#leverage 5x11

[leveragecentral]

Leverage (2008—2012) The Low, Low Price Job

[lindseymcdonaldseyelashes]

lindseymcdonaldseyelashes' Leverage Index

Thought it could be helpful to get all of my Leverage tags in one place for simplified browsing. Much more for Season 4 and Season 5 coming soon (and Redemption will probably get its own index page as well).

All Leverage

Leverage Season 1

1x1 - "The Nigerian Job"

1x2 - "The Homecoming Job"

1x3 - "The Wedding Job"

1x4 - "The Snow Job"

1x5 - "The Mile High Job"

1x6- "The Miracle Job"

1x7 - "The Two-Horse Job"

1x8 - "The Bank Shot Job"

1x9 - "The Stork Job"

1x10 - "The Juror #6 Job"

1x11 - "The 12-Step Job"

1x12 - "The First David Job"

1x13 - "The Second David Job"

Leverage Season 2

2x1 - "The Beantown Bailot Job"

2x2 - "The Tap-Out Job"

2x3 - "The Order 23 Job"

2x4 - "The Fairy Godparents Job"

2x5 - "The Three Days of the Hunter Job"

2x6 - "The Top Hat Job"

2x7 - "The Two Live Crew Job"

2x8 - "The Ice Man Job"

2x9 - "The Lost Heir Job"

2x10 - "The Runway Job"

2x11 - "The Bottle Job"

2x12 - "The Zanzibar Marketplace Job"

2x13 - "The Future Job"

2x14 - "The Three Strikes Job"

2x15 - "The Maltese Falcon Job"

Leverage Season 3

3x1 - "The Jailhouse Job"

3x2 - "The Reunion Job"

3x3 - "The Inside Job"

3x4 - "The Scheherazade Job"

3x5 - "The Double-Blind Job"

3x6 - "The Studio Job"

3x7 - "The Gone Fishin' Job"

3x8 - "The Boost Job"

3x9 - "The Three-Card Monte Job"

3x10 - "The Underground Job"

3x11 - "The Rashomon Job"

3x12 - "The King George Job"

3x13 - "The Morning After Job"

3x14 - "The Ho Ho Ho Job"

3x15 - "The Big Bang Job"

3x16 - "The San Lorenzo Job"

Leverage Season 4

4x1 - "The Long Way Down Job"

4x2 - "The 10 Li'l Grifters Job"

4x3 - "The 15 Minutes Job"

4x4 - "The Van Gogh Job"

4x5 - "The Hot Potato Job"

4x6 - "The Carnival Job"

4x7 - "The Grave Danger Job"

4x8 - "The Boiler Room Job"

4x9 - "The Cross My Heart Job"

4x10 - "The Queen's Gambit Job"

4x11 - "The Experimental Job"

4x12 - "The Office Job"

4x13 - "The Girls' Night Out Job"

4x14 - "The Boys' Night Out Job"

4x15 - "The Lonely Hearts Job"

4x16 - "The Gold Job"

4x17 - "The Radio Job"

4x18 - "The Last Dam Job"

Leverage Season 5

5x1 - "The (Very) Big Bird Job"

5x2 - "The Blue Line Job"

5x3 - "The First Contact Job"

5x4 - "The French Connection Job"

5x5 - "The Gimme a K Street Job"

5x6 - "The D.B. Cooper Job"

5x7 - "The Real Fake Car Job"

5x8 - "The Broken Wing Job"

5x9 - "The Rundown Job"

5x10 - "The Frame-Up Job"

5x11 - "The Low Low Price Job"

5x12 - "The White Rabbit Job"

5x13 - "The Corkscrew Job"

5x14 - "The Toy Job"

5x15 - "The Long Goodbye Job"

[leverage-ot3]

john rogers said this in the low low price job and he was right

[kajaono]

No, Elior crying? I think taht is the first time we ever saw him crying for real. Helpless, alone. No :( I do not like that. The episode was so much fun. Why do you need to hurt me like this?

[leverage-ot3]

she looks so offended when he tries to move her arm

Bonus:

[indelibleevidence]

We're in hiatus mode with the rewatch for the next couple of weeks or so, but I have 90 minutes until I can call to make an appointment before I sleep, so here we go with 3x05 - WTF Edition. Really hope this cut works, since we have a) plenty of negativity and b) spoilers right up to 5x11 in this post.

So. The Avery twist technically began in 3x04, but we don't get any fallout until this episode. So I'm going to go into an overview of why Avery bugs me before I get to 3x05 stuff.

Let me just start out by saying Kristina Reyes did really well with the material she had to work with. BUT I object to Avery's existence, because she's only around for one season (and thirty seconds at the end where she doesn't even interact with Jeller), and even though it would have been an angst gold mine to have Remi return and deal with her daughter being back, they didn't go there. And everything they had Avery tell the team about Crawford, they would have been easily able to get from other sources. She just plain didn't need to be there in season 3.

I once saw someone speculating that Jaimie and Kristina had a spat, based on Instagram unfollowing or something. That would make a lot of sense, that one of them refused to work with the other and ruined what the writers had originally planned for season 4 Remi and dying!Jane. But I digress.

Overall, I'm glad they wrote Avery out of the show, because when your ship has a kid, they become really boring. Even their shippy moments revolve around the kid. The things they were worrying about pre-kid are now background for kid-related angst, and there aren't that many ways to make that unique and interesting.

The writers kind of averted that with Kurt and Bethany in season 2-4, because Allie wasn't part of the team, she moved away, you only saw a few moments of 'going to be a dad' and they were buried under all the Sandstorm shenanigans, then Allie and Bethany only pop up a few times afterwards. And of course, every single character forgets about Avery's existence after 4x01. But season 3 parental!Jane and season 5 parental!Kurt were just annoying.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying real-life people shouldn't make their kids the most important thing in their lives. That's good parenting (assuming it's not overbearing). What I'm saying is that watching well-developed characters become the Worried/Protective Parent Trope is like replacing characters with cardboard cutouts, because there's not much to differentiate one worried parent TV character from another. They all just go 'MY BABY MY BABY' and it wastes screen time that could have gone towards fun team moments, or shippy playfulness, or whatever.

So yeah, from the moment I heard 'this says I have a daughter' I was already rolling my eyes. The amnesia angle makes it slightly more interesting, but the faked death plot point, when it was revealed, was just far-fetched. Roman's disregard for the only family he has who's not Jane is weird, given how family obsessed he is. A better revenge on Jane would have been what he said he'd do to get Avery to fake her death - getting her involved in his schemes against Crawford, getting her to break the law and become his permanent ally that way. No death-faking required, and a different plot point for getting Kurt to take tattoo help from him.

Basically, I just don't think there was a convincing enough reason for the whole Jane-has-a-kid storyline. Yes, conflict with Kurt and Roman being able to leverage Kurt were worthwhile plot points, but they could have found something else to make it about, that actually made sense.

But yeah. On to 3x05 discussion:

The absolute last acceptable moment for Kurt to put off telling Jane about Berlin was just before Jane got the envelope from Rossi. I mean, Kurt, you're a great FBI agent, you can't string these clues together and read the writing on the wall? Going into the seconds after Jane reads Rossi's message, he already knows that a) Roman knows about Berlin, b) Roman has promised there is more pain coming, c) Roman knows he can use Berlin to leverage Kurt's cooperation, to some as yet unknown end, and d) Jane now knows she has/had a child. When Jane said, 'I have a daughter', Kurt's response should have been, 'I know.'

The writers do have Jane say some stuff that's supposed to give Kurt an excuse for not telling her, like not wanting to disrupt the child's life, but all of that ignores the fact that they had at least twelve off-screen hours to process and discuss this information. I doubt Jane went 'I have a daughter - oh well, we'll ask Patterson about it in the morning, let's get some sleep.' She would have spent at least a couple of hours awake and stressing, and Kurt would have been talking her through it. So he totally would have had time to come clean before she started with her 'I can't have my sense of who I am ripped away again' stuff. Not cool, Kurt.

Jane reacts exactly as I would expect someone to act in her situation, except for one thing - the moment she says, 'How could I forget I had a child?' Like that's some sacred thing someone should never forget, even when they've had their entire memory wiped. She didn't say, 'How could I forget I was a terrorist?' or 'How could I forget I had a brother?' or 'How could I forget my parents were murdered?' So why should having a kid be any different? It just makes me think the implication was some 'sacred bond between mother and child' bullshit. You'd never get that if the amnesiac character was male.

Also it kinda sucks that they had Jane be processing the child reveal at the same time as the case was dealing with untested rape kits. Sure, Roman says the father was Remi's high school sweetheart, who was a 'nice enough guy', but the show seems to be nudging you into unacknowleged parallel territory up until that point. :/

Okay, I'm done. Sorry for the ramble. XD

[tjlikesprettythings]

Walls and Doors

Lol I’m back! I’ve been struggling to write macriley but here is a bit of something I threw together after watching 5x11.  Walls take time to build even the metaphorical ones. And he just always thought that they had one between them, keeping them in check of who they were, what they needed to mean to each other. Their work, their friendship, and their team dynamics, each a brick in that wall, but while that wall was being built he didn’t leave a possibility in his calculations that there was room for a door in this wall. That there was a chance she might feel the same as he did.

Sitting across from her as she told him, it was over, all those things the wall was made of still stood and made him feel even more empty. She was right, he was about to propose to Desi, he was going to take the leap. And now that leap just didn’t seem right. He knew Desi was a big part of why she was telling him to let it go. 

Because he didn’t believe her when she said the feelings were gone. It wasn’t easy to get rid of because when he told her emotions weren’t a science he was speaking from experience. He didn’t push her any further on the matter, as the the serial numbers on the nano bugs became the forefront of their discussion during their ride back home.

When they were back home, and debriefed, Mac and Desi met each other in the halls. “Mission went well huh?” he asked, confirming what she had already let him know. 

Desi stuck her hand in her jean pockets and nodded, “yea, lot of detours, but mission success. Guess you and Riley did well too?”

He rubbed the back of his neck, “ah yea, as well as it can go anyway.”

Desi nodded, they had agreed to forget the last 24hrs from the last mission, another 24hrs later it felt as if they were standing still. If she were being, it felt like they were stagnant for a while now. Running in circles around each other but never moving forward together. 

“Good, good, so you wanna come over?” He asked looking down at her. 

Desi pressed her lips together exhaling, “yea sure.”

He and Desi sat across from each other on his couch beers in hand, things just felt awkward again. Desi took a shaky breath before she let loose a chuckle. “We keep finding ourselves in this situation, huh?” she asked.

Mac raised his head to look at her, swallowing the beer in his mouth to fully look at her. Desi shrugged, “you and I are like those people who keep getting pulled in only to get flung across the room because at the end of the day we don’t really fit.”

He didn’t expect her to say any of this, though all of it was true. “Desi-I...I’m sorry.”

She shook her head and bit her lip, “I think we’ve both known for a while this wasn’t working. We fell into the pattern, it was easier to try to salvage this than to be alone. This job, what we do, it takes so much from us and I think at the end of the day being with someone who gets is kind of leverages whether or not we’re actually good for each other.”

“So I guess this is you saying you don’t want to marry me?” he joked. Though deep down there was a relief that was spreading across his body, and he hated that he was part of the reason they reached this point. 

Desi laughed as she sat back on the couch. “This is me saying, stop being an ass Angus. Go tell her you want her, that the person that fits you is her.” -she sighed and took a swig of her beer, “don’t waste anymore time.”

“Kind of weird, but this maybe the first time we actually talked about things clearly.” And he was genuinely sad about this, somewhere down the line he just forgot how to be himself or to say what he wanted or needed. 

“We were trying to hide behind each other,” she placed the beer bottle on the coffee table, “Riley, she’s one of a kind, I can’t be mad at her for her feelings. Besides, I think I stepped in the middle of you two.”

Desi did think about the dynamic between Riley and Mac, especially after codex, the way she ran after him, the way he reacted to meeting Aubrey, and of course she wondered if he could’ve ever done what he did to her to Riley. She didn’t think so, but then again she supposed he wouldn’t have to because Riley knew him in a different way, she had this unshakeable trust in him and that had Desi questioning why didn’t she? 

It wasn’t much of a shock for her to hear those recordings, honestly, it was kind of a relief. She and Riley started to build a real friendship, the kind she hasn’t had in years. A genuine ride or die, and that was another factor in why she understood that she was the block, the wall that kept them apart, because she had the opportunity to see just how much Riley was the other half of Mac. 

“I’m sorry,” Mac said again, because he really was. “I never meant to hurt you, or put you in the middle.”

“You didn’t put me in the middle, I kind of just walked into it.” Desi said looking him in the eye. She pursed her lips then she smiled, “It doesn’t matter now, let’s end this here.” -she stood and rubbed her hands on her thighs. 

Mac followed her, putting his own beer bottle down, he stepped up to her and held his arms open. Desi stepped into them and closed her eyes, an amicable end. When they pulled away, she smiled at him again and he at her. It felt like they were seeing each other for the first time.

“Thank you.” Mac said, because they did have some good times, they did have meaningful moments, and now she gave him the way to open the door to Riley, or at least the tools he needed to try to pick the lock.

She nodded and headed towards the door. “Seriously Mac, don’t be stupid.”

Mac laughed, “I’ll try my best.”

Her eyes softened for a second then, she walked out of the door, leaving him staring after the closed door. One closed, but another would open, or at least he hoped it would. 

So here he was again knocking on her door, the difference being this time he knew exactly what he wanted and he hoped she felt the same and would open up and be honest. When she opened the door it again hit him, that he’d been incredibly stupid up until now. 

“Mac…” Riley said, there was an exhaustion behind her eyes and he did feel guilty because he knew that it had partly to do with him pushing her.

Mac held up his hand, “before you say anything, hear me out.” he said, watching as her shoulder shagged with defeat. He didn’t ask her to let him in or try to invade her space; he stood on what he considered neutral grounds in the hall way of her apartment complex.

 “I’m not ok with keeping the door closed. I feel so stupid Riles, I should’ve said something a long time ago. I just never let myself get past the fear, the fear that you might not feel the same and that would make you uncomfortable around me if you knew. That year and half we didn’t talk, I was going crazy, because there isn’t anyone I want to tell my secrets, fears and thoughts to more than you.” He ran a hand through his hair, something he did when he needed to center himself. 

His eyes connected with hers again, watched as her swallow and that gave him the fuel he needed. “My feelings didn’t go away. I buried them, I distracted myself, and I thought I accepted that you would never feel the same and then used work, friendship and team dynamics as an excuse to build that wall between us.” 

Just like he suspected she was doing now, hell she said as much on the plane ride back. But those excuses meant nothing right now. Because they could make it work if they wanted, they were better because they were friends, because they understood each other. She already meant the world to him.

He took a deep breath, “you asked me what I wanted from you, I don’t want the door to disappear or close forever, I want a chance.”

Riley inhaled sharply as her eyes glazed, she gripped her door hard to keep from letting her emotions take the best of her. But Mac wasn’t done apparently as he took just one step towards her. 

“I think your feelings aren’t gone, because mine aren’t and I need to know, is there a chance?” He asked softly, his eyes searching her face. He hadn’t listened to his gut for a long time, and right now his gut was telling him that she definitely felt the same. 

She didn’t know what to say, her mind ran from Desi, to how this would affect their work to their friendship. What if it all crashed and burned?! She’d lose him forever, and he’d hate her for stepping in the way of him and Desi. 

“Mac…”

“Oh my god, give him a chance will ya? Look at the poor slub!” they both turned with raised brows at the voice which belonged to Riley’s neighbor Mrs. Decker, who apparently was about to take her dog out for a walk when she encountered Mac’s confession. “My Stan, he was my best friend. You won’t lose anything if it’s real.”

Mac chuckled, and then looked at Riley, “what do you say?”

Mrs. Decker rolled her eyes, “Come on now Riley! Tell him that you want him too. We can see it on your face honey.” as if her little Jack Russell agreed he also barked once for Riley to admit her feelings. 

What could she say, there was a part of her that was screaming to say, yes, but then there was the part that was scared of what it could mean and how it would hurt Desi, so she voiced it. “Desi-”

Mac cut her off by shaking his head, “we ended things, she-uh she told me not to be stupid. So here I am not being stupid.”

Riley swallowed the lump in her throat, they stared at each other and after a moment, they realized that Mrs. Decker was still standing and watching them expectantly. “Mac…”

“Just kiss her already!” Mrs. Decker said impatiently. 

Mac turned to the older woman and gave her a small smile, while he appreciated the cheerleading, it was getting a bit weird. But maybe she had a point, that maybe he needed to cross that threshold for Riley to see that they did make sense, that this could work. “Hi, Ma’am thank you for the support. Do you mind giving us a minuet?”

Mrs. Decker sighed and pulled her Jack Russell away, mumbling “come on Benji, let these two idiots figure things out alone.” When they were out of ear shot, Mac looked at her with raised brows. 

“Is she always so nosy?”

Riley couldn’t help but giggle at the antics of Mrs. Decker, and in her distraction he missed Mac stepping up close to cup her face. She looked up at him, his face was just an inch from hers. “You can slap me after,” he said before his lips were on hers. 

Her hands which gripped her door like a lifeline, dropped and slowly came to hold his wrists. Her eyes closed as she opened her mouth to return his kiss. emotions weren’t a science, you can’t control how you felt. 

[whateverisbeautiful]

Reveling in Richonne

#138: The Presence (9x04)

While Rick and Michonne were separate for most of 9x04 there were still a lot of significant stuff with them so I have to break down what goes on in Rick and Michonne’s final day before their whole world changes. 👌🏽 Starting with Michonne’s eventful day where she has to be in the presence of Negan. 😑

But Negan also gets to learn that when he’s in front of Michonne, he’s in the presence of a queen.

We cut to Michonne and Judith sitting outside their home and Michonne is working on the charter while Judith sits with her, watching her mom be a diplomatic icon. And they hear a knock so Michonne gets up to see who it is and on her way over she touches Judith’s head and says “I’ll be right back, baby.” A precious little Mama Michonne moment.

So Michonne talks with Nora and I like to see Michonne interacting with a new person, who appears to be a friend. Nora gives the president an update on some stuff going on in the community, including that the drama king is not eating. 

Michonne lets Nora know that she’ll handle it cuz it’s her responsibility and it’s nice that, as much as Michonne has on her plate and as much as she has zero desire to spend time with Negan, she’s willing to add this to her plate cuz that’s what leaders do. 👌🏽

Michonne goes to Negan’s cell and I was low key quite curious cuz I had been wanting Negan to get to have an interaction with Michonne where he gets to more formally see who this queen is. And what better way to start that then her placing the plate down in front of him and standing like a boss as she tells him in a matter of fact tone, “The hunger strike ends today.” 👏🏽👏🏽 

Negan says he’s not on strike, he’s just not wanting to eat but, “it’s nice to know that you care.” But Michonne clears that up to let him know the real reason is, “We’re keeping you alive, and the living eat. So eat, Negan.” 

It’s also funny that she says it’s a nice day cuz she knows good and well Negan can’t enjoy that day. I’m here for the subtle shade. 😁 She tells him when she comes back in an hour she wants that food on his plate gone. She’s got enough people to mother, but clearly she now has to add his trifling self to the list. 

And then he has the nerve to ask if that’s all she’s got and I love her response and delivery of the line, “I got better things to do.” 😂😎 

Negan says if she wants him to eat then he wants her to stay and talk to him and I was like Negan I get it, everyone wants to be in Michonne’s presence but no, she doesn’t have time for you to try your mind games on her. Not today. Not ever.

Negan says he’s proof that they’re making a new civilization and so he uses that as leverage to get her to stay and talk, cuz then he’ll eat. And he says “I mean that’s what your boyfriend says.” Correction: that’s what her husband & soul mate says. 💯 

But I do like that at least we know by now that Negan has realized Rick and Michonne are a couple.

Michonne’s willing to sit with Negan for just twenty minutes, which is quite generous.  But she’s still very much in control of the situation as she takes a chair and sits and says, “You wanna talk? Let’s talk.” 

Negan is so used to being able to take control of the moment within five seconds of interacting with someone, but those games don’t work so easily with Michonne. 

So it’s implied that Michonne tells Negan about how she spends her day and we come into the scene where Negan says it sounds more boring than his day. Which...

He continues trying to provoke her by saying she’s the one stuck with the C-team while Rick and co get to be out there doing important stuff. Clearly he’s learned Michonne is one of their A team members so he asks why it is she’s been tasked with more domestic duties instead. And I was like; look what Negan’s not finna do is try to cause division between R&M. It’s a waste of time and energy cuz nothing breaks that bond. 👏🏽

Michonne challenges his point, asking, “You think I’m stuck?” and Negan answers saying just like he’s not meant to be in this cell, there’s a warrior in her that’s not meant to spend her days, “planting kale and kissing boo boos” but this silly fool doesn’t realize Michonne’s multidimensional so she can do all of that and then some at the same dang time. Cuz 👸🏽.

Michonne goes on to say, “You think that’s all this is? We’re rebuilding the world.” I’m glad she doesn’t let him downplay what she’s doing. She sees the importance in all of these things, no matter how small or seemingly “trivial”. None of it makes her less of a warrior or trapped in any way, and in fact it all contributes to the civilization they’re trying to bring forth. 

She tells him they’re at the start of everything with nothing holding them back while Negan rots away with nothing. And that’s the thing, I don’t know how much of the Grimes family unit Negan has gotten to see at this point, but if he saw them together, he’d know Michonne has a whole lot more to live for than he thinks.

It’s funny that Negan attempts to play the wife card with Michonne by saying he’s grateful his wife didn’t have to see him like this, in attempt to appeal to Michonne and gain sympathy. But Michonne’s ready with the amused response of how his wife probably wouldn’t have wanted to see the guy he was before he ended up in this cell either.

I feel like Negan tries to bring up how great his wife was and how she deserved better cuz he wants Michonne to start thinking about if she too is that wife who deserves better...but his manipulation can stay home cuz Michonne knows who she is. 🙄 

Michonne asks what happened to his wife, allowing them to have a more human connection. Negan says she passed form cancer and how they would have loved to have a kid and specifically a kid like Carl.

He tells Michonne, “We would have loved to have a kid like Carl. You were lucky” And the “you were lucky” part indicates the fool finally knows that Carl was Michonne’s kid...at the same time miss me with all this Carl remorse from Negan, cuz the man had multiple moments of almost killing him. 

Then, Michonne says she thinks about Carl everyday which is so sweet and so heartbreaking. 

And she says “But he’s still here. In everything we do. I look around and I see him everywhere.” And that is just powerful and heartwarming. I love her saying this and how Carl is still so apart of her. 

It’s sweet knowing she can find comfort in looking at their thriving community and seeing Carl in that. I’m sure a huge reason why she’s been so committed to investing in this community is because it’s an investment in Carl. She feels his presence here. 😌 And taking care of this community is how she continues to take care of her son. 

Negan asks Michonne if she sees Carl in this cell which, again, I was like I’m gonna need Negan to stop using this moment as leverage to try manipulating her into whatever agenda he has. Michonne is not the one. 

But I like that she reiterates, “Everywhere.” Especially cuz Carl is the only reason Negan is in a cell and not six feet under ground...so yeah she definitely sees Carl in this cell.

And then Negan quickly picks up on the fact that Carl wasn’t Michonne’s first kid. I like the wording of saying, “Carl wasn’t your first” cuz it implies again this understanding that Carl is her child. 

When he brings this up, Michonne immediately goes on defense and reminds him he only has a few more minutes to eat before she’s gone.

Negan picks up a lot from her response and can tell he’s onto something personal with her, so he insensitively keeps pushing by asking, “How did he die? It was a “he” wasn’t it? Did he have your eyes” and hearing that had me like...

The disrespect to use the knowledge of her deceased child to try and get under her skin. Negan, nobody wants to have these super personal conversations with you. He was out of line asking all that. 😑 I wanted Michonne to get a chance to talk about her sons but it just had to be with Negan of all people. :/

She tells him very matter of fact, that, “His name was Andre. And he just didn’t make it”. Negan says he’s sorry but Michonne lets him know she’s made her peace with it. 

And Michonne truly is a strong woman for having done the work to make peace with such a tragedy in her life. And it’s cool that we got to watch her journey of “coming back” and making her peace. So much so, that she can now be at this point in her life where her family has blossomed and is continuing to grow. 

Negan then says it’s better this way for the both of them with their losses. When he tries to say that he and her are the same, Michonne is adamant that they aren’t. But Negan is adamant that they are cuz he tells her “We were built for more. We still are, Michonne.”

It’s annoying that Negan really thought he could use such transparent tactics to get in Michonne’s head. He wants her to feel like the discontent housewife who needs to get away but like I said; Michonne is not the one. 💯

He says that behind walls and bars they die, but uh Michonne is one of the ones who lives so Negan, you thought. 

But his words do resonate a bit when he tells Michonne how being out there is like an addiction to them. That’s something Michonne has felt and known before. 

It’s what she spoke about to Rick in 5x11 when she expressed learning how the fight turns on you if you get too addicted to it. And it’s what she seems to be wrestling with in the montage in this episode too. This need to be out there fighting the fight is a need she feels strongly, to the point where Negan could get her to at least ponder if it’s an addiction. 

So Michonne quickly stands up, not wanting to hear anymore because she wants to believe that she’s put that addiction to being out there behind her. But part of her is not so certain.

Negan says he knows she knows what he’s talking about and it’s why she’s grateful too. She asks, “Grateful for what?” and Negan has the audacity to say, “That Andre is gone. Because you know all he would’ve done is make you weak.” Where is this man’s hometraining?? 🤔 Like who thinks it’s okay to talk like this to someone, and especially to get this personal with someone you don’t really know? 

And unlike Negan, it’s not all about selfishly attaining individual strength and tyrannical power. For some people, like Michonne, strength can be garnered in protecting others, not just looking out for yourself.

Michonne’s ticked off with Negan trying her this way and annoyed that, while it took him a minute, he did manage to find the right button to push, so she throws his tray of food and leaves. But she doesn’t just leave it at that.👌🏽👸

🏽gifs source: @michonnegrimes

[dylanobrienisbatman]

Echo Positivity Week!

Day 1: Fave Episode (Top 5)

1. 5x06, Exit Wounds:

Honestly, 5x06 was one of my absolute favourite episodes of season 5, which, based on the fandom uproar after it aired, is an unpopular opinion, and Echo’s storyline in it was a huge part of why. This episode was truly the paramount of Echo’s arc, truly showing us as an audience how much she’s changed and how her priorities have shifted. Echo in any other season would have followed Octavia’s orders without question, offering up the defectors to save her own skin, but Echo now stands her ground. She does what she knows is right, even though it means she has to separate from her family and put her life in danger. She protects Bellamy, and Monty and Harper, and doesn’t think twice. She only considers doing what Octavia asks for a moment before she sees the potential human consequences that helping Octavia would cause, and she backs out. Watching her not only fight for her family, but choose them over herself, and watching her love and be loved in return, was the best.

Also her shoving that flash drive INSIDE that girls arm to hide it? My girl is so smart and tricky. (gif by @murphystartedthefire)

2. 5x11, The Dark Year:

God doesn’t our girl know better than anyone how true that is? I loved this whole episode, but Echo taking charge and leading the group to try and rescue the rest of their family was one of the best parts. I really loved that it gave us a chance to see the spacekru dynamic, specifcally the fact that they all kind of step back and let the person best suited to the task be in charge, whether it’s Raven with tech, Murphy when he’s starting riots, or Echo leading a battle plan. She really got to show how intelligent and strategic she is, which was great. I also loved that it showed us how much she wanted to get her family back. Echo had such a lonely life, before praimfaya, always being used by those around her, never cared for or loved, until she went to space. These people, these six people, mean the world to her, and she would lay down her life for them, no question, and watching her fight tooth and nail to get them back was awesome. 

This was also the episode that gave us this soft moment, which showed that Echo and Emori had bonded in space, and has Emori’s badass hand on Echo’s shoulder, which was one of the biggest things I was curious about in terms of the time jump. How did Echo get past the prejudice she was raised with? How did this relationship evolve? I wanna know everything. My two best girls. 

3. 4x12, The Chosen:

I didn’t really expect to pick episodes from outside of season 5, but the last two episode of season 4 were such great Eco content. 4x12 was really such a great episode all around, and i think it gets overshadowed by 4x13 a lot, which is a shame. Echo in this episode was AMAZING. We sort of get to watch her watching everyone else which is always such a fun narrative choice by content creators, and this was no different. Her sitting off in the corner, prepared to burn, and seeing an opportunity and taking it by the horns, following after the rover on her (terrifying, bloody) horse, and getting herself a seat on that ship was such a badass storyline for her. I think it really showed her guts, and her understanding of how the world works. She knows they have no reason to save her, but she saves them, so she gets to ask for the ultimate favour. Talking to Clarke, explaining why she did what she did, we really get to see that in another story, Echo would be the hero. In another story, where Ice Nation are the protagonists, Echo is the badass warrior who fights for her people, the brilliant spy who advises her king. We get to see that she does everything for the same reason that Clarke, that Bellamy, that all of our ‘heroes’ do, which just killed me. Shes so lost, so broken, completely alone, but she did it all because she just wanted to make sure her people were safe. God i love Echo. (Gif by @lostnwounded) 

Also, it blessed us with this AWESOME scene. Hello Echo Everdeen. (gif by @hedaswarrior) 

4. 5x03, Sleeping Giants: (All gifs here by @hedaswarrior)

This was my absolute favourite season 5 episode, and such a great Echo episode. We got to see so many facets of her character here. We got to see her in the scene above, realising that there was a problem, and knowing who to go too, showing a clear understanding of how their family dynamic works, which i loved. We got to see her making quippy jokes at Murphy, showing that they had bonded, showing that she has relationships with more than just Bellamy, and showing that shes sassy, which is Important™. On a bigger scale, we had a huge fight scene, where she lunges into action. We had a scene where she showed her instincts, taking her sword out from the beginning because she didn’t trust this new and foreign place. We had a scene where she showed her smarts, not only strategically, when she recommended killing all of the eligius soldiers because it was just an army waiting to be woken up (she was right), but also when she asked Raven if there was a way she could rig it up remotely to kill them from the ground, to let them go back to earth while still having leverage, showing that even though she seems to have never gotten the hang of tech as well as Emori did, she absorbed as much information as she could, and also reminding us that she was a soldier and a spy. It also just gave us so much lovely spacekru content, all of them caring for each other, worrying about each other, working as a team. I love it. 

This is the best line. Banished Bros for life. 

5. 4x13, Praimfaya:

Augh. Sad, scared, lonely panda baby. She came to the island expecting to find a bunker to ride out the storm in and ended up in OUTER. SPACE. A grounder. From a society that abhores technology. In a ring in space entirely made from technology. Can you imagine her fear? I think this episode really drove home how lonely, vulnerable, and scared Echo must have been all the time, on the inside, and the extraordinary circumstances of that day just had it pouring out of her. The scene where she almost took her own life was just... I was in hysterics. Watching her just, break down completely, and come to the full realisation that she had no family, no home, no clan, absolutely nothing, was heart breaking. Watching her fear and confusion as everyone around her worked at breakneck speed was incredible, because I think it really gave the audience someone to view the situation through. We could sort of dig into Echo’s fear and anxiety and confusion about how they could POSSIBLY make this work. This episode was such a turning point for her, and Tasya was incredible in it. 

And she ended up in space, and ended up with a family. my heart can’t take it. Spacekru kills me. 

Watching her just... stare at the pod, completely dumbfounded. Completely in shock. Poor confused panda baby. (gif by @murphystartedthefire)

[ao3feed-leverage]

conversations in the night

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/39GPzdO

by abrightgrayworld

Eliot and Hardison have a heart-to-heart after Eliot's visit to his father's.

Words: 1652, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: Leverage

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: Gen

Characters: Alec Hardison, Eliot Spencer (Leverage)

Relationships: Alec Hardison & Eliot Spencer

Additional Tags: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Discussion of Racism, Post 5x11 The Low Low Price Job

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/39GPzdO

[ohhhoneyhoney]

Hello I'm in the mood to watch leverage but I dont have time to rewatch all of the seasons and I havent seen it in years, so as my resident Leverage expert could you please tell me which episodes are the best ones to rewatch? thanks

OKAY so it’s been soooo long since i watched leverage that i had to refresh my memory reading episode synopses, so i’m sure i missed several and i’ll kick myself for it later but also hahahaha i have so many, i apologize in advance

1x05: the bank shot job - 1x06: the stork job - 1x07: the wedding job

2x02: the tap-out job - 2x03: the order 23 job - 2x07: the two live crew job

3x03: the inside job - 3x04: the scheherazade job - 3x06: the studio job - 3x07: the gone-fishin' job - 3x12: the king george job - 3x14: the ho ho ho job -

4x1: the long way down job - 4x4: the van gogh job - 4x5: the hot potato job - 4x6: the carnival job - 4x7: the grave danger job - 4x13: the girls' night out job - 4x14: the boys' night out job - 4x16: the gold job -

5x3: the first contact job - 5x5: the gimme a k street job - 5x8: the broken wing job - 5x9: the rundown job (my three kids!!! working a job!!! together!!! my heart!!! is crying!!!) - 5x11: the low low price job - and finally, 5x15: the long goodbye job (this finale fucked me up. FUCKED. ME. UP. the scene in the back of the van when parker, hardison, and eliot all hold hands...leave me here to die)

also, any episode with a lot of hardison. he is my son. my favorite son.

[doykeitdyke]

oh, oh no, dammit Eliot’s crying, abort mission, just stAB ME IN THE HEART why dont you

[leverage-ot3]

notable moments from The Low Low Price Job

leverage 5.11

parker being super clingy to hardison rb if u agree

- - - - -

(Hardison listens to audio from store)

Caroline: Can I get a “good morning, Value!More”?

Workers: Good morning, Value!More!

Caroline: And who’s Value!More?

[Value!More]

Workers: We’re Value!More!

Caroline: And what’s Value!More?

Workers: The best!

Eliot: This reminds me of North Korea.

[Interior Van]

Hardison: Come on, Eliot, shake it. Give me some soul!

[Value!More]

Eliot: Are you dancing? I hate you

hardison is a troll and eliot is DONE

- - - - -

Eliot (looking at his pay slip): You got to be kidding me.

Martin: First paycheck, huh?

Eliot: They think we can live off of this

truer words have never been spoken + eliot knows the minimum wage is bullshit

- - - - -

Hardison: Hey, man, that, uh, stuff about your pop owning the hardware shop, man, is that real or is that just an alias riff?

(Eliot doesn’t answer)

Hardison: Okay.

Eliot (hesitantly): It was more like a hole-in-the-wall... tools stacked up to the ceiling. There was method in his madness, though. He knew that place like the back of his hand.

Hardison: Did you two work it together?

Eliot: Yeah, he wanted me to run the damn joint. But I wanted to get out, change the world, needed to get out of there. I joined the service when I was 18, and, well, that was it.

Hardison: When was the last time you were back?

Eliot: We had a fight the night before I left. So... (turns up volume on the bug in the RV) this town this town’s a lot like that. It’s small. It’s— (gestures toward the display)

eliot’s lip quiver at the “when was the last time you were back”

HE WAS TEARING UP IM-

+

hardison never pushes eliot, not when it matters. he was ready to let it go but eliot opened up to him

- - - - -

sophie and her improv team tho

- - - - -

the carts moving by themselves LMAO

- - - - -

Bryan: Seriously? Not gonna tuck in your shirt?

Eliot: You made him work through his break again, didn’t you?

Bryan: What? The old-timer? He’ll be fine. We got a problem here, buddy?

Eliot: Bryan, you’re a bully. You know how much I’d love to tear your arm off and feed it to you right now? But, you see, that would make me a bully, too. You see my dilemma?

(Eliot grabs Bryan’s arm and twists it, shoving his face into the soda machine)

Eliot: Bryan, I want you to listen to me, and I want you to try to understand.

Bryan: I can’t feel my arm.

Eliot: I know. The only reason why I’m not throwing you into this soda machine is because Martin wouldn’t want me to do it. You see, Martin is a good neighbor. You? You’re not. (lets Bryan go)

Bryan: You crazy bastard. You’re fired.

(Eliot looks at Bryan’s pointing hand, then at Bryan, and slowly walks away)

eliot cares SO MUCH pass it on

- - - - -

Hardison: This little guy emits a beep at random intervals. It’s very effective. It’s driven many a college roommate to insanity.

god I would have gone inSANE

- - - - -

(Eliot resealing bottles while Hardison fills more)

Hardison: This is Caroline’s favorite. When she drinks it, it’ll taste like dust.

Eliot: Why? What’s in it?

Hardison: Food coloring and dust.

eliot, visibly taken aback: ...wtf hardison

- - - - -

[Value!More]

Parker: All right, people, place your bets.

Halliward: Don’t think we haven’t noticed.

Parker: 100 bucks gets you in.

Halliward: The success of this store is just the cherry on top.

Nate (tosses money in): I’m in. Five minutes.

Sophie (tosses money in): She’ll go seven.

Hardison (tosses money in): I say three minutes.

Parker: I’m under two.

Nate: All right, under two.

(Eliot joins them)

Nate: You got three, five five, seven

cute little fam taking bets

+ of course parker won the money

- - - - -

I l o v e it when the team stands together and gloats

- - - - -

Parker: What about the building?

Hardison: I heard an anonymous donor put in a bid for it. He said he’s gonna turn it into a theater for the local high school.

Nate: The arts are vastly underfunded in this country, don’t you think?

Sophie: You sly old dog.

nate can be sweet, it’s cute

- - - - -

Hardison: Oh, babe, the candy shop’s open. You in?

Parker: Sounds good.

Hardison: All right

eliot walking behind them with VERY OBVIOUS HEART EYES AND A SMILE

- - - - -

Eliot: How’s Saturday? I got to go out of town for a couple of days.

Tabitha: I would love that.

Eliot: Good.

[Outside Oklahoma City]

(Eliot pulls into a driveway and gets out. He takes a six pack from the passenger’s seat and walks to the front door where he hesitates before knocking)

Eliot: Dad?

(Eliot’s knocks go unanswered. He puts down the six pack and turns to go, tearing up)

HAHAHAHA B Y E

[bydaybreak]

I'm so not an expert on Leverage but I thought when Eliot got to his parents' that they weren't home. The only vehicle I saw in the driveway was the truck he arrived in. Maybe that's just easier for me to believe than his parents just wouldn't open the door for him.

unfortunately, there’s definitely another truck in the driveway: 

it’s blurry, obviously, because the focus of the shot is eliot’s truck, but that’s...definitely another truck. 

the scene also reads weirdly to me if we assume that his folks just aren’t home--i don’t know why he’d be that upset if the odds are good that he can just wait and hour and see what happens then.

[shamelesslymkp]

watching leverage 5x11 AKA the not-about-walmart-no-really-we-mean-it episode

[indelibleevidence]

Okay, so now I’ve finished my tantrum about queer stuff...

EVERYTHING WAS SO AMAZING.

Except for Weitz dying. I just can’t cope with that. *sobs frantically*

And there is still no sign of the murder chair, what the fuck? I’m really starting to worry about that.

Lots of flailing, and not in strictly chronological order because this is just coming to me as I type:

* The team’s reactions to Patterson being alive were just amazing (though I’m sad Kurt didn’t show more of a reaction). Zapata’s in particular was so beautiful.

* Weitz’s last words were about his hair. I just... I just... *cries uncontrollably* And the moments he got with both Afreen and Rich were so freaking amazing. Rich really does have a heart of gold, and Afreen is probably regretting every single burn she gave Weitz right about now.

* Kurt taking out six Dabbur Zann guys with no weapon, just to get to Jane... and then being apprehended anyway. That was so amazing. (Well, five and a half. Rich kind of helped.)

* The team having so many supporters amongst the agents, willing to switch sides to get Maddy’s goons out...that was perfect. And Agent Rose being back was great (even though it would have been way better to have cast the Unnamed FBI Agent Who’s Been in 62 Episodes there, and to have given her a name, finally).

* Good to see Jamie Eddy being someone besides Jaimie’s double, too.

* Watching Madeline watch everything fall apart was so freaking satisfying! Good riddance - though I really hope there was a camera on that plane, because I’m a little concerned that there were no witnesses there with her and Tasha before she died. Tasha needs all the legitimacy she can get right now.

* YES SHIRLEY DIED YES YES YES YES! (Was it just me who heard that modified voice and went ‘why are you even bothering to de-scramble it, it’s clearly Shirley!’?)

* Ivy’s picture up on the FBI screens was seriously hot. I mean, I know she’s a terrorist and terrible person, but damn...

* It was so good to see Patty and Boston doing their tech thing!

* I did suspect that Meg would come into play somehow. Hopefully she’ll get a Pulitzer or something out of this whole reveal thing. And freaking citizenship, too. She deserves that. Though I am a little affronted at her version of events - she was the one who called off the engagement, not Reade!

* I’m still not over Weitz’s final scene, after everyone assumed he just ran again. He redeemed himself in the end - now THAT was a redemption arc. WAAAAAAAY better than Keaton’s.

* Afreen was so happy Patty was alive, it was ADORABLE. I really hope she *is* in 5x11, even though social media said 5x10 was her last table read. She deserves to be there at the end with everyone else.

* I love how everyone totally accepted the team’s lead on the case, and how the team know that they have no real authority - they’re just doing what needs to be done because that’s what they do.

* Kathy is still a nutjob. But when I thought she was sacrificing herself, I did actually find myself tearing up a little. Now THAT is good writing!

* Rich’s distrust of Kathy, followed by his smugness when he was proved right, was just so fantastic.

* Boston’s poor finger. :( I hope Patty at least drove him to the hospital. Though him cutting and running again really didn’t seem like a good idea, given that the team will look bad for letting him go, especially after losing Kathy. :/

* I’m sad that Madeline and Boston didn’t get to meet again. The snark-off would have been amazing.

* I’m so relieved Allie is confirmed to be okay, since Kurt mentioned that Bethany was going back to her mother. I was scared she’d end up in the aforementioned murder chair for leverage against Kurt.

* WHERE IS NAS? I need Nas.

* I need Patty and Lincoln reconnecting at Weitz’s funeral, if we’re not going to get Patty and Tasha together in canon.

* I also need for the Dabbur Zann to have not killed poor, ZIPped Gregory Burke, now that Maddy isn’t there to protect him. I hope Tasha can find him and help him remember who he is.

* Why do I get the feeling this new interim Director is going to keep them all out of prison for taking down Ivy, but fire them all from the FBI and maybe put them on probation as a compromise? I really hope that’s the way it goes. I mean, it will really hurt Kurt to get fired, but given the alternatives...

* That final scene where Jane locks herself in...Fuck, that was heartbreaking, for both Jane and for Kurt. I really hope the denaturing of the ZIP means the effects are temporary and/or negated. Please, please, please...

* I 100% stand by my theory that MG pissed off somebody at NBC, because what the fuck? A two-episode finale would have been better than two episodes and THAT cliffhanger!

I’m sure I have more to say, but that’s all that’s coming for now. What a wild ride!