I am glad the ratings are good. My priorities match. My Tivo right now is literally seven different Olympic recordings and Leverage. It`s the only one of my regular shows that took precedence over the Olympics.
 
I don`t think I can do the stick because it`s so fine and straight. And I`m crap at braiding. I never mastered French braiding on myself.
 
I think CK must just have a ton of hair, like me. But with his curly, there`s just all this volume there...hmm...you know how we get writers and actors in here sometimes? I will be mortified if we ever get Leverage folks. Yeah. The Hair.

Okay, back to substantive analysis. Morgana, I agree that the drawn guns were overkill, but I liked the way the visual echoed and contrasted with the S1 final shot with them walking away from each other on axis. That was on equal footing, but expecting to be (mostly, other than "find me") done with each other. This, they were a unit, but losing themselves in a different way by losing Nate, by accepting his sacrifice. I liked that the viewpoint drawing away from Nate, alone, was like our team`s viewpoint.
 
Nate`s sacrifice was such a great juxtaposition, doing the good thing, acknowledging himself, even identifying himself as a bad guy. Life ain`t black and white, is it, Nate?
 
At what point do you think Nate decided what he was going to do? I think his fatalism gave him the freedom to do some of what he needed to do, including what Sophie was naturally upset by. And yet, they really were caught. All their skills weren`t going to let them wiggle out this time. They had to let Nate go. And he knew it.

Scrambled eggs and toaster pancakes:
 
Parker! Agree that she is scarier than Eliot because of his moral code. He enjoys his violence, but there is structure to it. Parker is amoral in her expression of it. I love her so much, partly because I don`t understand this in her. I don`t know where she`ll go, what she`ll do, but I know she`ll be utterly Parker in it.
 
It`s why the false psychic tearing her up was so brutal. He was ripping at her closely guarded identity, the bit of her she keeps from everyone that lets her be so self-possessed.
 
That`s what I love about this show. Her character is so fully realized. And it`s not an archetype. I can`t think of any Parker analogues in popular media. She just is who she is, and it`s so fresh and new to me.
 
I want the Hardison hookup partly because that`s how I came to like her, because Hardison does, and he`s my avatar here. I like how he sees past her awkwardness and respects her competence. With him, she need never hold back. But show`s gotta show me something! Next season better move this along.
 
I am willing to accept Nate and Sopie as our resolving sexual tension for this arc, but I need me some Hardison/Parker and soon.

Nate`s sacrifice was such a great juxtaposition, doing the good thing, acknowledging himself, even identifying himself as a bad guy. Life ain`t black and white, is it, Nate?

Instead of being a good guy doing a bad thing (leading the team), he's a bad guy doing a good thing (sacrificing himself for them). Aw, Nate. I could dive into the whole guilt/sacrifice/redemption thing, redeeming himself not only for being a bad guy after all, but for his bad behavior towards the team and getting them into this mess, but not being Catholic I'm afraid to do more with the subject than poke at it with a long stick.

Even though I thought it was hokey, I kinda wished they'd called back to Sophie's "Black King, White Knight" from the first episode. (That's what Leverage needs - more chess! Nate and Eliot both play; I want to see a running game that goes all season. I'ma tell Rogers that - I'm sure he'll do it for me.)

I think I'll like the team's dynamic better with Eliot in the second-in-command position instead of Sophie. I do hope he won't cede, but the way he shepherded them all into the helicopter, I don't think he will.

I think I'll like the team's dynamic better with Eliot in the second-in-command position instead of Sophie. I do hope he won't cede, but the way he shepherded them all into the helicopter, I don't think he will.

OMG - Eliot = Zoe. Heh.

I loved Sophie's shock at Parker hugging her.

Leverage nominated for three Saturn TV ads--best Cable show, Gina for best supporting actress, and Aldis for best supporting actor.

Leverage also got nommed for two Prism awards. "The 12 Step Job" for Best Drama Series Episode - Substance Use, and Tim Hutton for Best Performance in a Drama Episode.

Nom nom nom.

I wonder why Tim only got a Drama Episode, not the multi-episode nom. Then again, I'm splitting hairs.

They should all get nominated for everything.