LEVERAGE #503 "The First Contact Job" Post-Game

Once we had our pickup last year, late, Chris Downey stayed in LA and worked with some writers on interim scripts while I went to Portland and wrestled the hot dam action to the ground.  The scripts are actually contracted under a separate deal with the network, not technically assigned to the next year.  Contract bullshit.

During this time our writer's assistant Aaron pitched him some concepts.  Aaron is our new Scrappy Writers Assistant now that Kirsch has transitioned to a seat at the big table (with an attitude to match ...).  He'd thrown a couple ideas against the wall during the previous year, including a restaurant one that didn't quite work but landed in the strike zone of the culinary school episode we did as ep #504.  Finally he came in with a pretty interesting story based around first contact research, specifically the most famous "hey, that could be an alien signal" incident, the  "Wow" signal.  Of particular interest is the idea that the signal could have been Earth-based bounce-back -- meaning we could fake it.  It's worth noting that Marvin, the super on-off device is real tech, much like the EMP gun that fries cars from Season Two is real tech.  Remember, if it's cool it's usually real, if it's boring we usually made it up.

This is how scrappy writers assistants get their scripts.  They pay attention, they learn how the show works, and then they pick their shots with with well-researched, high-concept hooks.  Downey worked with Aaron during the hiatus, then we presented the idea in the opening weeks of the writing year.  The room responded, everyone chipped in as usual and boom, first produced script. 

I wish I had a better "holy shit, hail Mary" story, but no, this is how it works in a non-crisis-based writers room (at least in the first few weeks, before everything goes to hell).  The only really interesting sidebar was that we briefly toyed with stealing a satellite for the story; it turns out satellites are actually shipped by truck to the launch sites in Central America, and a truck hijack of a satellite was intriguing. In the end we went with a smaller, more budget-conscious episode.

Why?  Well, you can always use the buffer, but this season we knew we had some big blow-out episodes coming down the pike -- 512, the summer season finale, was already shaping up to be a mini-movie.  Not every writers room gives a shit about the budget, by the way, leading to the long-standing room/set tension.  On one hand I'm sympathetic to the idea that the writers should have creative freedom.  On the other, some day you will be a showrunner, and you will be the one the studio hits up on the budget, and it would be nice if this wasn't the first time you had to wrap your head around the amort.  Which happens more often in in television with first-time showrunners than you may think.

In our situation, I don't mind the trade-off.  Writing to the budget, planning as far ahead as possible in partnership with production allows MORE creative freedom.  By shooting with available funds we have fewer masters to answer to, and so we can really maximize the choices we do make.  Something which would be impossible dropped on the line producer's desk on Day One of prep is eminently possible if the production designer has two months to wrap his head around it.

Phil Goldfarb, our line producer first year, is the kind of old hand who can look at a scene and tell you the cheapest. fastest shotlist before you've turned the page.  He beat into my head: "The most important thing in television is the timely delivery of scripted material."  All joking aside I can just say the first two words of that sentence, and every writer who's ever worked for me will snap out the rest faster than a West Point Cadet.  This will not land for most of you, but those in the industry will appreciate it: in five season of Leverage, we have only once started prep without a full shooting script, and we have never thrown out a script once prep has started.  The exception was the cross-boarded Season Two finale, which started a 14 day prep three days early because of a holiday shift, and so began prep with the outlines.  In general the finales tend to be monsters, often only fully complete once I'm on site so I can scout locations to shoot around.  When that happens, production scouts and preps for the first two or three days (of the 14 day crossboard prep) off our outlines.  But our outlines run 10-15 pages per episode.  I mean, they're not the infamous The Closer outlines that run 40 pages each (!!), but I've seen shows shoot off less, never mind prep.

Sometimes that script will change quite a bit based on that location scouting, actor availabilities, etc.  I always say "It's not the real script until the blues."  But we have a good long ramp on the scripts, and I think that development time really shows in this one, where it allowed us to work with Aaron and really let him be the one to take it all the way from pitch to finished script without a showrunner rewrite.

If I had my druthers, I'd move the writers room completely off the production cycle -- I believe Breaking Bad does this.  All scripts written before prep, so you're not laying track just in front fo the train.  There are contract issues with that plan, however, and this would mean changing our practice of having the writers on set, which we favor.  But maybe someday.

Well, not super episode specific, but those of you who come here for the TV geek-wonk got your treat. Let's see what questions you have ...

@IMForeman: I loved Eliot's characterization for Riker. After this, I'd love to see him as crazy, mumbly guy again.

Kane is channeling his good friend Chuck Goff, Toby Keith's bass player.  Hearing Kane tell drinking stories, alternating between his own voice and Chuck's, is ridiculously funny.  One day he's going to realize that landing jokes pays better and lasts longer then being an action lead, and I'll be shit out of luck.

@PurpleOps: 1.) Why would Kanack confine his search for a satellite provider to the Portland area? If he needed something shipped in a hurry, it could come same-day from most places in the U.S. If he needed an expert, all he had to do was contact one.

2.) Agents Fix and Kelsey - were those references to the Star Trek second pilot Where No Man Has Gone Before, which guest-starred Paul Fix and had a character names Kelso? Seems like a stretch, so maybe I'm missing something.
3. )Wasn't it uncharacteristic of Nate to assume that money was what the victim wanted? Until now, Nate has been reluctant to help someone until he heard them express the right motivation. Certainly, it reinforced the "listen" message of the ep, but it seemed forced.
4.) The rain toward the end was certainly visible, even unlit. And then you used it to great effect in the tag. Was that in the script, or was the rain worked in since a few shots couldn't hide it?
5.) In the "seriously" column: Caught the Riker reference on screen, and then you had to make it Willie Riker? And the MIB "We make this look good" - seriously?
6.) Since when does ELIOT drink (or ask for) orange soda??

1.) We had a bit in the script where he didn't want togo wide with the search, and really helped sell Portland as a high-tech hub -- wound up trimming it in the edit.  Also, there are only so many launch providers -- the business is remarkably like the real estate industry, which we alluded to in the dialogue but didn't have room to explore.  Pity, as I love that sort of quirky background stuff.  The expert issue was about confidentiality. 

2.) Nope. Random, I think.

3.) Huh, interesting.  Nate's never waited for the right motivation -- it's the writers, by only presenting victims with the right motivations, trying to maintain the moral clarity of a show that starts from a very morally grey premise.  Chicken/egg thing.  

     I'd argue what we were going for here was a lapse.   Nate is very gung-ho, and can forget himself in his pursuit of the mark, and you are meant to get the hunt that he is a bit ... distracted.  I'm always annoyed when character arcs only move one way.

     Assuming he wasn't just secretly testing Sophie ...

4.) Nope, it just goddam rained.
5.) "Willie Riker" was a placeholder.  When Frakes showed up, he insisted we keep it in.
6.) He's in character.  He's playing an obsessive techie, that's what obsessive techies drink.  It's a way of showing how Sophie's coaching paid off.
7.) We are very lucky to have those lads.

@Anonymous: 1.) Why did you send Eliot in as the computer guy and Hardison in as the MIB? Obviously Hardison filled out the tall dark and threatening suit well but Eliot as the nerd?  Unbelievable to me, even if Hardison was whispering in his ear the whole time.  2.) Also, the device on the back of Kanack's suit was obvious from the beginning... why didn't the goons see it and remark on it?  Don't get me wrong, I absoluteluy LOVE Leverage and support everyone whole-heartedly, but this ep seemed a little forced and off the wall.

1.) Two reasons.  First, there was a good chance the techie would have to fight his way out, so they dropped Eliot in.  Now, as to the other reason -- yes, WHY DID WE SEND IN ELIOT AS THE COMPUTER GUY?  Sometimes when a show makes you ask a question, it's on purpose.  Like, why do we seem to be having different people practice what they've learned from each other over the last 4 years... 

2.) We amped up that bug in post for visibility, and we screwed up and made it too big.  Our bad.

@Susy: I'm really wondering what Nate meant by "What happens when eventually comes too late?"

So am I.

@Sarah W: How less stressful is it now that you guys don't have to worry about filming around the weather in Oregon.

To be fair, filming around it wasn't hard -- light to moderate rain doesn't show up unless backlit.  It's more just dealing with the constant ... wet.  Cold year, too.

@USRaider: There is a gnawing concern of mine, however. Parker and Hardison are tremendously happy, Nate and Sophie are very happy with each other, Eliot is...well, he's Eliot and single (you do the mental gymnastics). They have been able to shed anyone who is hunting for them from their Boston escapades... Why do I have a bad feeling about this?

Come on, people.  I'm not Whedon.

@LindaS: Fess up, John. Who wrote the "Two ol' Boys" song? Was it a Kane and Hodge improv?

Half-scripted, for just Hardison.  Then Kane pointed out that by this point the two of them are pretty close, and Eliot would find it amusing.  So they worked with Aaron to build it into a bigger bit.

@bravos: I almost get the feeling that Nate is doing some of these things on purpose. Like having Parker come up with the plan to get Rising's secret money and now "not listening" to see if Sophie listened. It seems more like he's secretly testing them. And the whole brew pub and theater are soo staged by Nate and/or Hardison ..

Ahem.

@thebacardiqueen: LOVED tonight's episode and Aaron Denius did a superb job. My questions are: 1) whose idea was it to name Eliot's alias Willie Riker (coincidence that Jonathan Frakes was direction this one?) 2) will we see more of Eliot grifting this year? 3.) Also, in the answers to 501 you said we met the big bad in the last minute...wasn't that just Hardison & Nate talking? Are you saying one of them is the big bad, or did I miss something?

1.) As noted, a placeholder Frakes was amused by.

2.) Lots of Eliot grifting.  And more backstory.

3.) You missed nothing.  Of course, your definition of"big bad" and mine may be different.

@adc1966: This was the most fun episode in quite some time, I thought. Sophie and Eliot were especially good with their techie characters. 1.) How many people in the world besides Parker can poke Eliot in the face and not be rewarded with pain? 2.) This might have been asked before, but... do any of the team members know Parker's real, full name? Even Hardison? 3.) Pardison is indeed adorable, but... Parker does have some emotional problems which should make a serious relationship challenging. We haven't really seen anything but the cuteness yet. Is there a rocky road ahead, or has Parker truly grown out of her issues? 4.) I know during the Alien Abduction scene, the team was counting on Kanack being too freaked out to act logically. But what did they plan to do if he'd had the presence of mind to check Eliot/Willy's pulse after his death scene? 5.) One thing that surprised me was the reaction of the press to Kanack's final press conference. I would think if a prominent wunderkind inventor/CEO had what appeared to be a schizophrenic break right in front of their cameras, the last thing they'd do is get up and file out of the room. No way they'd pass up a viral video like that.

1.) Four.  2.) Parker's name is, for all intents and purposes, Parker.  Parker calls herself Parker when she looks in the mirror.  3.) They have their issues, but we're not Grey's Anatomy.  You won't see that sturm and drang, although you'll get omse bumps. You know, sometimes the writers like writing happy couples ... 4.) Eliot can stop his heart for thirty seconds.  5.) The reporters camera left were using their cell phones to record him.  Assume he's on the Gawker front page right now.

@MosNoogaMara: . Any chance the chase song is gonna make it to iTunes? I'd buy it!

It's up on the LeverageFans.com site.

@Shane: One question though, when the Mooks are taking Eliot away in a hood, in the background a man in a suit and dark sunglasses pokes out from behind the trailer. At first I thought this was going to be an actual government agent who would throw a wrench into the team's plans, but then he's never referenced again in the episode. What's the deal there? Was something cut, or was he just part of Kenickie's goon squad?

Ah, caught that?  That was writer Aaron Garcia in a cameo as, yes, a real MiB, who once he determined this was all a hoax went back to his underground bunker.  A small indulgence.

@Nyctotherion: Just one for ya: how does Kanack going insane on national television invalidate his having patented the victim's invention? 

As the Apple/Samsung suit has taught us, patents are adorable.

@Anonymous: OK, settle an argument: Marvin as in Marvin the Martian or Marvin as in Marvin the robot in "Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy." I say Marvin the Martian because he's always outsmarted by Bugs Bunny.

Aaron says it is, indeed ... one of those.

@Sarai: Was the fight with Eliot in the office based on some of Jackie Chan's fights?  Maybe it was just me, but I immediately thought of Jackie Chan's fights where he's trying to not break anything while taking out the bad guys.

Got it in one. Long-time readers know I created The Jackie Chan Adventures.  I got the gig because I was a Jackie super-fan. He's used the bit several times in his early career, but notably in Rush Hour in the museum.

@Zeyneb: Parker cloned the mark's phone when they were introducing themselves as agents. (loved them as man in black!) did they ever use the cloning of the phone, was it cut out? Or you did it just to sow that you normally do stuff like that?

It was one of the ways we steered Kanack to Nate as the satellite dealer.  Trimmed, I think.

@Ally: 1. Was Eliot fighting in character? I loved it.  2. How did you do the thing with Sophie getting sucked away? It was pretty epic.  3. Was Eliot mocking/imitating/otherwise poking fun at Hardison when he asked for orange soda? 3a. Did he ever get the orange soda? I didn't see it anywhere.

1.) As noted, a Jackie riff.  2.) A stuntie on a pull-line, with digital blending. 3.) He was in character, but definitely teasing. 3a.) Huh. Thought he got it. It;s on the desk somewhere, I know.

@Ken: Are y'all ever gonna show Hardison and Parker kissing? Did they show it and I just looked away at the wrong time?

We used up all our kissing time when they weren't dating, in "The Experimental Job".

@Anonymous: 1) Will we finally meet any of the relatives you've hinted at in the past, such as Nate's sister, Elliot's nephew, or Hardison's Nana? I personally would love to see Nana meet Archie Leach. 2) I love the cons with the really outrageous personas, such as Sophie's Nadia. Could you give a hint of some of the characterizations coming down the pipe, without spoiling?

1.) Not this season, although there's an episode where you hear a LOT about Eliot's family.

2.) I think Nadia's the biggest one this year.  She has some nice characters in #509, which is the Nate & Sophie half of the summer finale.  Nate's got a great one as a union organizer, Hardison has role as an avant-garde artist coming up in two eps.

@Amelia: 1.) Parker and Hardison are one of my favorite things about this new season, and I am delighted at how you are handling them, in such a sweet and adorable way. Having said that, I have to ask: Are they living together at the HQ?  2.) Also I spent the entire episode expecting a Doctor Who reference so I must ask if the reporter in a bow tie was in any way intentional.   3.) And because it's my first time commenting, I have to thank you for taking the time to keep this blog and connect with the fans. It's great to learn more about the making of the episodes and it certainly makes us feel more a part of it.

1.) They have separate places, but Hardison's crash pad at the brew pub is becoming a pretty common hangout.

2.) Yep.

3.) Hell, thank you guys for watching and sticking with us for five seasons.  

@Lydia: With that episode almost permanently scrambling my brain into incoherent fangirl thoughts, I did manage to come up with a question or two... 1.) How are the episodes' directors chosen (like Frakes directing the scifi episode)? 2.) Was the epic chase music duet a shout out to The Dukes of Hazzard?

1.) We line the directors up based on their availabilities, then try to match the scripts to the directors.  That's why so many of our shows wind up shuffled -- we'd rather have the right director, and then adjust in the post production schedule.  This one just happend to work out perfectly. 

2.) That was the nub of it, anyway.

@Pixie: Just promise that you haven't broken your word -- if it's the end, it's emotionally satisfying (if painful) and if it's not, you have a back door or a trap door or some kind of rocket-pack you can use to escape. Please. This is the only show my dad and I can stand to watch together. For that alone, it is magic.

I cannot tell you how happy I am to hear that.  Downey and I, when first discussing the show, literally said "Where's the show you can watch with your dad?  Like we had with Rockford Files?"

I promise, you will be satisfied.  Ish.

@Sabine: 1.) Drake's Equation, military satellite static - I love when Eliot lets out his inner smartie pants. I think you told us once that Eliot enlisted; he didn't go to one of the military academies. Why? Someone that sharp could easily have become an officer if he wanted, so I assume he wanted something else out of his military career? 2.) And I adore Willie Riker but I'm baffled. Can you explain how when Eliot wears that beanie, he is smoking, but on Willie that exact same hat is total goober? Special effects?

1.)  Entrance to the Academies often requires political clout that Eliot's family did not have. Also there were ... extenuating circumstances about Eliot's enlistment which you will learn about this year.  That said, he certainly got plenty of scholling once he was in.

2.) ACTING!!!

@Calla: Someone commented that this is actually episode #6 - did you intend it to air (this much) out of order? And, if not, do you think that this could negatively impact the buildup of tension leading up to the season finale or decrease the number of people who catch the little hints relating to the over-arcing theme of the season?

No, we knew this was a floater.  Light, non-arc episode.  We always have a few of these kicking around a season.  We actually shifted a few eps from the front half to the back half this year -- and it will be pretty clear to you which ones.

@Amber: I was wondering, though, if this season would be the season that we finally meet someone from Hardison's past (Nana, hacker/online buddy, etc)? We've seen QUITE a few people from Nate's past, Sophie's past, Eliot's past (with the next episode and this season's Vance character adding to the number) and even Archie from Parker's past, but no one from Hardison's. Will we see someone this season, or will we have to go to TNT with cap in hand for another season before Nana or anyone else from pre-Leverage Hardison pops up asking for help or something? Nothing major, I was just watching season 1 again and realized that you meet (or see in flashbacks) quite a few people from everyone else's past, with the exception being Hardison.

I actually answer this in the podcast, but its worth addressing here. Hardison is a paradox.  He's the character we meet earliest in his arc, but at the same time he's a pretty well-adjusted guy when he joins the team.  His arc isn't about his baggage, and we don't tend to do backstory for backstory's sake.   FWIW Jeremy Bernstein and Kirsch pitched a Nana episode this year and I shot it down.  So you can love them even more and hate on me.

@TJ: Observations, theories and questions, yes I’m a dork and I numbered them all. And this is Part 1...
O1) Actually for me, it doesn't seem that out of character with Nate to miss what a client really needs. He's been doing this for four years or so, he's seen innumerable people and they all end up with what they want PLUS money (just to help them out). Even Robin Hood can get a little jaded and unfocused and think "Hey, this guy made something, it got stolen, didn't get the profits - he wants his stuff and money. Cool, easy job." His mind has already moved on to the job. 
I think that’s the approaching problem of the season. Caring is hard and taking action for what you care about is even harder, because it makes you see all the other things there are to do in the world. For the people you help, you’re amazing. For you, there’s just another name on the list. How long can you sustain an endeavor like this? Is it like holding your finger in the dam? 
Also, it feels like Nate’s prepping something in the background and only about half of his brain is dedicated to the con… which considering Nate’s brain is. Terrifying. Punctuation completely on purpose. 
Q1)Eliot’s symbols for “Hardison” (type-y fingers) and Parker (crazy + whistle) = hilarious. Whose idea?
Q2) Is Hardison ever going to learn to pick a lock? Like in a decent amount of time? And did Parker know about the real key and just con Hardison? 
Q3)What was the image that clued everyone in that he was looking for extraterrestrial life? I can see it but I can’t identify it? 
Q4) Which dance was Hardison trying to get Eliot to do? It looked like the Electric Slide for a minute until the hop…? 
Q5) Did Sophie just like being one up on Nate the whole time and that’s why she didn’t try harder to tell him about the problem with the client? 
Q6) Did the Men in Black figure out it was just a big con (the guy behind the trailer) or was he just a throw in? 
Q7)HOW DID HE MISS WILLIE RIKER? After hearing it repeated six billion times I had to ask…and then I realized that Jonathan Frakes directed. Never mind. 
Q8)How long did it take you to realize all the inherent ET/Eliot jokes?
Q9)Did the first check go into the victim pile or to Sophie? 
Q10) How much fun did Kane have being Willie Riker? 
O5/Q11)Why was Parker surprised at the “getting the reputation back” thing? They’ve done that before with Monica Hunter…
Q12) How many people did Eliot end up beating up? Those were a lot of pairs of shoes…
Q13)Could the crowd spot the speaker on his back or just assume Karnack was nuts? 
Q14) Did the airplane company just not care that Karnack had the plans or just not want to deal with the publicly crazy man? Private crazy guy vs. public crazy guy? 
Q15) Why didn’t Parker and Hardison join in the gloat? Everyone had fun freaking Karnack out, especially Nate with that cocked puppy look. Where were Type-y and Crazy?

O1.) Pretty spot on, actually.  It's also kind of a meta-reference to how hard it is to stay fresh and dedicated to anything, even a TV show, after five years.  When you finish the season, you'll be able to go back and see that some of these eps get their emotional core off the issues we as writers were dealing with.
Q1.) Came out of the writers room.  Can't remember who.
Q2.) Hardison is just damn shitty with locks.
Q3.) All the space/astronomy stuff on the shelves.
Q4.) Nope, just fucking with him.
Q5.) That is a good question.  The top level one is that she was waiting to see how Nate had changed after his little sojourn.
Q6.) As above.
Q7.) I'll now throw TV Tropes into madness and say there was a slightly different cast and character list on Next Gen n the Leverage-verse.
Q8.) That was all Aaron.
Q9.) Victim pile, with the usual cut.
Q10) Too much fun.  Only beaten by the 70's ep.
Q11.) It's not the usual gig, and we needed to reset it for newer viewers.
Q12.) Enough.
Q13.) Nuts.  That speaker got pulled up in highlights too much.  Should have blanded better.  My fault.
Q14.)  Private crazy and working for you is always better than a publicly crazy partner.
Q15.) Shooting scenes from the next episode, actually.  Or previous.  But it was a straight availability issue.

@Beth P: Do you guys ever hang out with/run into the other guys filming in Portland (Grimm and Portlandia)? I have this funny image in my head of a shot of the Leverage crew walking down the street and a stray werewolf runs across the screen in the distance behind them, Nate accidentally bumping into Fred Armisen as he walks by and keeps going like nothing is amiss.

We've actually been drinking with the Grimm folks a few times.  The bitch of it for them is they alway shoot nights, so they live the werewolf's schedule.  Brutal.  Fred's been on set and we had a GREAT cameo for him in the Season opener, but the scheduling didn't work out.

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As always, thanks for your time, and we'll see you Sunday at 9 for the big flashback ep of the season, "the D.B. Cooper Job".