LEVERAGE #307 "The Gone Fishin' Job" Answer Post

I have to admit, I didn't have a ton to do with this one. I was directing #305 -- or rather, watching very talented humans point cameras at other very talented humans and occasionally asking them to move on to the next shot -- while Downey and the room broke the episode. They did a great job, and all I did was come back and bat a little clean-up in the fifth act, wielding some old Boy Scout knowledge and a bit of geography. Oh, and the molasses thing. Don't ask why I know that.

The episode was born from two ideas. First Rebecca Kirsch, or "Filthy Assistant" as she's fondly known in my more drunken Spider Jerusalem moments, had come in with a bunch of pitches. She'd gone through a couple that didn't quite land -- pretty standard ratio, to tell you the truth, we've had twenty-year veterans pitch a half dozen ideas that aren't quite right -- and was just wrapping up, almost on her way out, when she said: "I have this one thing. The IRS decided to use private debt collectors for a while, who acted like, well ... private debt collectors. When they stopped the program because of abuses, there's no evidence the government got the lists of taxpayers back. So there are bad guys out there who still have the lists of people who owe the government money and --"

"WHY THE HELL DIDN'T YOU START WITH THAT ONE!?" I bellowed.

At least a few of the research beats Kirsch found are here:

IRS Website - March 9, 2006 - IRS Selects Three Firms to Take Part in Delinquent Tax Collection Effort
IRS Website - August 23, 2006 - Simple Steps Can Prevent Tax Scams as Private Debt Collection Begins

CNN - May 23, 2007 - IRS collection program draws fire

ABC - July 11, 2008 - IRS Refuses to Stop Using Private Debt Collectors

IRS Website - March 5, 2009 - IRS Conducts Extensive Review, Decides Not to Renew Private Debt Collection Contracts

USA Today - March 6, 2009 - IRS to drop private debt collection program

So we had a villain. The problem was, some bad guys crimes automatically imply the con setting. Guy burns horses to death, we do a horse scam. Guy sells stolen cars, we wind up doing racecars and boosts. How do you scam a guy who just runs an evil collection service?

At this point, you go to the big board of "stuff we've been talking about for a couple years." There are a few cards up on the board that are beginning to yellow with age. "Rashomon Job" has been up there for close to two years, as has "University Job" (whatever the hell that may be), "Fake a space launch", "steal bull semen", and "The Defiant Ones" ...

Oooh, wait.

Readers, say you're breaking a plot where you want Hardison and Eliot running through the woods handcuffed. They're being chased by ... by cops? Well, we already did our prison break episode. Corrupt cops? Okay, put a pin in that. Who else is in the woods? Soldiers for a corrupt government. Good, but we're, ah, holding off on that one for a certain season finale ... and then we have your rural American options -- which led us to militias. Militias are in the woods.

Once we hit that, the thematic link between taxes and people who have a, let's say, antagonistic relationship with taxes became too good to resist. Then at the same time, the Hutaree story broke:

In June 2009, authorities allege, Stone and his youngest son David Stone Jr. began teaching other Hutaree how to make and use the explosives. They were to have been used against law enforcement officials as they drove in the funeral procession for the first officer they intended to kill as bait.

The first alleged target was not named. Among their plans for the first murder, according to court documents, was to kill the officer at a traffic stop, kill the officer and his or her family at home or make a phony 911 call to lure the officer into a trap

Guys who were planning on using Iraqi insurgent techniques to kill American cops. Repeat -- kill American cops. These are bad people, I think we can all agree. Guys who we will not mind watching Eliot kick the snot out of. And I will admit, coming from a military family background, having close friends serve both when we were younger and also in the last thrillfest, I have a very low tolerance for people who play dress-up in camos and misunderstand the Constitution and Thomas Jefferson. Always with the "blood of patriots and tyrants", never with the letter to the Danbury Baptists. I was a pretty avid libertarian in my youth and still firmly believe that the government is best that governs least. (Side note: I preferred Emerson's Self-Reliance to Thoreau's Walden. Make of that what you will.) So I'm a bit more sympathetic to the cause than most. But, c'mon -- kill American cops. These assholes are fair game.

This led us to a not uncommon challenge in the early days of breaking a split story. One half almost writes itself, the other requires serious work to keep the pace and threat levels up. The room did a great job of intersecting the plots (and learning how to go about stealing a train). The money laundering scam through a fitness club was an idea Downey had been saving up for a while. (Sometime we'll go over the basics of money laundering. They're fascinating) But the threat level on the B storyline was tough. Then we got the big win: Clancy Brown as our villain. You can cast Clancy Brown as a piano teacher, and he will be a fucking terrifying piano teacher. Clancy not only did voices in Jackie Chan Adventures for me back in the day, he played a crucial role in my first one-hour pilot, Red Skies, which aired as a backdoor pilot on USA back before they were really doing one-hours, in 2003 or so. He did the Kurgan laugh for us one day. I may have wet myself, from glee or terror I'm not sure.

The shoot was grueling; it rained pretty much every moment the boys were out in the woods. That said, it's a hell of a pretty episode, and our last minute director John Harrison did an amazing job with practically no prep. Fun Parker stuff, big danger and action, good buddy emo from the boys, and we blow shit up. Not much more you can ask for in an episode of Leverage, I'd say.

So let's go to the phones:

@Anonymous: Did Hardison just kill a guy?

Nope. But he messed him up.

@Nicole: I did wonder why it was no one noticed they weren't having to hear Eliot and Hardison in their ears - especially since you've stated Hardison keeps his earpiece in all the time. Since they're *usually* not out of range, are there a lot of off-screen jobs that would have shown them not living with chatter in their ear? And... was that an XKCD reference? "Science, it works bitches"??? XD

The earbuds are linked through their cells (established in "The Mile High Job", I think) so when they're out of cellphone range, they're out of luck. Also, they don't always have them in when doing scutwork. And yes, that's totally an XKCD shoutout.

@Anonymous: What were we suppose to assume was Parker's motivation to hanging up with the one guy and deleting his, and what appeared to be several other, files? What happened in her past or was it just her feeling sorry for these people? Cause we don't usually see Parker doing that kind of thing - except w/ children.

Chalk it up to Parker's growing conscience.

@Codger: Great episode, but I'll admit I would have loved it more if Taggart and McSweeten had shown up at the end leading the FBI crew.

Unfortunately, shooting in Oregon means we can only afford to fly the boys up so often. You will see one of them again very soon, however ...

@Christina Lollobrigida: Now, I've been on set. I know that the exterior to McRory's isn't a physical location. I actually had to go back, pause and compare to my set-photos to see if I could figure it out myself. So - how'd you work that amazing lighting trick/building thing for the exteriors toward the end? I'm guessing that you just moved a portion of the exterior set to an actual location? If not, how'd you pull it off?

The sign moves, so we put it up on the real building we use a couple different times of the day to get different looks. That shot was in the bank, waiting to be used.

@Jim Kiley: I'm pretty sure that my favorite moment in tonight's episode was the sheer joy and satisfaction in the voice of the rail transit authority woman as she got multiple confirmations of rocks on the tracks. By god, this was an issue and she was going to get it resolved. It implied an enormous amount about her! Great acting / direction on such a tiny little point!

Seriously, the Portland actors have been consistently knocking it out of the park. That's a big part of the reason the cons work, because good actors ground the scenes. Case in point -- the guy who winds up as Sophie's con partner in the finale is devastatingly good. Like, "congratulations, enjoy your offers for the fall season shows" good.

Jen_Ann_W: Can you tell us the location that was used for the militia camp? Ya'll picked a beautiful area - I'm guessing closer to the coast, Tillamook or Clatsop? Makes me want to go camping. :-)

I know the crew map is kicking around in my inbox somewhere. But hopefully Kirsch will hop in on the Comments to this post and clarify before I have to go digging.

@LawMonkey: Okay. I get that Hardison set them up the bomb with the matches. And I get that he got the matches from when the mook dropped them. But how/when did Hardison set them up the bomb?

@SueN: My only question (so far) has already been asked – when did Hardison set that bomb?

Before their distraction/assault. They were trying to draw in the border patrols and make sure everybody was in the center of camp for the boom. There's a gap in the story timeline there, and we probably should have shown that in flashback. But that was one of those things we just assumed would be self-evident, as it's logically the only time he could have set up the bomb. Our bad.

@whimseyrhodes: How much of the chatter on twitter do you pay attention to in regards to episode tweaks, ideas and so forth? Does the cast actually read any of our posts?

We tend to view the Twitter chatter, Livejournal and forums stuff as your conversation and creativity using what we make, like, ah, we're the starter stock on your entertainment soup. We do our thing, you guys do yours, and we appreciate you dig the show. I think that works best. The cast blows through here at the blog intermittently, but we've got them working 14 hours a day, so they're pretty stacked. They do read all their Twitter posts, though.

@Stacy: Really loved Eliot and Hardison being chained together. No real question, but I was hoping you could narrate on the genesis of the idea of Eliot/Hardision being chained up and forced to work together like this. Did it grow out of the original bill collector/militia bad guy story, or was it a separate idea floating around that just worked for this episode?

I think I covered that up top.

@RevTrask: Wait...at the bank, did Eliot introduce himself and Hardison as Agts Brody and "Quint"? It was hard to make out the second name. I may not have heard him correctly but a "Jaws" reference would have fit: after all, when their fishing expedition went so horribly awry, they were "gonna need a bigger boat". *g*

Got it in one.

@markz: This episode finally won me over near the end - the precise spot was when Clancy Brown started fiddling with his car remote - but up to then, I was concerned that the level of reality that used to be in the best episodes of the first two seasons has been lost, this year, to some extent. By this time, the team's been through so much that I can't really picture that Parker WOULDN'T be aware that someone could be monitoring her call phone. I think that no matter how much fun the bickering is between Eliot and Hardison, by this time in their history they'd be acting more professionally on a job.

There seems to be some confusion on that -- Parker meant to tip the bad guys with the phone call, unless I'm totally misremembering. As far as Eliot and Hardison? That is Hardison in a way, way more stressful situation than he's used to. But, also, that's the dynamic.

@tgvcomic: Y'know, I'm a little surprised that Hardiphone 3.0 doesn't have Caller ID spoofing built in to each and every member of the team's smartphones. I mean, I even knew a person that actually had that in their Blackberry, and I know I've heard you say Apollo has done that to you a couple of times.

He does. Chalk it up to Hardison not exactly being in charge of the comms with his usual process.

@Calla: Why was it Hardison who stops them from getting on the train, when it was Eliot who'd sussed out the bomb earlier on and knew the militia would be using it very soon. It seems like Eliot should have been the one to make them go back rather than having Hardison need to convince him. It came off a bit like Eliot cared more about getting himself to safety than he did about saving civilians from a bomb - and, given what we know about him, coupled with his speech about how real soldiers act - that seems contrary to his character.

A lot of the other Commenters got this right: Eliot's priority was to get Hardison out of their, whether he'd admit it or not. Hardison's decision to go back probably did more to cement their friendship than anything else in the last two years. Although, again, neither would admit it.

@Marquis: (various logic problems that are kind of YMMV but ending with ...) Or the sheer idiocy of the client. How on earth did these guys manage to get that many people to fall for something like that? A guy shows up at your house in the middle of the night flashes a badge you wouldn't be able to tell is authentic because you never see them, demands a credit card or he's going to get your house locked up. Sorry, even if you think the guy is for real you have to know there's something fishy in the way he's pulling money from you. How do you not call someone or call his bluff. (It's so easy to fix too. You have someone in a sheriff's outfit waiting outside for him to point to. At least that might scare people into not thinking that this is a scam.)

Ah, the victim. Got a lot of flack on the victim. Who the hell would fall for a scam like that?

Most of you.

Here's the thing that may be biasing the writers. We spend a LOT of time researching con men. And they pull off some pretty amazing stuff on a regular basis.

Like so many rural communities in the country’s middle, this tiny town had wrestled for years with the woes of methamphetamine. Then, several months ago, a federal agent showed up.

Mayor Otis Schulte of Gerald said Bill A. Jakob went to great lengths to make police officers think he was a federal agent.

Busts began. Houses were ransacked. People, in handcuffs on their front lawns, named names. To some, like Mayor Otis Schulte, who considers the county around Gerald, population 1,171, “a meth capital of the United States,” the drug scourge seemed to be fading at last.

Those whose homes were searched, though, grumbled about a peculiar change in what they understood, from television mainly, to be the law.

They said the agent, a man some had come to know as “Sergeant Bill,” boasted that he did not need search warrants to enter their homes because he worked for the federal government.

But after a reporter for the local weekly newspaper made a few calls about that claim, Gerald’s anti-drug campaign abruptly unraveled after less than five months. Sergeant Bill, it turned out, was no federal agent, but Bill A. Jakob, an unemployed former trucking company owner, a former security guard, a former wedding-performing minister, a former small-town cop from 23 miles down the road.

Now, are all those people idiots? No. But Americans have a very specific relationship to authority and trust. If some guy shows up at your house, knowing things only the government should know, and you're already intimidated and threatened, like that single mom ...

Let me illustrate. A while ago, I was sitting in my TV room, which has a clear view of my next-door neighbor's front lawn. I look out, and see two rough-looking guys about my age standing in their yard, peering in the front window.

They see me looking at them as I reach for my phone -- at which point they badge me.

I open my front door and the two LAPD detectives explain that a fugitive gave my neighbor's address as one of his. They show me the mugshot. I explain that my elderly Asian neighbors are not harboring meth-heads. They thank me and depart.

Or ... they were thinking "Man, we would like to home-invade this joint, but nobody's here. Oh wait, there's some dude at that house." I open my door, they force their way in, kick my ass, and rob me blind.

I literally spend 14 hours a day thinking about crime and con men. But my grandfather was a cop, I know cops, and I opened the door to those badges out of instinct.

So, your mileage may vary -- but the number of people who would fall for that is innumerable. We always struggle with orange box and ledger, and sometimes that extends to human behaviour, not just story details. Although I understand shooting the scene at night may have muddied the waters, personally I think we're okay on this one.

@Oona: Sophie seemed to almost lose character at a couple tense moments, and she has seemed more emotionally affected during cons this season. Is this something that will be developed throughout the course of the season?

I think, like"Inside Job", scrambling to help teammates is affecting her more. In general, she's changed quite a bit since she abandoned her old persona, and a lot of the defenses that were inherent in that lifestyle.

@Odie: 1.) What happened in Juarez? 2.)How long do the people Eliot hits stay down? 3.) How did Hardison and Eliot climb the tree while handcuffed?

1.) Unpleasant, moist things. 2.) As long as he wants. 3.) Carefully and shirtless.

@Daisy Bookworm: Oh! Wait ... one question: Did you seriously just give us the two main ingredients in a very effective bomb? Shame, shame. And whose idea were the pinatas? Parker's reaction to Eliot ripping off the head of the donkey was just perfect.

Um, no. Well, yes. But nothing you can't find on the internet. The writers came up with the pinata. Although I think Kane relished that a bit much.

@Anonymous: I don't understand why everyone is going crazy over eliot's "Real soldier" line. It's jingoistic bravado and nothing more. You know who else were "real soldiers" by that definition? The Nazis, the USSR and the Viet Cong.

The Nazis were "willing to die to defend someone else's rights?" I do not remember that part of World War II. I must admit that.

@SueN: Brooke's dissatisfaction with the portrayal of the militia types reminded me of a question (instead of me hanging about and nosing into other people's posts while waiting for my caffeine buzz to die). As she said, it was a bit hinky for these guys to have captured Eliot (and Hardison) a second time. But the guys needed to get to the camp to blow up the bomb. So, was the second capture part of the plan, or was it evidence that even Eliot/Deep-Woods Batman is fallible?

The second capture was part of the plan. Thought that was clear once the bomb went off. If not, we missed that.

@Mega: Not that I'm complaining at having Eliot and Hardison cuffed to each other but... well... why didn't they just pick it?

That is not in their thief portfolio, sadly. As you can see in the pilot, where Hardison has to wait for Parker to hand him the keys before he can escape the handcuffs in the hospital.

@briddie: Eliot's complaint about just getting back from ten days in Juarez and now having another job makes me wonder - who's going to explode from the stress first? Or is this another way of showing drunk Nate is a mean bastard?

Mostly a way of showing that Eliot is indeed human, and can be worn down.

@JoJo Dancer: I worked at a state agency in the tax dept. And I have gone to homes and collected debts. I would never go to a person's house at night but anytime from 8am to 5pm. People would pay in check or cash. We didn't accept credit cards because we didn't have the functionality. But the only thing I would do is show my badge or a business card and people would give me a payment. I just wanted to post this to give people a point of reality for reference on the initial scene. I want to also say that states vary in their methods and the IRS is a totally different animal, so expect some differences.

So, that then. And we forgive you, JoJo.

@Tori Angell: When Hardison speaks of "serious regrets," was he referring to anything specific or was that line written for the lulz?

I would say going on this part of the mission with Eliot would be one of those regrets.

@CindyD: For those of you questioning the victim's action, I found it credible and I should know. I spent many years representing or counseling consumers in financial trouble and it is amazing what people will do under such stress and what some debt collectors will say to make them do it. Smart, no, but facing that kind of extreme stress, literally in terror at times, their brains are not functioning normally. Like a deer in headlights. I've had them call me at night hysterical, believing the ass that told them the sheriff was coming to arrest them right then (apparently to cart them off to the nonexistent debtors prison). Add to that it's the IRS, a single Mother, it involves her child and home, then without a lawyer present, many would have given him anything he required.

Okay, I know you people are being helpful, but now I'm just getting goddam depressed.

@Shazza TW: Questions: I've been reading Twitter posts from yourself and the cast/crew and you're all working hard on the S3 finale.... 1.) have you had word yet about a Season 4? I've just caught up on all things Leverage & would hate for there not to be any more. 2.) Also, how much of the characters personality traits are written and how much are the actors input/own personalities? In particular, I'd love to know how much of their own personalites Aldis and Beth put into Parker/Hardison. 3.) And speaking of which, please tell us there'll be more of these two before season 3 ends? The pretzel episode was the most adorable thing I've seen on TV in a long while, and I'm not a 'shipper' on any show. But I just love these two.4) Finally - will Season 3 end on a cliffhanger or will you tie up some loose ends in case, God forbid, the powers that be dont give you a fourth Season?

Welcome from the UK! 1.) We are picked up for Season 4. 2.) The actors very much inform the characters. Beth very much redefined Parker in her choices early in the year, even in the auditions. Aldis definitely brought more con-charm and physicality to Hardison than we originally anticipated. 3.) Wait until December. 4.) We don't do cliffhanger endings. Although changes in status, well ...

@Oona: I know that debt collectors can be vicious and I understand the psychology of being desparate in THAT situation but as I pointed out up - post, this is not THAT situation.

Her debt is with the IRS - NOT a private debt collector. This is a tax debt she had a payment plan on. Someone will have to refresh my recollection on whether she said she had other debt was being pursued by other debt collectors and therefore may have been under the weight of paranoia and fear from private debt collectors' intimidations?

But the government does not send people to your homes at night to take your credit cards. And if that was the only debt she was dealing with, then it was EXTREMELY gullible to let some skeevy dude into her house at night

Oooh, we definitely should have made that clearer. That was a private debt collector collecting on the behalf of the IRS. Which was a real policy, and exactly as bad an idea as it sounds.

@Tyler: My only question is, How awesome is Clancy Brown for real? 'Cause I bet he's really awesome.

He is super-awesome. And will work in any show I make, ever.

@la_ma: Sorry, because I LOVE you and I LOVE this show. BTW, great tweet reply to that nimrod that called you a socialist. But I digress. Marquis is so hard core right...on every point. Don't get me wrong, some things ALL shows do--like have the FBI travel at impossible warp speeds to locations. But we can presume that some enforcement agency already had an eye on this group. But the other stuff--a smart enough guy to run this scam and be untouchable considers giving all his money to a Jersey Shore style Curves gym owner within a matter of hours of meeting him? And this is after within minutes of meeting him he engages in that way TMI conversation. And the train thing especially. I mean if Hardison had hacked in and found the routes...but Nate? I totally just sat back and said, "Whatever. Man Hardison and Eliot are on it tonight. God I love this show." But my roommate, a Lev virgin until that night kept saying, "Umm...is it just me?" It was still a great ep and I guess my main question is, why did you add some parts while condensing the time span for others? And I really mean it--from a creative perspective, what was the drive? The train thing wasn't necessary was it? After they came in to range and Eliot communicated where they were... and yet Sophie usually spends some time building a relationship, why did it have to be THAT day? Don't crazy militia people keep more stuff at home than the office, but Parker, Nate, and Sophie all seem to need to be in the same place for some reason? Again, I finished this ep with a smile on my face and felt the need to tweet back at that nimrod myself. But the pace felt...well, how come?

The show comes together as the show comes together, with roughly two normal TV plots crammed into one, shot in 7 days and requiring the actors to be in the same sets for some scenes for scheduling. The parts we show are the parts we found interesting or necessary, and the parts we compress are the ones it makes sense (to us) to compress. That's the fun -- and frankly, the responsibility -- of filling blank pages on a relentless schedule. Sometimes you'll agree, sometimes you'll disagree; sometimes the fun train is invisible, sometimes it bigfoots on your lawn (while being invisible to others). I think it's a fine ep, and while some of you will put it at the tops of your lists, some will nod and move on to others. That is cool. Some of the fan favorite lists are frankly boggling to me, and I make the goddam show.

@Gina: Are we going to eventually see that any of the jobs the team has worked so far have actually been bringing them a step closer to Moreau? Oh, and I don't suppose there will ever be a chance for those of us on the east coast to get our hands on the Leverage t-shirts at Comic Con? Pretty please?

1.) Due to structure and actor scheduling, most of the Moreau plotline resolves in the back third of the season. But there are some clues to which cases you've already seen link to Moreau. 2.) Afraid they were one-timers, sorry. But there is plenty of t-shirty goodness at the Leverage store.

@Kim Henry: So, not about 307- more about comic con. It seems you're going to damage Eliot's warmer and fuzzier exterior. Can you promise us that we won't go screaming into the night? And how long will we have to wait?

December. And he will probably find a way to redeem himself.

@Leviathan: Oregon doesn't quite look like central Massachusetts, but I give you props for using real central MA towns for the train theft sequence, and double down on the props for the accurate MassDOT logo. I live in the area, and seeing the electronic map zooming in past Lunenburg to focus on Fitchburg was a lovely nod at reality, and now doubt thrilled my neighbors as much as it did me.

That was all based on some lovely research done by Kirsch, and is perilously close to how one goes about stealing a train.

@Kim H: This is actually a question from my husband. He is wondering if there is a reason why the team doesn't use guns. Clearly, the don't want to kill people and Eliot has an as of yet to be explained adversity for them, but they face off so often against people who get the drop on them that it's becoming almost silly that they don't get shot. For example, in this show, if any of those guys had their fingers on the trigger of their rifles when the bomb blew, it's highly likely they would have shot as they got blown forward. Would Eliot or Hardison been shot as a result? Maybe or maybe not. The same holds true for The Boost Job. Does TNT have a political bent against guns? Because if Eliot is ex-military and is as good as he is, he would certainly KNOW how to use a gun and probably how to use one without killing people if necessary. (italics mine -- JR) And clearly both Nate and Sophie have a history of carrying when necessary. After your questions about racism and rape last season, please know that neither of us mean any disrespect. We LOVE the show.

No disrespect taken. But it's a mix. First off, it's a family show. It's a show you can watch with your kids, or your parents. And so we don't use guns because --

-- when guns come out, people die. This attitude very much comes out from traditional American crime literature, and also from talking to our professional criminal friends. Guns are messy, when they show up things escalate, you take a longer, harder fall when doing a crime with a gun -- professional criminals are pathologically averse to carrying weapons.

But I'd like to focus particularly on your statement: Because if Eliot is ex-military and is as good as he is, he would certainly KNOW how to use a gun and probably how to use one without killing people if necessary.

No. You do not point a gun at anything or anyone you are not willing to kill. I don't know if you've ever handled or been trained to handle a weapon, but I had that drilled into my head at an early age. A gun has two settings -- holstered and murderous. "Wounded" is an accidental condition. Eliot in particular is aware of this, and one of the many reasons he does not use a gun is because he is trying to, well, not kill people anymore. Hardison is magnificently awful with weaponry. Although Parker is probably a fine shot, she's trying to play nice by the new rules, and only brought a weapon to the meet in the pilot because she wanted to get paid.

@Beth Pettit: your casting department deserves raises for the guest stars they get for this show. Almost every episode there is an actor/actress that have done one-ofs or short guest runs on other shows and knocked it out of the park and made me want to see them more and they ALL turn up on Leverage at some point. From Mark Sheppard to Gaincarlo Esposito to Kari Matchett to Richard Kind to Richard fucking Chamberlain (WHAT!)I'm always just as excited to see the guest stars on an episode as I am the main cast. Now if you can get Garret Dillahunt (Terminator: SCC, Burn Notice, Lie to Me, White Collar, Damages) then I think you'll have hit just about every amazing actor that I know that deserves more screen time. Side from them, you've introduced me to more actors I've fallen in love with. Also, does your costuming lady have a blog or something? If not, you should suggest it. They do an amazing job helping the characters come to life (especially Parkers Bjork costume) and I'm sure I'm not the only one who is interested in hearing what goes on behind the scenes in her domain.

I'll pass on your love to our fine casting friends, and I will hit Nadine Haders up to blog. I think she probably lacks the requisite spare time and narcissism I possess to do so, but I'll take a shot.

@Kate: Two questions really, first being part of an observation. 1.) It seemed to me like Parker was a little bit... different, in this ep, not un-Parker-y, but there was something going on. And then a theory that fits scarily well popped up from our group of watchers. Was she channeling Hardison? Since he was gone or just to experiment with acting like him? Because that's what me and my friends suspected. 2.) And secondly, I would like to know if it's a card in the writing room for the Leverage cast to steal a Convention of some kind. Because making any of them dress up for a cover(Thank you for the duck dress in The Studio Job) would be soooo much fun. And we can't get enough of Hardison geeking out.

1.) If that theory makes you happy, go with it. I like it. 2.) We've been trying to break the Convention Con for a while. Maybe next season.

On that lovely bit of praise for some very unappreciated people on the show, we'll wrap up. Very very soon, "The Boost Job", as I burn off more of my hiatus talking baout the show I'm on hiatus from.

As always, stay safe, and thanks for watching.