how I feel about the Parker/Hardison element. I've always been a little worried that if they get together and Nate and Sophie continue as they are, Eliot will get pushed aside. That worry is still there but I've increasingly found myself rooting for Parker and Hardison as a canon couple. I also think that the writers are doing quite a good job of calming my fears about Eliot because he's still getting attention (with the Nate-Eliot tension storyline) he's still getting interaction with the other characters (and he's still getting awesome haircuts, too...) That said, I hope the next few episodes step away from the romantic relationships aspect a bit and focus more on the team again, the heist, because I think that there's good romantic development that seems natural and then there can be overkill and I think any more on top of this episode straight away might be a little close to the second category.
What I don't think I've seen anyone mention about this episode is that, as well as the romantic development in this episode, we also got good Parker development. The fact that she wanted to stay and keep the guy safe, the fact he trusted her nature out of all of them, the way she cried when she heard his story. People, these are big steps for Parker! She's admitting that she likes someone (remember how much she struggled to do that in 'The Ho Ho Ho Job'?) I think this season is advancing her character development very, very well and I think a lot of it stems from that talk with Eliot in the first episode. What would be interesting would be to see how that/whether that changes Eliot at all. I think Eliot's perhaps more self-aware in that sense than Parker is.
I think it's interesting the way the victims/marks so far this season have related to Nate. We've had the woman in the first episode who he had the conversation about anger with, the two marks who have had traits similar to Nate which the team have picked up on and then, in this one, the person asking them to do the job was someone from Nate's past, his old job. I think these things are definitely important and I wonder whether it'll continue in this vain (or whether I'm just reading too much into it.)
Eliot was really awesome in this episode. He had some real funny moments but there were also moments that made you go 'huh.' Like how he kept running into other retrieval specialists and people from his past - those bits were funny and he was badass but it also made me think about the fact that there's so much we, as viewers, still don't know about Eliot's history. Similarly, the bit where he was messing around with the computer screen was hilarious (it was kind of like he was long-distance snarking at Hardison and I liked that) but then Nate's 'That'll never happen' was a reminder of the tension that's there at the moment, of the fact that Eliot's been taking this criticism from Nate for a while now. I wonder whether Nate asking Eliot for advice in that briefing was Nate's way of acknowledging that he'd gone too far last episode but then, even if it was, I don't think this peace between them is going to last for long. Anyway, short story is Eliot was awesome and his hair was also awesome and I'm looking forward to whatever happens next with his character.
Sidenote: I love the moments where Eliot's fight and picks up daft things (the pink bat/the sieve) and the other guys laughs and then Eliot kicks his ass anyway.
Sophie didn't seem to be in this episode quite as much but I loved the bits she was in - 'hello little hidden key to a safety deposit box!'
The flashbacks to the 1940s were very good - they were believeable (even though the chances of there being an integrated unit were probably a bit low if my history knowledge serves me correctly) and Aldis Hodge just got me completely onside as Charlie right from the start. Eliot as the Lieutenant was interesting - in one way it was kind of an obvious role for him to take but I think CK's acting was once again great - I got the idea that the Lieutenant knew that he should be doing something else but felt forced into taking on the role expected of him which kind of fitted in well with the idea of Charlie and Dorothy being constrained by the society in which they lived.) Aldis did a great job in that scene in the tent, too.
I don't THINK there was anything else I wanted to say but no doubt I've forgotten something! Anyway, what did you guys thing of the episode? What do you think about my thoughts/ideas?