Monsters of Television

“You know what, man? If I get out of this job without upper respiratory issues it’ll be a miracle.”

An interesting episode. The heist was just a catalyst for our heroes to be placed in a WWII mixed race love story narrated by guest star Danny Glover. Some definitely rose to the occasion, taking advantage of the different material and showing some acting chops. Others may want to stick to the character acting. I won’t name names, but they’re still beautiful blondes and I love their usual character.

Leverage is an odd show to review. Unless you’re talking about the heist itself, which in the grand scheme of the show is mostly inconsequential, there isn’t always much to go on. So I’m going to try something new. The following “review” is going to be a list of pros and cons from the episode. Because the team is comprised of professional con men. Damn I’m good.

Pro #1: Aldis Hodge can act! – Hardison is a very fun character, but it was nice to see him get such different material to work with. The material that really hit was everything in France. His conviction in the tent with the Lieutenant and his private breakdown behind the truck showed that he can do far more than tech talk and witty banter. And it’s not hard to believe he could so easily fall in love with Beth Riesgraf. That does, however, bring me to–

Con #1: Beth Riesgraf  – Eesh. Now I love Parker. And I love Beth Riesgraf. But maybe there’s a reason we’re not seeing her in any adaptations of Jane Eyre. One might be because she isn’t British, but then a close second would be she’s not a great actress. Her accents (she had many that changed from time to time) were not good. And oh God was that her crying in the roller rink? Oh god…

Pro #2: Parker + Hardison = OTP – We were given some good snippets of Parkison (Harker?) in the episode. It may have been small , but I loved Hardison being allergic to dust and Parker knowing that fact and handing him a tissue. It’s because she loves him.  Ok that last part is my own reading of the event. But we did see them holding hands. Twice. The first time was the catalyst for Charlie (Danny Glover) sharing his story with Parker. In the end, Charlie tells Parker not to waste time. She takes Hardison by the hand. Time number two. Are we going to see more of them as a couple instead of the teases we’ve been getting so far? Probably not. I understand that you kind of have to string your audience along a bit, but come on!

Con #2: Intro No-No – I am not a fan of skipping the intro. Sure, it’s kind of cheesy, but it’s a part of the show and I expect it. There was also no “Let’s steal us a…” line from Nate. These things should not be omitted.

Pro #3: Eliot – The Eliot fight came pretty early in the episode. It also included him beating a man with a pink to bat so pleasant surprises all around. And hearing Eliot saying “LOL” made me do just that.

Con #3: Weak twist ending – The client turned out to be the bad guy. He lost his family and apparently his mind chasing that painting for over 20 years. He hired Nate and co to find it so he could steal it from them. Yawn.

#Pro #4: A First Class connection – Dusseldorf? That’s where Magneto’s parents are from!

Con #4: Windows plug – Ugh. That Windows tabletop PC plug was the worst.

Pro #5: Com-edy –  Sophie and Hardison listening to Eliot beat the shit out of that guy over the coms. Hilarious.

A pretty filler episode, but I applaud the show for trying something different.