#Alec hardison

[danburys]

The Nigerian Job (1.01) The First Contact Job (5.03)

[lindseymcdonaldseyelashes]

Leverage 4x9- "The Cross My Heart Job"

[ghostlyarchaeologist]

"We're taking the vents." "Mnh-mnh. It's too tight and too dusty."

Leverage S05E03 The First Contact Job.

[polls4you]

Found Family Battle (Semifinals)

[leveragecentral]

hardison + pastoral suit

[maspers]

I understand why they couldn't bring him back, but let's be honest a version of Leverage Redemption with Nate still around would have been an absolute joy to watch.

He'd take one look at Breanna and be like "who's this sassy lost child?" And he'd roll with it but he'd also just completely and possibly deliberately fail to explain ANYTHING to her. Breanna would call Hardison like every other day to complain about how Nate is a complete disaster of a man and Hardison would be like "Yes, I know, we all know, welcome to the club".

Meanwhile Harry Wilson would manage to spend the bulk of the season being even more confused than he already was in canon. Like. That's Nathan Ford??? I know about Nathan Ford, he was a legendary insurance agent! He went rogue and became one of the most successful criminals in the business! How is he A COMPLETE MESS??? Nate for his part is at first very untrusting of Harry and spends the first few episodes subtly manipulating the poor man into unnecessarily weird situations just to see what he'll do. Sophie chides Nate for being mean.

The schemes get changed, naturally, since Sophie is perfectly fine with letting Nate continue to be all Mastermindy, and the end result is very bizarre season that follows the same plot beats as the Canon one but in an inexplicably different way.

To make matters worse, when you have Nate around inevitably Maggie and Sterling show up (Sterling is oozing villainous enthusiasm at the chance to match wits with Nate and a slightly new Leverage Team, Maggie on the other hand does not want to be here but has accepted this is just a recurring part of her life now) and both of them arrive at the worst possible moment for everyone (except possibly Nate, who planned for this). Breanna immediately starts complaining about the sexual tension between Nate and Sterling, causing Hardison and Maggie to bust out laughing. There's a nonzero chance Harry ends up low key flirting with Maggie since Sophie's with Nate here, but it never goes anywhere.

Naturally the Mastermind Job gets significantly more bizarre than it already was. Everyone gives Nate a hard time over it. EVERYONE. The man never catches a break for the entire thing. They don't even let him run the con, partially because they're a bit mad but mostly just to troll him. Eliot grabs Nate and shakes him sternly at least once. Actually probably many times, throughout the season, as things get weirder.

Harry leaves at the end of Redemption Season 1 and Nate just nods knowingly and instructs Hardison to open a betting pool for how long it will be before Harry comes back. Parker wins, successful guessing it down to the exact day. Eliot accuses her of cheating.

Then in Redemption Season 2 Tara Cole shows up and everything gets worse.

[novastargirl]

He's on the cover of an Alex Cross sold book where I work. Talking with a coworker walking past it I stop midsentance and said, "hey it's Aldis Hodge"

Love opening random apps and being slapped in the face with Surprise Aldis Hodge

[aardvaark]

[sseanettles]

rewatching leverage and god i forgot how much i missed watching these people gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss evil capitalists for five very not straight seasons

[churchofthecomet]

Sophie grifting: hot duchess. seductive investor. mysterious businesswoman.

Eliot grifting: ridiculously competent chef. hot athlete (any sport). heartthrob country musician.

Hardison grifting: overly-confident criminal. assertive FBI agent. heartthrob classical musician.

Nathan Ford grifting: goddamn piece of shit oily slimy scumbag ambulance-chaser untrustworthy con artist with a stupid fucking voice and a silly hat

the show is not doing Nate any favors in the likeability or attractiveness departments here

(Bonus mention: Parker grifting: autism creature)

[danburys]

another favorite thing of mine in leverage is that, basically, when eliot, parker and hardison deal with kids they might be a little shaken but their bond with that kid will be based on kindness and giving.

when nate and sophie deal with kids, it's really 50/50 on whether or not they're about to have a mortal enemy.

[lindseymcdonaldseyelashes]

Leverage 4x9- "The Cross My Heart Job"

[ghostlyarchaeologist]

Leverage S01E03 The Wedding Job.

[erodingsinner]

Leverage x Onion headline

[thelogicalghost]

I'm sure Nate isn't homophobic - the show makes it pretty clear that all his catholic guilt is directed firmly inwards and we never see even a hint of disapproval over others' personal lives - but he's still an older white guy and definitely defaults to cishet assumptions.

Which makes me desperately want, like, a 5+ type fic of gay flirting for the con where Nate progressively gets his mind blown.

Because Sophie flirting with a woman might throw him for a beat or two, but she's a world class grifter and an actress, of course she can flirt with anyone

And then Parker had to be taught how to flirt in the first place and she's Parker so sure, she's completely faking it either way, she has no internal biases, okay

The first time a man chats up Hardison and the hacker reacts exactly the same way he does when he tries to flirt with women, Nate is so glad Sophie takes over the comms to give flirting advice because it takes him half a minute to recalibrate and edit his expectations

But then Sophie's failing to hook a mark and Elliot steps in without missing a beat, flashing his farm boy smile, and Nate is finally like, "how is it that I'm the only one here who's surprised by any of this?" and the team just shrugs and goes "idk that sounds like a you problem"

The +1 is the only time Nate attempts it and they all agree to never try that again because it was awkward and embarrassing for everyone involved