Sunday, January 01, 2012

LEVERAGE #416 "The Gold Job" Question Post

Sorry about that, got all tied up reading Sanderson's Mistborn. Go ahead and ask you questions, I'll see what I can do to amuse you.

176 comments:

  1. Anonymous7:36 PM

    Beautiful episode. gotta love Portland! =)

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  2. Lydia7:38 PM

    Portland pride! Nice use of the rain...

    No questions yet, but holy shit on next week's previews!

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  3. Anonymous7:40 PM

    LOVED IT! I can't wait to see next week though.

    Loved Hardison taking over with the evals and the video game characters. Loved Parker's outfit as a dealer. Loved Nate taking a backseat. Loved the donut scene and SO want one of those. Loved Eliot wanting to kill Hardison. LOVED LOVED LOVED it!

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  4. I absolutely love every episode, please pay no attention to nay sayers.. Please can you tell us when we will find out "Sophie's" real name?

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  5. IrishJoe7:44 PM

    Hi! Not a comment on this episode (which I just watched and loved loved loved, especially the use of the Shanghai tunnels!), but I want to share with you and the commentariat a general peeve about something I've seen (and heard) in a lot of shows (most recently, in the excellent Sherlock S1:E3). I won't swear that I haven't seen it on your equally excellent Leverage -- I think I have, but I can't prove it. It's this: When a character ends a call on a cell phone, many times the sound people will help indicate that the call has ended by inserting a dial tone sound effect. Problem is, cell phones don't have dial tones. I'm perhaps being too picky, but when I see/hear this, it temporarily takes me out of the story. Can you do anything to make it stop? Thanks for letting me share/vent!

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  6. PurpleOps7:46 PM

    Aaaand here's the link I asked for in my comment to Van Gogh Post Game part 1. That's service!

    Question zero: Am I the only one who thought that, while the overall Hardison scheme was overly complex, things went entirely too easily for the team until the scene in the lawyer's office? Now, if the point was simply to get to the stage in the story where it all goes wrong for Hardison, and he learns his lesson from Nate, fine. Otherwise, one of the rules used to be that the villain was smart enough to catch coincidences, and that didn't happen until nearly the end. And that leads into...

    Question 1: Just from where was it that Tommy recognized Hardison? I don't remember seeing the two in the same place until the lawyer's office.

    Question 2: How did you convince TNT to omit the saga sell this week? Thanks!

    Question 3: Joe Lo Duca contributed even more wonderful music this week, as he does every week; his tunes follow the mood of the show beautifully. Any chance of a follow up soundtrack album for this and last season?

    Nice way to tie Portland directly into the plot. Fun stuff!

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  7. Esser-Z7:46 PM

    Mr. Punchy!

    Loved the episode.

    Were those Froot Loops (or similar) on that one doughnut? Parker's first. Sure looked like it.

    (2) plan G: intentional callback to the pilot?

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  8. Awesome episode. So many great moments. This is possibly my favorite episode of the season so far - the script was just so clever and so funny, and the actors really brought it home, especially Tim Hutton and Aldis Hodge. I got all sniffly there at the end.

    I also really loved Gina Bellman's hand gesture bit and Eliot's wrath when he promised to personally kick Hardison off the team and Parker's obsession for donuts. I never would have pegged her for having anything in common with Homer Simpson, but whaddaya know.

    So my only question (for now): Does this visit to Portland somehow play into how the team ends up there next season?

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  9. The episode hasn't run in Portland, yet . . . waiting, waiting.

    I wanted to give a shout-out for a bit of versimilitude in last week's episode. The taxi cab Sophie gets in has a phone number . . . with the 631 area code appropriate for Suffolk County, where the Hamptons lie. You guys rock.

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  10. Awesome episode. Was that a Fruit loop doughnut? Is Hardison going to get his own team when they finally split or will he try and get the others to join?

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  11. Another good episode, possibly great but will need to watch it again because my mind was still blown from watching S02E01 of BBC "Sherlock". Any chance of getting Cumberland in an episode?

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  12. Yeah, about the doughnuts--I kept trying to read the box and couldn't. Which bakery supplied them?

    One of the expectations I have of Hardison's character is that he tends to overplay until things get serious, at which point he grounds himself like a badass. This wasn't a high-stakes job (in comparison, though that never negates the victims' pain, does it) and the team was never in danger, so Hardison didn't have to dig deep.

    This is in no way a criticism of the episode, which I think was a necessary one for Hardison's development--and a lot of fun, too.

    It's just a roundabout way of saying that one of these days, I'd like to see him take over a high stakes job when Nate and Sophie can't complete it and aborting the con (as he wanted to do in the Runway Job) isn't an option.

    Someday?

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  13. MacSTL8:12 PM

    It appears that I am in the minority but oh well - we are all different.

    Didn't love this one. Too slow (too much sitting in the hotel room)- not enough Leverage-y Action for me.

    1)How did the woman not know that Parker took the necklace? We changed days and everything

    2) What was the point of Eliot going into the Professor's office to set the photos on the desk? Sophie could have easily done that.

    3) How is this ep going to tie into the teams move to Portland for S5?

    I did enjoy the shout out to VooDoo Donuts.

    Looking forward to a good finale however.

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  14. Esser-Z8:34 PM

    @MacSTL: I for one watch Leverage for the characters as much as the Leveragey action, so it was great for me.

    And I forgot to say it, but Leverage actually being in Portland? Perfect!

    ANOTHER QUESTION: Did it actually rain during the filming? I'm going to hope not, for some kind of a sense of cosmic irony. :D

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  15. Anonymous8:35 PM

    I have not seen the episode yet, but I just wanted to say that I'm delighted that you're reading Mistborn. I read it a few months ago, and when I realised what was going on, I thought "It's a high fantasy Leverage!" - the first thing I imagined of was Nate saying "Let's go steal us an empire!"

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  16. I haven't seen the episode yet, but if it is set in Portland then the source of the oddball donuts is Voodoo Doughnut, located downtown. (They have a website, Google it!)

    They have some VERY peculiar doughnuts. Once upon a time they sold cold-busting Nyquil-filled donuts, but the drug content violated some ordinance or another.

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  17. thebacardiqueen9:07 PM

    Just wondering, why do you often put Eliot in glasses, but not any of the others? Loved the ep, by the way!!!

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  18. Stefan Jones -- the gold-dealer ad at the beginning of tonight's episode also had the correct area code of 617 for Boston (followed by the traditional "555").

    This was fun, and next week does look scary...

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  19. Physistory9:16 PM

    To everyone asking about the donuts:

    I have no affiliation with the show, but as an Oregon native I'd be willing to lay favorable odds that they're from Voodoo Doughnut,

    http://voodoodoughnut.com/index.php

    my favorite donut place in Portland.

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  20. Anonymous9:20 PM

    I absolutely adore "Leverage." There isn't an episode that I don't like! I'm just wondering why it seems this season "Eliot" has had much smaller parts? Christian is just such an awesome actor and there are alot of Kaniacs out here.

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  21. evening_shadow9:48 PM

    I thought the box said voo something, but Christian kept flapping it around and I couldn't get a good look. I also thought the doughnut was froot loops, but later Parker was asking if her character name was Apple Ax so now I'm wondering if they were apple jacks. Thanks for the link for the bakery, I knew somebody here would know!

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  22. Awesome episode! That was a tough lesson for Hardison to learn, but I think it was a necessary one. He's young and less ... cognizant, I think, of his own weaknesses and the way they affect the rest of the team.

    Couple of questions: first, has Parker always had a tattoo on her forearm? I never noticed it before, but it didn't really make sense as part of the con, so I'm assuming it must have been there already and I'm just incredibly unobservant.

    Second, did Hardison appreciate how bad it was to let Nate send Parker into the warehouse unnecessarily? It wasn't clear to me that he appreciated the danger (which I'm assuming was also the reason for Eliot's reaction); it seemed like he might be more assuming they were upset because he let them waste their time.

    Finally, how much of Hardison's wanting to be the puppetmaster is that he actually wants to be in charge as opposed to him wanting Nate to think he's capable of being in charge?

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  23. Anonymous10:10 PM

    How did a guy like Hardison (a self admitted geek) manage to become so confident and at times cocky? Seeing as he’s been behind a computer most of his life.

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  24. If Hardison gets his own team one day and Nate kept a team which team would Parker and Eliot chose to be apart of? I think we all know Sophie would stay with Nate.

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  25. I have a Leverage obsession and may need a support group. Tonight's episode was wonderful. Every week I watch to see what has been disguised as Boston. This week Portland got to be front and center! If you ever need to "steal a classroom...."

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  26. @Anon, I always thought that was part of his cockiness - he's so great at the computer stuff that he's never seriously challenged at it, and his resulting arrogance carries over into other areas of their work. He also doesn't get the "feedback" that the rest of the team gets when cons go awry, because he's usually in the apartment or in a van - he hears Eliot getting punched or Nate getting confronted with a gun over the coms, but he doesn't experience it in person. That's not to say that he takes it lightly at all; it's just that his ego doesn't take the same hit, so his natural arrogance isn't abated. At least, that made sense to me as a rationale for a hacker being that cocky.

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  27. Hooray for a Portland-based episode!

    Fun episode! The whole video-game based con was a really cool and very Hardison idea. I loved how he was like the anti-Nate mastermind; it seemed like Hardison asked himself "What would Nate do?" and then did the opposite.

    Then when things when to shit, Nate was pretty awesome on that bridge - he could have easily made Hardison feel so much worse than he already did, but, instead, Nate used it as a teaching opportunity - that was a really nice scene.

    Then, the con was over! What?! It went from Hardison completely screwing the pooch to - bam! - hole in floor, no gold, cops, arrest, done. It felt so SUDDEN!

    I liked that that final scene was a bookend to the scene on the bridge - with Nate's completion of the con sandwiched in the middle - and it was a nice explanation for what are the bare bones of any con, but it also seemed like an odd break in the conversation, like that last part should have happened back in Portland instead of at least a day later back in Boston.

    I think, instead of Nate just stepping in and solving the problem for Hardison, I would have preferred if Nate had guided Hardison to the solution. If Nate would have just asked Haridson a few leading questions, I'm sure Hardison would have 1) come to the same solution Nate did, 2) wouldn't have felt so dejected that he'd screwed up and had to have Nate come to rescue, 3) but that the whole thing could still have been a learning experience.

    OTOH, if the intention was to put Hardison off the idea of trying to run another con anytime soon, I think that was accomplished, but the fact that I only just this moment thought of that means it wasn't clearly presented to me in the show.

    But, other than the abrupt-feeling final few scenes, I thought this was a fun, engaging episode with a clever new type of con laid out to us at the same time it was laid out to the team, which kept things feeling very fresh and in the moment.

    Questions:
    Is wood-obsessed, antique-deal Parker wearing wooden-framed glasses? Because if they were, then Nadine wins all the awards for that clever costume decision!

    What are the seven basic con types? And what episodes do you think best illustrate those basic types?

    Thanks again for everything - including the illuminating, densely-packed DVD commentary and blog answers to all of our pesky questions! You and your team are really among the very best!

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  28. OregonLamb11:14 PM

    to answer everyone: YES, see voodoodoughnuts.com Parker is eating "the Loop," and Eliot has an "old dirty bastard." The pink box can also be seen in the season 3 gag reel when they give Frakes a C&B.

    OK, question: I know Hobo's exists as does the hole in the sidewalk. So were you able to access any underground there or in any part of Portland for any of those scenes, or was it all set?

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  29. Allthehotgirlswearglasses11:39 PM

    Bacarddi Queen: I bet that Sophie has had Lasik and isn't Nate in glasses sometimes? Anyway, Eliot is nearing 40 and besides looks very hot in specs. Mostly, I think it's the latter and Nadine knows it.

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  30. Anonymous11:41 PM

    When you are writing do you consciously think about archetypes, their roles and audience effect, or does it just come naturally without conscious thought?

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  31. What was also nice was that Nate's praise of Hardison wasn't just fluff; Hardison actually had some pretty good ideas and a good grasp of sucking the mark in.

    And Nate did set it up as a teaching moment, and did it in such a way that it's going to stick.

    Bookend this with the moment where Hardison brought Hurley back so Nate can see the good he does (and the echo where Nate admits the corrosive side effects of running cons) and you have a big step forward in the Nate/Hardison relationship. You really can see the father/son, mentor/student vibe.

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  32. The seven basic cons. Is that by any chance a throwback to the seven basic stories? I've had a couple English teachers tell me that there are seven basic stories and every story that someone tells, no matter the medium, is a variation on one of those.

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  33. Loved the episode, any chance we'll get to see the evaluations the team did for Hardison?

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  34. I really loved this episode and would definitely put it in my top 5 for the season so far, probably top 3.

    Count me as one who loved both briefing scenes and all the little team dynamics there. There were so many great moments in both those scenes. But to me there was also enough con.

    Loved the Nate/Hardison snarkiness and the the Nate/Hardison father/son/mentor/teacher moments, too. Seriously, when Nate tells Hardison that his plan was smart and then Nate's filling out the eval and looks up at Hardison when he's doing it - such beautifully understated and poignant moments.

    I rewatched just their moments this a.m., and Tim and Aldis are just awesome. And Nate not being a bastard to anyone but the mark for two eps in a row?!? I love this Nate - still snarky with the team at times but also more open with them. You always said Nate was a great dad, and it felt like we really saw "dad Nate" in this episode.

    Will we get more Nate-Hardison stuff or Nate-Parker stuff in Season 5?

    I wouldn't want to see Nate go all soft, but "dad Nate" NEEDS to show up at least once a season people!

    The graphics for Hardison's con during his briefing were great - who came up with those?

    Awesome episode guys! Now on to you ripping my heart out in the finale!

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  35. Haven't watched the episode yet, just wanted to see if you had read Sanderson's Warbreaker?

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  36. I think the true victim in your story was the brother and sister.

    This was one of those jobs where I think the Leverage crew was out of line.

    1. I may not like the way "Buy your gold" is run but they are in it to make money. People know there not going to get top dollar, they will get low balled but they do it for the easy money. Then they complain when they get small check.

    Do people get mad when they can't get top dollar for something they are selling at a garage sale? No! They know the people who are buying their merchandise were looking for a bargain. How is this any different?

    2. To get the brother and sister arrested was uncalled for. They did nothing illegal except try to make a living. I was okay with the heist since this is a show about robbing people...but putting two people in jail when they didn't deserve it was offensive.

    Before you ask no I have no connections at all to anyone who buys gold so I am not biased.

    Do I think the lady was a jerk for lying to the consumer. Yeah, but that consumer did send her stuff to her. She read all the rules and conditions. Did she really believe that she would get top dollar? if she wanted to get a thousand dollars then she should have tried to sell it on her own, or put it on consignment at a jewelry store. She CHOSE to go the easy route.

    Now I will say I do not like the two week return policy but waiting to send the check out for two weeks. That is wrong. However, that lady could have easily taken the women to court and show the postmark on the letter, and the judge would rule in her favor.

    The brother and sister were both jerks. However they didn't deserve to go to jail/arrested.

    This kind of story would have made more sense with the payday loan industry. They are true monsters, with all he fees they charge. Those people are predatory lenders. The buy for gold industry gives people money for items. They don't ruin lives. They just help out people who are too lazy to try and sell there jewelry the right way.

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  37. This ep was fun. Probably not one of my very faves (but even a "less fave" ep of Leverage is head and shoulders above anything else I watch), but I did enjoy seeing Hardison take the reins, and he inevitable fallout. And Sophie knowing "jazz hands" and Hardison soothing Eliot's irritation with a Mr. Punchy ap were pretty much worth the price of admission, lol

    It did raise an interesting question for me, though, regarding Nate.

    We know Nate isn't in any hurry to have Hardison reach mastermind status, and that he's said Hardison just isn't ruthless enough for it. Then, in his consolation talk with Hardison in this ep, he pointed to another danger – that screwing with people, even people who deserve it, seriously bends the psyche. And in what I thought was a lovely call back to his anger speech in "Long Way Down," he seemed to recognize that he's done as much damage to himself as to any mark.

    So, my question is, how much of Nate's reluctance to let Hardison become "the puppetmaster" is really a belief that Hardison doesn't have what it takes, and how much is a fear that Hardison might actually develop what it takes? How much is a fear that Hardison will not only learn to do what Nate does, but also become what Nate is?

    Of them all, Hardison really is (to me) the most unaffected by the life he's chosen. Sophie grifts the way other people breathe; it's just bred into her bones. Eliot has far too much blood on his hands and soul ever to be "normal." Nate is broken beyond repair, and Parker is … Parker. They're all, really, beyond reclamation. Hardison alone doesn't have that kind of, for lack of a better word, ruination in him.

    And I can't help wondering if Nate recognizes that and is trying to protect that. Even going way back to S1, in the juror job, when Nate was telling Hardison, "You could be anything you wanted," or words to that effect, he seems to see Hardison as, well, salvageable.

    Nate's messed up so much in his life. Is he trying to keep Hardison from going down that same road?

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  38. @Eric, those gold companies advertise themselves as paying top dollar. That's in their pitch. Then they send ridiculously small checks that arrive (according to their T&C) after it's too late to decline their offer and get your jewelry back. I would've been fine with the team taking the brother and sister down (and getting them arrested) right there, just for that.

    But on top of that, the sister flat-out lied to the victim that the necklace had been destroyed, and _then_ started wearing it herself. That's a terrifying level of ... whatever's the opposite of empathy.

    Granted, the payday lenders are probably worse than the gold-for-cash people, but that's for a given value of "worse." By comparison to the rest of humanity, they're both pretty despicable.

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  39. OregonLamb8:19 AM

    Hmmm...Eric,I see your points except much of the law is about intent. Those places do claim to pay top dollar (or similar verbage)and that is the lie.

    As to these specific people, they lied to the victim, they were willing to steal the gold under the building where they had no rights, they left Nate for dead, and they were still not satisfied.

    The slightly clunky part was the abrupt quitting at the "lawyer's" office.

    An observation even my mother noticed: How many times did they say "in Oregon," in the episode? It stood out as if they were on another planet. I suspect the decision to move the team to Oregon came long after filming, when you came back to write for season 5 and this is purely coincidence?

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  40. So many great moments in this episode!

    There was one scene I was a little confused about, and maybe I just need to watch again, but...

    Tommy claims they need a bigger cut because they did all the hard work finding the treasure. But Nate and Elliot were already there, so that argument doesn't make sense. Or was the idea that Nate and Elliot were down there searching hit and miss style? I know, hardly plot relevant...

    And an even more random question about background details: loved the team code names and avatars. But if Hardison supposedly made them, why are Mercury and Mr. Punchy a totally different art style from the other three? (sorry, illustrator here.)

    Love the show! It's my only appointment tv show. Can't wait for next week - woah!

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  41. Eric - The siblings were: a) lying to consumers about the appraised value of their gold (the true value of the victim's necklace was on the computer screen in the opening scene and higher than what the sister said it was); b) creating a rejection option for the consumer that was designed to fail in every single instance; and c) lying to the consumer about the status of their goods.

    And as Nate said, they were using these tactics to unfairly bilk consumers out of millions. That ain't business, that's consumer fraud, and every state has laws against it.

    You can't tell a consumer you've got a qualified appraisal of their merchandise and then lie to them about the appraisal value. You can't create unfair procedures designed to eliminate the consumer's options.

    Check out this for OR's consumer fraud act:

    http://www.osbar.org/public/legalinfo/1046_ConsumerLaw.htm

    SueN said: Nate's messed up so much in his life. Is he trying to keep Hardison from going down that same road?

    That's a great observation and one I hadn't made yet. Hope to hear Rogers thoughts on this one.

    sits back, chin in hands, tapping foot

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  43. Was having Sophie work at school with "Apiary" in the title a subtle reference to the I Love Bees ARG forum "The Haunted Apiary"?

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  44. Anonymous9:34 AM

    Yes, about that promo for The Radio Job...

    were the last two episodes written with the expectation that they would/should be watched back-to-back, and then the airdates just didn't work out that way? Or were they written as mostly stand-alones?

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  45. Hey, I couldn't quite tell, but did this episode take place in Portland, in the state of Oregon? *grin* Loved the Voodoo Doughnuts shoutout, and the ep did a great job establishing Crime World!Portland.

    Sure, Hardison's "you don't appreciate me" tantrum was hilarious, but it didn't make sense to me that he'd indulge in it while simultaneously trying to get Nate and the team to respect him as a leader. Was that actually his play - to basically annoy them into letting him run the con - or did his frustration just get the better of him?

    @SueN Excellent observations on Nate potentially trying to protect Hardison from becoming the sort of person who would make a good mastermind. Hardison obviously has the skills and ambition to be more than just the hacker, but my main questions coming away from the ep were: does he really have what it takes to be a mastermind, and wouldn't it be a tragedy if he did?

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  46. Omg.

    Beautiful ending. I cried. *hid face in shame*

    At first this episode got me hate Hardison. Also Parker clearly takes Hardison's side. But then my whole irritated moment was worth it. It is beautiful episode.

    Loving Sophie's hand gestures!!

    But quite confused that it's so coincidence that the secretary of the real attorney came in? All in previous episodes never got that.

    Hardison was in Parker's "antiquities warehouse" for those who asked :)

    Thanks for the episode and thinking of should I be watching next week episode or just wait until season finale so I won't die in curiosity.

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  47. @Eric
    Reading your comment then I would like to add that almost all victims that Leverage help are lazy one. Please hear appropriate explanation at The Boiler Room Job (S04E08). IF people CAN differentiate which one is legit and which one is not, no one got conned. I actually saw the bro-sis are just the same with the Mako. People came in hurry and they just rob them blind.

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  48. Damn, this episode was great. As a veteran gamer, I was sitting there going, "Hardison, you're not running a con, you're running a LARP! And I think I've played with this GM too..."

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  49. Anonymous12:15 PM

    @Eric
    People know there not going to get top dollar, they will get low balled but they do it for the easy money. Then they complain when they get small check.

    Sorry, no sale. Some do use these companies for convenience, I'm sure, but many more undoubtedly don't know how to sell their gold, or think this is the only route to selling it. They play on peoples' impulse to grab the phone and make a quick call.

    These companies loudly proclaim they pay top dollar, and use misleading advertising practices routinely. Some do pay pretty reasonable money, but the biggest of them (and we all know which one that is) pays pennies on the dollar; even with costs involved in melting down the gold, they all but steal it from consumers. Most have D ratings, at best, with the BBB.

    The point of the brother and sister is that they stole the necklace by delaying the check (another common practice used to get around 10-day return policies), then lying about its status to avoid having to return it when the client requested it.

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  50. In the age of the geek, baby, why in the world is Hardison hand-writing a couple hundred restitution checks?

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  51. HankL2:33 PM

    Fantastic episode. My distaste for Hardison's arrogance was a direct result of great acting on Aldis Hodge's part, but was the writing that deliberate for his long term development? As soon as I saw Nate look away and write his letter the Hardison's lesson was in the offing. And is there a plan to have Eliot run a job one of these days?

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  52. Graig3:01 PM

    @SueN…That’s a good observation about Nate and Hardison. I’ve always thought Hardison could become a good team leader if he maintains balance. That’s something Nate doesn’t have. He doesn’t have friends and he doesn’t have fun. The death of his son and drinking has left him broken. Hardison on the other hand has friends (even if they’re computer friends) and a person in his life that will always keep him on his heels (Parker). This should help him maintain balance and become a good leader without seeing the bad in everyone and going off the rails like Nate.

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  53. That was incredible. I loved the growth of the father-son relationship between Nate and Hardison, and Mr. Punchy! I love it! And Eliot seemed to like it too. My questions:
    1. Does Sophie really speak/read Cantonese?
    2. Is that a tattoo I saw on Beth's arm? When did that get there?
    3. Did it rain while you guys were shooting?
    4. Who came up with Mr. Punchy? I may have to hug them.
    5. What did everybody write on the evaluation forms?
    6. Did Hardison's codenames have any kind of double meaning or extra significance beyond that of a codename? It could be just me, but I saw the codename Hardiman as a way of Hardison asserting that he'd "grown up" ("man" instead of "son"...I dunno).
    Regarding the promo: I am about to have a heart attack. MY ELIOT!

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  54. 1. Does Sophie really speak/read Cantonese?

    Well, she might speak Cantonese (one of several dialects), but she'd read Chinese.

    That was a bit of sloppiness that bothered this descendant of Guangdong peasants....

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  55. By the way...I didn't quite catch it, but was Sophie's photo as As.Am. prof actually the real professor's photo with Sophie photoshopped in?

    (Grinnell College. Heh).

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  56. Not my favorite episode, but the only reason I can think is because I don't have a lot of sympathy for the client this time around. Kind of seems like common sense that you're going to get ripped off from Gold buyers- that's their job to make money on your misfortune. why else would you sell your personal belongings to someone over the telephone/mail. And clearly, people OTHER than Nate helped him to get the gold- Eliot? And wouldn't Hardison be upset that multiple team members didn't believe in his plan enough to not tell him? I also don't think the team would stay together very long with Hardison as the mastermind- they lacked the coherence they always have (even in the beginning) with Nate running the game. All that said, I do like that you allow the characters to grow and experiment. Otherwise the show would be just a little too predictable and boring. Oh, and will there EVER be a season finale that doesn't involve explosives and Eliot getting his ass kicked? I'm not complaining- just curious :)

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  57. Loved "The Gold Job"...it was hard watching Haridson being so annoyingly cocky but I still love him and I loved how he took his licks in the end and really seemed humbled by his loss. Nate's encouragement went a long way for that relationship, I was glad to see it cause now hopefully Hardison will lay off him a bit.

    You were right in that we got a sense of Sophie and Hardison's relationship this episode...and it seems they are close colloquies...they don't share the same bonds every other pairing on the show does.

    Question 1: Do you view Sophie/Hardison as friends?
    Question 2: Will there ever come a time when they might share a deeper bond? ala Sophie and Parker.

    Question 3: Please tell me Hardison knew there was zero danger in sending Parker to the vault in the beginning? I would hate to think he would put someone he cares about in unnecessary danger just to try and prove a point.

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  58. @scooter;

    I'm pretty sure Hardison's hand-writing all those restitution checks because he wants to. It's a bit of sentimentality.

    The only reason I can see for him wanting to do it in such an old-fashioned way is that it was drilled in to him by his Nana.

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  59. Anonymous7:47 PM

    Unrelated to the episode, but I'm reading Mistborn now. It's great so far, and reminds me a little of Tamora Pierce's Tricksters Choice.

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  60. Aldis Hodge was fantastically annoying as "it's-MY-time-to-shine/know-it-all" Hardison. His delivery on the "you know how much each one of those things weighs? they are heavyyy" was...well...gold. Kinda reminded me of one of Jeff Dunham's acts too.

    Like @gwangung, my sister and I were jarred by the "old Cantonese" part of the con. The inscription on the pocketwatch is actually in modern simplified Chinese characters. There isn't a Cantonese script, old or new. Much as we like to differentiate ourselves from the Hokkiens, Teochews and other Chinese provinces with our spoken language and cultural customs, our written language is the same (dammit).

    Other than that, the episode was great, as usual. Nate forcing himself to allow Hardison to take full control, but still doing his thing by having a backup plan in the event Hardison goes over the top again. That last scene perfectly bookended this episode's Nate/Hardison interaction.

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  61. Anonymous8:34 PM

    @thebacardiqueen and @Allthehotgirlswearglasses

    If you run through the old post games (or suffer from a useless information-related photographic memory supplemented by google) you will see that Elliot does need glasses or rather if John is to be believed he has lasik without anesthesia (Three Days of Hunter Job post game) but he only wears them is specific contexts (Fairy Godparents Job post game). I vaguely remember something about him only wearing glasses when he's on the grift (which I may have heard in a DVD commentary and I'm sure the interwebz will correct me if I'm wrong).

    Also as confirmed by John in the Inside Job post game Eliot was in his early 30s as of season 3.

    And this concludes our installment of "yes antisocialbutterflie can remember something she read on the internet two years ago but not what she ate for breakfast."

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  62. Thank you for bringing attention to this!! These places, and pay day loan and, renting places are all horrible places that pray on desperate people who need money and in many cases just don't know how bad of a deal they're getting! While legal what they do is immoral. The Snow Job was also taking advantage of legal loopholes in the housing and construction markets, but just because its legal doesn't mean that its good for the market or should be legal.

    Though quick question, it seemed like the engraving on the watch was where the face would be, not where an engraving would be? Or was it on the back? But then why would it be opened when Sophie was reading it? (Also assuming Sophie wasn't really reading it, just reciting what she already knew to be on the watch and in the bible)

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  63. Anonymous1:27 AM

    So from what I've found with my vast research (10 seconds on Google) - these places will, if the client complains loudly enough, "talk to the supervisor" (let the phone sit on hold for a minute or so) and then give the customer more money - 2x if possible, 3x if they insist - still well below the appraised value, of course. They're gambling that the number of people who complain are small enough that they're still making a profit.

    Which is what I was wondering about in the first scene - why not pretend that "oops, there was a mistake, it's actually worth twice what we said"? Customer goes away - not happy, but not unhappy enough to want revenge.

    (Interestingly, at the mall today there was a person handing out cash for gold flyers. Never saw them there before - it's an upscale Silicon Valley mall, we aren't exactly the target market)

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  64. Anonymous2:02 AM

    Hi I am a great fan of your Leverage series and follow it religiously:) i tot I have a "gotcha" which I'll like to bring up.

    The treasure hunt with the Chinese inscription was a giveaway. As far as I know, there's no such thing as cantonese writing. Cantonese is a dialect, like any Chinese dialect and is spoken. We study and write in Chinese but may speak the written word in a variety of dialects. Of cos if it was written for cantonese speakers the sentence structure may seem odd to other dialect speakers, but even then the written word will not be called Cantonese.

    I also noticed the Chinese words were written in simplified Chinese. That's a written form started in the 20th century so that would be a dead giveaway that the con is a fake.

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  65. You guys actually Googled everything and relate stuffs to real actual life? :|

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  66. Are the "seven cons" a reference to "Seven Psychological Principles Con Artists Exploit"?

    WV: shmingst = a shimmying professional

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  67. Anonymous7:02 AM

    Ah now this felt like a return to form, for a given definition of return to form at least. It was fun to see Haridson running the con and how both his management style and con design differed from Nate's.

    Clearly while Hardison designs a wicked Xanatos Roulette it's just no match for the fact that Nate simply plays Xanatos Speed Chess (why create the perfect plan when I can create fifty plans and choose the one that is perfect for the situation?)

    It was interesting in that we got to see a lot more of this episode from the villain's perspective than normal and it was cool to get the video game design lay out from Hardison as I'd read some of those things before in various places on line but never seen them all put together and put into use.

    By the way, what was the thought behind making Nate mercury? I get that Parker loves Gold, Sophie/Silver is a natural transition, Mr. Punchy sort of speeks for itself, but what was Hardison's line of thought behind Nate's codename?

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  68. I'm curious if this, like the future job, was a targeted editorial take down, rather than just a "pick a crime off the wall" plot.

    wv: rantis - the condition leading to posting on this blog.

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  69. Anonymous8:17 AM

    My guess on Nate's nickname would be that it pertains to the term "mercurial" - which basically means volatile.

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  70. So here is a question. Harrison, does he have the same level of rep in "Crime World" that the others do?

    People talk about "The Parker" or how you can't bring just bring Sophie to a job, and there are a number of grunts who seem to just lay down and play dead when they hear they are dealing with Elliot Spencer. But nobody ever seems to talk about Hardison and he doesn't seem to be the type to hide what he's done to get away with it.

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  71. If you love Mistborn, be warned books 2 and 3 aren't as good. Also, if you haven't already read "The Lies of Locke Lamora" you should. More high fantasy con games.

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  72. I really loved Hardison's use of the video game paradigm to design a con - so appropriate to him. Also his blithe assumption that he managed to build something new with it. Where does he think the principles of video game design came from?

    @Miss Foote: I have a Leverage obsession and may need a support group.

    We are here to support your obsession...

    @HankL: And is there a plan to have Eliot run a job one of these days?

    If Eliot is calling the shots, it means something has gone badly awry (as when he had to "retrieve" Nate and Maggie (and Maggie's dupe boyfriend) from kidnappers). Which would be okay with me, once a season or so.

    @Cards: These places, and pay day loan and, renting places are all horrible places that pray on desperate people who need money

    One of the things non-poor people tend not to realize is that it costs money to be poor. Specifically, you pay waaaaaay more for credit, which has all sorts of compounding consequences.

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  73. Forgive my long post on this one, John, but the episode touched on a subject rather personal to me - video game design. I say this only because I'm a game designer as my day job. And I'd like to thank you guys for two major things.

    First, Hardison displayed a lot of smarts about video game design as a skillset - level arrangement, visual/audio cues, obstacle construction/player empowerment, player engagement, and he's using it on both the marks AND the team, which I loved. To some extent, the team isn't even aware that he's doing it (except for Nate, of course) and Hardison is doing everything he can to play up the engagement, which is one of the tentpoles of modern game design. Lots of the tricks of my trade are laid bare, and it's nice to see the level of detail on display.

    Second, it's good to see that while Hardison understands the fundamentals of game design, Nate understands them better. Hardison is, in many ways, like a lot of first-time game designers I've met. They get so enamored with their own cleverness that they stop paying attention to the important things, like the heartthread, the main narrative path that players are meant to be on. I've met lots of game designers over the years who come across as "I've got this cool idea and it's going to make a great game!" And the problem is that great game design generally isn't any ONE idea - it's a lot of ideas all rolled into one. (Sort of like I imagine writing/managing a TV show to be like. Heh.) New game designers forget about complexity creep. They forget about making things too complicated, too involved, too much for a player to handle, and then get frustrated when players "aren't doing it right!" One of the best lessons I ever learned about game design came from Mark Rosewater (who's been the lead designer of Magic The Gathering for a long time) in one of his weekly columns. If you find a large number of test players are doing something one way, that isn't the way you had intended them to do it, you need to learn to adapt to the player's expectations, rather than trying to force them along your path. Trying to railroad players along your preconceived notions is a common mistake among rookie game designers. They plot and plan everything out so carefully that even the tiniest ripple can cause catastrophic failures.

    Game design is an art, and it's one that apparently everyone thinks they can do, but most people make a lot of the same mistakes early on. Some of them, like Hardison I imagine, learn from it. Some don't.

    Now, an actual question. Nate had the term "/ragequit" right on hand. Like he hadn't just read the term - that he was familiar with it. I've always suspected Nate keeps tabs on his team just a little bit when they're not on the job. So... is Nate spying on Hardison's guild? I certainly wouldn't put it past him.

    And thanks again for showing that game design is both a) an art, and b) not so simple that anyone can do it.

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  74. i actually realized while i was watching this that i had somehow (subconsciously) been waiting for you to do a story on the "cash for gold" business--and all of the pieces were really lovely and true to the characters. i was especially enamored of hardison's game terminology and nate's unusual choice to be supportive and empathetic. made for some beautiful character beats that felt well-earned.

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  75. David Hunt1:29 PM

    Heh. I think I figured out who the voice on the other end of Latimer's phone was in the Lonely Hearts Job. I'm not going to say who, but I think it's going to be really good.

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  76. How would you describe the nature of Sophie and Hardison's relationship? It's something we don't see too much of as opposed to the other characters'.

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  77. Anonymous6:14 PM

    Does Hardison have to take the bad parts of Nate to become a good leader of his own team one day? You’ve previously talked about Hardison “becoming Nate” and becoming more ruthless but if that happens then that’s not really Hardison anymore…its just a younger version of Nate and I would really hate to see that. Hardisons geeky charm is a great part of his character.

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  78. Anonymous6:40 PM

    I think that, to some extent, Hardison would have to become more like Nate to be a successful con team leader. It seems to me that as long as he is so concerned about the whole teams feedback he can't have the ruthless detachment that is required to pull off the things they do, and that trying to have everyone have input into the job could lead to a "too many cooks" situation that would jeopardize a con, and quite possibly the team members themselves because there wouldn't be a clear direction.

    I guess what I'm trying to get at is the mistakes I've seen new managers make where they try so hard to please everyone and to be liked that some worker bees feel like equals. That leads to hurt feelings when the "boss" asks them to do something they don't like. Or they feel like they can stop everything to debate what they think is the best course of action.

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  79. thebacardiqueen6:49 PM

    General question, just from listening to the podcasts and interviews from set, it seems like the cast all get along really, really well but also joke around a lot on set - my question is, who are the worst two on set for pranks and/or holding up production with jokes and can you give examples...?

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  80. What a fun episode!

    You've said before that we only see about 1 out of every 3 jobs the crew pulls. They managed to pull this one off by the skin of their teeth, but have they ever just straight up lost before? Do you think you're ever going to do an episode where that happens?

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  81. Finally saw it! Great episode. Nice topical touches (gold buy scammers) and historical touches (the Snake River Massacre . . . a real incident).

    So the team has used the Shanghai tunnels . . .now I'm trying to think a Stumptown themed con involving food carts and zoobombers.

    Wait . . . lightning and thunder? For all the rain we get in winter, lightning storms are actually pretty rare. I actually miss the big thunderblammers they get back east . . . [/pedantic twit]

    @Devinoch: Nice analysis / info dump.

    'wedeyi': Fetch of a siberian wolf shaman.

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  82. I guess what I'm trying to get at is the mistakes I've seen new managers make where they try so hard to please everyone and to be liked that some worker bees feel like equals.

    I think that is exactly right - exactly my experience in the corporate world, too. A leader really can't be friends with the people he/she leads. Maybe there are exceptions to the rule, but I'd guess they are few and far between.

    That's why Nate doesn't really care if the team likes him. It's not his job to make them like him - it's his job to manage them in the best way possible, and sometimes that means pushing them in ways they don't like.

    And for the leader of these thieves, I think the other thing is what Nate says - you can't really devote yourself to constantly finding a person's weaknesses and manipulating those without it taking a toll on you as a person. You have to be a bastard to do that in the first place, even to someone you think deserves it.

    I would like to see Hardison walk away from the chance to run the crew at the end of the day. Not because he's not smart enough or skilled enough, but because it's so fundamentally not who he is to be that kind of a bastard. I don't think that would be a failure at all, and instead, think it would be a show of great wisdom on his part.

    I always read my kids Ferdinand the Bull, and that's the lesson I hope they take from that book - you can be the very best in the world at something, but if that's not who you are, what good is that success?

    I think I'd be less satisfied at the end of the day if the show somehow suggests that Hardison is capable of being a nice guy AND still run the crew, because that seems at odds with the world they've created. And I definitely wouldn't like to see Hardison lead a crew, just because he can when it's not who he is.

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  83. I would like to see Hardison walk away from the chance to run the crew at the end of the day. Not because he's not smart enough or skilled enough, but because it's so fundamentally not who he is to be that kind of a bastard. I don't think that would be a failure at all, and instead, think it would be a show of great wisdom on his part.

    Ya know...I think Hardison gives up his chance at being the bastard, but I'm not so sure that he doesn't gather a crew of his own anyway. I think he's gotten addicted to being part of a crew, but at some point, he'll realize that running the con and running the crew are two different things.

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  84. This was my mom's first episode, and she really liked it. (Also, she turned out to be way better at following all the twists and turns of a con than I've ever been.) Thanks for having a particularly good one for her! :-)

    Also, I loved Nate in this one. More nice/wise/mentoring Nate, please!!

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  85. ♥'ed it The Gold Job Was Awesome My Question about this Episode is what's the software if it's a real application based software used when Hardison commands his laptop to login....


    Thks in Advance.

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  86. 1)Can the team hear each other ALL the time? I'm never quite certain when two people are talking and we don't see anyone else's reactions, whether the entire team can hear the conversation or not. Sometimes it seems like they can, other times it doesn't.

    2)My next question has been KILLING me. In the beginning of The Queen's Gambit, Sophie says "let's get out of here" and walks away. But before Nate can follow, Sterling shows up with his goons. WHAT HAPPENED TO SOPHIE? Did she just walk out of the room and assume Nate wasn't coming? Did she get stopped by an off-screen goon? We don't see her again to establish that she's still in the room.

    3) Sophie's back story. I realize much of her appeal is due to the mystery. But I just want to know if we're going to find out who that "William" person was from the London episode. Or if that was just one of those things.

    Thanks for doing this. I've watched a ton of TV in my 22 years and have participated in my share of online "fandoms" and I've never seen anything like this. It's such a good idea. And obviously very generous of you.

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  87. Also, was the "jazz hands" thing an inside joke with the cast/crew?

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  88. Anonymous3:16 AM

    مدونه اكثر من رائعه

    سبحان الله وبحمده سبحان الله العظيم

    http://www.tjaraldoha.com/vb

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  89. Can't come up with a comment right now. I have to go find a donut with Fruit Loops on it.

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  90. @David Hunt said... "I think I figured out who the voice on the other end of Latimer's phone was in the Lonely Hearts Job. I'm not going to say who, but I think it's going to be really good."

    Betcha a quarter it's Craig's friend from "The Girls' Night Out Job."

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  91. Murasaki_19661:54 PM

    Any idea when we are going to get the post-show breakdown of The Queen's Gambit Job? Inquiring minds wish to know.

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  92. Desiree L4:10 PM

    I love this episode, specially after seeing the one episode where Hardison talked about running his own team before. So here are some questions. Will we ever get to see Elliot in charge of a con? Maybe a high threat con or something? Would we be seeing anymore episodes like the van gogh job? That was really well done but can understand why you guys don't do it again. Last question, will we ever meet Hardison's nana? Maybe a guest apparence of Aldis Hodge mother? Sorry if none of these can be answered.

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  93. Oh yeah Portland pride for me and they've done a beautiful episode here.

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  94. Question!

    When Nate asked Parker to handle the clicker, Parker seems to handle it worst than Nate. Is it because she really doesn't know how to use it (I highly doubt it though-remembering The Ice Man Job back then, unless Hardison already changed the settings, again.) or she pretends that she can't use it in support to Hardison?

    Some really great discussions going on here and give me nice point of view of the characters. All hail Leverage fandom!

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  95. My new favorite episode. Now, the mystery of Sophie!

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  96. Anonymous11:00 AM

    The incessant, pounding rain made me laugh.

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  97. Anonymous5:20 PM

    After Listening to the Leverage Podcast I hope more than ever now Hardison never becomes a con leader. Him becoming a “bad” person to lead a team seems too much of a stretch and I wouldn’t like to see to him become that kind of person.

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  98. Lauren8:28 PM

    Not an episode specific question, but a question all the same: Shonda Rhimes has recently been teasing the Grey's Anatomy "alternate reality" episode. Is there any chance you'd ever go that route with Leverage? Presumably, Sam's death was the catalyst that set everything in motion. So if he hadn't died, Nate and Maggie would still be together, and Nate would still be working as in insurance investigator. Would it be that cut and dry, or would there still be a story to tell?

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  99. Izzie1:58 AM

    One thing first, since it hasn't been mentioned yet:

    Not two, but THREE Supernatural guest stars in one episode? Heaven. Thank you! (In case you don't know what I mean, Sasha Barrese, Todd Stashwick, and of course, Aldis Hodge were all on that show.)

    Questions:

    1. Why are Hardison's van and computer named Lucille and Gladys, respectively? Just curious.

    2. I'm curious about Parker's tattoo, too. Is it Parker's or is it Beth's, or is it frosting off of a doughnut?

    3. I didn't get the apple juice. What was that about? Is it because it's gold-ish when the light hits it? Why not just use glitter?

    4. Was the person who thought of Mr. Punchy the same person who thought of Eliot's Japanese energy drink commercial? Because dude, that was awesome.

    5. The thing with the "Cantonese writing"? No such thing, as far as I know. Chinese, sure, but Cantonese and Mandarin (I'm not sure about other dialects) look the same on paper.

    6. Why didn't Eliot get to punch people in this episode? That makes me sad in my special angry place. He was Mr. Punchy, after all.

    7. What did everyone write in their evals? Did Eliot even do one? I'm sure Sophie's was very, very good, from her body language during the ep, and Parker's was probably a little crazy, but well-meaning. I'm curious about Eliot's. Did he apply his "If I'm not honest, you won't improve" method of teaching/helping, or was he a little gentler than that?

    @thebacardiqueen:
    It's funny that you said that (re glasses) after seeing this episode because Parker was wearing glasses for the con, too. But yes, Eliot + glasses = hot. I don't blame you for not noticing Parker's, although her dress was very nice, too.

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  100. yet another viewer here to talk about the cantonese tidbit in the show. while i am delighted that we cantonese get a little shout-out (since the average person would just lump us all into the homogenous 'chinese' category), the scene in which it was used did not delight me whatsoever.

    surprisingly, we do actually have a written form, one of the most developed forms for a dialect, but it still utilizes the same characters that mandarin does. in general, all chinese use the standard written language to communicate; there is no actual difference amongst the provinces. however, cantonese, being one of the more largely-spoken dialects, has the privilege of a written form that differs from standard chinese only in terms of grammatical structure and semantics. we are more prone to using slang to convey ideas, and thus we are considered the more slangy cousin of proper mandarin. even so, written cantonese is only used in hong kong and parts of the macau, and in parts of the guangdong province. being as it is so little-used, there is no way IN HELL that even an professor in asian studies would've been able to distinguish written cantonese from standard chinese, much less a regular american (as was our villainess de la semaine). even regular chinese people would be hard-pressed to decipher written cantonese for what it really is, citing instead that it would probably be poorly grammaticized chinese. and as others have said, the script was clearly written in modern-day simplified characters.

    tl;dr no single person who is not actually cantonese and exposed to written canto would be able to tell the difference between standard chinese and written canto. also, even the cantonese people use standard chinese to communicate. so really, the only way you'd be able to even tell it was canto was if somebody directly spoke it to you.

    i call bad case of 'did not do the research.'

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  101. Love the episode. Kung Fu i have been following for ever. thanks, Kenneth Gibbons LLC

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  102. Re: Parker's tattoo
    A few months ago on Beth's tumblr there was a post showing her forearm with the caption "New tattoo for Leverage: The Gold Job" I don't know WHY she had it, but it looks like it was there for this ep specifically.

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  103. Anonymous5:32 AM

    Great episode. I do hope Hardison will be able to be more mature from now on. I have been waiting for that for a while...

    One question though: when did the team become so reliant on Hardison for reconnaissance? After all, all of them could pull jobs off alone before the team got together, so they can't be that bad at gathering intel.

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  104. I loved this episode - watched parts of it in the cafeteria at work and literally LOLed to the point where I had to pause the show and try to explain to my co-workers what was so hilarious.

    Not sure I have a point that hasn't already been made by others, but -

    I just didn't get what was going on with Parker's "Apple. Ax." bit. I think she was suggesting extensions of her code name - Golden Apple, Golden Ax - but even if she was, I don't understand why.

    I have to side with those who said the brother and sister were a legitimate takedown target. Even if you claim that anyone who gets scammed by a cash-for-gold seller "should know" that the seller will offer far below the real value of the piece (and Eric, they weren't saying "It's worth $1,500; we're only willing to pay $125"; they were saying to themselves "it's worth $1,500" and saying to the victim "it's only worth $125") they were using multiple illegal tactics to prevent the victim from simply giving back their money and getting back her necklace, which they could have done easily. People who are doing legitimate business don't need to lie to the people they do business with to keep them from reconsidering a fair deal.

    I thought it was glorious that Hardison would try to design a con with everything he knows about video game design, and especially that he would end up tripping himself up by trying to make it way too epic - a brand-new con that's never been done before, and that "grifters'll be talking about for years to come"... I kept thinking it was a clear case of Second System Effect, except that it was Hardison's first! And then I realized, it is the Second System Effect, and every single con that Nate has masterminded to great effect is the "first system" that Hardison feels compelled to outdo in every way. Poor Hardison! That's why I was incredibly glad that Nate was "Dad Nate," as someone said: he prepared things so that Hardison would have his chance, but also so that Hardison wouldn't be responsible for a terrible failure, and when the time came to explain to Hardison where he went wrong, he did so without trying to rub it in or make Hardison feel he did wrong for trying.

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  105. Hugin3:24 PM

    How much gold did the team steal? We saw 7gold bars put in the vault as one day's shipment. If those were 400 oz bars and they stole 3 days worth, it comes out to something like $30 million, which seems way high.

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  106. Anonymous4:29 AM

    The felony charges may be heavy. The brothers and sisters business are perfectly legit like Nate said. I called them scamming, they only paying like 10% of the real gold value. And sending early dated check late, so that the consumer can't get back their gold.

    Well, I don't why the Cantonese referencea. I always thought it is a dialect, written in Chinese word.

    Great episode. Like Sophie said, going all the game theory for land deal, haha

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  107. Anonymous2:12 PM

    Oh, Hardison. How did you not see that coming? You did it yourself in the Boiler Room Job!

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  108. Ok. I admit that my previous comment was flawed. There is a written cantonese script. Sort of. According to Wikipedia's entry on Written Cantonese. We kinda made up some characters to fit how we speak (hence if you don't understand verbal Cantonese, reading cuss words in the Mandarin pronunciation won't make any sense), and the syntax/grammar is different from Mandarin.

    But my main gripe about the "old Cantonese" thing is the script that was used. Traditional chinese vs Modern simplified chinese. Not so much a case of "bad research" but insufficient understanding and/or research. I would have bought into the premise a little more if Traditional Chinese characters were used instead.

    In spite of that, I think this ep is still a commendable effort by Joe Hortua. I've often wondered about the legitimacy of these "cash for gold" businesses.

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  109. I like this post, really great, cheap christian louboutin sneakers will continue to focus on it.

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  110. Noodlebug0423:40 PM

    No question, really - just: I have loved many shows in my life, but none, I think, as much as this one. The characters, the stories - the perfect balance of plot and fun and family - Leverage is the show of my heart. Thank you for making it happen. <3

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  111. Anonymous2:17 PM

    So if this was Hardison's first con, does that mean that Eliot was the one who ran the Bank Shot Job?

    [I had assumed it was Hardison, because at then end Hardison's the one who has an exchange with Nate about whether Nate could have come up with something better, but I guess in retrospect it makes sense that it was the retrieval specialist, as they were retrieving Nate and Sophie (sort of).]

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  112. Question about Hardison, and since this is a Hardison centered episode, I thought I'd ask here:

    Is it an intentional character beat that while Hardison is the most economically invested in the team (it was his flat that was blown up in S1 and his van in S2), he is the least emotionally invested? I mean, for all the other characters, there have been times when they got overly emotionally invested and because of this, refused to give up on the client even when others wanted to retreat. Not including cases with someone from their past involved (Three Card Monte, Two Horse), we still have:

    Nate: Cross My Heart, Snow, Homecoming, and Double Blind (when he pushed Parker "way past the red line")

    Sophie: Wedding and King George

    Parker: Stork, Long Way Down, and Inside (which I'm including because at the point where she refused to leave, it wasn't about Archie anymore)

    Eliot: Studio and Carnival ("I don't wait")

    Moreover, all the other characters sometimes have these side moments of super-empathy:

    Sophie: Fairy Godparents with Widmark
    Eliot: Order 23 with Randy and Underground with Cory
    Parker: Boost with Josie
    Nate: Beantown Bailout with Zoe

    Hardison, however, is never the one who refuses to give up on someone (in Reunion, Nate was just testing him, and in Gone Fishin', it was more of a general "do the right thing" issue than emotional investment), and he doesn't have this kind of high-empathy character beats (in Double-Blind, it came off more like he was flirting with the client, hence Parker's annoyance).

    Is Hardison meant to be a less empathetic, more emotionally detached person than the others, or am I reading into it? If the former, does this have to do with his bouncing around between foster homes (happy ones, but still) as a kid?

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  113. So I thought more about my previous comment and realised that if I'm disregarding Gone Fishin' because it was more of a do-the-right-thing moment than emotional investment, I should probably discount Inside Job for the same reason, as it was also more about doing the right thing than empathizing with someone.

    So replace "Inside" with "Ho Ho Ho" in my previous comment, since in "Ho Ho Ho" Parker empathized with Santa (knowing, of course, that he wasn't the real Santa).

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  114. Hi... I will forward this article to him. Pretty sure he will have a good read. Thanks for sharing!

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  115. This was a fantastic article. Really loved reading your we blog post. The information was very informative and helpful...

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  116. This was a fantastic article. Really loved reading your we blog post. The information was very informative and helpful...

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  117. Anonymous12:54 AM

    Penyakit ini umumnya muncul karena penderita mengejan terlalu keras pada saat buang air besar. Dengan mengejan terlalu keras, maka pembuluh darah di sekitar anus dapat melebar dan pecah menimbulkan infeksi dan pembengkakan yang berakhir pada masalah wasir atau ambeien tersebut.

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  118. Penderita Penyakit kondiloma atau Kutil Kelamin yang telah terinveksi disarankan untuk segera melakukan pengobatan secepat mungkin sebelum Virus HPV penyebab kutil kelamin makin banyak berkembang biak di dalam sel darah makin lama dibiarkan akan memperparah kondisi organ vital karena kutil kelamin akan terus membesar sehingga terlihat seperti jengger ayam untuk penderita yang baru tertular kurang dari satu bulan biasanya akan lebih cepat ditanggulangi obat kutil kelamin Paling ampuh dari De Nature dan terbaik ada hanya di http://obatkutildikemaluan.blogdetik.com/ untuk mendapatkan informasi yang lebih jelas mengenai pengobatan kutil pada kelamin silahkan kontak langsung di nomer 0852 808 77 999 atau 0859 7373 5656 Bagaimana mengobati Ambeien itu sendiri. pengobatan yang terbaik untuk Ambeien adalah dari luar dan dalam sehingga Ambeien benar benar tuntas dan tidak akan kambuh lagi. obat Ambeien terbaik "Ambeclear dari De Nature" AlamiAdalah obat Ambeien herbal yang memang terbaik untuk mengobati Ambeien, dan sudah terdaftar di badan obat dan makanan (BPOM) dengan nomer registrasi POM TR: 133 374 041. terbuat dari bahan alami antara lain terdiri Daung Ungu, Mahkota Dewa dan Kunyit Putih.

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  119. Penyakit kencing nanah bisa disebabkan oleh beberapa faktor seperti seks bebas, penularan, virus hpv, lingkungan, gaya hidup dan lainnya, Maka dari itu kita harus waspada dengan penyakit kencing nanah ini, karena penyakit kencing nanah sangatlah berbahaya, Namun untuk anda yang menderita penyakit kencing nanah, maka anda tidak perlu khawatir,

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  120. Bukan hanya pengobatan medis saja tapi ada juga pengobatan rumah alami yang dapat digunakan untuk menyingkirkan penyakit kencing bernanah ini. Maka anda harus mencari pengobatan yang terbaik pada penyakit Anda dan jika diperlukan juga dibantu dengan tenaga medis yang professional.

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  121. Sekitar Vagina Tumbuh Daging, Berbahayakah? Kutil Pada Kepala Penis mirip bunga kol atau jengger ayam, Merupakan Penyakit Yang diakibatkan Oleh Virus.Kutil kelamin, atau disebut juga condyloma acuminata, adalah kutil atau daging berwarna kulit atau keabuan yang tumbuh di sekitar alat kelamin dan

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  122. penyakit yang ditularkan melalui hubungan seks : vaginal, oral dan anal. Juga dapat menular melalui persentuhan kulit dengan daerah yang terinfeksi.

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  123. Sebelum kita membahas tentang pengobatan ambeien, dalam kesempatan ini
    saya ingin menjelaskan sekilas tentang ambeien, agar kita semua bisa
    memahami benar apa itu penyakit ambeien

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  124. obat wasir, Adalah  Obat alami berkhasiat dalam bentuk kapsul yang berasal dari tanaman herbal seperti daun ungu, mahkota dewa dan kunyit putih, diberikan pada penderita jika penyakit masih dalam tingkatan stadium ringan

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  126. Orang yang mampu belajar dari kegagalan adalah pemenang, namun orang yang selalu menutupi kegagalan adalah pecundang

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  127. Anonymous1:46 AM

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  128. Jadi misalnya, balap Ott Tanak untuk Toyota mungkin dihargai 1,80 untuk memenangkan reli. Jika Dani Sordo di Hyundai menang pukul 13.00, maka Tanak jelas merupakan pembalap yang lebih berpeluang. Penggemar taruhan reli – seperti semua orang yang bertaruh pada olahraga – ingin mencapai keseimbangan antara memilih seseorang yang menurut mereka akan menang, dan Odds yang tidak sebanding dengan risikonya. https://www.pasaranpialadunia2018.com/

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