#Alec hardison

[betrayalandbetrayed]

"Oh I see how it is, this is racial. Its about my ethniticity. Uh huh, its because I'm Jewish"

Leverage Season 1, Episode 2

Hardison

Just barely realize dhow funny this is

[scotchiegirl]

# like yeah okay paralleling the two characters in a romantic relationship makes sense. but also this has nothing to do with shipping. #do u understand what im saying

(tags from @achromic-red-dreams-doze-angrily )

Yes absolutely! In fact I'd say that Nate and Eliot have the same parallel feeling and while I know some people ship them it isn't generally considered a romantic relationship at all. But the other interesting thing is the pairings that allow one of the characters to grow in our understanding of them not by what we see in contrast but by what we see of them in a vacuum.

For Parker, it's Sophie. Sophie allows Parker to be herself and then helps Parker understand who that is. And by listening to Parker talk, sometimes Sophie understands things better about herself. (The Grave Danger Job, The Very Big Bird Job)

For Hardison, it's Nate. Hardison is in a lot of ways being raised by Nate in a way the others aren't. Hardison's been more sheltered and so when he decides he's gonna try something new Nate provides him the protection to fail and see for himself that it doesn't work. (The Bank Shot Job, the Carnival Job, The Gold Job)

For Eliot, it's Hardison. Hardison genuinely wants to know about Eliot, but while he lacks the understanding of having the same type of character as Eliot (like Nate or Parker) he also lacks the concerned judgement that Sophie would bring to it. So Eliot can tell Hardison about his ex and his dad and feel (if not comfortable) at least safe in doing so. (The Wedding Job, The Low Low Price Job)

For Sophie, it's Eliot. He's different enough from her but similar enough to Nate to understand her in a way that she's not able to understand herself. And on top of that he isn't in love with her so he doesn't feel the need to know her the same way Nate does. But he does understand her enough to know what she isn't saying about herself and reassure her. (The Long Way Down Job, The Tap-Out Job)

For Nate, it's Parker. She listens to him when he doesn't think he's speaking and it's by her contrasts to Nate that we understand him and he understands himself. He trusts her judgement when he doesn't trust his own in a way that he doesn't with the others to the same degree, and he's proud when she fills his shoes even when he's not there. She understands him and through her understanding despite his not actually telling her anything, we understand him. (The Nigerian Job, The White Rabbit Job, The Broken Wing Job)

All of them have characters who are their black backdrop who they individually get to shine against as contrast, and I think that's just as beautiful as the paralleling too.

You know, I really really do enjoy how every time we learn something about Parker, we learn something about Hardison as well. Almost in response to learning something about Parker or like... like how learning about Hardison re-contextualizes what we've just learned about Parker.

Thinking about season 1 especially and The Stork Job, one of the first real vulnerable moments where Parker herself not only reaches out to the team but where she actually tells them something about herself. Tells Hardison about herself. She opens up about being an orphan, about being in foster care, and she expects him not to understand. And then he opens up about Nana and how she wasn't his grandmother but his foster mother. And it just softens Parker's story, not by downplaying it, but by giving her another angle to her rigid thinking. It is based solely on that conversation and her conscience that she does a 180 and goes back to fight for those kids.

Thinking about The Juror #6 Job too and how that went down and how Sophie may have been the one to point out that Parker had never reached out to the for help before, but Hardison was the one who got Nate to change his mind and indulge Parker. And he did it by opening up about his childhood, about being raised to be good with his words and charming and to know how to ask for things. And once again it re-contextualizes Parker. It shows what she grew up without and how hard this is for her not on a professional loner level but on a personal scared-little-girl level.

I'm sure there's more, and there's times when the opposite happens and we learn about Hardison through learning about Parker, but yeah. The brilliance of the writing to do it like that... wow.

[chronicowboy]

plugging my own review because i have never been nor will i ever be normal about leverage season 5, episode 9: the rundown job

[lindseymcdonaldseyelashes]

Leverage 4x7- "The Grave Danger Job"

[smileytriceratops]

leverage is such a ridiculous show sometimes but it can also be so whimsical. and this is what makes it so great

[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

[ghostlyarchaeologist]

"We’ve been providing military advisors, internationally, for over forty years."

Leverage S01E02 The Homecoming 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

[brionysea]

hardison's so patient with parker and eliot and it's so sweet but also so funny. he's leaving a trail of breadcrumbs to a box propped up by a stick, except the breadcrumbs are things like "kindness" and "understanding", and the box he's luring them into is actually "unconditional love" and "secretly being as weird as both of them but they won't know until it's too late to back out". because of the box

[shitpostingkats]

I forgot how hilarious The Juror #6 job is. The episode opens with Nate trying to socialize his crime daughter by having her do civil service. "There is not some evil conspiracy lurking behind the curtain of every routine civic activity." *four minutes later* "Uh, apparently there is an evil conspiracy lurking behind the curtain of every routine civic activity." Brent Spiner plays a hippie spiritualist pharmacist. We have to get Parker from thinking hiding knives in food is a good prank to having her charm an entire room of people. The kids leave for the day and Nate and Sophie line up at the door; they hand Hardison his briefcase, Parker her sacked lunch, and they present Eliot with the exciting news that today is the day he is going to be hit with a car.

[lindseymcdonaldseyelashes]

Leverage 4x7- "The Grave Danger Job"

[scattered-winter]

more memes

[aardvaark]

everyones fave thieves