'Sabotage' by the Beastie Boys kicks off and we get a rapid fire credits montage of highlights from the season:
Nash slides across the roof of the building into the stolen bus and blows a kiss
Maddie slow motion walking into the Paris club
Danya directing Nash with her hands on proper tough guy etiquette
Nash and Ninotchka going through the bus window
Mac hands off the dossier out of nowhere to Raphael
Luke picks up the Scotch as it arrives in the VIP room
Maddie gets Raphael's necklace
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
Breakfast in Chicago. Luke apparently has an apartment here and the crew receives a call from Mr. X on the Red Smartphone. He lays out the this week's competition. A wedding involving the Hanrattys, Chicago's top Irish mob family, is going down. The wedding is bringing out Cormac Hanratty, aka Trash Can Han, the semi-retired head of the family. He keeps a little Black Book that has a ton of dirty laundry inside and Mr. X wants it. Of course, after the phone call, Luke reveals he has other plans. He's not comfortable giving Mr. X such leverage and, at the very least, wants a copy for himself.
He sets his plan in motion. He sends Maddie to go swap out as the wedding planner. She needs to get close to the family and some invites for the crew. Mac makes her job easier.
MAC: It wouldn't be crashing. I'm invited.
Seems our favorite hacker used to date one of the Hanratty boys and Trash Can Han is the man that brought her into Crime World. Maddie slides in as a Southern Belle wedding planner, but she gives us the first Complication of the night. Good Help is Hard to Find because the Hanratty's have spared no expense, so sneaking in as catering staff will be a bit difficult.
LUKE:You'll need a date.
MAC: I need someone that looks good in a tux. (beat) Danya?
Luke has different plans for Nash. He wants someone close to the bride and groom at all times. The priest 'called in sick' and everyone gives Luke a wary eye as he hands Nash Catholic priest garb.
We cut to the reception, a lavish affair being held at Chicago's Shedd Aquarium. The crew is in place, though Luke has not revealed himself in the con yet.
NASH: That would have been so much easier if I had been Anglican.
Mac bringing Dayna as her date has another agenda. She used to date Cillian Hanratty, the youngest of Trash Can's three kids. Katherine is helping Maddie run the reception, Elias is dead and Cillian, called Uncle Silly by almost everyone, is getting razzed by the various thugs at the wedding. So of course, she shows up with a girl as her date to rub his nose in it a bit.
Danya introduces herself as Tanya, but someone overhears it as Danya, and the voice makes Danya freeze. Her sister Alexia is at the wedding. Alexia is a Federal Agent, and Danya wonders Why is Alexia here?
Nash keeps an eye of things from the bar. Luke directs him to back up Danya, but Katherine stops him to buy him a drink. It's a hilarious combination of her being a Cougar and Nash picking up some Plot Points for Sleeping With The Enemy. The scene ends with a line that triggers a great reaction from Nash.
KATHERINE: Have I mentioned one of my favorite books is the Thorn Birds?
Danya and Alexia head to where every wedding day crisis is solved - the women's bathroom. Alexia is suspicious of Danya but doesn't accuse her of anything. She thinks its far too convenient that she showed up with Mac and she's up to something. Alexia is - the Feds know Cormac is there and want to move against the family. During the exchange, Danya admits Mac is not her girlfriend. Mac gets in some snark over the headset.
MAC: You're breaking up with me?
Maddie decides to get the band to play the Father/Bride/Mother/Groom dance to peel Katharine away from Nash. She is shocked to discover Luke's role in the con - he's playing lead guitar for the wedding band. He obliges and during the song someone cracks wise about his guitar.
LUKE: Her name is Loretta and I am going to ignore that you said that.
Maddie also discovers one of the presents is not where it should be in the huge pile . With Nash newly freed, he tucks over to the gift and Luke advises him to crack it open. It could be The Black Book they are looking for. It it really that easy? Of course not. It's a bomb.
Mac and Maddie head over to to take care of the gift. Mac needs some wire clippers and some ice to disarm the bomb. Maddie rolls over the Melting Ice Sculpture and breaks off a piece for Mac's use. Mac handles the bomb and recognized the make - IRA.
DANYA: That's not Cupid's arm.
Nash ducks out the nearby fire exit to see if he can find the culprit. Sure enough, he does - he overhears Katherine talking to someone on her cell phone. A quick hack from Mac and he overhears her complain the bomb didn't go off. She tells whoever it is on the other end to send some hitters down to the reception to take care of business. She'll make sure her and Cillian are not in harm's way.
Luke tells Mac to pull up security footage to see if they can get any more incriminating video of Katherine or if she's left any other surprises lying around. But Mac proves human for once - trying to multi-task while dancing and trying to show up her old boyfriend means she can't quite pull up the security feed.
MAC: I'm...distracted by breasts.
During his performance, Luke manages to get Cormac's Respect. He takes five to talk to the old man and tell him what's going on. Cormac sits back and listens and when Luke offers to take care of things for him, he agrees. Just like that, one of the Clients is the Mark, and the Mark is the Client.
The party is really beginning to amp up, with both Strong Mixed Drinks and a Drunk Archbishop coming into play. Luke comes up with a plan in three parts. Make sure the bride and groom leave. Make sure Katherine and Cillian don't. He and Danya will take out the hitters. Nash is fine with this plan.
LUKE: I'm much more worried about Nash getting shot.
NASH: Yeah, me too.
Of course, in discussing their plans for the hit teams, Luke and Danya ratchet up their sexual tension. Luke wins this round, though Danya gets in the final shot.
DANYA:Do you know what it's like to be punched through the radio?
Meanwhile, Alexia comes over to talk about Mac and Danya as a couple.
MAC: I'm kind of here with a date.
ALEXIA: No, no. I wanted to talk about your relationship with my sister.
MAC: There had been thought of twins.
Once they move out of Cillian's earshot, the discussion gets more earnest. Alexia doesn't disapprove, she's just stunned Danya never told her about it. They aren;t as close as they used to be and Alexia has some pangs of genuine regret buried down underneath the sibling rivalry. Alexia is a Sympathetic Sister, so maybe they should tip off the Feds about the hit team. Mac lets Alexia know that Danya feels the same way, but also gets in a quick dig on two teammates at once.
MAC: I get the feeling she still has the hots for her old boyfriend.
Danya has been drinking with the boys hard and fast and despite what their opinions of her might be, her strong liver has won over the family. Even the Archbishop offers to marry her and Mac should they ever want to. When someone points out they are in Chicago and not Boston, the bishop makes a startling proclamation.
ARCHBISHOP: This hall is now Massachusetts!
Maddie slips over to the bridge and groom and between the Archbishop and Uncle Silly falling off the bar, convinces them to leave early. Danya tells her sister about the hitters and The Feds Are On Their Way. Nash locks down the other entrances to the aquarium, meaning the only way the hitters can approach is though the Hall of Sharks.
Eamon Driscoll and his crew show up toting automatic weapons. It's going to be a massacre if they slip by Luke and Danya. He meets Luke on a catwalk over one of the tanks. Luke blows the catwalk Eamon is standing on with his own bomb, but not before offering a lovely Callback.
LUKE: Except this time, I didn't bring a tiger.
Danya shows up with the rowdy Irish cavaly and handles four heavily armed hitters with her Badass Talent. With Eamon in the drink, the bride and groom safely away, it looks like it's time for the Wrap-Up.
Once again the stakes are two-fold. If they win the wrap-up, not only do they stay in the lead, they also make sure Cormac gets away while Katherine and Cillian take the fall.
Danya is up first. She flashes back to when she tried to convince her sister to let Cormac walk. She fails to do so and is met with a stony glare as her only reply.
DANYA: You always look at me like this.
Mac is up next. She wants to play the audio she recorded of Katherine's phone call to Driscoll over the stereo system to make sure that even if she wriggles out of the bust, her family knows she's a traitor. She fails as well. Alexia catches her fiddling with the stereo and confiscates
Maddie's turn. She shows how she was a royal terror as the wedding planner and pushes the crew to blow through their reserves.
MADDIE: Is this pate for a wedding or a PTA meeting?
She succeed and smuggles Cormac into the parking lot in one of the rolling freezers.
Nash flashes back to collecting the guns the IRA hitters left lying around. He succeeds and those guns end up in Katherine and Cillian's trunk as they get stopped by Federal agents.
Luke pulls it all together...and fails. Alexia discovers Cormac in the catering truck. He tells her he'll go peacefully but he wants five minutes with Mr. Charles. They have a heart to heart. Luke convinces him that if he really wants Danny out of their world with his new bride, he needs to give the book to someone else. Cormac agrees and asks Luke how he got Nash in as a priest. The flashback is all too similar to the New Year's Eve Job, except this time, the priest wakes up in a motel room handcuffed to the bed a bag full of cash within reach. A key is taped to the none on the bag which reads: "Sorry, Father. My act of contrition are two Hail Marys and 250,000 George Washingtons"
We cut back and Cormac is shaking his head.
CORMAC: Jesus Christ. (beat) In my day, it was $50,000.
Cormac gives up his Little Black Book, which Luke makes a copy of before he drops it off for Mr. X. Oops, he seems to have dropped it in the shark tank first...
Credits.
Fixer's Commentary after the jump.
This was a decent episode. It wasn't as high energy as The Bootstraps Job, but 3 of the players were sick. The switch between Marks went very well and it was fun to see how quickly
Having everyone on comms solves quite a few problems. It means even if people are out of a scene, they can still participate. It also lets the choice MST3K commentary become part of the In-Character banter. Our Crew is much more like the team from Sneakers than the one from the show.
Mac really came into her own in this episode. In earlier drafts, Danya was the one dealing with marrying into the Hanrattys but her back story has a lot of fun characters and I was afraid they'd get lost in the wash with Katherine, Cormac and everyone. Sometimes having a player that comes in with no background is a good thing, since they can react to ideas you bounce off them.
The team was bummed they lost, but more for Cormac getting busted than losing the competition. They are already talking about getting Trash Can Han out of the joint in Season 2, so that's a good sign.
Assets
Crowded Parking Lot
Sympathetic Sister
Cormac's Respect
Feds are on Their Way
Hall of Sharks
Melted Ice Sculpture
Complications
Good Help is Hard to Find
Drunk Archbishop
Strong Mixed Drinks
Why is Alexia Here?
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