Hi everyone!
Welp, here’s my review of Liberty and Larceny, the only show I watched last night that didn’t make me want to run from the room screaming and crying. If you watched Farscape and Stargate then you know what I’m talking about.
Anyway, as always all ideas in this are my own, and this review contains huge honkin’ spoilers. So...
Overall:
Darien has made it very clear since the beginning that all he wants to do is go back to the life he had. Perhaps not the best life, but one he enjoyed. So it should come as no surprise that, when given the chance to recapture some of the glory of the "old days", he goes for it. Hobbes tries to threaten him with being busted, and the Official holds the counteragent over his head, both trying to get him to do the right thing. One of these days they will learn that the more pressure and threats they use, the more Darien is going to resist.
But Claire figures it out. This "two bit punk" really does care when it comes to hurting people, and does not want to be seen as a bad guy. So she appeals to his conscience, a tactic that obviously works considering she gets Darien at least feeling guilty at first, and then later willing to do whatever it takes to fix the problem. She’s better at laying out the guilt then my Jewish Mother! :-)
The Good:
-This week on the "smart ass" roster, George Bernard Shaw, and a bit later Gretta Garbo. Two quotes that fit in very nicely with the plot.
-Counteragent request form? I gotta go with Darien’s reaction here...I just can’t see an episode down the line, Darien’s going insane and they plop down a form for him to sign? Considering paperwork drives *me* nuts...
-You have to love Hobbes’ dedication...he’s intent on following Darien, visible or not! After Darien disappears in front of the whole gang and leaves, watch Hobbes run out into the hallway and stop to listen for him, and kinda failing to pick a direction!
-Corona product placement! :-) Although after bringing home that wonderful six-pack, Liz and Darien are drinking some random beers a few moments later.
-So Hobbes and the Official use threats, Claire uses guilt, but Liz win’s the "Screwing With Darien’s Head Award" for knowing all the right buttons to push to get him to do what she wants. Most appear to be telling him how good a thief he is...until that pesky conscience gets in the way.
-It sucks that Hobbes is sent to spy on Darien on his day off, but at least he’s brutally honest about it. He pretty much comes out and says he’s there to keep Darien in line, or haul him back in line if necessary.
-"Little known law of the universe: when someone who owns a mansion hires you to steal something, it can never end well."
-John Castagnacci? Ya gotta love the classic Italian Mob Boss. Almost too cliché.
-Love Darien’s reaction when he finds out who hired Liz and him...part abject terror and part star struck! Talk about playing with the big boys!
-"You know I have a couple of new tricks." *snicker*
-I have come to the conclusion that Darien’s only defense in court is to look as pathetic and puppydogish as possible. First the mugshot in his criminal record, and now that picture of him in the courtroom...
-...of course VV gets lots of practice in this episode giving that "I’m guilty and I’m really really sorry and I feel awful" look. No wonder Claire only lasted a few minutes before she had to let him go, who could resist that look?
-"Wow, could you print that out and put it on a keychain?"
-So in-between sounding like a 70’s cop or a gambler in Vegas ("Come to papa, one time for Grandma, baby needs a new pair of shoes!"), Hobbes can throw around $10 words like acrimony. Watch Darien, even he’s impressed when Hobbes uses that in a sentence (btw, *I* had to look it up. It means rudeness, unpleasantness, anger...)
-"Why is the place so heavily rigged? What are they keeping in there, the X-Files?"
-"I wondered how ‘Raiding the FBI’ would look on the counteragent request form."
-So Darien does look guilty when he quicksilvers to go through the lasers (and that was a VERY nice effect), but can’t help but grin at how cool it was afterwards!
-If only that pesky conscience had popped up when Liz tried to abort the mission the first two times.
-OK so I already talked about how threats don’t work well on Darien, but did anyone else get a pit in their stomach when the Official said "Oh trust me Darien Fawkes, I will find a way to make you pay."?
-Great Scene 1: Hobbes comes in to verify the story Darien told, and when Darien pleads for them to go rescue the witness Hobbes is once again brutally honest. "The witness who’s life you put in danger?" It was just really well acted by everyone in the room.
-Great Scene 2: Claire uses all her powers of guilt and keychain quotes to get Darien to start being more responsible for his actions. Of course it didn’t take much at that point, the poor guy was ready to crawl back to the State Pen.
-So when Darien starts talking to his tools, is that normal for him or can we chalk it up to oncoming madness? :-)
-"Marathon Man"? Oh ewww...I’m never going to look at wire cutters the same way again.
-"Where’s Johnny!"
-You have to love how Hobbes fights dirty...jumping on the witness’ back, biting his hand, anything to "protect him"
-While Darien is discovering that Liz took off with the money in the safe, listen to Hobbes and Castagnacci snip at each other in the background. "You enjoying yourself Detective?" :-)
The Bad:
-I guess this is more of a nit-pick, but it drove me nuts (no pun intended) the entire episode. Someone needs to burn Darien’s entire wardrobe! We first see him in pants and a bright red shirt, with this jacket that looks like it’s part of a gas attendants uniform. Switch to that night in the apartment where he now has on that oh-so-lived-in "Bar fly" T-shirt. Next morning, he visits Kmart for Thieves in the SAME Bar fly shirt, but then does remember to change back to the gas station outfit to call Liz later that day. Apparently doing some laundry in time to get chewed out by Claire and check out the building he’s breaking into, then he’s in all black (yet still that gas station jacket) to break into the FBI. That outfit sticks around a while, until finally we have the ONE satisfactory ensemble at the very end. Oy! VV is a good looking guy, why are they putting him in these AWFUL outfits?!
-Hobbes is not very subtle in the van with the huge honkin’ spy dish.
-For a guy who’s well known in crime and law circles, and has cops and former hitmen out to kill him, Castagnacci’s security sure is rather lax. Two people together out front, and one inside?
The Crap Count:
-When Hobbes shows up at the Thief’s Bazaar: "Oh crap."
-In stereo with Liz when they see all the lasers: "Oh crap."
-Talking with Claire: "Is that more keychain crap?"
-and finally, "Ah crap, I’m talking to tools."
The Nitpicky:
-Poor Mike. Finally you get to come back onscreen and your only line? "$87,260.32" And no, the Geico commercial DIDN’T make up for it! :-)
-"You’re not a crook anymore, you work for the government!" Uh, insert your own politician’s are crooks joke here.
-Did anyone else think that they guy playing Castagnacci looked a LOT like Mitch Pileggi (Walter Skinner from The X-Files)?
-The voice dubbing for the witness, when he’s running to grab the bad guy’s car and swearing revenge on Castagnacci, was really not that good. Sorry.
"Look, either you see me or you don’t." -Darien
