r/leverage

Llelelegeink

This is a rare episode in that it's both (in my mind anyways) Parker-centric AND Sophie-centric to a degree, which is nice.

It's Parker-centric for the obvious reasons: she was a car thief from age 12 and so the episode relies extremely heavily on her expertise and knowledge, so that's sensible. But beyond that, we see Parker go all in on something she's only really recently been doing.

Take a chance on someone else. Her reasons for doing so are the purest of all motives. She sees herself in Shorty, and wants to do whatever she can do spare a young woman a life in an area of crime that would probably eat someone like her alive. It's a telling decision. Parker knows enough to recognize that Shorty isn't 'like Parker', and that's a big deal in car thieving rings.

Parker's play goes the way it goes, which queues us up for more Leverage scrambling, but I'm absolutely not mad about the way things shook out. Parker got her second chance, and after a lifetime of crime a lot worse than anything Shorty could've possibly done, so why shouldn't she give someone else the same courtesy?

After all. If the people in Leverage can change, why can't Shorty?

It's also a Sophie-centric episode because we get to see her running a much longer character than usual. The clip I included, where she sells the car to (I think) Carl, is just the tip of the iceberg. She plays that man like a fiddle because of course she does, but that's the tip of the iceberg. She spends a lot of time with Penzer as well, working him hard to get the con going the right direction.

I know Bill Engvall from his stand-up comedy days, and I gotta say, he's funny as hell. He's not as big as some of the other stars they've had so far this season, but he does a great job playing a terrible scumbag.

The final and best thing about this episode (beyond Shorty getting her second chance, that is) is the con itself. I've mentioned in each of the last two, maybe three episodes that the cons themselves were only mediocre, held together with some truly awesome character building and genuine skill.

The con they run here in The Boost Job is absolute S-Tier. Parker has a chance (as lame as it sounds) to pay it forward to someone who deserves a better life than the one she'd been given and we get firmly reminded why it is that only Sophie can really do Sophie shit.

Everyone got to play a committed part in bringing down Penzer, and that's always a good time from where I sit! As this was such a great episode, enjoy not one but 2 clips stitched together! Sophie selling a car and Parker driving like a bat out of hell!

Beyond the towering awesomeness that is Clancy Brown as Hugh Whitman (which I will DEFINITELY get to in a second), this is a great episode for a bunch of reasons.

First, we get a micro-buddy-escape movie starring Hardison and Eliot. The thing I appreciate most about this team up (and kind of despair over, if I'm being honest) is that we get to see Eliot functioning in his true capacity: as the man who knows how to survive and has the absolute tools to do it. I despair because Hardison's dismissal of Eliot's factual, lived experience of knowing where he is at all time is a little out of place in season 3.

By now our Age of the Geek Baby knows what Eliot can do. The brotherly ripping and teasing is one thing, and pretty sure we all love it, but when you are in the middle of the forest being hunted by 'trained' militiamen, handcuffed to Eliot goddamn Spencer, you LISTEN to the man's thoughts on the matter of survival. You just do. Everyone takes Hardison's skills with the computer most seriously (unless they're teasing him), so Hardison should do the same.

The clip I included was an easy choice. It shows the moment Hardison stops playing around. I accept that our cityboy was trapped in an extremely bad situation and spiraled. I live damn near in the country these days myself and if I have to go weed the back lot where the weeds grow really thick, I have myself a really good hissy fit as well. In his situation I would've for sure done the same level of bitching and complaining.

And now on to the legend that is Clancy Brown. He IS a legend. I first saw him as The Kurgan in Highlander, and I fell immediately in love with him, and I can't think of a single role that I've felt 'meh' towards. The man's a consistent deliverer, much like Michael Ironsides.

But here's the fun thing about this absolutely legendary actor. At no point is any scenery chewed. He's calm, stable and very focused on the numbers, and takes a lot of time out of his day to point out that he was District Manager for the IRS. He's still villainous as hell, but he's like ... an accountant level villain. He's really into math and, like, maybe blowing you up. But the math first.

The con itself, complete with stealing a train, is one of the better ones out there. It was an all hands-on deck situation the moment our boys got themselves caught and trapped in those woods, and that's when Leverage shines best and brightest. I particularly enjoy the payoff on this one, mostly because it's one of those rare times where, when the team does their reveal as a final 'gotcha' moment, Hugh Whitman points out Sophie and Nate and is like 'THEY'RE IN ON THIS TOGETHER!'.

That's some real classic fun right there and the show, like the team, shines best when things have fallen all the way apart.

This is a monster episode and not just because it's one of the coolest Eliot-centric episodes we get before The French Connection Job in season 5 (which, by the way, is one of the best episodes of the entire show, ain't that right ... YES CHEF!).

First, we get Evil Bo Duke (and if that's too old for you, Evil Jonathan Kent) as a thoroughly disreputable scumbag failed musician/murderer/exploiter of genuine talent. Now I COULD have plenty to say about the sort of person John Schneider's become in the last decade or so, but I won't. For a few reasons.

One, his time on Smallville was pretty damn good and in this episode, he plays a pretty damn convincing evil bastard. It's sometimes hard for me to separate the art from the artist, but I'm willing to do it here. The important thing (sometimes, based on how vocal older actor/artists are) is to remember that when we were all younger and the sun was brighter was that these people really had a foundational effect on our lives in one way or another. I'm not over here telling you to forget your personal vendettas. If you have 'em, you have your reasons.

The other enormous big deal actor in this episode is Alona Tal as Kaye Lynn Gold. If you try and tell me to my face that you did NOT develop an immediate crush on her as Jo in Supernatural not only are you a liar, you are a lying liar and will have Lucifer, Gabriel, Castiel, Sam, Dean, their dad, their mom, Bobby and quite possibly even Rufus Turner on your ass. Pronto.

Alona is extremely beautiful, but she's more than that. She has an ineffable sweetness about her in any role she plays, and as Kaye, we see some for-real-deal acting chops and a beautiful singing voice on top of that. Beyond the singing, her role is surprisingly complex, and we get to see every bit of it; her brother's seriously hurt and in the hospital, these strangers have come to help her, Sexy Eliot is also Sexy Singing Eliot So Complications Ensue, Naturally, the con goes sideways as they always do, and then the payoff is golden.

That's a lot to carry in what's probably 10 minutes or so of screen time, and Alona sells it, especially at the end, when her world has been righted.

Outside that? Kudos to Beth Reisgraf for playing probably the silliest Parker that Parker has ever been. Every time she's up there on the screen pretending to be Not-Bjork, I genuinely wonder how it felt for her on those takes. I HAVE to imagine she was thinking 'what in the actual hell am I doing' and 'I am KILLING this shit' in equal measure.

And of course, what Eliot-centric episode would miss discussing Eliot himself. He has the Luck of the Irish when it comes to his undercover work ... and it always goes super well until it doesn't. Doesn't matter if it's baseball or country singin', he's gonna knock it out of the park and as you saw from the clip or from your own memories of the show, Eliot's not the kind of guy who can afford his face being all over the Internet.

Fatwas and all that, right? Anyways, The Studio Job brings a lot to the table and weirdly, now that I actually think about it, it had nothing to do at all with Damien Moreau.

The con for this one is perfectly serviceable but doesn't ring any bells too loudly because let's be honest.

The Double Blind Job con IS basic. What's not basic is what's going on behind the scenes, which is where you know I like it.

The biggest and funniest thing is Parker's absolute jealousy that's on-screen every single time Hardison's being nice to Ashley, the client. I've seen the episode at least a hundred times and it never stops being precious. Why? Because I don't think Parker's far enough along on her emotional journey to even recognize that she's feeling anything at all, least of ALL jealousy.

Parker knows only that Ashley Moore isn't to be trusted. So even though she is the client, and won't do anything, she's got her eyes on Hardison's special new friend to the point where it's a miracle Ashley's head didn't explode a la Scanners. It's a wonderful little dive into our thief's growing emotional complexity without dialing down into it as hard as they during The Inside Job.

The other truly funny thing is Eliot ... ELIOT ... being dumped by Jennifer Pearson (played by Tracy Gaillard) for not being exciting enough. The look on his face, the sheer visceral reaction to being on the receiving end of the 'it's not you it's me' speech is something I dine out on every time it pops up. Because this Eliot. The Man's Man and The Lady's Man all wrapped up into one awesome hitter/chef combo package. Not only could he cook you a 12 course 3 Michelin star meal, he could (and has) fought off thugs while doing so.

Last but not least, a shout-out to Michael O'Keefe as Darren Hoffman. He's another accomplished actor that you might recognize from movies and TV here and there, but once upon a time he played Danny in Caddyshack, so he's got that goin' for him, which is nice. He's another one of these stealth top tier actors that drops into Leverage, plays an absolute shit-heel and fades into the night, only to pop up somewhere else.

While the con is simple, the emotional payoff at the end for everyone is great ... especially when Sophie finally spells the truth out for Parker. Why is this awesome? Because we get the people are like pretzels metaphor, and that makes my heart swell two sizes too big every time.

And that makes an only okay episode an 8/10 for me.