Scenes from the pilot I now recognize from the pilot in the credits:
Luke punching out the DJ
Nash surrounded by K-Rome's crew
Mac offering a cutting sideways glance
Danya leaning against the doorway before dealing with K-Rome's crew
Maddie admiring K-Rome's obnoxiously overblinged Desert Eagle
Man, "Sabotage" is an awesome theme song.
For most people, waking up naked in a cargo container might make things challenging. Luke Charles is not most people.
Luke already has a plan - Nash gets clothes, Danya gets wheels, Maddie handles anyone snooping around the container, and Mac uses the Red Smartphone to find a rich asshole with a private plane.
Danya uses the time-honored "naked lady by the roadside" technique to score the team an SUV. She also notes they are in Paris. The poor bastard she sleeper holds ends up naked in the container himself, but if I'm going to get carjacked, being choked out by a hot, wet, naked lady is probably one of the ways I want to go.
Nash finds Maddie a jumpsuit and a clipboard, which comes in handy when a dock guard comes up acting suspicious. She grifts up a modelling shoot at the drop of the hat and everybody gets into it. Even Mac -
MAC: Lori, I can't work in this light!
Mac finds a Mark quickly. Oleg Kuryakin deals in human traffic, selling girls to businessmen in bulk. They track him to a Parisian sidewalk cafe, where he has a meeting with Raphael Al-Fahid. As an Oil Baron's Scion with an Ivy-League Education, Raphael also fall into the "rich asshole with a private plane" category. He's meeting with Oleg to find some girls for one of his rigs. Between Oleg's intimidating presence and his naivite, Maddie quickly pegs Raphael as Nervous. Nash and Luke sum up the rest of the episode while watching them from across the street.
NASH: We're going to ruin this guy's life, right?
LUKE: Oh. Oh yeah.
Oleg leaves Raphael a flash drive catalog of his 'merchandise'. When Raphael uploads it to his phone, Mac hacks it and clones Raphael's phone. Luke approaches Raphael and makes a counter-offer, playing up the superiority of his product. Luke reveals his Grifting speciality - Heroically Sleazy. Elba reminds me a lot of Jim Garner in The Rockford Files here - this guy does a good job of making you think he'll sell his own mother for a buck and give back change, but in the end he makes the right choice.
He gives Raphael a smartphone with his contact info and own catalog, with pictures of Danya and Maddie mixed in with random girls off the Internet. During his sales pitch, Raphael is clearly smitten by Maddie, and she easily aids Luke via earbud into making sure Raphael is Just That Into Her. They agree to meet at a club that evening and make sure that Oleg is watching as Luke steals his client.
That evening, Oleg is partying it up in the disco with a pair of Bullethead Russians guarding the entrance to the VIP. Danya and Maddie are dancing to some ABBA. Mac, who has been playing Luke's uber-efficient assistant - Seriously, she makes Kato look like a bumbling intern - grumbles about her role in the con.
MAC: Someday I'm going to get to dance.
Nash is brought in to play Luke's enforcer, and there's a great bit of business here where Danya uses subtle hand signals to help him stand where he looks the most intimidating. She also has a little fun with him over the comms.
DANYA: That chick across the bar is totally checking you out.
NASH: Really? (beat) I can't look over there, can I?
Of course, she gets a little payback from Mac when Luke sells her skills in 'playing rough' to Raphael.
DANYA: I'll show you playing rough.
MAC: You already have.
Luke calls the girls over and Maddie, taking the name Zahra, plays poor Raphael like a fiddle. He shows her his dorky love of travel by taking pictures of every airport he's even been to. Between telling Raphael she's always wanted to see Lebanon, her specialty in Religions, and Raphael's Nervous trait coughing up Complications, he barely notices the spiked drink he sips.
While "Zahra" works her magic, Luke decides to have a talk with Oleg. He takes the Direct approach, naturally, and leaves the goons on the floor. It's not a perfect run - he spills his Scotch. Luckily, Mac has one at Oleg's table just as he sits down. Oleg and Luke have a fun little confrontation. I really like how Luke doesn't need to work the grift here - he confronts the Mark and figures he can take the heat while the rest of his crew handle fleecing the Mark. It's a dangerous way to run, but who doesn't like a good "Badasses talking smack to each other scene"? It sets up Luke's crew as the Distinguished Competition.
Luke sends Danya and Maddie off with Raphael and waits for Oleg's inevitable counter-attack.Sizing up the thugs that Oleg has been surrounded by, he knows that there's An Element of Surprise because Oleg has a better class of thug somewhere. He knows Oleg has some girls in town, so it's Danya's turn to take a dive so she can get brought back to Oleg's HQ. Except there's a problem - during the brawl where Danya leaves one thug standing to overpower her, a thug gives her a Crushed Earbud. Without her in radio contact, Luke sends Nash to follow Danya.
Nash tracks Danya to a stockyard. Oleg has the girls stashed inside the refrigeration units and Danya spends some time in one herself. Oleg and her have a bit of a conversation. Before he can do anything too sleazy to her, Luke crashed through the doors in his car and directly challenges the thugs hanging out. Luke brings out a Baseball Bat to help him in the fight. But once Danya puts her hands on their boss (and his belt around his throat), two of the thugs peel off, pull out guns and Empty the Clip. Even using Oleg as a shield, Danya Got Hit, and the thugs take a moment to reload.
Nash uses the battle to sneak in and let the girls out. He's boosted one of those party bus type vehicles and ushers the girls inside. But something is wrong. One of the girls wasn't bound at the hands. Nash realizes a moment too late that Oleg's top enforcer isn't a goon - it's a girl. Ninotchka, Oleg's blond enforcer, kicks Nash in the face and takes off with the bus. Of course, he tries to cover by being Overconfident.
NASH: SOME of the girls are plants!
Meanwhile, Raphael recovers from his drugging. It doesn't take much convincing from Maddie that they should flee Paris on his private jet.
RAPHAEL:Yes, yes my darling! We'll have breakfast in Lebanon!
Mac arrives as Raphel's driver and we get a flashback about how she's been working her hack magic while she's been shuttling rich folks around Paris and racking up a nice set of tips. As she, Maddie and Raphael head for the airport, they notice a pair of Oleg's thugs peel off to follow them.
Even though there is Cow's Blood On The Floor, Luke handles the other thugs easily. He realizes the thugs are using Cheap Russian Guns so he is able to take out one thug while the other one's gun jams. They dash outside to help Nash.
Mac weaves through the streets of Paris. It's clear that Oleg's men aren't just going to follow them, so Maddie offers some guidance through Paris's twisting street. Except she makes a mistake and a Complication springs up. Maddie says "I Meant Right" and they end up in a dead-end alleyway with Oleg's thugs boxing them in.
Nash had enough foresight to set up a spike strip thanks to his Speciality in Contingencies, which causes Ninotchka to crash the bus. She hops out to survey the damage, Nash jumps onto the bus and wins the Chinese fire drill. Except Ninotchka isn't stopped. She jumps onto the back of the moving van and busts in through the back window. Nash sees her coming and comes up with a clever plan. He'll hit the brakes and she'll go through the front bus window. Except he gets a Complication and she grabs him as he dives forward. They both go through the window. Looks like a tough fight for Danya and Luke, since Nash has been Taken Out and Ninotchka has "She Hit You With the Bus Window?" as a Complication.
Mac lets Luke know they have a situation. But he's got his Hacker's back. He knew the thugs were going to come after her. He deploys their final Asset, Luke's Lemon.
LUKE: Is it a black sedan with an air freshener?
(CUT TO: A flashback. The thugs are arguing with each other over who goes to get lunch. The camera pans down past the car door to see Luke underneath, pulling something out of the underbody.)
MAC: Yeah. Hod did you...
LUKE: It's already done.
MAC: (cuts a sharp smirk) Good job, Padawan.
Mac hacks the sedan's doors to lock shut. The thugs shirt gears and floor it. Except Luke's preperations mean the car slips gears and the thugs go full speed...into reverse. The sedan hits the street and a bakery truck takes care of the problem.
Dany runs at Ninotchka full charge. But before she gets drop some pain on the enforcer, Luke uses The Bigger They Are and turns Ninotchka from a Complication into an Asset. He says four words that stops both Danya and Ninotchka in their tracks.
LUKE: What happened little bird?
Cue a flashback featuring a little blond Russian girl being rescued by a special forces team. She gets scooped up in a soldiers arms and once she's pulled to safety, the solider pulls his mask. It's Luke and he tells the girl
LUKE:You're safe now, little bird.
They share a Meaningful Glance and a nod. Ninotchka gets her only line of dialog in Russian before she walks away.
NINOTCHKA: Your friend is cute...but stupid.
The police pick up Oleg and we hit the Wrap-Up.Danya left Oleg in the freezer in a semi-nude state.
Danya plants the thumb drive back on Oleg. But he realizes it when he comes to and disposes it the only way he knows how - by swallowing it.
Maddie takes Raphael for as much as she can, including her mother's diamond necklace. He's no match for all three of her Distinctions. He gives her his mother's necklace which she immediately puts on so she can send a picture of her wearing it to Raphael's father the oil baron.
Mac is left alone with Raphael's computer and she easily cleans him out. She does it while she busily prepares the private jet for takeoff.
As she does, she flashes back to Nash asking her to send Oleg's financials and his catalog to Agent Poston, who shows up to taunt poor Oleg in the interrigation room.
The Plan Comes Together in a bittersweet scene. Raphael is taking a picture of the airport sign and looks confused. We see what he sees soon enough - his own private plane is taking off over the sign as the chorus of "All By Myself" surges.
We then cut to the interrogation room. The door opens. Oleg reacts with surprise. A pair of silenced gunshots flash through the window. The door opens again and Ninotchka walks out of the room, dropping the pistol in the doorway.
The final scene sees Nash holding an icepack to his jaw, Maddie inspecting her new necklace, and Luke patching Danya up for once. Suddenly there's a scream from the cockpit. Mac's Fear of Heights kicked in.
MAC: Someone needs to get in here. I didn't realize how high we were!
Credits. Post-game after the jump.
I thought the last session was great, but this one was even better. The players are getting used to the rules and grasping the flow. It seemed like during the early goings, people were more likely to pop a Distinction for the D4 and the Plot Point. The Ninotchka reveal was something I planned, but Jack turning it with The Harder They Fall and his Mysterious Past was masterful. I was planning for a chick fight between her and Danya but it was really cool to have it resolved that way. We may also have our first recurring character with her connection to Luke and her Nash flirting with her hard.
Mac is coming into her own as Luke's right-hand Hacker. Nash is reckless but comes through in the clutch, while Luke starts out methodical but ends up reckless when his team is endangered.
Next week, the players picked the job in North America, which involves Danya's family and Billy Connolly as the Mark. I think it's going to be a pretty light-hearted episode, contrasting the stress of running a clockwork con with the stress of being in a wedding.
Assets:
Distinguished Competition
Raphael is Just That Into Her
Luke's Lemon
Crappy Russian Guns
Complications:
Earbud Crushed
She Hit You With The Bus Window?
"I Meant Right..."
Danya Got Hit
Cow's Blood on The Floor
Empty the Clip
Elements of Surprise
Ninotchka
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