I wonder I wonder

(even with the example early on of Eliot using this trick - anger as a performance, quickly switched off - to get Sophie to admit that she wasn’t apologising. I will never be over season one Eliot successfully tricking the team’s grifter that way. And for such a gentle reason.)

so we get Nate strolling casually up to the table to ask Sterling what he’s doing here - which, big mob boss vibes there, it’s gorgeous - and I’m just thinking about how Eliot ‘snapping’ and going after Sterling allows Nate to be civilised, because Nate doesn’t have to threaten Sterling or remind him not to mess with them; his man, working for him and under his control, has already done that. And Nate being civilised and calling the shots allows Eliot to safely lean into his don’t-mess-with-me angry hitter persona, probably to make a point, probably to have a little fun as well. (Really I don’t even stop to justify that scene. It just causes me so much joy as it is.)

the first time I saw the french connection job, the ‘call off your dog’ bit bugged me. Nate hearing that and (after a moment) doing so meant he was implicitly agreeing with the idea that Eliot was his dog, and that Eliot wasn’t capable of standing down by himself. Which goes entirely out the window if it’s a grift. Reading it as almost transactional, an agreement between the two to enable each other to lean into their respective roles in little plays for their marks’ benefits - and their own - makes it so much better. Nate gets to come across as reasonable and in control of powerful assets; Eliot gets to scare people into believing that he really would hurt them badly if they gave him a reason, and his reputation survives another day, and people don’t look too closely.

“You know, people underestimate you, Eliot.” “That’s kind of the point.”

- our introduction to this superman being him getting dragged across the tundra on his face by his dog

- green lantern’s use of the ‘big blue’ nickname

- Perry white and the daily planet core group not gaf about the mandatory evacuation and going over their newest story nonchalantly as people flee around them

- the rasp in David’s voice when he yelled the “People Were Going To DIE—“ line

- Lex Luther being pushed to TEARS at the end due to the intensity of his hatred for Superman

- the scene where Superman rising out of the dust and debris to make sure the lady got away okay (the visuals combined with the musical score gave me actual goosebumps)

- the clone reveal (I.e. the subtle nod to a Connor Kent storyline in the future hopefully and how this superman is going to deal with it)

- Lois’s apartment, just in general - also the fact that we got to see her apartment and not Clark’s

- just, everything time mr. Terrific was on screen to be honest but ESPECIALLY his ‘I’m goddamn Mr. Terrific” line

- the scene with the three kids holding up the flag, goosebumps again instantly

- the choice to make pa Kent and Clark’s relationship be the emotionally charged dynamic (we love to see male vulnerability not used as the butt of a joke)

- the score during the moment of eye contact between Lois and Metamorpho after they escape the pocket universe

LMAO THE OTHER PERSPECTIVE

This may seem like an exaggeration, the idea that one can learn how to properly think like a criminal by learning how crime stories work. On a personal note, let me tell a story from the Leverage writer’s room.

Apollo Robbins (http://www.istealstuff.com/) runs a crew of professional thieves who consult for law enforcement. He was also our criminal consultant on Leverage. Every few weeks he would visit the writer’s room to advise on the scripts and keep us up to date about new cons and the latest in criminal technology.

One day during the third season he sat in with the writers while we broke a story. We posted the details of a real-life white collar criminal up on the room’s whiteboard, using him as the basis for our Mark. We looked at his weaknesses, how he moved his money, what his hobbies were. Once we were happy with that element of the story we added a Vault to the mix, one that used an interesting new alarm technology we’d researched. We then spent about an hour figuring out how to circumvent that alarm. We even sketched out a map of the imaginary building so we could keep track of our Crew’s movements during the Job.

“Well, I’m done here,” Apollo muttered. Noting our confusion, he pointed at the board and index cards cluttering the wall. “This is exactly how real Crews plan these things. This writer’s room is now a fully functioning criminal gang. You could be thieves.”

Of course writing television pays better than crime (usually), with far less chance of being arrested (usually), so we all managed to resist the temptation. But aside from the day a US Attorney asked us to change a plot because we’d created a scam that was a little too foolproof, or when a Homeland Security Agent admitted they were spooked by a security hole we’d exploited in our season finale, it was certainly one of the proudest moments I had on the show.

Me slicing an apple: "I love apples. Apples are my favorite fruit."

Me pouring orange soda: "Lots of cars in the ‘30s were diesels. They would run on vegetable oil..."

Me taking out the trash: "Always a weak point. That’s when and where these guys are gonna strike."

Me rearranging flowers in a vase: "Do you have any instant pudding?"