Episode reviews for Leverageland
‘The Two Horse Job’ is a wonderful episode in the first season. Not only is it a good con episode, but it is a great character episode.
For example, we get a lot of backstory for Eliot, something that a lot of fans desire more of. Of course, the writers can't give too much away, they give us just enough that Eliot stays mysterious, but it wets our appetite for more information on our beloved hitter.
In the episode ‘The Wedding Job’, Eliot mentioned that he was close to marriage once. Now, if you watched the season in the order it was originally broadcasted on TNT, you would already know who he was talking about, as ‘The Two Horse Job’ aired before ‘The Wedding Job’. However, if you watched it in the order they were supposed to air, or the order on the DVD’s, that little tidbit of information in ‘The Wedding Job’ was a nice little foreshadowing to meeting Aimee Martin.
We find out in the episode that Eliot may be a little more invested in the family they are helping than he originally let on to Nate. Aimee, the client's daughter, is Eliot’s ex-girlfriend. He even mentioned he ‘may have given her a promise ring’.
The dynamic between Aimee and Eliot is wonderful. They’re both stubborn, and both think the other is in the wrong for how their relationship ended. Eliot is upset she didn’t wait for him, and Aimee is upset Eliot kept leaving her. Their issues come to a head when the con gets screwed up and they get into a larger argument, which ultimately ends in them kissing and literally rolling in the hay. As far as love scenes go, it was anything but graphic, as we saw and heard absolutely nothing. They could have gone into that stall to knit Eliot more beanies, for all we know, but it worked for the mood of the show, and overall wasn’t disappointing to those of us silly perverts *Coughmecough* who would have liked to see Eliot show a little more skin. It can't go without mentioning that Christian Kane’s ‘More Than I Deserve’ played in the background during this scene, giving fans of Kane’s music a little moment to squee.
Another thing worth mentioning about this episode, is its introduction of a major character. Yes, thats right, the wonderfully infuriating, James Sterling. I saw wonderfully infuriating of course, because he provides to be a giant pain in the ass for our beloved team, however he’s also a character who is very well loved, by me included.
Because of Sterling, we see multiple character beats that we haven’t before. Parker, for instance, is actually afraid of Sterling. Yes, our beloved, crazy, insane Parker, is actually afraid of someone. As she should be. Why? Because Sterling never loses.
I’d also like to take a moment to mention the fact that Eliot Spencer rides a horse in this episode. Yes, a horse. It is just as wonderful as you are imagining it to be. His hair flowed in the wind, and his flannel shirt bellowed. It was beautiful.
Some Honorable Mentions:
Sophie’s riding outfit.
Parker’s fear of horses, and the flashback.
The team helping Nate cheat at cards.
Nate’s infuriatingly annoying alias in this job, Bob Gibson.
Sterling’s american accent.
Hardison being snarky to a small chinese woman.
Quotes:
“He’s like Nate. Evil Nate.” - Parker
“I once saw a horse kill a clown.” - Parker
I give this episode: ★★★★★
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‘The Two Live Crew Job’ is such a wonderful, and for the most part, fun episode. The double crew dynamic is one thats incredibly interesting to watch.
Apollo Robbins, who is the show’s con and thief consultant, makes a wonderful appearance as the self named thief opposite Parker, Apollo. It was wonderful to see him make an appearance on camera in one of the episodes, especially trying to out thief Parker, and ultimately having Parker out thief him.
Another show stealer this episode was Wil Wheaton, and the introduction of his character, Chaos. Chaos is an infuriating nemesis of Hardison, and it seems that their hacking skills are just about on par with each other, much to Hardison’s dismay. He ends up being the ultimate villain of the episode, when it is revealed he was the one who tried to kill Sophie.
Eliot and his female counterpart, Mikel Dayan, have a few really nice fight scenes in this episode. The first one is imagined by the two of them when they see each other from across the room. While they don’t actually get to fight, they both imagine a chinese martial arts esq fight scene, that ends in everyone but the two of them dead. The second scene however, is quite steamy. Literally and figuratively! The two fight in a boiler room looking hallway with leaky steam pipes. They both strip down, Mikel to her bra and Eliot to his wonderful black wifebeater(Thank you Nadine Haders), and get their fight on. The fight ends with them pressed against each other, Eliot’s holding Mikel tightly so she can’t move. Of course, what happens when two incredibly attractive hitters are pressed together half naked in a steamy room? They kiss! And then Eliot handcuffs her to himself. Kinky.
I’d also like to mention the wonderful special effects in this episode. The two explosions looked fantastic, and the laser beam effects were amazing. If you look, you can see the reflections of the laser beams in Parker’s eyes. Thats detail, right there.
This is also the episode in which Sophie decides to leave the team to find herself. There is an emotional scene with her and Nate in the graveyard in which she is explaining this to him. We can see that she has changed out the name on the gravestone from Katherine Clive, the alias she was using while in Boston, to Sophie Devereaux, Saying essentially that she was laying Sophie to rest so she could get back to who she really was. (I can imagine one of Katherine’s friends coming to visit the grave and wondering who the hell Sophie Devereaux is). Sophie mentions that Nate is the closest thing she has to a friend, and she’s never heard him say her real name. And so the long running mystery of Sophie’s real name begins!
Honorable Mentions:
Eliot and Mikel comparing scars and finding out Mikel may just have given him one of them when she was a sniper.
Parker and Apollo chatting about birds in the air ducts.
Hardison using a hand crank generator to beat out Chaos.
Parker thinking Sophie was a ghost.
Sophie hanging out with Hardison in Lucille
Favorite Quotes:
“Seriously, she actually killed a guy once with a mop. It's a funny story, actually. She broke the mop and took...”- Eliot about Mikel
I give this episode: ★★★★☆
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‘The Morning After Job’ is pretty much a ball of fun.
Anything where Parker needs to be the main grifter is interesting, but in this episode she turned her Alice White alias, who was previously a vegetarian bookkeeper, into a sports loving tomboy. She seduces Mark Vector, an ex hockey player with an anger problem. She then fakes her own death, using make-up and latex to make herself look dead and hide her pulse, making it look like Mark had killed her in a rage induced black out.
Its worth mentioning that this is the first time we see the upstairs of Nate’s apartment. He has a creepy amount of praying mantis art. Really, a creepy amount.
Eliot and Hardison have some really wonderful moments in this episode. They go off together, pretending to be Boston police officers(and damn, kevlar vests and fingerless gloves are a good look on the boys. Thank you again, Nadine Haders.), and have side adventures throughout the entire episode. The dynamic between Eliot and Hardison is always fun to watch, particularly in this episode.
Hardison manages to get them an actual Boston PD patrol car. His adorable geeky glee over this fact is mocked by Eliot, though later in the episode, Eliot is clearly a kid in a candy store, grabbing the keys from Hardison to proclaim that he gets to drive.
If the misadventures of Boston PD officer’s Eliot Spencer and Alec Hardison was its own show, I would most definitely watch it. These scenes stole the episode completely.
Honorable Mentions:
Agent Mcsweeten!
Eliot fight in the dark.
Parker in eyeliner
Nate having a harness in his closet.
Parker loves her taser.
Favorite Quotes:
“I-I got stuff to do today...its my momma’s birthday...”- Hardison
“Shut up, we the police.” - Hardison
"GHOSTBUSTEEERS" Parker
I give this episode: ★★★★☆
