Watching Monday

[brigdh]

The Musketeers, 1.01
So, clearly the BBC has a nice budget. There's plenty of lovely costumes and sets- crowded muddy streets, snowy forests, dramatic ruins- all sorts of nice things to look at. On the other hand, they're clearly totally changing the plot. I do think that Richelieu is appropriately mustache twirling, and Louis XIV hilariously incompetent. I'm not sure yet what I think about this Milady. I was surprised that they gave away the connection between her and Athos so early on, but I suppose they must have some plan in mind.
It's not great (not yet, at least), but I'll definitely be watching more.

Leverage

"The Reunion Job": Eliot being a lurker! "Hardison, confiscate some pastries"! Hardison in high school- those glasses! Eliot in high school- taking Home Ec! Eliot brainwashed pouring tea for Sophie! The Hardison/Parker dance! I think the episode was a little cheesy in its handling of the Iran protests, but it wasn't bad. I went to so many of the protests here in NYC (and oddly, was often mistaken as Iranian myself), and yet, so little change in the four years since then. That is the one depressing thing about this show taking on so many real issues; often nothing has improved since it aired.
"The Inside Job": "Let's go steal a Parker"! The office boyfriend! Parker not knowing what sexting is and Eliot refusing to explain! This episode has a fantastic villain- the whole immune wheat thing is so scary. Baby-Parker not fitting in is so tragic and terrible, but I do love the "you found your own family" resolution.
"The Scheherazade Job": OMG THIS EPISODE IS AMAZING. Hardison's French African accent! "Give him a pet tiger"! Hardison playing the violin! Playing it so well that everyone else forgets they're breaking into a vault! I wonder if anyone in this bar ever notices all the fights and weird things going on. Hardison's not ruthless enough to run his own crew! Ah, I love that.
"The Double-Blind Job": Eliot spilling his coffee! "He had to change his shirt. He got coffee on it. And some blood and some teeth"! OMG- jealous Parker! OMG- cheerleader Parker! Parker being so annoyed at having to set off the motion detectors! Eliot getting so annoyed at having to seduce the woman! And then getting dumped for not being dangerous enough! Parker and Hardison and pretzels! ♥ ♥ ♥
"The Studio Job": Breaking the brother's fingers at the beginning- ugh. I have this weird thing about breaking musician's fingers. I mean, not that that's not an obviously Terrible Thing, but it hits me more emotionally than other sorts of torture. Anyway. OMG the music video- the eagle! the flag! Eliot as an accidental rock star! I love how he keeps sort of becoming famous- a baseball player, and now this. Parker as Lady Gaga- "I don't think I'm being strange enough"! Pitchy!

Comments

[somebraveapollo.livejournal.com]

THE SCHEHERAZADE JOB IS THE BEST JOB. ♥ ♥ ♥

[dhampyresa.livejournal.com]

I KNOW, RIGHT? IT IS SO AMAZING.

[dhampyresa.livejournal.com]

The resolution to The Reunion Job was very ingenious, I thought.
Ngl, I really like the relationship between Parker and Archie.
SCHEHERAZADE JOB IS THE GREATEST and I'm not just saying that because I love when music is used in universe, or because Hardison made a completely correct comics reference ("Super-skrull, who has the combined powers of the Fantastic Four, one of whom is not Itzhak Perlman, by the way.") or because I love Scheherazade. It's a genuinely good story and Hardison's violin solo always brings tears to my eyes. Also, "Let's go steal the man on the street. In Africa."
You don't mess with Eliot's coffee; You just don't.
Yeah, breaking people's fingers is really emotional for me. My brother plays the piano and I draw and it's just so very visceral, you know? 'Accidental rockstar Eliot' is right up there with 'baseball star (in Japan)' Eliot.

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

I did like it! The whole high school reunion part was perfect and hilarious.
I hope we see more of Archie! I was really intrigued by that part of Parker's backstory. I alo really loved seeing her bedroom.
I LOVE THAT HARDISON CAN NAME DROP THE FANTASTIC FOUR AND ITZHAK PERLMAN IN THE SAME SENTENCE. It is amazing. I also really loved the idea of Scheherazade as the original grifter. It's just a fantastic episode.
Visceral is the perfect word for it. It's not so much the physical pain as the deliberate prevention of someone's potential that seems so horrifying.
Yes, I love how Eliot keeps being famous, despite not trying to be!

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

BEST.

[lynndyre.livejournal.com]

One of the tumblrs I follow (http://kaciart.tumblr.com/tagged/the-musketeers) has been posting a lot of Musketeers art, so I keep hearing good things about it!

[ranalore.livejournal.com]

I do like how Hardison calls Nathan on the manipulation in "The Scheherezade Job." I mean, yes, it worked for the job, but I found that aspect so disturbing that I can't rewatch that episode.

In my head canon, Eliot is a legendary chef in France. I kept hoping for an episode in which he had to compete in some Iron Chef-esque event as part of a job. Also, Parker in that episode struck me as being modeled more on Bjork than Lady Gaga (I can't remember if Lady Gaga was even a thing at the time), but I do see the Lady Gaga connection, and I like it. *G*

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

Oh, awesome! Thank you for the link- that is some lovely art.

[lavode.livejournal.com]

On the other hand, they're clearly totally changing the plot.

Why is it that every adaptation seems to change it? The plot of the novel seems pretty TV-friendly. Drinking, swordfights, comedy, sex, gradual character development, and it's got an episode-like structure. (Still, I'm looking forward to this!)

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

I know! It really is odd that everyone changes it.

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I like that he was upset about that, too. And that Parker also looked angry. I do disagree with Nate's belief in the necessity of ruthlessness, but it seems IC for him, so in that sense it worked for me.

Oh, it totally was Bjork! I think they even name her in the episode. I was just amused by how well the parody worked, even if it currently appears to be parodying an entirely different person.