But some context for this evening's pharmaceutical-themed episode.
During one week in June Pfizer 1) agreed to pull its 10-year-old leukemia drug Mylotarg from the market because it caused more, not less patient deaths 2) Suspended pediatric trials of Geodon two months after the FDA said children were being overdosed 3) Suspended trials of tanezumab, an osteoarthritis pain drug, because patients got worse not better, some needing joint replacements (pattern, anyone?) 4) Was investigated by the House for off-label marketing of kidney transplant drug Rapamune and targeting African-Americans 5) Saw a researcher who helped established its Bextra, Celebrex and Lyrica as effective pain meds, Scott S Reuben, MD, trotted off to prison for research fraud 6) was sued by Blue Cross Blue Shield to recoup money it overpaid for Bextra and other drugs 7) received a letter from Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) requesting its whistleblower policy and 8) had its appeal to end lawsuits by Nigerian families who accuse it of illegal trials of the antibiotic Trovan in which 11 children died, rejected by the Supreme Court. And how was your week(h/t Balloon Juice)
Of course, our episode is not based on Pfizer. It is an amalgam of about a thousand similar, shitty stories. But just a reminder that the bad guys in our stories are, if anything toned down from reality. Seriously, I may have hit "Assholes in Suits fatigue" this year. I'm looking forward to six months of not reading about corporate malfeasance and innocent deaths.
238 comments:
1 – 200 of 238 Newer› Newest»I can tell already I'm going to enjoy tonight's take down. I spend way too much time fighting with my insurance company to get medications, only to have them black-boxed.
It's not even directly related to this episode, but it's been something I've thought about since Eliot said it.
If Eliot only sleeps 90 minutes a day... what the heck does he do all day? It's probably too much to ask for, but I'd love a basic rundown of his personal schedule for a non-on-the-job day.
Script for 316? Season 3 is more than 15 episodes?!?
Wow, I totally did not know all of that Phizer stuff. I guess it would help if I actually paid attention to the news. That's definitely some crazy stuff John. BTW, no prob w/ waiting on the questions. You have good reason & always make good on your promises. :-)
Thanks for the rundown of the inspiration of tonights show. I wonder sometimes...do people really listen to the list of "possible side effects" to all those drug ads? Or is it just easier to have blind faith in what the doctors push? What they push, based on the kickbacks and promos from the pharma-companies... Such a sad commentary to our lives. Love the show. Waiting rather impatiently for next week's though. :D
he will kill me with my Macbook
Now, now, we all know he'd never risk damaging the Hard Drive like that...
@Dave, I wouldn't worry. I think their studios all use Macs, so they probably have some kind of backup system in place.
...
Wait, that's not the right way to answer that!
I think it's one of the reasons why the show is so enjoyable. We know the big corporations are pulling this kind of crap, but can't do anything about it. Leverage gives us the feeling that somewhere out there someone can bring those guys down, and make them accountable. Even if it isn't real, it beats the heck out of feeling helpless. Thanks for digging around in the ugly underbelly of the corporate world.
Is 316 a good thing? Wasn't the season originally scheduled for 15? This doesn't mean anything in re season 4, does it?
He wouldn't kill you with your MacBook, he'd hire a retrieval specialist to pry it from your cold dead hands.
I'm sure you will find some "non-suits" crimes to inspire you for next season. How about evil mechanics? Who hasn't had the unfortunate luck of taking their car to a bad mechanic?
Just please don't do an evil veterinarian or evil animal shelter story. Even if they get taken down, I just couldn't watch an episode about pets getting hurt.
Anonymous, as I recall they were approved for 16 eps from the beginning.
I agree with Miranda. Why is it that abuse at an animal shelter feels worse than, say abuse at a Serbian orphanage (which was breathtakingly awful)?
A friend of mine used to work for Pfizer. She quit a few years back to work for a medical lab at half the pay--but her stress-based ulcer is much better now.
@Paige Roberts, you said it! Exactly my sentiments, and also one of the reasons for growing Leverage fandom. You con and you learn!
As someone working a hospital (abet as a librarian), I have known about Big Pjharma and their nasty secrests for some time. I ams o glad you are doing a story on them. I always hoped you would.
I think it was Dean Devlin in one of the Q&A's who said he wanted to live in the Leverage world. I've often wanted to live there, too, but never more than after reading that excerpt about Pfizer.
I have two questions not specifically regarding episode 305.
1. When you write the episodes, do you imagine the actors saying the lines and doing the stunts, or the characters as you imagined them when creating the show?
2. You now have writer, actor, producer and director under your belt. Is there another job on Leverage you would like to try? Such as in the lighting or sound departments; maybe assistant to Tim Hutton?
I was speaking to my 16-year-old nephew about this show and want to thank you for making the characters the opposite of the standard stereotypes. The geek isn't some overweight, sloppy, desk jocky; the muscle isn't dumber than a box of rocks; and the beautiful woman is an adult who wears clothing that covers her body while still being dropdead gorgeous. It is a refreshing change.
Okay, does anyone else find it hysterically ironic that this episode is "brought to you by Lyrica"?
zenkitty, i can't decide if it's irony or just cluelessness.
First ad block, "Tonight's episode of Leverage is brought to you by Lyrica."
(OK so the second ad block, this evening's episode brought to you by Geico. But still!)
First off, best opening YET. Loved seeing how the client "found" the team.
OMFG the IRONY - First commercial break = Pfizer's Lyrica. HA!!
The lifts & handoffs are so smooth, how often does the team have to practice to get the moves just right? (In other words, how many times did Christian hit the gal in the boob before he got her badge?) :-)
As much as I like seeing my phone, the HTC Excalibur, in the lovely hands of Beth Reisgraf, don't you think it's time she got an upgrade to something with a real front-facing camera?
Really like the Eliot/coffee reveal.
How come Sophie hasn't been attending client meetings?
Ooh...Parker's jealous...
First dead body for Leverage.
Nice slam to Nate Sophie!
Eliot's worn out by a woman? SERIOUSLY?!
Gina doesn't seem to be doing as many accents this season.
Evil Speech of Evil: Wow, this guy is like worse than the devil!
Funniest blow off ever!
Sweet escape Parker!
Act 3 is rockin' John!
Great Parker/Hardison scene at the end. Best one yet!
Did anyone else hear "loves you" when Sophie stated that she was the only one who "likes" Nate? I love how explicitly she is calling him out and how the rest of the team is at least commenting on his actions (Hardison - "Prison has...changed him."). Whole ep was made of win - thanks!
It wasn't terribly clear to me, at the beginning, whether they ran into Ashley by accident or not.
Also... "when the fine's a couple million" -- was that supposed to be billion? (Perhaps I misheard it?)
I have to wait for iTunes to drop the ep in the morning meaning I'll watch tomorrow night baring an Act of God.
I can see how you'd get "Asshole in Suit" fatigue. I'd be more than happy to relieve you until you feel better. Send me an email and we'll come to terms and negotiations. :D
This has been bugging me this season - Where is the great team aspect that we had in Season 1 and 2 and it seems to be gone this one. Now it is all about the couples (Hardison and Parker and Nate and Sophie) and Eliot all alone.
This ep was too funny. I missed getting to see Eliot fight but the coffee scene was funny along with the pooped out Eliot scene.
poor Eliot, I imaging this is the first time he was ever dumped for being too settled. Bonus points for getting Eliot in a suit.
This was the first time the team ever had to deal with a dead body. Is this something that will be happening more often? Also Eliot knowing that they had faked a heartattack, and knowing where to check for injection sites, is this another hint of his past. That thought is kinda scarey.
Loved Parkers reactions to the invader of her teritory.
I'm glad that Sophie got to call Nate out. It's good to see her watching our for herself and the kids. Is this a hint that something bad could be coming or just a nudge toward a wake up call for Nate?
I'm with Jennifer. Too much couples interaction this season and not enough team stuff. There are five characters and two couples. Eliot is the odd man out, and I'm not liking it.
Excellent episode! Loved the interaction between Parker and Hardison. My question is . . . Will Eliot EVER get a girl? (I know there was that one ep . . . ) Excited for next week! Thanks for all your hard work!
Ok. First of all - BEST INTRO EVER! With the two mistakes that the guys made. We had to rewind the television and watch it again. My DAD loved it, and he is about the worst critic you could ever find. Brilliant!
Two, I LOVE the jealousy vibe between Parker and Ashley (which is also my name, by the way. I squealed a bit ^_^), it was hilarious. And how Hardison practically told Parker that he was hers as soon as she realized she wanted him. Total aww moment.
Also loved the whole comedy thing going on with the FDA woman and Eliot. Hilarious when she broke up with him. Bet THAT never happened before.
Great episode - this season has been the best one yet. seriously.
Loved the opening; different style, and totally worked. Liked seeing the client so involved with the con! I wouldn't have thought that would work, but in this case it did. Most clients probably don't want to be too aware of the illegal activities of their Robin Hoodlums, and certainly not involved. But Ashley was right there the whole way.
Eliot getting more and more exhausted and exasperated by his "date", only to be blown off as a desk jockey - funny as HELL. Glad you didn't fall back on the easy joke of having her see him kick ass later.
Perhaps I am weird, but I was impressed that Roberts was in rigor mortis.
So much good. Parker's jealousy, denying her jealousy, conversation with Hardison at the end, pretzels as metaphor. Hardison understands Parker so well, and willing to wait until she's ready; he's an awesome guy, really, and probably the *nicest* one on the crew. Sophie letting Nate know he's still "on probation", and his solution to the problem (and maybe, reaction to her threat to leave?) being a possible suicide mission; very telling, Nate. You are so not all right.
Okay, question - there's no way the settlement was reached in a day, so did the crew give her an "advance" on the money they expected to be awarded to her?
Does Eliot's commitment to the con encompass going "Quack quack!"?
That was a decent job on the cemetery. Matching up look-and-feel gets harder when you venture out of the urban center.
I have no idea what Jennifer & sheryden are talking about. Eliot is not out by himself not interacting with the team, like he's never in a scene with any of the other characters. I see no difference with the team, If anything they all seem much closer. I'm really loving this season so far.
I have no idea what Jennifer & sheryden are talking about. Eliot is not out by himself not interacting with the team, like he's never in a scene with any of the other characters. I see no difference with the team, If anything they all seem much closer. I'm really loving this season so far.
Re the money they gave Ashley at the end -- I agree any FDA whistleblower reward could not possibly have gotten to LC&A's bank account so quickly. But mightn't Hardison have shorted the company's stock before the takedown, as in the pilot episode? Or are they now too nice to take advantage of the general investor community in that way?
I enjoyed Eliot's tourist itinerary, all legitimate places to visit in Boston...
Wow, big pharma really can be evil can't they? They may do some good, but they could also probably give you about three seasons worth of eps, too. At least.
Excellent intro. The other thing that really stood out this ep was how Nate was taking chances with the team and himself. Can we assume that he'll be getting worse with this before he gets better?
I'm also not sure I love all the coupling, although I suppose to some extent its inevitable with an ensemble cast show. I will say that I don't see Eliot being left out at this point. The couple stuff has at least been peripheral to the plots as opposed to the driving force which is good.
Also, I also noticed that Sophie hasn't been in the client meetings this season - wassup with that?
is this another hint of his past. That thought is kinda scarey.
Is it some kind of mystery what he used to do? We saw him disposing of bodies..then killing his partner in the second episode.
Oh, and on the Nate getting worse before he gets better...I know the season's written..but what say we forgo that plot for a season..you know..for a change of pace.
Thanks for the shoutout to libraries! And the evil speech of evil was beautiful; Michael O'Keefe was a brilliant choice. How did you decide to cast him?
First, I loved the episode.
Second, what was up with Eliot's hair in the first part? I'm a long time wrestling fan and his hair reminded me of one wrestler in particular.....anyway......was the hair Kane's choice or the hair and makeup department?
Loved Parker's obvious jealousy....just not to Parker.
Neat trick with the case and the hideaway vials...clever.
Again loved the episode. Team Leverage rocks!
Watching for the 2nd time to get a better feel for questions. First time through is just to enjoy.
So - the team has an office in the poker room now? Is that because Cora KNOWS what the team does? Are we going to see Cora again? Will we see the poker room in use more that Nate's apt?
Glad that the wonder twins got their wish (yup- listen to the commentaries) and we get Eliot in a suit again!
Love everything Parker in this epi!!!
Great job all around!
Thank you again
My wife, who has fibromyalgia (a chronic pain disorder) is on Lyrica, or would be if it was affordable. It's the only FDA approved drug for fibro. I was pretty sure the whole situation was messed up on the FDA/Pfizer end, but I didn't know it was that messed up.
Last week we discovered that Parker has a father figure who she respects and this week we find out that she has territorial issues when it comes to Hardison. Is she being hyper-socialized at this point to show so many different emotions in such a short time? Are we to assume that she's really perceptive around the rest of the group now?
I LOVE THE SOPHIE AND PARKER INTERACTION IN THIS EPI.
I LIKED IT WHEN NATE TOLD SOPHIE, THAT PARKER WAS HELPING HARDISON AND ASHLEY, AND SHE IMMEDIATELY NOTICED THAT SOMETHING WAS UP .
MY FAV. SCENE THIS EPI. WAS SOPHIE TALKING TO PARKER AND TELLING HER THAT YOU ARE JEALOUS AND YOU HAVE FEELINGS FORMING FOR HARDISON AND THAT YOU NEED TO TELL HIM .
FOR ME IT WAS A VERY BIG SIS LITTLE SIS MOMENT .
THOSE SCENES FOR ME REALLY GROUND PARKER TO ME, TAKES THE CRAZY AWAY AND YOU JUST SEE PARKER FOR THAT MOMENT .
SO MY Q. IS ARE WE GOING TO BE GETTING MORE SCENES LIKE THAT BETWEEN PARKER AND SOPHIE ?
Can I just say how much I loved that this ep was brought to us by Lyrica? *g* Every bit as good as the Nancy Grace book ads during "Three Days of the Hunter" last season.
I know y'all have no control over that, but sometimes the universe does align perfectly. ;-)
This whole Dean killing you with your Macbook, come on!!! You can take him!! LOL That would make for a good Pay-Per-View event! :) Or you could just hire Christian as your bodyguard. Seriously, take your time, we're not going anywhere. There is enough stuff in Leverage world that can keep us busy until then.
All I have to say, what an awesome ep!! It is my favorite one so far. They just keep getting better, next week's ep is definitely evidence of that.
?
Now, how did writers for this ep come up with the town name Arcadia? And why did they have Parker's alias, Laurie Sprang, come from Iowa? I found that very funny, seeing that there is an Arcadia, IA, with a population (estimate) 200 or less. Just happens that I live not even 15 minutes from there. Just thought that was funny....
Now, I have to go watch the ep about 100 more times.
I know what people are saying about the pairings this season but I think that's just natural. When you have 5 people there's just going to be somebody "left out" so to speak. You can't conceivably all do everything together. I like the way this season is unfolding so far with respect to the relationships and the big picture. Parker being jealous was very funny and I kind of got the feeling Hardison was playing on that.
I definitely want to see more Parker/Sophie interaction and more Sophie/Hardison interaction. If I'm not mistaken they are not pairings we see too often. Although we did see Sophie and Hardison in the van in "Two Live Crew" which was hysterical.
Anyway, great season thus far!
Actually, I really felt the Sophie/Nate and Sophie/Parker scenes felt like Mom stepping in to keep things on an even keel.
Emotional compass, indeed...
Who would've thought Danny Noonan could be a bad guy?
Really, the episode was the epitome of what the show is about...the crew taking on tasks that the normal person can't tackle. There was SOOO much beyond that, however.
On to the questions...
1) How close is Nate to working off his probation with Sophie? She didn't seem impressed that he put himself on the line for the team.
2) Was it intentional to write the Eliot/Drug Rep relationship as it was? She's looking for a "dangerous" man and he's stuck in a con. Seems like we might see her later on...
3) We've been very Parker-centric lately. Is the season going to be more directed (early on) with Parker/Hardison/Eliot (yeah, think that the dude is going to get in somewhere) and more on the end with a Nate/Sophie track (after he's proven himself again)?
Outstanding work from you, Chris, Dean, Tim, Gina, Christian, Beth, Aldis and the rest of the crew. You've definitely earned a Season Four in my opinion!
REALLY ENJOYED THE EPISIDE!!
Several things:
You've said "Eliot doesn't shit where he eats," but if that's his attitude, then what does he think about the possibilities of Nate and Sophie or Parker and Hardison hooking up? Is he okay with that, does it make him nervous for their day-to-day safety backing each other up, for the future of the team?
I really liked Parker in this episode - I like it when she feels something but doesn't know how to deal with those feelings. That's what's so charming about her! Did she actually understand Alec's pretzel metaphor? "The preztels are right here waiting for you and you can have them any time you want." Or did she really think he was just talking about the preztels? She looked like she was still trying to work that out in her head.
I liked frustrated Eliot - he's definitely a favorite! Frustrated by the enthusiasm of the FDA woman he spent the day with, being dragged hither and yon, then frustrated that SHE was the one who broke up with HIM, because he's not the guy she wants him to be (and him fuming a little bit because it looked like he wanted to tell her the truth, that he IS the kind of guy she just described and, as that kind of guy, he's not attracted to her - but of course he couldn't do that in the middle of a con. Hello frustrated Eliot! There's just so many unique and fascinating ways to frustrate him - it's brilliant!
Oh, and I liked the opening - when the girl runs into Alec - that was a nice change up. Loved the Alec instantly recognized the fake badges - Alec was brilliant in that scene. And then Eliot with the coffee on his shirt - so pissed! Loved that later Alec said told Nate was changing his shirt because he had coffee & blood on it - nice detail, especially when we didn't actually get to see the fight.
The only bit I didn't like - which is the only bit I was confused about - was the switching of the cases. Which case was which and where each one was.... made my head spin. Then you thought in the flashback show that YOU had conned US and then I had no freaking clue what was the read case and what was the fake case. I think maybe you were being a little more clever than you needed to be??? I'm not sure - I'll definitely have to watch that bit over again. It was funny, though, that Alec has to MAKE Parker trip the alarm - she so hated doing that - and that's adorable, too!
He, we had a scene in The Tap Out Job where it was clear Eliot had been teaching Parker some fighting skills. Can we get a scene where we find out she's taught him something about picking locks? Because I can see him trying to bust them using muscle which usually wouldn't work, so her teaching him the skill might come in handy. Plus, I love those little momments that tell use they hang out and bond between cons.
Thanks again! You guys are all awesome!! Good luck with writing 0315. We're here when you finally get a free moment to answer so questions - just so very glad you're willing to do it in the first place!! You continue to be the best production team on this planet!
No questions yet (I'm beyond brain-dead), but some moments I loved:
* The opening, from our non-standard intro to the client to the (literal) contact with the team. "And … you spilled *his* coffee." Hehe.
* Parker's jealousy throughout, and her confusion over that jealousy.
* Eliot's discovery of the dead guy and his understanding of *how* the guy died. "There are nine points professionals use …" Reminding us yet again that Eliot truly is a bad, bad man. "There are nine points professionals (of which I am one) use …" Understated, and chilling.
* Sophie calling Nate on his shit. I really, really like this new Sophie.
*Hardison, throughout. He really is the most "normal" one of the bunch, isn't he? Just a lovely job by Aldis all the way.
* Truly appalling "evil speech of evil." (And there's some guy on Twitter protesting that corporations do not actually try to kill people because it's bad for business. Because killing people has proven so bad for business so far, right?)
* The Sophie-Parker moment at the end, with Sophie taking on big sis/mom role to Parker. Gina really seems to be landing the "emotional center" thing this season.
* Nate trying to prove himself to the team, possibly trying to make amends for past mistakes, as only Nate can. Which means making up for past assholery with … more assholery. *g*
* And, finally, Eliot getting dumped by the blonde for not being dangerous enough. Because, a) Eliot getting dumped, and, b) Eliot getting dumped for not being dangerous. And then getting ribbed by Nate.
God, do I love this family!
What decisions led to your choosing to film in Portland (vs. LA, Vancouver, or elsewhere)? Was it just down to basic production costs/incentives or did you consider living conditions for the people who would have to move there for filming, etc.? Thanks!
Sean Fagan said...
It wasn't terribly clear to me, at the beginning, whether they ran into Ashley by accident or not.
- - Totally by accident/chance. Just out for a cup of what looked like Seattle's Best coffee when Ashley literally ran into Alec pushing him into Eliot...no way to plan that :). Also, loved how Alec called out the security guys about trying to con him. Loved it! - -
Also... "when the fine's a couple million" -- was that supposed to be billion? (Perhaps I misheard it?)
- - Yeah, he said a couple billion - -
Jennifer said...
- - Eliot has everyone he needs...he doesn't have time for a relationship :) - -
deanangst said...
- - Not the 1st time they've dealt with a dead body, that's kinda what Eliot did his whole "career", but I do agree it's probably the first we've seen - -
GG. said...
- - I agree with you! What in the world are these women talking about?! Me thinks they are thinking more along the lines of Christian rather than Eliot. - -
As for the money, for the CEO to get arrested and charged some time would have passed. You can't always assume these things happen in a day or two.
I love how Parker is starting to realize she has "feelings" for Alec, even though she doesn't understand them or what they mean she is starting to acknowledge them...and that Alec is there, just waiting for her to be ready to say it...just makes him all the more cute!!!!! "...there right here when you want them..." Loved it!
John Schneider! I can hardly wait to see next weeks ep! I met him at Christian's concert a while back as he was in town guesting on Leverage...so glad to see what he was working on!
John - LEVERAGE’s entire team is still batting a 1,000 as far as I’m concerned! GREAT job once again. Since I’m a Kaniac, I’m sure next Sunday will deliver too.
To those upset about the coupling: Valid points, but it may just last this season, and it changes up the relationships, makes for good banter/situations between characters & it changes up the scripts (considering the caliber of Season 3’s scripts, it’s obviously working right now)…just enjoy it.
To those who say the check/arrests come too quickly: True if Leverage was reality. But do you really want to wait 3-4years to see the client come back & get their check? Or 5-6 years before the CEO just gets a slap on the wrist? It’s only an hour show! A lot of people got upset about the cash the L-team delivered in Season 1, Ep.2 - “The Homecoming Job”. It was more FUN to see an empty looking truck filled with a lot of cash, but people complained about the cash instead of a check then.
John or anyone who can enlighten me – Am I totally missing it or what is the connection with Manticor, Duberman, Dubertech, Wakefield, Moto, JRP Pharmaceudicals, Pallagen Laboratories, & Darren Hoffman to Damien Moreau? Nate said in “The Jailbreak Job” that the team would still help the underdogs, but ones with connections to Moreau. I know Moto had a file on ‘The Italian’, but that did not necessarily connect Moto with Moreau.
Also, John, it doesn’t matter to me how long you take to reply to our questions, I’m just extremely grateful you even bother to take time out of your busy schedule.
Congrats on writing Season 3’s finale already!!! Any spoilers/hints you’d like to share? You can trust us not to tell anyone, right gang?
Dawn/StL-MO
Loved the Eliot and Hardison coffee run scene. Do they make it a habit of heading out on the town?
Inside Eliot's head during tour of Boston:
on Newbury St: can I dive in front of that bus fast enough?
on Boston Duck Tour: oooo can I take a turn driving.....(or) They say the Charles and the Harbor are clean now, can I dive off here?
I may pick on you for the awful Boston hair (Revere Claw) and bad accents (Boston wise) but thanks for adding more and more of Boston into this!
AND...Completely loving the new side of Parker!
Inside Eliot's head during tour of Boston:
on Newbury St: can I dive in front of that bus fast enough?
on Boston Duck Tour: oooo can I take a turn driving.....(or) They say the Charles and the Harbor are clean now, can I dive off here?
I may pick on you for the awful Boston hair (Revere Claw) and bad accents (Boston wise) but thanks for adding more and more of Boston into this!
AND...Completely loving the new side of Parker!
There wasn't a single scene with all five of them (together in a room) in this episode.
Where are the team meetings? The team discussing the job as a group? Them just chilling after the job is over (Eliot again wasn't in the bar at the end)?
This used to be a team-oriented show (THE reason I liked it so much), hopefully it will return to the team after the couples are more settled, but I must say I'm still not seeing much evidence of that.
a) so loved the parker/hardison moment at the end
b) the hardison quote re 256 bit AES encryption ("adorable!"): I presume the encryption product evil-CEO used made some side-channel attack possible ..
c) a more general writing-related question: does the existence of tvtropes make your life as a writer easier or harder?
No questions at all. Just love the show and the direction of this season w.r.t intra-team dynamics. You learn so much more about each member of the family through how they interact one-on-one with each other compared to when they're in a group.
I, too, am missing the group meetings. Loved the scenes between Tim and Michael Keaton. It was almost as if they were trying to out-evil each other. I thought the camera placement when 'Hoffman' was in the storage area checking on the vials was great. I also really like the use of the 'poker room' as a place to take the client (as opposed to their headquarters).
My question is: seriously, what happened to 'seriously'? I made that part of my 'Leverage' drinking game, and it seems to have disappeared this season. (or am I not paying close enough attention?)
Whoa. Some dark moments in this one, and quite a body count. We got another scary glimpse of Eliot's past, too. And yet one of the funnier Eliot bits we've seen in a while, first his exasperation at having to play tour guide, and then his reaction to being "dumped."
It was tremendous fun to see the Grifters on Twitter all chime in with "Evil Speech of Evil!" at the right time in the episode.
And the pretzel line at the end. I think I fell in love with Hardison myself during that scene.
Took me a while to figure out why they were in the poker room. Then I remembered: they can't take Ashley to the bat cave, right?
I don't think I have any questions this time out. Just the usual thanks. :-D
Then I remembered: they can't take Ashley to the bat cave, right?
Yup. And part of the reason they have her around is that a) they haven't had the time to do a full research workup on the corporation, meaning she might have more information than they do, and b) because of that, they want to keep an eye on her.
While I'm here...I should probably wait till next week's question post, but I wanted to admit to being a little unsure about The Studio Job. Eliot singing?
I guess I'm going to trust in the writing team. In the mean time, I will say that hearing Christian Kane sing in the sneak peek over at the TNT site left my jaw hanging open. Really, go check it out: http://www.tnt.tv/dramavision/?cid=42574
I love what you've been doing with the team this season. All of their interpersonal dynamics seem more...dynamic, for lack of a better word.
General question, would anyone on the team ever want to get married, or, in Nate's case, remarried? Did Maggie ruin him for other wives? Sophia seems to have some maternal instincts, but are any of them truly the parental type?
Just started watching Leverage this season and recently bought S1 and S2 dvds. I'm so sorry I missed this great show from the beginning. This new sesason hasn't disappointed yet. Last night was really well done.
Hardison and Elliot need a buddy movie. That intro with the client was the best yet in my opinion. Aldis and CK didn't miss a beat.
Loved Hardison and Parker jealousy. The bottle breaking Parker was a nice call back to her strong hands. Hardison's talk with Parker in the end was well played by Aldis and Beth. Nice to see Parker's emotions grow up into her adult body.
Loved Sophie's talk with Parker. She really is the mom of the group. For two weeks we've seen her reprimand the alcoholic father (Nate) about his behavior towards the two younger kids. Can't wait to see how Nate treats Elliot next week.
Elliot was so funny with the pharma lady. She actually dumped him. You guys also do such a great job advancing characters with really small details. Elliot's assessment of the dead body was a nice tip to his past. Can't wait to see the Elliot centric epi next week.
You've given us Parker, Hardison and Elliot centric episodes back to back. Nice. Was that planned or are these episode out of order?
Last question. Are these guys working off a group account? Elliot should have been able to expense that tour with the pharmy chick.
Great episode!
Why was Hardison unable to find any information about the victims in Arcadia? Shouldn't he have found a death certificate, or some kind of record? Or did the company completely erase all trace of them?
What exactly is the Cairo Flyer con and the Swedish rail?
How does Eliot know about the 9 spots professionals go for?
And when Nate was in the office with Hoffman, was the two security guards Eliot took out the same two who spilled his coffee in the beginning?
I'm assuming the poker room is the poker room where they took down Doyle in The Bottle Job?
Loved the bits with Eliot and Dr. Pearson. The real Eliot seems to be his type, but was she his? I couldn't really figure out at the end if he really liked her. In the beginning, he didn't seem thrilled about being stuck with her, but at the end, he seemed shocked that he got dumped.
Oh, Liz, thanks for the link to the sneak peek of next week! I'm intrigued by "You know who he sounds like..." I wonder if that's a throwaway joke (He sounds an awful lot like Christian Kane, but I bet that ain't who they meant!) or if they recognized him somehow. From the look on Parker's face, I wonder if she recognized his voice too. We could be in for learning quite a lot about mysterious Mr. Spencer.
Or not. I'm trusting the writers; going on 3 seasons and they haven't let me down yet!
Re: concerns about the emphasis on the pairings.
This episode had some much-needed insight into Parker and Hardison's relationship, just like the previous episode had insight into Hardison and Nate's relationship. For the last two episodes, Parker has spent most of her time with Eliot, not Hardison. Sophie and Nate having sporadic non-romantic conversations has been part of the show for a long time. I think they've been very good about mixing things up this season. The fact that we had one or two shippy moments in the first two episodes, two episodes not featuring romance, and one episode giving actual insight into the potentially romantic relationship between two of the characters doesn't mean the writers have gone overboard with the pairings. They've always had episodes focusing on relationships--most of them platonic--and the tension-fueled relationships shouldn't be treated differently. Eliot isn't being left out at all. I mean, who did Hardison go out and have coffee with at the beginning of the episode? They're still a family. Even the Parker/Hardison dynamic isn't always, or even usually, about the romantic potential. Neither is the Nate/Sophie dynamic.
Mr. Rogers, I do have some questions.
1. Will we ever get enough background on Eliot to have a context in which to put the events of the series? It's still hard to see, sometimes, why he's with the group (beyond "he likes these guys") or what purpose they serve in the story of his life. Even with Sophie, who we have less background on, we understand what this family means to her. With Parker, we know this is her first "real" family, and how much that means to her. I know you get a lot of requests for Eliot info, and I'm all for keeping his past mysterious, but I'd like to see sometime if, say, his capacity for compassion is a recent development or something he's always had. It's hard for me to tell how to take his developments if we don't know what he was like before.
2. Is Hardison really willing to wait for Parker to get her heart sorted out? Don't get me wrong--I think it's the sweetest thing ever and I actually squealed when he said he'd be there for her when she wanted him, but I found myself sort of wishing he would hook up with the client, just because I wanted him to be happy. Not that romance is the key to happiness or anything.
3. On the flip side, does Parker really expect to hold him to his promise? It seems a bit unfair of her to expect something like that of him, even if he did offer.
4. Will we ever see some remorse from the crew regarding past immoral actions? They've all slowly been doing good things less because it feels good and more because it's the right thing, but will any of them see things they've done before as wrong?
5. And because I have to ask: If Eliot is Batman, does that mean he can breathe in space?
@Lisa "How does Eliot know about the 9 spots professionals go for?"
I think the strong implication, of this and other things we've seen/heard through the show, is that Eliot is/was such a professional, or has worked closely with them. (I don't think "hitter" really means "punches people a lot", although that interpretation does make the show more kid-friendly!)
On the other hand, I could be wrong. I mean, I know all those spots, too.
@Liz You are not the only one. I am very nervous, but Eliot often has weird little things he knows how to do (like cooking) that surprise the group. I have a lot of faith in the writers and I think that if anyone can pull it off, they can. I don't think they'd cave in to fan requests if they didn't have a way to do it well.
Yes, Kane has a lovely voice. I'm not much of a country listener (there are a select few songs I like), but he manages to sneak in the traditional "twang" without sounding, well, nasal. Which is a tough balance to pull off, since the resonance that creates that twang is in, essentially, the sinuses. But even opera singers use that resonance--it's the only way they can fill a huge concert hall without a microphone--so yeah. It's a balance you don't hear a lot of country singers go for. It's different. I like it.
First a comment. I find it interesting that everyone who’s talked about the coffee has talked about how the goons spilt Elliot’s coffee. Technically that’s not what happened. Ashley ran into Hardison who ran into Elliot, causing the spill. The goons did not actually make any actual contact. Granted, it was their fault… I kind of interpreted Hardison saying, “you spilled his coffee” as the equivalent of saying “Megabyte, sic!”
I also loved that Hardison spotted that the FBI badges were phony at glance and made an instant decision of who the bad guys were. Of course he’d be the one to notice as I believe that he makes all their fake IDs, uniforms, and such. I get the impression that Hardison works on this stuff in his off hours far more than any of the other crew members. I’m sure that all of the crew work to maintain their edge at their specialties, but that type of work would let them pick up working solo if the team split up. Most of Hardison’s logistical support would be wasted if the team broke up since it’s a bunch of fake IDs and uniforms for other people. And as far as I can tell, Nate’s job is to study everything so he can just look at a set of plane blueprints and tell the rest of the team how they fit into the industry as a whole and why that makes them valuable.
Now for my question. Am correct in guessing that Parker’s rather unique mindset means that she didn’t get the metaphor of Hardison telling her that the “pretzels” are there waiting for her whenever she wants them? That’s the kind of comment that my Parker-meter says she’d tend to interpret literally
I can't imagine the Lyrica people are at all happy, but did anyone else get the commercial for Avandia users who suffered heart attacks and/or sudden death? It was a commercial from a law firm. That seemed a bit too coincidental.
This season is by far the best yet, but there are two things that bug me a little - Parker's new moments of emotional "normalcy" and Nate's taking chances with and manipulating the team.
Hardison has been pining for Parker since the pilot, and for two seasons, she has been totally oblivious. Now, all of a sudden, she gets it - and I haven't seen anything to justify why within the span of 5 episodes, she's slow dancing with him and getting jealous. It feels a little rushed and I would have preferred to see Parker growing into this over the course of the whole 3rd season hoenstly.
Why would Nate manipulate Hardison and take chances with Parker's safety? He's never done that kind of thing before - well, maybe with Tara from S2, but she wasn't really "team" to him and he was in the process of coming unhinged. Are we supposed to believe that he didn't learn anything from the last half of last season? Are we supposed to believe that its like Hardison said and "prison has changed him" (cuz from what we saw, he was not having exactly an "Oz" experience in there)? Is he prepping them for the biggest job EVAH that's coming up with Moreau?
Awesome as always. I do have a question: one thing that has repeatedly hit a slightly sour note with me is how matter-of-factly the evil suits talk about the most unseemly details of their schemes. "Hi, I'm going to start a worldwide famine to make a buck." "People are going to start dropping dead in a few years but I'll be working someplace else." There's just no sugar-coating it at all. No meaningful looks and "do whatever it takes"-type statements. It's just loud, proud evil.
I can't decide if that's a bit of moustache-twirling on the part of your villains or if I'm just too darned Neutral Good to recognize evil verisimilitude when I see it. ("I knew evil was bad, but that's just wrong!") I suspect I know the answer, but are you sitting on top of a pile of research that would jeopardize the fragile little remnant of my faith in humanity?
Liz said...
While I'm here...I should probably wait till next week's question post, but I wanted to admit to being a little unsure about The Studio Job. Eliot singing?
When I heard about that episode, I got such a pit in my stomach. I was like, "Oh no, they're gonna jump the shark."
Now, I know Christian Kane can sing, so I'm not worried about that, but having a lead character do something on the show that they're so well known for in real life has such a huge potential cheese factor.
But then . . . Rogers and co have thus far avoided the typical traps that a lot of action-y shows fall into. So I'm cautiously optimistic that they will play it funny like with the baseball in Three Strikes Job and keep it light. Fingers crossed.
I don't see Hardison and Parker coming totally out of the blue. It's definitely been a slow boil but I think the show has given us clues that Parker is sweet on Hardison. You just can't view it like a traditional romance. You have to see it from a young puppy love manner that kids have. Look at Parker's rescue of Hardison in the Iceman job and her kissing the van in the Maltese Job. She apprecites Hardison for things when others don't.
I think we see her being more overt in this episode because it's the first time we have seen a woman, not named Parker, getting all of Hardison's attention.
On Nate. He's always been a prick. Nate has always used the crew like chess pieces, he just cares about them. He is pushing them a lot more but I think he believes it's within their ability. I'm interested to see how this plays out.
BTW, saw the sneak peek. CK is really good at what he does. Really didn't know he was that good.
By far my fav episode so far this season. I have a few points.
1. Nate has always been an asshole, but it seems that this season he is an asshole with no redeeming qualities. Are you intentionally trying to make the viewers not like him? If so, I hope its just a big set-up for some huge heroic feat that will make everyone love him again.
2. I absolutely loved the irony of the first commercial break being "brought to you by Lyrica". I'm guessing the advertisers did not get an advanced showing.
3. I really loved the character beat of Eliot being dumped for not being dangerous enough. Well done.
4. As others have pointed out, I miss the team meetings. There's just something special about them all being together in planning a con. I understand the first episodes have been rather "real time" and these particular jobs had to be rushed, but I really hope you haven't done away with the planning meetings.
As always, thanks for your time in answering questions. You guys are doing a great job.
@tori-angeli
I know what you mean about country music. I don't do 'twang' either. but CK has a nice blend with his voice.... and he can ROCK too.
Listen to his song BLAZE - there is no country there at all - pure rock
Don't mean to flood you, but just one more question:
Did Hardison and Eliot see the client while they were in the coffee shop and plan the "coincidental" meeting when they noticed she was being chased? Hardison rocked my universe in this episode, so's you know. Never a non-awesome moment.
@d "Megabyte, sic!"
...D, can I marry you?
What a great episode! Two quick questions ... First, did Hardison figure out at some point why Parker was treating the victim so oddly throughout the job? Second, why was Eliot wearing gloves when he went to the old guy's house? He sometimes wears the fingerless gloves, but we don't often see him in full-on black leather gloves.
I'm curious, did Nate realize why Parker was acting the way she was?
It was funny how he was looking at Parker when she came to sit near him. But I wondered if he put it together. Nate knows their abilities but he seems so oblivious of their feelings. Sophie on the other hand got there in no time.
@jarodrussell
I can see the slogan now.
Time Machine: For those special moments where you need to off a writer with their laptop without worry about losing the script they're working on...
I loved the season opener, liked the reunion job, thought the inside job was the best yet, loved hardison in the scheherazade job.......but...maybe because the first four were sooo good, but I didn't like the double blind.
Somewhere, sometime, someone said that Mr. Hutton came on-board because the script said "remember, we're having fun here". Yes, he'll play the drunk, heavy emotion.
But I (as *one* viewer) didn't have fun in this one. Even moments like parker breaking the bottle didn't come across in the usual way, like when she hung tara off the building...I was actually expecting parker's "mis"response to her jealously to be something other than anger, but now I'm just rambling.
Now, those that loved this episode, GREAT!! Good, don't hate, just this one guy's opinion, but as a fan from the beginning, this one just seemed off. Everyone is entitled to having a bad day, or a bad episode. All I'm trying to do is tell Leverage, that one fan didn't enjoy this one, maybe others feel this way too. It won't affect show this season, but hopefully, can make our hoped for season 4 better.
Thank you,
Nate has always been an asshole, but it seems that this season he is an asshole with no redeeming qualities. Are you intentionally trying to make the viewers not like him? If so, I hope its just a big set-up for some huge heroic feat that will make everyone love him again.
On purpose, I bet. The season long arc for Nate, I think, is one of finding his limits. His previous job helped defined a lot of those limits for him. His previous life in the Catholic church defined those limits for him. I bet even Maggie's love for him defined limits.
Now that he no longer considers himself a straight up, white hat good guy, he's embarked on a course where he's defining those limits for himself.
That is not a bad thing....
This was another great episode. It had perhaps the slimiest badguy in it, and yet he seemed the least competent badguy they've yet faced.
I mean he had consumer level encryption on his sensitive files, uses his birthday as his safe combo, and kept his incriminating vials in a place Parker could have sleepwalked into.
And poor Parker: feeling things she can't give a proper name to. She sure picked the right guy to get feelings for, though. Hardison may be a thief, but he's a really standup man.
Sometimes, I just like to freeze the screen and look at the little details the computer guys put in. Like the closeup of Eliot's Phone. It shows the names of the team with their GPS positions, and a waveform coming from their earpieces. It also identifies the phone as running on "Hardiphone 3.0" which I'm guessing is a custom Phone OS that Hardison put together.
@Oona
I love the idea that the reason Nate's started pushing the team is to get them ready to do whatever it takes down Moreau. We all know he cares about his team like a family (and we all know his issues about that, too), so some of it has to be him trying to teach himself to be able to distance himself from them, to make the calls he knows he's going to have to make. For crying out loud, he risked his life and went to prison to protect them! Whether this actually is the best way to prepare them all (and preaparedness is his strength), Nate believes it is. Hopefully that will be challenged in the course of the season, and they will overcome with the power of friendship, family, love, hugz, slowdancing, whatever! Yay!
@gwangung
Not that Nate is into explaining himself or anything, but sometimes I wonder if he isn't just a little bit resentful that the team didn't appreciate his grand sacrifice. While he's embraced the identity of being a thief, his mindset still isn't where theirs is. He was being noble, in his mind, and ass-y in theirs. So a little bit of it could be a backlash out of his belief that they didn't value his concern as much as they should have (while completely missing the point that it was his conning of them that they had the problem with). Nate isn't exactly above pettiness, or the most self-aware guy around, is he?
Oh, and also, the Parker-bottle thing was an almost painful break of suspension of disbelief. You do that, you end up with a hand full of glass, and months of recovery time, not to mention permanently reduced dexterity. I know this is LeverageVerse and everything, yada yada, but erg, man.
And everyone hoping for the best with Eliot's "nine places a professional uses..." thing – really? Because organizations (including governmental – Pakistan, anyone?) with the pull to keep him off law enforcement's radar, at every level, hire people to go around punching people really hard? I know at some point he decided he didn't like guns, and presumably took up retrieval because it has a lower body count than, you know, out-and-out killing people, but the clues have been there from the beginning. Just 'cause he's cute and has Hair doesn't make him a good guy. Just sayin'.
You may have answered this before, but I couldn't find it on the last answer post.
Rosalyn's comment got me thinking - I was out of town when 303 and 304 aired and just got caught up on "The Inside Job." I ended up watching it after last night's episode, and it seemed like that order worked better.
Then I rechecked the photo where you pointed out your directorial credit, and noticed that the episode was numbered as 305.
Is TNT airing the episodes out of order again? And if so, when can you tell us the actual production order? When I watched Season 1 in production order, it made so much more sense. I know why the network does this, but it's kind of annoying for regular viewers.
Reposted cos of typos.
I thought the first four were amazing but this one, it wasn't on the same level.
What I don't understand is why you make Nate such a jackass all the time and Nate/Sophie fight as a result. I've had enough of angst between them in the first two seasons, I really don't need anymore. I hope this doesn't further escalate this season. Give the characters a break, they deserve to be happy after all they've been through.
@Mandi
"Is TNT airing the episodes out of order again?"
They are. I was re-watching the episodes On Demand the other day, and they were listed as: 301, 302, 303, and 305. I think The Scheherazade Job was 303 and The Inside Job was 305.
"The Corporation" is on netflix. A must see.
@jarodrussell and @Mandi
The episodes aren't aired out of order this season. See Rogers answer from 302 Post game:
Shoot order is slightly different from air order this year, but that was based primarily on actor avails -- we moved an ep forward to get Clancy Brown, for example, and another to fit Elizabetta's schedule. The exception is mine, which the network moved up because they thought it was a good second Sunday opener.
Maybe I'm crazy, but Nate hasn't seemed worse to me than normal. He also didn't seem as drunk this last episode as he's been in the past. If anything, this is more the way he acts when he's sober.
Pushing Parker to risk herself was a sign of pretty astounding trust in her. He showed in 303 that he is willing to do what it takes to bail her out, and he's a master at making things up as he goes along. If Parker had somehow failed, he would have gotten her out. He's no more or less of a jerk than normal, but he's showing his capacity for risking his crew the more he comes to trust them and understand what they're capable of. It's a blessing and a curse. But mostly a curse.
I think I didn't flinch when he hypnotized Hardison because, in real life, hypnosis is impossible if the subject doesn't want it. It's not like mind rape. I suppose it's different in Leverageverse. Nate's subsequent assessment that Hardison doesn't have the heart to jerk his teammates around sounded like a compliment to me. Considering how much Nate dislikes himself, it wouldn't surprise me if he halfway meant it to be a compliment.
I should clarify (and not try to post comments while distracted) that I do think Nate is worse now than he was at the beginning of the series. It's just that his actions haven't surprised me because he's been on the slippery slope since we met him. Part of the pattern of the series is that Nate, once the moral center of the group, now has to rely on the others to nudge him when his morals slip.
Loved seeing the Citgo sign at the beginning.
I'm with Nina May and gwangung. Nate's not a jerk; he's the boss. And the rest of the team wanted him to be the boss. They went along with him when the offices were in LA, and they convinced him to get back in the Leverage biz in Boston. They want him to be the boss because while they each know what they can do as individuals, he knows what they all can do and they know that (The Nigerian Job). For example, Nate pushes Hardison to get him to perform better(SA The Mile High Job, The Scherazade Job). Another example - Sophie calls Nate out when he tells Parker to stay and get the info from Hoffman's office, but Nate is confident that she can do it and get out in time.
I suspect 90% of us consider our boss a jerk or an asshole at least some of the time, and we crab about things our boss expects us or our co-workers to do, but we can always quit. Same with Nate and the team. They aren't stupid. If they really thought that Nate couldn't pull it off, whatever the "if" is, they'd take off.
Second, why was Eliot wearing gloves when he went to the old guy's house? He sometimes wears the fingerless gloves, but we don't often see him in full-on black leather gloves.
My guess... Meta reason, Kane was freezing in the cold wet Portland weather! Story reason, Eliot was breaking into a guy's house, and probably had a notion what he might find, and he didn't want to leave fingerprints.
tori-angeli and scooter - I totally agree with both of you guys in your assessment of Nate, but it seems like the writers are trying to suggest that Nate is somewhat off the rails here.
Everyone was pissed at the end of 3.04 at him for manipulating Hardison (he took a much more encouraging/nurturing tact in Mile High). And while it looked to me like Parker made it with time to spare in 3.05, Hardison and Sophie acted like he crossed a major line.
As viewers, I think we're supposed to take our cues from those guys and think that Nate is stepping outside some boundary there, which begs the question of why and why now?
I agree a good leader has to make hard decisions and is not always (usually not?) well liked by the people who work for him, and I like that the writers have not shied away from allowing Nate to be a jerk sometimes. Don Draper - one of the best television characters ever written - can be downright reprensible at times.
But there seems to be this thread this season of - Nate is wrong! He's more jerk than usual, I think. Personally, I'd like it to play more like - Nate is wrong? because I think the question of what makes an effective leader is interesting and complex. But the writers don't seem to be going in that direction - at least so far.
I hope they do show the team appreciating Nate's leadership, because if they continue to be pissed at Nate all the time without showing some other side of their relationship with him, then that begs the question of why do they continue to let him run the show?
@Quinnell, thank you very much for the 4-1-1 there.
My question is: will we ever get to see Eliot wearing a tux? (Perhaps top hat and tails?) Because I think that could be integral to the plot. Any plot.
(I mean, if we aren't going to get a lifeguard episode with everyone in bathing suits...)
We've seen Eliot in a tux, in the Stork Job and I believe in one other epi, though I can't remember off the top of my head.
Not that Nate is into explaining himself or anything, but sometimes I wonder if he isn't just a little bit resentful that the team didn't appreciate his grand sacrifice. While he's embraced the identity of being a thief, his mindset still isn't where theirs is. He was being noble, in his mind, and ass-y in theirs. So a little bit of it could be a backlash out of his belief that they didn't value his concern as much as they should have (while completely missing the point that it was his conning of them that they had the problem with). Nate isn't exactly above pettiness, or the most self-aware guy around, is he?
Quite possibly, but he'd never admit this publically or even consciously; this is subtext....
tori-angeli and scooter - I totally agree with both of you guys in your assessment of Nate, but it seems like the writers are trying to suggest that Nate is somewhat off the rails here.
Hm...I'm taking it more as Nate testing his limits, and the team not liking it (or know how to take it). When he's in his old role, they have confidence in him---when he moves out of it, it bothers them but doesn't shake their confidence in his plan.
Eliot in a tux (only pic I could find with a quick Google search): http://l-userpic.livejournal.com/84084676/6545315
I think it's very possible that Nate is not the one overdoing things. They've all become closer and closer as a family, and risking each other goes against the emotional attachment they've formed. Nate may be actively trying to make his calls as objective as possible, while Sophie and Hardison are letting their emotions affect things. I am the last person to argue that pathos shouldn't factor into a decision, since emotions can be a very good cue as to whether or not something is reprehensible, but if Sophie had made the call instead of Nate, their mission would have failed when it could have succeeded and they'd have to come around for another pass.
If Nate keeps doing things that make the group angry, he'll have to justify himself or the group will rebel. Sophie could, theoretically, do his job. So could Eliot, if they didn't need him to stay where he is. I doubt any rebellion would go so far as to split Nate from the rest of the group, at least not permanently. Whatever they do with this and whatever risks the writers take, it will be awesome.
@Stacy, it was The First David Job.
Is the actress who played Ashley another of your brilliant Portland finds? She was great!
I have to admit, I am one of those that wasn't on the funtrain this week. This episode just didn't seem to gel the same way the first four did. I wonder if it has to do with a different type of opener or maybe it was the missing team meeting (?). Something just didn't get me engaged from the get go. I was also a little confused as to why they were keeping Ashley with them as the con went along. Not confused so much as annoyed. If it was for her safety that could possibly explain it, but just last week the victim had goons trailing her and they let her go home with a "Call me at the first sign of trouble."
I knew the reason she was being kept around was strictly for the Parker jealousy angle so it probable bothered me more because it was so blatant. I was so looking forward to some jealous Parker! We got some interesting Parker introspection in those jealous moments, but I was just hoping for more.
I absolutely loved Parker forcing herself to set off the motion detector. It went against everything in her nature. Great job! I certainly didn't expect her to have already swapped the cases when she announced she set off the motion detectors. That was a nice twist. "Too many voices!" Still has me laughing!
The "break-up scene" with Eliot and the Pharma-chick seemed completely forced to me. I took it as "what's a funny way we can get him away from the Pharma-chick? Oh, I know, let's have her break up with him!" This is definitely a smart, well-written show so I think I just expected a little more than that. I definitely didn't want to see any type of relationship develop there, but the break-up just seemed a little random.
As far as the ending? OMG! I kept waiting to see if she would eat a pretzel. Beautifully played out! Thank you for that wonderful scene!
I am a huge fan of the show so I'm hoping this post doesn't draw any flames. I just had to admit it didn't seem up to snuff. I'm definitely looking forward to next week's ep and seeing where we go from there. Thank you again for all that you and your team do as well as for taking the time to read through all this craziness!
Now to add my two cents to the Nate discussion which also plays into this episode: I was extremely surprised that no one even hinted they were still pissed at Nate for hypnotizing Hardison. For as mad as they seemed when they stormed out of the bar I would have at least thought there would be some follow-up. Maybe its coming later or maybe they all have a tendency of forgiving him. If not forgive him then at least to let him off the hook and not call him on his crap. Yes, Sophie calls him on it but we can all see how far that is getting into his thick skull.
I'm still trying to understand Nate's motivation for making the choices he is making as that will help me understand how much of a dick he really is. He hasn't been the world's most open person either especially when it comes to explaining his own logic and reasoning. It seems he comes across as defensive which makes him make even poorer choices, yet those are the ones that always work out.
When can we get an ep where his bad choices don't work out and the team has to fix one of his plans? And no, Maltese Falcon job doesn't count because his plan ended up working as he planned on going to jail to get his team off. Even if they didn't agree with it.
First, this has to be one of the BEST episode openers ever. Loved Hardison's comments to the goons, "You made two mistakes..." The look on Eliot's face, with his coffee splattered shirt was awesome.
I bow to your level of win and awesomeness, sir.
Especially with Jealous Parker. So much funnier to watch than Jealous Hardison in The Stork Job when the mark was flirting with Parker. Breaking the bottle at the end, though ... Beth or script?
This episode brought out a lot for me, as all the episodes this season seem to be doing. I know it's quite purposeful, and I applaud you for it.
Was that the first time Eliot's ever been dumped? ... Nevermind, answered by own question by remembering he got dumped by Aimee for "working" too long and not coming home. Brings a new meaning to "company man" when he was away for eight weeks.
Hardison and Elliot need a buddy movie.
I think we might get one. :D From this very blog:
"...Actually, no the fan service is in 306. And 307. Let's just say you might want to go rent The Defiant Ones."
I was not squealing like a schoolgirl at the end of this episode. Nope. In the same way that Parker wasn't feeling jealous.
@Christina Lollobrigida:
I can't say necessarily what he does with his extra time, but I suspect he takes advantage of some variant on polyphasic sleep: http://www.polyphasicsleep.co.uk/
John, this is the best episode yet. Last few seconds I didn't know how Parker was going to react, but I was yelling "KISS! KISS" at the screen. Keep up the awesome work!
My God, the characters were particularly fabulous this week.
@calla "I love those little moments that tell use they hang out and bond between cons."
@SueN all your points
@Dave: Love the slogan!
@tgvcomic: re phone - OMG, I had no idea there was that kind of detail there. Love it. Especially the Hardiphone OS, which I'm sure you're right about Hardison creating it.
I so much enjoy the comments about stuff you can see when you freeze frame, because I miss all of that. Since Leverage is the only TV show I watch, I don't have any of the tech to catch stuff like that. I imagine the TNT videos can be paused, I'll have to start watching my second viewings there.
Okay, re the coupling on the show: I think it's peripheral enough to be mega interesting without getting in the way of the main story line. As far as Eliot being left out, c'mon now. The dude gets as many women as he wants whenever he wants. And if he'd have really wanted the chick who dumped him in this ep, he'd just go get her when the con was over. Still, loved seeing his frustration at getting dumped when he was exactly what that woman wanted.
Oh, and Hardison saying the pretzels will always be there whenever Parker wants them? Took my breath away. In that moment, he was smoking hot like we've never seen him before. How is it that Aldis is only 24 years old and could do that? Mindblowing. Seriously.
Re Eliot's leather gloves: It's been commented before that the team rarely seems concerned about fingerprints, I've certainly wondered before why they weren't wearing gloves when tossing a place. So seeing Eliot with thick gloves on did strike me as unusual. The weather in previous scenes just didn't look that cold.
@Kristin: "I absolutely loved Parker forcing herself to set off the motion detector. It went against everything in her nature... "Too many voices!" Still has me laughing!" Yes and Yes. Two of my favorite parts of that episode.
Okay, a couple of questions.
I'm confused about the poker room. Do they use it when they need to be private with a client? Because they still go upstairs when it's just the team, right? What happens if there's a poker game going on? And will they ever get a real office again? I really liked the office from Season 1, can they get a new and improved version soon?
Boy, I was pissed at Nate when he kept Parker too long in a tight spot. Turned out he was right, and she handled it. Were we supposed to forgive him because he was right? Was that supposed to show that the Brains knows the abilities and limitations of his team better than they, or the others, know? Either way, I was still pissed at him.
Still, loved the show, as usual. And thank you so much for taking the time to do this. We love you, too.
If Blogger wouldn't post a comment after sending an error message stating that it couldn't be posted, it wouldn't be necessary for some of us to delete 3 out of 4 comments. Just sayin, Blogger.
Ugh. I hate it when Leverage episodes continue to show up in the real world. See today's NYT article "Diabetes Drug Maker Hid Test Data on Risks."
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/13/health/policy/13avandia.html?hp
You know anon, before reading blurb about the idea for this episode, I thought the pharma guy was way too evil. But it is sad that this stuff is all too real and that people can be so hearless and selfish.
Back to the show. Did anyone else have a wow moment when Nate left the poker room, while Parker was in the middle of her recon, to get a drink?
Like many others, I feel that Nate is quickly spending up all of his goodwill gained from The Maltese Falcon Job.
First, I love Leverage and I'm trying to convert as many people as I can.
I think I just realized what I'm not liking about S3 and it is that the living room is gone. I remember John saying he liked the kitchen part of the set but he wasn't sold on the living room. I miss it. They keep referring to the apartment as their offices but it isn't cool like the S1 office and they all look squeezed together around that desk/table/whatever. The living room lent itself more to the family vibe. It was the place to sit and eat cereal, have coffee and ice boo-boos. I know the finale is being typed so I'm fairly sure the couches/chairs aren't coming back but I just had to put in my two-cents.
I also loved John's response to the guy defending drug companies - "you're adorable" - I laughed out loud!
If you're currently writing episode 316, which I assume is the finale, where are you all at with the shooting schedule?
@msd
You know, you're right about the living room! Come to think of it, I really miss seeing them sit on the couches like it's family movie night. It really lent credence to the fact that they're all so comfortable around each other.
I am a little confused by a few thing that happened with the trick case.
Did Hoffman or one of his security guys check the case before he had Nate brought in?
Because it seems like that is something somebody would've have checked. And even if when they looked and they saw the vials because it was a trick case, then I am sure they would have told Hoffman that the vials where there.
So when he looked and saw the empty case, being that he is obviously a very smart (very evil) man, he would have at least figured out that something was up.
as a fan of the show I think the writing is still as excellen as the first two seasons, keep it up guys :) and for as many fans that complain about the 'Couple-ing' there are just as many that are cheering. in my opinion, you can't help who you fall for :)
We haven't had a full group meeting in the living room all season have we?
I haven't thought about it as much in the last few episodes because we've jumped right into the action but I do miss the "family" meetings.
If I had any complaint about this show and it's not really a complaint but a preference; but, I prefer the LA office of S1 over the Boston office. LA just feels like a city where top con men would operate out of. It just has a glamour about it.
It's no big deal though, but I wouldn't mind returning to LA for an episode.
Is the Cairo Flyer a real con? Because I want to know what dress Sophie's not wearing again.
Poor Parker, being set up as not only a cheerleader but also a beauty contestant! Is the team trying to build her grifting skills? I really enjoyed "Hi, I'm Lori. I've got great drugs, do you want some?" That part was great.
Question 1 - Sophie and Hardison didn't like Parker being pushed to the time limit, but did Parker mind, really, or did she accept it as a nod to her abilities?
Q2: Is the replacement of the living room meant to show that Nate broke the family dynamic?
Having walked the Freedom Trail (long ago), I can't imagine doing so twice in one day. Phew. But I'm surprised Eliot didn't enjoy the Duck Tour. They used decommissioned amphibious armored vehicles. You ride around in a weapon. Yay!
And I think I have to be the voice of dissent on the teaser. Eliot generally has more "control of the violence", so going after the guys who spilled his coffee seems like overkill. Then again, they were chasing a clearly frightened woman (Chivalry Man to the rescue!) and had denied him caffeine on top of it, which would make me grumpy too. Hmm.
I loved how annoyed Parker was with having to trip the motion sensor as part of the plan. So adorable.
And Nate pushing her beyond what Sophie and Hardison were comfortable with felt to me like he was sort of competing with the long-gone Archie for Parker's loyalty / trust. Which doesn't necessarily make it any better, but it might be an explanation.
@Odie -- "what happened to 'seriously'?"
They seem to be changing it up by using "Really?" instead some of the time. Which makes me happy, because that's my default expression of indignation. :)
@Sammie323 -- "Hardison has been pining for Parker since the pilot, and for two seasons, she has been totally oblivious."
Well, she's been playing oblivious a lot. Beth has a way of making Parker ignore things she can't deal with by denying that she understands them, while clearly being freaked out on the inside. That's how it's seemed to me, anyway.
@lily -- "why was Eliot wearing gloves when he went to the old guy's house?"
Those are his +2 Gloves of Not Leaving Fingerprints.
@briddie -- "Hi, I'm Lori. I've got great drugs, do you want some?"
That was fantastic! It kind of reminded me of a scene from Mad Men last season when Peggy busted out with "I'm Peggy Olson, and I want to smoke some marijuana."
Next week on Leverage... ZOMG, John Schneider and Alona Tal in the same episode with Kane singing?! Is it Christmas already? XD
"You know who he sounds like?"
Uh... Lindsay MacDonald from L.A.? ;)
Gah! Darn Blogger and it's lying comment module!
(Sorry about all the deleted duplicate posts.)
Well, she's been playing oblivious a lot. Beth has a way of making Parker ignore things she can't deal with by denying that she understands them, while clearly being freaked out on the inside. That's how it's seemed to me, anyway
Bingo!!!!!
Not to mention Parker's "people are like locks" speech when Hardison is trying to bring up his feelings for her in "The Beantown Bailout Job." She's been aware for a long time. She just needed him to give her time and...be...fiddly.
Great episode this week.
I loved the opening scene with Hardison and Eliot. One of the best so far. Missed the fight scene. Frustrated Eliot was just fabulous.
Just one Q and think someone already asked this, but how does all the bad guys in this season tie up with Moreau???
I'm back (sorry *g*) with something I've noticed about Sophie.
In both this ep and "The Inside Job," she seemed much more personally horrified by the sheer mendacity of the marks. At both Dr. Hannity (still love that, btw) and Hoffman's evil speeches of evil, she seemed much more appalled than in previous seasons. Before, she's known what the marks were doing was bad, but now it's like she actually understands how truly depraved it is.
So, is that something y'all planned, as a sign of Sophie's growth/evolution, or is just Gina being spectacular? I mentioned in the "Scheherazade Job" post that it seems Eliot is growing a conscience, but now it looks like our lovely Queen of the Grifters is, as well.
Unless, you know, I'm just completely wrong. lol!
That's my big question as well angalee. The badies this season seem to be more evil than in the past. We had a ceo who was willing to kill thousands with his medicine, a would be African dictator, a woman who wanted to cause a famine and a man who incarcerated innocent people. Now Dooberman was hard to take seriously but he was helping to silence free speech.
When are we actually going to see the story tie into Moreau?
When are we actually going to see the story tie into Moreau?
Or are we going to see a "reveal" in a show or two showing how some of them DO tie into Moreau?
watching again when I should be working (the perks of working from home!)
When Ashley gets the mysterious blocked number phone call, was that supposed to be the goons calling? Why did Dr Roberts leave? just because he was nervous? The goons wouldn't have been able to get him away AND him leave the list. and then when she calls his number and the goons have his phone... did they really nab him THAT quickly?
When Parker pulls up a chair... why don't Nate & Hardison introduce her? Have they already met?
When Nate & Sophie were at HQ and Nate was agitated with Hardison for 'changing the settings' Nate had a 'Dammit Hardison' Not the same as when Eliot growls it.
Who else wants to see 'The Cairo Flyer' dress now?
Regarding the hidden safe... Seriously? She spotted it when the binders where just that tiny bit out of alignment? I must have hidden safes everywhere :P
When Sophie is calling Nate out on the way he left Parker in too long and she tells him she will walk... he smirks. Does he not believe her?
When Eliot is banging his head (loved that) and tells hardison that the vials will be hard to find, he says something else at the same time Hardison does... but I couldn't make it out.
Didn't realize at first that when Eliot takes out the goons outside the office that he asked them if he could get them some coffee!
And we had TWO evil speeches of evil!
Wow - this was as bad as live tweeting!
Sorry guys.
Rogers - thanks (as always)
"You know who he sounds like?"
I dunno about that, but he does have a vague resemblance to that ballplayer, Roy Chappell.
:-D
Good episode as usual. Congratulations. That final shot has stuck in my head, even though I can't figure out if it's because I liked or disliked it. Either way, very effective.
I know you folks have your system down, but I do have to say that this was the one ep where I didn't need any of the flashback/reveals. Somehow I knew she'd made the switch, then set of the sensors, etc. Have you guys ever played around with doing a script without the reveals?
En re Parker in the vault: As I was watching the episode with my sister I commented to her that Parker had way more than enough time (after setting off the motion detector) to switch the cases. Because she's that good.
Oh, and all of those nervous about Kane singing, just youtube some of his songs. You'll understand. The man has SKILLS. (... No, that's not my way of coming out as a Kaniac ...)
@Daisy
I'm not nervous about Kane singing. I'm nervous about Eliot singing. I know the actor is very good, but it seems very out of the blue for the character. Not to mention we just recently had a "hidden musical talent" episode.
@Daisy & tori-angeli
Wait, maybe that's it! The team's hitherto unknown/abandoned musical skills will ultimately be the key to bringing down Moreau! I bet Parker would be an incredible pianist.
Also, was it just me, or did Hardison know exactly what he was doing with the making Parker jealous thing? There were one or two looks – and especially that one at the end when Parker says Ashley seemed nice – that said to me that he was doing it on purpose. Watch that early scene in the bar again, when he jumps up to get Ashley another drink; I think it was a pretext to go over and see what effect it was having on Parker, and then he played it out from there. Not in a mean way, but in a I'm-gonna-give-this-thing-a-nudge way.
Looks like everyone's conning everyone this season....
Question about the scene in Dr. Rogers's apartment: what was the reason for Eliot's exasperated "Really?!" when Hardison told him to plug the flash drive into the phone?
Wait, maybe that's it! The team's hitherto unknown/abandoned musical skills will ultimately be the key to bringing down Moreau!
...I think I love you, Nina. Yes, they must be starting a five man band to take down Moreau! Sophie can be on drums! Anything to keep her away from backing vocals!
tori-angeli said...
@Daisy
I'm not nervous about Kane singing. I'm nervous about Eliot singing. I know the actor is very good, but it seems very out of the blue for the character. Not to mention we just recently had a "hidden musical talent" episode.
EXACTLY. And I was not reassured by the preview in which Parker seems to have yet another moment of awe at the musical skills of a fellow team member. A little "Huh, he doesn't suck" or other Parker-quirky reaction would have been perfect. An almost carbon copy of what we've already seen for Hardison . . . not so much.
Nina-May - I think you're onto something. I think they're prepping for the moment when they jazz-hands Moreau to death. I think we've all seen the proof.
http://www.twitvid.com/EJB0Z
@tori-angeli
Well, I do my best :)
I was thinking more a sultry 40s-style jazz singer; Hardison could do some fancy audio jiggery-pokery to make her sound fabulous. Nate on bass, maybe? I got nuthin'.
@Ally
BWAH! That vid is awesome. Yes. Just like that. :D
Sorry this is so long, but I wanted to possibly cut down John’s workload -
@lisa
“Why was Hardison unable to find any information about the victims in Arcadia? Shouldn't he have found a death certificate, or some kind of record? Or did the company completely erase all trace of them?
I'm assuming the poker room is the poker room where they took down Doyle in The Bottle Job?”
Nate mentioned Hoffman’s company had destroyed all evidence, but that he couldn’t erase the info in the Arcadia library. SAME poker room.
@Rob
“……one thing that has repeatedly hit a slightly sour note with me is how matter-of-factly the evil suits talk about the most unseemly details of their schemes…I can't decide if that's a bit of moustache-twirling on the part of your villains or if I'm just too darned Neutral Good to recognize evil verisimilitude when I see it. … but are you sitting on top of a pile of research that would jeopardize the fragile little remnant of my faith in humanity?”
Here are 2 articles from just the past 3 days http://tinyurl.com/2do4jux & http://bit.ly/bdQIYH
@ Quinnell
“The episodes aren't aired out of order this season. See Rogers answer from 302 Post game: ‘….. The exception is mine, which the network moved up because they thought it was a good second Sunday opener.’
Wouldn’t that mean Inside Job WAS out of order? John? I took Mandi to mean airing episodes in a different order than they were written is what sometimes makes you do a double take – Example: in season one, Two Horse Job (aired as 01.03) was written to air *after* The Wedding Job (aired as 01.07). By airing the Two Horse episode first, you wonder why Hardison asks Eliot in the Wedding Job if he was ever married or engaged.
@Jessica
“Did Hoffman or one of his security guys check the case before he had Nate brought in?”
Hoffman checked it because Nate blackmailed him in the bar. The button camera Sophie put on Hoffman’s jacket is what recorded the case number for Parker. Because Hoffman knew Nate lied about stealing the vials, he told Nate their terms had changed.
“So when he looked and saw the empty case, being that he is obviously a very smart (very evil) man, he would have at least figured out that something was up.”
Because Nate told him the drug was now in the champaign, Hoffman checked the case (which then was 'empty'). Hoffman then thought the drug *was* in the drinks, that’s why he knocked the glasses out of everyone’s hands & announced they all had to go to the emergency room. (cont)
Dawn/StL-MO
Sorry this is so long, but I wanted to possibly cut down John’s workload -
@lisa
“Why was Hardison unable to find any information about the victims in Arcadia? Shouldn't he have found a death certificate, or some kind of record? Or did the company completely erase all trace of them?
I'm assuming the poker room is the poker room where they took down Doyle in The Bottle Job?”
Nate mentioned Hoffman’s company had destroyed all evidence, but that he couldn’t erase the info in the Arcadia library. SAME poker room.
@Rob
“……one thing that has repeatedly hit a slightly sour note with me is how matter-of-factly the evil suits talk about the most unseemly details of their schemes…I can't decide if that's a bit of moustache-twirling on the part of your villains or if I'm just too darned Neutral Good to recognize evil verisimilitude when I see it. … but are you sitting on top of a pile of research that would jeopardize the fragile little remnant of my faith in humanity?”
Here are 2 articles from just the past 3 days http://tinyurl.com/2do4jux & http://bit.ly/bdQIYH
@ Quinnell
“The episodes aren't aired out of order this season. See Rogers answer from 302 Post game: ‘….. The exception is mine, which the network moved up because they thought it was a good second Sunday opener.’
Wouldn’t that mean Inside Job WAS out of order? John? I took Mandi to mean airing episodes in a different order than they were written is what sometimes makes you do a double take – Example: in season one, Two Horse Job (aired as 01.03) was written to air *after* The Wedding Job (aired as 01.07). By airing the Two Horse episode first, you wonder why Hardison asks Eliot in the Wedding Job if he was ever married or engaged.
@Jessica
“Did Hoffman or one of his security guys check the case before he had Nate brought in?”
Hoffman checked it because Nate blackmailed him in the bar. The button camera Sophie put on Hoffman’s jacket is what recorded the case number for Parker. Because Hoffman knew Nate lied about stealing the vials, he told Nate their terms had changed.
“So when he looked and saw the empty case, being that he is obviously a very smart (very evil) man, he would have at least figured out that something was up.”
Because Nate told him the drug was now in the champaign, Hoffman checked the case (which then was 'empty'). Hoffman then thought the drug *was* in the drinks, that’s why he knocked the glasses out of everyone’s hands & announced they all had to go to the emergency room. (cont)
Dawn/StL-MO
(cont'd)
@robin
"You know who he sounds like?"
"Uh... Lindsay MacDonald from L.A.? ;)”
Or to those who have been a CK fan a little longer…Ryan ‘Flyboy’ Leggett !
@NinaMay
“I was thinking more a sultry 40s-style jazz singer; Hardison could do some fancy audio jiggery-pokery to make her sound fabulous. Nate on bass, maybe? I got nuthin'.”
If set in the 40’s, maybe Jamie Ray Newman (Eliot’s girlfriend in Two Horse Job) can do vocals instead of Sophie, since she was phenomenal on Eureka’s premier last week!
@tori-angeli & @ally
“I'm not nervous about Kane singing. I'm nervous about Eliot singing. I know the actor is very good, but it seems very out of the blue for the character.”
“EXACTLY. And I was not reassured by the preview in which Parker seems to have yet another moment of awe at the musical skills of a fellow team member.”
I didn’t find it out of character because of how the character has been set up. Remember: Nate looked oddly at Eliot in the Wedding Job when he was preparing food for the 200 guests – Eliot’s comment "What, you thought all I could do was hit?” And in Zanzibar Marketplace when Maggie says “You know, people underestimate you Eliot” to which Nate replied “That’s kind of the point”. Eliot seems to be slooooowly sharing things from his personal life with the team. I can see Eliot having even more talents (& the other team members too)
“It's still hard to see, sometimes, why he's with the group (beyond "he likes these guys") or what purpose they serve in the story of his life.”
Like Eliot said in Beantown Bailout bar scene (after Sophie’s play that made a reviewer ‘root for the Nazis’) – “This is the problem though with being the good guy…IT GETS UNDER YOUR SKIN.” They’re all hooked on helping people & sticking it to the a-holes who are screwing with their clients!
Finally: Regarding all the comments about Nate being an a-hole, etc.; I don’t necessarily think it’s about *what* Nate does, but more the WAY he does it. He seems to have really latched on to the ‘Tough Love’ way.
My impression is Nate is pushing them & testing them because in Jailhouse Job, Moreau was described as: “… the man who finances the Sicilians, the Russian Mafia, the Columbia Cartel, he moves money for the North Koreans, stolen artifacts for Iraq, nuclear materials for Iran. Moreau is *the* ‘Big Bad’. He’s the Central Bank for international crime!” THAT'S SOME MEAN MOTHERF#@*$%!!!!!
I think Nate feels at their current level, the team wouldn’t survive Moreau & his people. And, that puts the team at too big a risk. He feels it’s his responsibility to prepare them for the ultimate showdown. It’s not like the team can take an evening course at the local college like Improve Your Skills as a Con’, ‘Advanced Techniques for Cons’, ‘Cons ‘R Us’, etc.
P.S. JOHN, PLEASE NOTE: THAT IT WAS *NOT* ME WHO MENTIONED THE LIFEGUARDS THIS WEEK.
Dawn/StL-MO
(cont'd)
@robin
"You know who he sounds like?"
"Uh... Lindsay MacDonald from L.A.? ;)”
Or to those who have been a CK fan a little longer…Ryan ‘Flyboy’ Leggett !
@NinaMay
“I was thinking more a sultry 40s-style jazz singer; Hardison could do some fancy audio jiggery-pokery to make her sound fabulous. Nate on bass, maybe? I got nuthin'.”
If set in the 40’s, maybe Jamie Ray Newman (Eliot’s girlfriend in Two Horse Job) can do vocals instead of Sophie, since she was phenomenal on Eureka’s premier last week!
@tori-angeli & @ally
“I'm not nervous about Kane singing. I'm nervous about Eliot singing. I know the actor is very good, but it seems very out of the blue for the character.”
“EXACTLY. And I was not reassured by the preview in which Parker seems to have yet another moment of awe at the musical skills of a fellow team member.”
I didn’t find it out of character because of how the character has been set up. Remember: Nate looked oddly at Eliot in the Wedding Job when he was preparing food for the 200 guests – Eliot’s comment "What, you thought all I could do was hit?” And in Zanzibar Marketplace when Maggie says “You know, people underestimate you Eliot” to which Nate replied “That’s kind of the point”. Eliot seems to be slooooowly sharing things from his personal life with the team. I can see Eliot having even more talents (& the other team members too)
“It's still hard to see, sometimes, why he's with the group (beyond "he likes these guys") or what purpose they serve in the story of his life.”
Like Eliot said in Beantown Bailout bar scene (after Sophie’s play that made a reviewer ‘root for the Nazis’) – “This is the problem though with being the good guy…IT GETS UNDER YOUR SKIN.” They’re all hooked on helping people & sticking it to the a-holes who are screwing with their clients!
Finally: Regarding all the comments about Nate being an a-hole, etc.; I don’t necessarily think it’s about *what* Nate does, but more the WAY he does it. He seems to have really latched on to the ‘Tough Love’ way.
My impression is Nate is pushing them & testing them because in Jailhouse Job, Moreau was described as: “… the man who finances the Sicilians, the Russian Mafia, the Columbia Cartel, he moves money for the North Koreans, stolen artifacts for Iraq, nuclear materials for Iran. Moreau is *the* ‘Big Bad’. He’s the Central Bank for international crime!” THAT'S SOME MEAN MOTHERF#@*$%!!!!!
I think Nate feels at their current level, the team wouldn’t survive Moreau & his people. And, that puts the team at too big a risk. He feels it’s his responsibility to prepare them for the ultimate showdown. It’s not like the team can take an evening course at the local college like Improve Your Skills as a Con’, ‘Advanced Techniques for Cons’, ‘Cons ‘R Us’, etc.
P.S. JOHN, PLEASE NOTE: THAT IT WAS *NOT* ME WHO MENTIONED THE LIFEGUARDS THIS WEEK.
Dawn/StL-MO
@Dawn
Like Eliot said in Beantown Bailout bar scene (after Sophie’s play that made a reviewer ‘root for the Nazis’) – “This is the problem though with being the good guy…IT GETS UNDER YOUR SKIN.” They’re all hooked on helping people & sticking it to the a-holes who are screwing with their clients!
I don't think that provides enough context for Eliot, but I can see how such a thing would make him want to keep going! Mostly I'd like to see what the group means to him as part of the story of his life, since "I'm here because doing good feels good" is a bit shallow at this point, after all they've been through.
I absolutely love your assessment of Nate. You're right--he must be feeling the crunch as the time draws closer. It's like Hardison's comparison of Steranko to Mt. Everest--they have to train for months before they can seriously consider tackling this job, and they have no choice but to tackle this job.
Sorry for the duplicates. CANNOT get it to delete tonight
Dawn/StL-MO
I took the Cairo Flyer statement("Uh, uh, I'm not wearing that dress again") not so much as what Sophie was wearing but that she wouldn't do that particular con again.
@ Robin
I laughed out loud at the Lindsey McDonald!
wv: turse - terse nurse?
Oh, and I'm not saying I can't believe Eliot singing. Call me cautiously optimistic. ;)
@ Anonymous-
"Question about the scene in Dr. Rogers's apartment: what was the reason for Eliot's exasperated "Really?!" when Hardison told him to plug the flash drive into the phone?"
I took it to mean that Eliot's learned enough about Hardison's gadgetry and tech toys that at this point, being told about the flash drive was roughly on par with being told to try turning the computer off then on.
@anon – Got the same from Eliot’s, “Really!?!”, in response Hardison’s flash drive instructions, but also thought maybe Hardison was trying to ‘impress’ the client.
back to @tori-angeli about her reply to my stmt.:
tori-angeli said...
@Dawn
Like Eliot said in Beantown Bailout bar scene (after Sophie’s play that made a reviewer ‘root for the Nazis’) – “This is the problem though with being the good guy…IT GETS UNDER YOUR SKIN.” They’re all hooked on helping people & sticking it to the a-holes who are screwing with their clients!
“I don't think that provides enough context for Eliot, but I can see how such a thing would make him want to keep going! Mostly I'd like to see what the group means to him as part of the story of his life, since "I'm here because doing good feels good" is a bit shallow at this point, after all they've been through.”
SO AS NOT TO SOUND “a bit shallow” -
I’ve always imagined Eliot’s character was previously self-employed, hired out by the job, therefore: A) sporadic employment, B)he probably had to frequently look for his next job; C)no employee benefits (like Aldis set up for the team); & D) harder to tolerate a-holes if you can’t commiserate with others. Although, a couple major benefits of that type work would be: only having to deal w/an a-hole client the duration of the job & he probably enjoyed being a loner as far as work was concerned.
But, here’s just a baker’s dozen reasons why I think he STAYS with Nate & the others: 1)he has no financial worries anymore; 2)he’s part of a team who helps ‘good’ people get what they deserve; 3)the work they do as a team is more rewarding; 4)as a result of their teamwork he has grown/matured, which makes him more confident; 5)he is supported/trusted by his teammates when he makes important decisions (how to rescue Nate & Maggie in Zanzibar Mktpl.); 6)he has a strong ‘family’ sense with these people (so he’s more tolerant of their shortcomings); 7)he works well with this team the majority of the time; 8)he respects/trusts his teams’ talents & how well they all mesh; 9)he enjoys learning & participating in more aspects of the con (some computer work, some grifting); 10)he’s got a good employee benefits package; 11)he’s proud of the sandwich named after ‘him’(plus, during that con he discovered the ‘joys’ of baseball); 12)since he doesn’t own a TV, he’d lose Nate’s 700 sports channels if he quit the team; & 13)he *enjoys* annoying Hardison WAY too much!!! I know people who put up with a LOT at their job, or who *would” put up with a LOT if they had a job, just for the good employee benefits package!
Seriously though, I think #6 above is his BIGGEST reason for staying with this team. "Family" seems to suit him more than he thought it would.
Dawn/StL-MO
@anon – Got the same from Eliot’s, “Really!?!”, in response Hardison’s flash drive instructions, but also thought maybe Hardison was trying to ‘impress’ the client.
back to @tori-angeli about her reply to my stmt.:
tori-angeli said...
@Dawn
Like Eliot said in Beantown Bailout bar scene (after Sophie’s play that made a reviewer ‘root for the Nazis’) – “This is the problem though with being the good guy…IT GETS UNDER YOUR SKIN.” They’re all hooked on helping people & sticking it to the a-holes who are screwing with their clients!
“I don't think that provides enough context for Eliot, but I can see how such a thing would make him want to keep going! Mostly I'd like to see what the group means to him as part of the story of his life, since "I'm here because doing good feels good" is a bit shallow at this point, after all they've been through.”
SO AS NOT TO SOUND “a bit shallow” -
I’ve always imagined Eliot’s character was previously self-employed, hired out by the job, therefore: A) sporadic employment, B)he probably had to frequently look for his next job; C)no employee benefits (like Aldis set up for the team); & D) harder to tolerate a-holes if you can’t commiserate with others. Although, a couple major benefits of that type work would be: only having to deal w/an a-hole client the duration of the job & he probably enjoyed being a loner as far as work was concerned.
But, here’s just a baker’s dozen reasons why I think he STAYS with Nate & the others: 1)he has no financial worries anymore; 2)he’s part of a team who helps ‘good’ people get what they deserve; 3)the work they do as a team is more rewarding; 4)as a result of their teamwork he has grown/matured, which makes him more confident; 5)he is supported/trusted by his teammates when he makes important decisions (how to rescue Nate & Maggie in Zanzibar Mktpl.); 6)he has a strong ‘family’ sense with these people (so he’s more tolerant of their shortcomings); 7)he works well with this team the majority of the time; 8)he respects/trusts his teams’ talents & how well they all mesh; 9)he enjoys learning & participating in more aspects of the con (some computer work, some grifting); 10)he’s got a good employee benefits package; 11)he’s proud of the sandwich named after ‘him’(plus, during that con he discovered the ‘joys’ of baseball); 12)since he doesn’t own a TV, he’d lose Nate’s 700 sports channels if he quit the team; & 13)he *enjoys* annoying Hardison WAY too much!!! I know people who put up with a LOT at their job, or who *would” put up with a LOT if they had a job, just for the good employee benefits package!
Seriously though, I think #6 above is his BIGGEST reason for staying with this team. "Family" seems to suit him more than he thought it would.
Dawn/StL-MO
Re. Christina's comment about your avoiding stereotypes: I've been trying to figure out what makes this show so engaging, and this is one of the answers. THANK YOU, "Leverage" team. It's as if you, you know, actually put some time and thought into character development or something.
Deja vu? I'm watching the today show and the diabetes drug Avandia is bring outed as causing major heart issues after making Glaxo BILLIONS of dollars! AND the drug company is being accused of knowingly suppressing the research saying it wasn't safe!!
Really, as much as we know about Eliot, he could be a Flamenco dancing cross dresser in his spare time (not that there's anything wrong with that!). But the real problem for me, I guess, is that it's such a thinly veiled stunt to promote CK's music (apparently, his new single will be played at the end of the ep and a music video is coming out soon).
This show is pure escapism with some smarts thrown in. It'll be tough watch this ep without thinking of CK Country Rock singer, and all I really want to think about is Eliot Spencer and the other characters.
I don't have a problem with CKs music tie in or promotion at all. As long as the episode is good, it doesn't matter. Knowing Beth is a photog, Aldis can play violin or Christian can actually sings doesn't make a difference to me. It's great that the writers are incorporating their talents creatively. The general viewer that doesn't hang out online will not know and probably wouldn't care. Now, if they come out and say, "he sounds like Christian Kane", that would be a bit much.
@Dawn
You made me start my day laughing! I love you! XD
But you're right as to why Eliot stays. I don't really have any doubts about that, I just want to know if we're going to find out what--not how much, what--the events of the series mean in regards to his life. For Sophie, all it really took was "I've never had any real friends and I have no idea who I am."
...Come to think of it, it's a pretty nonsensical question.
I don't know if we really know why they all continue to stay, aside from Nate. We know Nate's past with his son motivates him to go after the "big" guy who go after the little guy. We know that they all enjoy helping people. Nate convinced them they can do that better with each other. They have taken up that flag even when Nate has waivered. I don't think we have really gotten to the root of it. We have seen glimpses I think with Parker and Elliot. Parker getting a surrogate family. Elliot with the little boy in The Order 23Job. To be honest we've seen people out of Elliot and Parker's past. We have seen no one out of Hardison and Sophie's past. I don't count Tara because she shed no light on who Sophie was.
@Um, several people, re: why Eliot stays, I honestly think we were given the answer way back in S1, by Aimee in "Two-Horse": "I'm glad to see you've found a family." Yeah, he blustered and blew her off, but he's, y'know, Eliot. *g* I think she nailed it dead on.
@Dawn, I seriously doubt Eliot had any problems finding clients before Nate came along. I'm betting that he, like Parker and Sophie, was considered one of the best at what he does and was in high demand. (Remember, even Nate was impressed with what he did in "Zanzibar," and Nate's just not an easy guy to impress.) So I'm betting he could pick and choose his jobs and made a ton of money. I don't think job security or benefits figures in to his decision at all.
I think his reasons are a) he's discovered a family, and discovered he likes having a family (all his grumbling and eyerolling notwithstanding; again, it's Eliot), and b) he's getting a chance to make up for some of the things he's done in the past. From the not-so-subtle hints we've gotten over the past two seasons, he clearly is the one who has the darkest past, who's done the dirtiest deeds, and I think it's starting to come home to roost now. He's growing a conscience, and using his talents for good instead of evil now gives him a way to start making amends.
And I think if Eliot Spencer ever said any of this aloud, we'd all fall over dead from shock. *g*
wow... i did not know much of it...
Learn italian
@SueN: Very well put. I agree with everything you said, and I think this is all true, but I'm still not sure if the implication is that he's growing a conscience or that he's always had one, and it's slowly becoming obvious. He doesn't seem to have guilt issues over anything he's done, just compassion for people in specific situations (though he didn't look very convinced when he was called a hero in 304). Is he experiencing character development, or are we just continuously finding out new things about him? Maybe I've missed something important.
@JoJoDancer
“We have seen no one out of Hardison and Sophie's past.”
Didn’t Starke (2nd groups’ leader in Two Live Crew) con with Sophie a while back? But, guess he didn’t actually add a lot to what we already knew about Sophie’s past either.
@tori-angeli
Glad I could help you start your day off laughing!
Dawn/StL-MO
I don't think Eliot is just now growing a conscience. Look at Bank Shot Job when he rescued the mom from the meth dealers. He practically had tears in his eyes (although I'm sure he would say it was just dust) when he told her he was the calvary.
I see Eliot as the small town Southern kid who went into the military, excelled there, ended up in covert ops with small teams (Rangers or Seals) - he had to get his training somewhere. The, he had a big disillusioning experience that made him turn his back on it and go solo.
I like to think he has more experience than anyone in the Five working with a team and so he necessarily would have had first hand experience with well-run and not-so-well-run teams.
So, yes, maybe he stayed initially for the money and the thrills, and now stays for the family aspect of the team and the fact that its good for his conscience, but I'd bet that a big underlying reason since the beginning is that he's a military guy who appreciates the value of a well-oiled unit and immediately saw this one as maybe the best he'd ever seen, even if the boss can sometimes be a pain.
High Anonymous
Why does Eliot stay?
I'm enjoying the discussion and speculation, but look forward to hearing from the guy who invented the character.
My own thought is simply that he's grown attached to the people. Parker is like a sister, Hardison like a brother. And he is the kind of man who is very protective, especially of children, and family. He couldn't leave without abandoning the people who need him to watch their backs. Sophie and Alec can mastermind, they can all grift and thieve to a certain extent, but without Eliot, someone else gets punched and kicked. He takes the hits, and gives them, to keep his people safe.
Just my take on the character.
Paige
My firstborn for you guys NOT to go down the Parker/Hardison route. I just prefer the whole TEAM love, not the couple-up love. Just throwing it out there.
I really like seeing Nate pushing Hardison and Parker to adapt and excel. It's a great dynamic. I'm sure it's partially in preparation for Moreau, and I'm also sure it's partially because Nate is a manipulative bastard using the impending confrontation with Moreau as an excuse to play puppetmaster.
My question is whether Nate is trying to push Eliot and Sophie in a similar way, and to what extent can he actually do so? He obviously can't play the same kind of blatant mind games with them that he does with Hardison (not without some pretty dire consequences, anyway). And they are too much his peers to respond to the paternal approach he sometimes takes with Parker.
He's already on thin ice with Sophie, but I wonder if pushing the little ones is also a little bit about manipulating her, not as a grifter but as a person - as in, he wants her to feel increasingly protective of the team, to make it less likely she'll leave again. Pushing Eliot's limits in his capacity as a hitter would be maybe the Worst Idea Ever (not that that exactly rules out Nate doing it anyway)...but was Nate at least taking conscious advantage of an opportunity to have Eliot practice his people skills by keeping him with Pearson for so long?
Or will Nate finally learn that trust is a two-way street and quit trying to manipulate his own team? ...Heh. Just kidding.
Kat,
Hasn't that horse already left the barn since S1? Although that horse is more Zippy Chippy than Secretariat. Yeah, whatever.
Anyway, I love Parker/Hardison together as a couple. So I'll give you my second born child to keep them going. She actually washes behind her ears, which is more than I can say for my first born son.
@Erin
Actually I would LOVE to see Eliot lay Nate out. Just once. He almost did in The Snow Job when Eliot threatened to "skip his drunk ass of this marble floor", but Sophie stepped in and broke it up. Hell, if Dean put an Eliot/Nate smackdown on Pay per View they'd rake in some Oprah money.
Its not that I don't love Nate cause I really do, but damn, this season he has been a total jerk in dire need of of ass-whupping.
My grandmother needs a kidney transplant. She has lupus and is currently on dialysis. My brother is a match and is ready to give her his, but the anti rejection meds she is required to take after wards aren't fully covered by insurance and just one of them would cost around one thousand a month. They won't give her the transplant, because they can't afford the pills. It's ridiculous!! I wish Nate could "fix" the insurance companies and get my Nana her damn kidney.
This was a great episode.
just one question..is there really a flash drive which you can attach to your phone? coz if there is..wow, i want one..
If you want to hear Christian, you can access his songs on youtube as well as his myspace account. At ChristianKane.com you can download "the House Rules" for free. I have been looking forward to CK singin on Leverage since the first season when More than I Deserve played in the background of Eliot and Amy in The Two Horse Job.
As for the comment in the preview of who he sounds like I took it to mean that Eliot sounded like the guy that John Schneider's character stole the music from and the team was trying to get back.
and one more.. alot of people were askin.. why "seriously" isnt used anymore by the characters? bring it back..we miss it! lol.. =)
Erin said...
He's already on thin ice with Sophie, but I wonder if pushing the little ones is also a little bit about manipulating her, not as a grifter but as a person - as in, he wants her to feel increasingly protective of the team, to make it less likely she'll leave again.
Wow! Thank you for that insight. I never would have thought of that one. See, this is why I come to the blogs! You guys rock!
@High Anonymous
I like to think he has more experience than anyone in the Five working with a team
That depends on whether you take his statement in Second David at surface level that he was just getting used to it - being in a team. The implication was pretty strong that he's a solo player, and has never considered himself to be part of a team before. That's a pretty cheap lie, if it is one, just to have something to accuse Sophie of because of the consequences of her deceit. Being under authority that's messing him around, on the other hand, I can see a long history of that....
But I think that's a huge part of why all of them stay - that combined with Sophie's observation about Parker at the end of 12 Step: they're finally with a group of people who understand one another. The loneliness of the drive to be the best at what you do is pretty intense, and having that quality of other skills at your back, and the instinctive understanding of what that is, is hard to resist. That's why they're a family. Real understanding and communication goes a lot, lot deeper than liking one another (which I'm pretty sure they don't, quite a lot of the time).
I'm a bit late to the party here, but I had to DVR this ep. Got some questions about my favorite Leverage Ladies.
1) As a grifter, Sophie often has to feign romantic interest in various skeevy and often hateful people. How far is she willing to take this in pursuit of a job? I know Nate and the others would never construct a con that called for her to actually sleep with someone, but I wonder what she's done in the past when faced with the choice of either following through all the way, or losing the con.
2) Hopefully, Hardison knows Parker well enough to know that a relationship with her would carry a lot of challenges, and that he's willing to deal with that. Has Parker ever had a real romantic relationship before? Is that something that will be dealt with in the story?
3) Should we assume that Sophie really did tell the others her real name, and it's not just an elaborate prank by all of them to mess with Nate's head? And if so, did she tell them her *real* real name?
Nina May said:
That depends on whether you take his statement in Second David at surface level that he was just getting used to it - being in a team.
I had forgotten that line - I can't recall the delivery, so kind of wonder if there is room to qualify it - to fit my own theories of course ;D. Like, e.g. did he say it in a way that he could have meant "I was just getting used to working with a team I care about" or "a real team unlike that back stabbing bunch of military dudes I worked with before I had my grand disillusioning moment"? Admittedly, I may be grasping at straws now. But I do like the theory, cause I tend to like any theories that suggest the non-obvious about Eliot.
Now - on to an actual question:
I find Sophie's position with Nate to be partially justified but also a little self-righteous in its own right. I'm wondering how much of Sophie's feelings for Nate are driven by some idealized and easy version of him she manufactured when he was safely married and she only saw him periodically? If so, is he gonna call her on it and make her decide if she can love the less idealized and more complicated but available Nate?
High Anon
@High Anon
I don't think anyone deserves to be in a relationship with Nate as he is. Sophie's waiting for him to be less messed up, and I think she's right to do so, or he'd pull her down along with him. Whoever he is after he heals, she'll see if she still loves him, I think. Right now her concern is for him to get better.
You're giving me away, Mom? SERIOUSLY?!?
Sorry JoJo & Kay - just couldn't resist.
Dawn/StL-MO
@Nefarie, I think we saw Nate have his unholy come-apart at the end of S2, in "Three Strikes" and "Maltese Falcon." What we're seeing now I think is the "rebuilding phase," with everyone trying to figure out what the new parameters are.
And, yeah, Nate is a magnificent bastard. Kudos to Rogers & Co. for daring to write a "good guy" who so often deserves a boot up his ass. *g*
@Anon
“I'm wondering how much of Sophie's feelings for Nate are driven by some idealized and easy version of him she manufactured when he was safely married and she only saw him periodically? If so, is he gonna call her on it and make her decide if she can love the less idealized and more complicated but available Nate?
Nate, available? I think he’s not fully ready to give up on Maggie. In Zanzibar Marketplace when Maggie thought they were going to die she turned & kissed him in the elevator. So, don’t know if Maggie’s ready to give up on him either especially since she’s intrigued by all the good he is doing in this “new job”. Of course her statement *was* made prior to the Maltese Falcon Job when Nate admitted he was a thief! A real a-hole, yet *two* women want him!
JOHN –
When answering our blog questions, you often mention there was a scene, but because of time it had to be cut. Would you consider putting some on the Season 3 DVDs? Also, I vote for more outtakes!
Dawn/StL-MO
Dawn/St. Lo - I think Nate's made it pretty clear he wants to give the thing with Sophie a shot in the Maltese Falcon (like you said)and in the Inside Job, pushing a talk about the kiss. I love the way he and Maggie are written with residual feelings - a relationship with an ex can be a fascinating thing - but given all that's gone on between them and the way they've changed, I'd be shocked if they ever walked the couple road again.
Tori-Angel - there is probably some room for a little growth with Nate, but honestly, I expect him to always be a "magnificent bastard" (excellent escription!). He may not be good with relationships but that doesn't mean he's incapable of having them or he wouldn't be where he is. He isn't easy, but he isn't impossible either.
I think Sophie - as perceptive as she is of people - has to understand that. And I think it says something about her and her own relatioship issues that she falls for a guy who is first married and then an alcoholic grief-stricken wreck. It's kinda easy to be in love with someone you know will never commit to you. You can have all of the dramatic emotions - and Sophie appreciates drama - with none of the everyday drudgery and hard work that a real relationship can sometimes be.
Look at her "boyfriend" from S2 - he said she was not giving herself to the relationship. Maybe that's because she still had a thing for Nate or maybe that's because she has trouble giving herself to any relationship by her nature as a grifter.
I'm not saying they can't make it work - I'm just saying that Sophie may have some issues with making it work that are more than just "Nate's a jerk."
High A
Is Lt. Bonanno's name a tip of the hat to Mike Bonanno of the Yes Men?
@High Anon I don't think it's easy for Sophie at all. I think loves him, but she has too much of a sense of self-preservation to actually choose to be with him. He's a self-destructive man, not just a jerk, and anyone who does have a sense of self-preservation would wait for him to work some of that out, as Sophie is doing.
JOHN:
Forgot to ask earlier: What are the other 8 places a professional uses to deliver an injection so it looks like a normal death?
Other than under the fingernail I’ve heard a few others (under the tongue, between the toes, under the toenail, in the heel of the foot & behind the ear), but not another 8. Not that I’m planning anything, just curious. Thanks!
Dawn/StL-MO
So I'm gonna go in another way...Not caring for the new improved Sophie. Someone else said she's being self-righteous and that's what it is.
She comes down on Nate for hypnotizing Haridson, yet she helped him do it, and in reunion job she BRAINWASHED Elliot for a prank.
She complains about Nate not puling Parker out of the office...Parker..the world's greatest thief who comes and goes thru locked rooms as she please...as we saw in Mile High Job, she doesn't actually have a problem vanishing out of an office when the bad guy walks in.
(and I'm the "only one who likes you" speech...that's just being a huge bitch.)
@Video Beagle, she didn't help Nate hypnotize Hardison. She had merely pointed out at some time previous that Hardison would be the most susceptible to hypnotism.
And she didn't brainwash Eliot, she manipulated him. There's a difference. (And, yes, these are manipulative people; they're criminals.) And she did it after he left her in the company of the cockroach from hell, obviously enjoying her discomfort. As someone who has to get my husband to kill the ginormous waterbugs that invade our home during summer, I can relate to her desire for payback. *g*
And, yes, we all know Parker has mad skills as a thief, but does that mean no one is allowed to worry about her? (Wouldn't that just wipe out the whole premise of "The Inside Job"?) Especially people who've come to care about her? The team has repeatedly taken Nate to task over the years for pushing the boundaries too far and putting them in jeopardy, or for refusing to listen to their concerns. And they have every right to, because if something does go wrong, it's their asses on the line. They have enough to worry about on a job, with all that might go wrong anyway, without wondering if Nate's playing fast and loose with their safety.
Just because Parker's always gotten away before doesn't mean she'll get away this time, and pushing the limits beyond reason just makes it less likely that she will. They're allowed to question him when it's their lives/safety at stake. Especially when Nate hasn't always shown the best judgment in the past.
As for the "I'm the only one who likes you," maybe that was a bit over the top. Though, really, Hardison doesn't seem to like Nate much at the moment. But I took it as the verbal equivalent of the slap at the end of last season. It's another wake-up call to Nate, reminding him that he can't keep playing with their lives.
Nate's a bastard, these people are career criminals, and they're not always gonna play nicely with each other. For me, a big part of the draw of this show is watching how people who don't always get along, who don't really know how to get along, learn to, well, get along. Bitchfits and all.
Eliot got same-day tickets for the duck tour? On a day when Boston is actually sunny? Man does have skills...
1) In the "Reincarnation of Angie" episode of The Rockford Files, Jim tells the client that he knew the FBI badge of the man following her was fake because the background was the wrong color; the guy probably just pasted his driver's license photo on a badge. When asked how he knew, Rockford replied "Because that's what I did" and showed her his own fake badge. Did Hardison's experience at creating badges for the team allow him to spot an inferior fake so quickly?
2) Where does the Evil Speech of Evil at the end of the "Pandorica Opens" episode of Doctor Who rank - better than or about the same as the Leverage ones?
3) Any closer to getting Ed Quinn on the show? I was hoping they'd find a way to bring him back on Eureka this season, but no such luck. You're my last hope.
@Kristen: When can we get an ep where his bad choices don't work out and the team has to fix one of his plans?
We had that ep last season with "Zanzibar Marketplace Job," when Nate fixated on the wrong guy, ended up getting him and Maggie nabbed, and Eliot had to come up with the plan to save them.
New fans, but so far you have the entire family (teenaged sons and parents) hooked. (We are, quite frankly, amazed at how many "places" you can scam the Park Blocks into being.)
wo questions: Are you deliberately trying to cast Eliot as Captain Jack Harkness!Lite, given the whole Eliot and girls and Tenth-scolding-Jack vibe you've got going every time Nate chides Eliot about the girls? Second, any chances you could land John Barrowman as a guest star in your newly minted fourth season?
Any significance with Parker initially going the wrong way? Felt odd. Assuming her emotions clouded her judgment?
Parker throughout this entire episode had me and my gang of Grifters guffawing like crazy, and we have to know who gets to take credit for the positively genius bit at the end where she's crushing the beer bottle? And Beth didn't hurt her hands, did she? We were a bit worried about her when we got done laughing. (a smidge contradictory there, we know)
And may I say Thank You, capital letters, for all the education you offer on Leverage about the kinds of scams and practices, illegal, and, horrifyingly, legal, that are common practice in so many corporations. I'm 19 and have always stayed more informed about things than most my age (I had a debate about the sub-prime mortgage crisis with my History teacher pre-October-meltdown, sadly to the blank stares of my classmates) and I know Leverage has helped me teach and talk to some of my friends about topics that just wouldn't enter their peripheral any other way.
I just watched this episode again and I still don't get how the trick box works. Please help!
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