Leverageland Challenge 012: Having An Episode
THE LONG WAY DOWN JOB
Rating: ★★★★
I got into Leverage a bit late in the game; this was the first episode I had the pleasure of seeing live. The Long Way Down Job features the team heading to Mt. Kibari, where there is to be a memorial climb in honor of Alan Scott; the team hopes to find a notebook Scott kept with evidence against Merced Financial Services. Sophie quickly discovers a buyout of the company is underway, which would enable the mark to bury his misdealings.
Lots of fun dialogue in this episode, especially from Hardison's hatred of the cold and the flashbacks that emphasis why Hardison should not be allowed to climb. It is interesting to see a client emotionally involved enough to arrive during a con - does a wonderful job as Karen Scott, Alan's grieving widow. I loved the interaction between her and Nate; it was refreshing to see him admit how anger-driven he was. The ending scene with her watching her husband's last words is beautiful because it gives a sense of closure both to her husband's attempts to unravel Drexel's dealings and to her finally being able to see his goodbye to her. I wasn't a fan of the scene between Nate and Sophie; I've always the relationship was a bit forced upon us as viewers, and the mutual agreement to just forget about it (which gives off heavy vibes of never working) felt awkward to me. Thankfully, Hardison breaks it up by finding a bug in their headquarters and making me wonder who their main enemy this season would be.
All in all, this was a solid start to a season that I enjoyed very much.
Favorite Quote(s)
Eliot: Let go.
Hardison: I'm just so damn cold.
Eliot: I don't care, man.
Hardison: Just please set me on fire. Do something. I'm all shivering, and I think one of my nipples fell off, 'cause the sensation... man...
Eliot: Don't tell me stuff like that!
Eliot: You're very good at what you do, but you can't con a mountain.
THE CARNIVAL JOB
Rating: ★★★★★
This is one of my favorite episodes in all of Leverage. In The Carnival Job, Jeffrey Thorne requests the team steal back a computer chip he invented. The mark is John Connell who is using expensive renovations to his home as a coping mechansim for his wife's death, while daughter Molly is cared for by a nanny, Daria. Nate and Sophie pose as home renovators and run stage an argument to get John out of the house to allow Parker access to the chip; meanwhile, Eliot goes to the carnival with Molly and Daria. Things take an unexpected turn when the Russian buyers John had been negotiating with kidnap Molly; Nate then reveals to John that they'd been running a con against him and the team works to get Molly back safely.
What made me love this episode was the interactions between Molly and Eliot, though Parker's touchiness over Parker 2000 was also a high point for me. I liked seeing a safe that Parker needed a machine to crack, just as a reminder that she has limits. Molly actually reminded me a bit of myself; my mother died and my father then buried himself in work, so I could relate to both her and the mark easily. Fantastic fight scene for Eliot in the House of Mirrors, and the Perky/Botasky references between him and Molly made me smile. I loved the episode's ending showing that the father and daughter were going to be making up for lost time. Bonus points for the funny scene between Parker and Hardison.
Favorite Quote(s)
Molly: It's a waste of time unless you cheat.
Eliot: Well, if you cheat, there's no satisfaction in winning.
Molly: Cheating's the only way to get anything in life.
Eliot: Uh-huh. Aren't you a little bag of sunshine?
Hardison: No. What, no, see, like, um, okay. Yeah, I used your name, right? But it's not -- it's not what you think, at all. It's an ASCD, an automated safe-cracking device.
Parker: I'm a safe-cracking device.
Nate: Told you not to call it Parker.
Eliot: Damn it, Hardison. A little warning next time.
Hardison: Well, what you think "run like hell" meant?
Parker: Ah, that-a-boy. A little (punches Eliot’s arm) chicken noodle soup, a little (punches him again) grandmotherly love.
Eliot (flinches back in pain): Stop.
THE OFFICE JOB
Rating: ★★★
In The Office Job, a former employee of Good Cheer Greeting Card Company asks the team to save the company; he believes Fred Bartley is stealing from the company. It doesn't take the team long to see that Bartley lacks the cunning to pull off an embezzlement scheme. A search turns up no evidence of embezzlement, but purchases of cotton paper and color-shifting ink lead the team to believe Bartley is printing counterfeit money. Finally, they realise Bartley is being set up to take the fall; they find footage of warehouse workers tampering with the copier, but they don't find enough evidence to connect them to the mastermind. A fake suicide note is sent to the printer, which Hardison traces to HR director Felicia. The team managers to save Bartley from Felicia's underlings as well as capture video evidence against Felicia. Complications arise frequently due to the filming of a documentary at Good Cheer.
This episode was alright. I personally don't like Leverage as a comedy; much of the humor felt forced with the cameras at inopportune times and all. The show can produce plenty of laughter from me with just good dialogue, such as Parker's greeting card ideas, so I found myself a bit disappointed at the prominence of the documentary team. Throughout most of the episode my brain was going: "There are cameramen following you everywhere and you are not who you say you are. Why. WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT." If I suspend disbelief, there are some excellent pieces of dialogue through the entire episode and in the interview scenes.
Favorite Quote(s)
Hardison: Hey, guys, I got bad news and bad news, so I'll start with the bad news.
Eliot: In here? A guy makes a sandwich. H-he makes it that day, he wants to eat it later on that day, he puts it in the fridge, he's got to be able to trust that when he comes back, it's gonna be there for him.
Hardison: He's got to respect me enough to know I didn't take the damn sandwich. He likes sandwiches. I think it had turkey on it or something. I'm al-- I'm allergic to tryptophan in the turkey.
Parker: Two dinosaurs falling in love? Makes no sense! How about a dinosaur ripping the head off a lion, hmm? Ohh, yeah. Now we're talking. Oh! Little lion wants to leave the pack early. A little bear cub wants to go out and see the world, huh? Oh, yeah? Raaaaaaaaah! Now, that's a high-school-graduation card.
Eliot: That's not what I said. Look, all I want to know is how do we nail this Bartley guy for counterfeiting?
Parker: Cards!
Eliot: Parker, we're alone.
Rating: ★★★★
I got into Leverage a bit late in the game; this was the first episode I had the pleasure of seeing live. The Long Way Down Job features the team heading to Mt. Kibari, where there is to be a memorial climb in honor of Alan Scott; the team hopes to find a notebook Scott kept with evidence against Merced Financial Services. Sophie quickly discovers a buyout of the company is underway, which would enable the mark to bury his misdealings.
Lots of fun dialogue in this episode, especially from Hardison's hatred of the cold and the flashbacks that emphasis why Hardison should not be allowed to climb. It is interesting to see a client emotionally involved enough to arrive during a con - does a wonderful job as Karen Scott, Alan's grieving widow. I loved the interaction between her and Nate; it was refreshing to see him admit how anger-driven he was. The ending scene with her watching her husband's last words is beautiful because it gives a sense of closure both to her husband's attempts to unravel Drexel's dealings and to her finally being able to see his goodbye to her. I wasn't a fan of the scene between Nate and Sophie; I've always the relationship was a bit forced upon us as viewers, and the mutual agreement to just forget about it (which gives off heavy vibes of never working) felt awkward to me. Thankfully, Hardison breaks it up by finding a bug in their headquarters and making me wonder who their main enemy this season would be.
All in all, this was a solid start to a season that I enjoyed very much.
Favorite Quote(s)
Eliot: Let go.
Hardison: I'm just so damn cold.
Eliot: I don't care, man.
Hardison: Just please set me on fire. Do something. I'm all shivering, and I think one of my nipples fell off, 'cause the sensation... man...
Eliot: Don't tell me stuff like that!
Eliot: You're very good at what you do, but you can't con a mountain.
THE CARNIVAL JOB
Rating: ★★★★★
This is one of my favorite episodes in all of Leverage. In The Carnival Job, Jeffrey Thorne requests the team steal back a computer chip he invented. The mark is John Connell who is using expensive renovations to his home as a coping mechansim for his wife's death, while daughter Molly is cared for by a nanny, Daria. Nate and Sophie pose as home renovators and run stage an argument to get John out of the house to allow Parker access to the chip; meanwhile, Eliot goes to the carnival with Molly and Daria. Things take an unexpected turn when the Russian buyers John had been negotiating with kidnap Molly; Nate then reveals to John that they'd been running a con against him and the team works to get Molly back safely.
What made me love this episode was the interactions between Molly and Eliot, though Parker's touchiness over Parker 2000 was also a high point for me. I liked seeing a safe that Parker needed a machine to crack, just as a reminder that she has limits. Molly actually reminded me a bit of myself; my mother died and my father then buried himself in work, so I could relate to both her and the mark easily. Fantastic fight scene for Eliot in the House of Mirrors, and the Perky/Botasky references between him and Molly made me smile. I loved the episode's ending showing that the father and daughter were going to be making up for lost time. Bonus points for the funny scene between Parker and Hardison.
Favorite Quote(s)
Molly: It's a waste of time unless you cheat.
Eliot: Well, if you cheat, there's no satisfaction in winning.
Molly: Cheating's the only way to get anything in life.
Eliot: Uh-huh. Aren't you a little bag of sunshine?
Hardison: No. What, no, see, like, um, okay. Yeah, I used your name, right? But it's not -- it's not what you think, at all. It's an ASCD, an automated safe-cracking device.
Parker: I'm a safe-cracking device.
Nate: Told you not to call it Parker.
Eliot: Damn it, Hardison. A little warning next time.
Hardison: Well, what you think "run like hell" meant?
Parker: Ah, that-a-boy. A little (punches Eliot’s arm) chicken noodle soup, a little (punches him again) grandmotherly love.
Eliot (flinches back in pain): Stop.
THE OFFICE JOB
Rating: ★★★
In The Office Job, a former employee of Good Cheer Greeting Card Company asks the team to save the company; he believes Fred Bartley is stealing from the company. It doesn't take the team long to see that Bartley lacks the cunning to pull off an embezzlement scheme. A search turns up no evidence of embezzlement, but purchases of cotton paper and color-shifting ink lead the team to believe Bartley is printing counterfeit money. Finally, they realise Bartley is being set up to take the fall; they find footage of warehouse workers tampering with the copier, but they don't find enough evidence to connect them to the mastermind. A fake suicide note is sent to the printer, which Hardison traces to HR director Felicia. The team managers to save Bartley from Felicia's underlings as well as capture video evidence against Felicia. Complications arise frequently due to the filming of a documentary at Good Cheer.
This episode was alright. I personally don't like Leverage as a comedy; much of the humor felt forced with the cameras at inopportune times and all. The show can produce plenty of laughter from me with just good dialogue, such as Parker's greeting card ideas, so I found myself a bit disappointed at the prominence of the documentary team. Throughout most of the episode my brain was going: "There are cameramen following you everywhere and you are not who you say you are. Why. WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT." If I suspend disbelief, there are some excellent pieces of dialogue through the entire episode and in the interview scenes.
Favorite Quote(s)
Hardison: Hey, guys, I got bad news and bad news, so I'll start with the bad news.
Eliot: In here? A guy makes a sandwich. H-he makes it that day, he wants to eat it later on that day, he puts it in the fridge, he's got to be able to trust that when he comes back, it's gonna be there for him.
Hardison: He's got to respect me enough to know I didn't take the damn sandwich. He likes sandwiches. I think it had turkey on it or something. I'm al-- I'm allergic to tryptophan in the turkey.
Parker: Two dinosaurs falling in love? Makes no sense! How about a dinosaur ripping the head off a lion, hmm? Ohh, yeah. Now we're talking. Oh! Little lion wants to leave the pack early. A little bear cub wants to go out and see the world, huh? Oh, yeah? Raaaaaaaaah! Now, that's a high-school-graduation card.
Eliot: That's not what I said. Look, all I want to know is how do we nail this Bartley guy for counterfeiting?
Parker: Cards!
Eliot: Parker, we're alone.