#leverage rant

[ladyluthien]

not to leveragepost in 2025 but I simply must talk about the scene where hardison plays sheherazade, because I learned an arrangement of that third movement recently and I am still so impressed

for context: I started playing violin when I was five years old. Am I great? Nah. Am I able to tell when an actor is phoning it in on violin playing? Absolutely.

aldis hodge actually played that piece. They definitely found a recording to play over him because that's what you do for TV but I rewatched that scene when I was learning that solo and got tips from his fingering. he has vibrato technique. he doesn't just pick a violin up once in a while, he's legitimately a skilled violinist who also does everything else he does

[ednygmasbowlerhat]

the leverage ot3 is so amazing because each pair within it has its own unique and fascinating dynamic and then all 3 together have a third fascinating dynamic so the character depth is so good.

like parker and hardison have their adorable dynamic that gets tons of attention in the show so i don't think i have to explain but if i do, they are super playful with each other and so loving and romantic and hardison is always calling parker pet names and it's fucking adorable.

then you have parker and elliot, who are the two most emotionally stunted on the team, but something about being the two people who aren't "good" like the rest of the team (like basically the whole conversation they have while stuck in that like ice cave in the mountain climbing episode) is super deep. also, especially in redemption, i love how even though they pardison are not canonically dating eliot, parker is always including him in their future plans, like elliot will also get robot bodies with parker and hardison, etc. etc. like this is particularly sticking out to me in the most recent leverage redemption episode (the swipe right job) when parker is going on a rant about dating apps and elliot goes "we're in trouble" (about their covers getting blown on a job) and parker's like "no me you and hardison are fine" like hello did she just acknowledge that they're dating? more to the point though, i love how we see parker and elliot just hanging out and having like real, honest conversations, especially in redemption. i also love how they clearly spend time together outside of work - like the sheer number of parker and elliot noodle incidents is insane.

next up: elliot and hardison. holy shit they are so iconic. they are the big guy smart guy duo and it plays out in such a sweet way in their relationship. like even though he acts all exasperated, hardison really softens elliot up, for example, elliot complaining about the lucille song but then joining in in the first contact job. and then, at the same time, elliot helps hardison be tougher, think his really great speech in the rundown job where he convinces hardison that he is capable of stopping the terrorist attack and he like grabs the back of his neck and stares him right in the eye like he's donating his aura or something. but at the same time as encouraging him to be tough, elliot is still super overprotective of hardison, like when he instinctively grabs hardison and steadies him when he steps on the mine in that same episode, and i think that's so cute. speaking of the rundown job, the way that elliot and hardison are supportive of each other both in like a serious way and like a funny flirty way. as far as serious, in that episode, we have elliot literally jumping for joy when hardison figures out the sos car thing in time, and then of course as far as flirty and funny, you have the handshake when they're both staring at how hot parker is dodging lasers. btw the fact that they have a handshake too is just like the definition of their dynamic. i love it.

finally, all three together is super interesting because of how all of these dynamics come together. elliot is the scary looking dog who could fuck you up but is actually quite sweet and would rather nap with you on the couch. parker is the cat who takes a while to warm up to you but once she does she is super loving and sweet. and hardison is their genius golden retriever who is like the heart of the group and is always bothering the other two to play with him but secretly they love it. and they work together so well because they play off of each other's strengths and compensate for each other's weaknesses. it's just so fucking amazing ot3 5ever.

[aardvaark]

i love that sophie spends so much of early leverage trying to act kind of impressive or cool or mysterious or powerful, even to the team - BUT the leverage team all know she’s a dork. they’ve known since day one when they first saw her, giving her very awful theater performance, and they really, really don’t care. they love their weird dramatic theater geek grifter friend. she tries to be all cool & mysterious and they’re just like "that’s great soph, but we’ll be hanging out at nate’s apartment the HQ watching a movie when ur done with that".

[gottagobackintime]

[did-sm1-say-catfish]

Cam: You're smiling. What happened?

Booth: What? Can't I smile just because I feel like it?

Angela: Zack tripped and fell down the stairs today.

[socksandbuttons]

I'm sure this is asking for a spoiler but I do gotta ask because I can't stop thinking about it, but how does Daydreaam react when he finds out about what happened between Solar and Nexus? Like how does he react to how everyone gave up on Nexus so quick and he became the psychopath he is?

IIII Probably a spoiler idk thats further into past what i got in daydreams intro. Because thats two different things in a sense.

Daydream meeting the fam first getting some sense of their dynamic and then meeting Nexus who's still enraged by what the family did, and the fact Daydream never got a name drop of Nexus or what he was to the family until he was well kidnapped and getting ranted at by said person. Part of it was Solar not giving him a full lowdown but the family also not thinking Nexus was gonna come back either. When Daydream actually gets some kind of context to Nexus' ex-family abandoning him. He's... hes disappointed in everyone involved. Like its clear Nexus is validly upset about it and its destroyed him. Now thats one scene, another is Daydream getting the information that all this started when his brother had died. He was not very happy learning that, and even worse when it's tied with why Nexus is how he is. He's a little shaken by hearing about the dimensional destruction that happened. Which yeah that would lead him to question himself too. He DOES however pick up that Nexus and Solar knew eachother well though. He doesn't pry about it but its kinda hard not to pick that up.

[femslashspuffy]

I've been watching leverage this month and I just watched Last Call so

[sattarehi]

Takeaway from watching Leverage: Deus ex Machina are only bad when it isn't an expected plot point.

[thelastspeecher]

genuine question

do TV writers ever look up populations of Midwestern cities when they're writing something in the Midwest or do they just use a random number generator

[geeky-nightphilosopher]

Okay- but...

Has anyone else noticed that at least with Dean Devlin- Christian Kanes characters all have some sort of ties to each other?

I mean:

Eliot Spencer; A military bred, mercenary trained, with multiple aliases- with a specific skill set, con-artist.

Jacob Stone; An art historian, with multiple aliases, genius brain, eidetic memory (?), librarian.

Alex Walker; con-artist, with multiple aliases, an eye for detail, retired giftshop owner.

The characters might not be the same but there still enough for them to be long lost triplets or something.

[psychiclounge]

i am biased because i do think golf is one of the most despicable sports but i still simply cannot see eliot as a golf guy no matter what redemption has to say about it

[lindseymcdonaldseyelashes]

Leverage 3x9 - "The Three-Card Monte Job"

[haerdoepfu]

You know what annoys me about superhero/vigilante movies/series?

No matter what their motivation, the social critique behind their actions etc, they always seem to be working with or alongside cops or special agents.

Even when they are fighting the corruption in the police force or in the system, they tell the "bad apples" narratives. Even when the cops hate them and want to bring them in, they still help the cops. The only exception to that are maybe some billionaire vigilantes, but they are their own problem.

Where are the TV shows about fighting back in a broken system that do not glorify cops, the military, or other similar organisations? About someone using their power for social justice or to support a revolution?

[steviewashere]

My grandma claims to be this radical liberal, free-flowing, all accepting ally. And then she turns around talking shit on trans kids. She turns around talking about how I shouldn't worry about what companies I'm applying to because of what their DEI policies are now—whether they exist or not—because I live in a blue state.

Oh, shut the fuck up. Just shut your fuckin' mouth. You think DEI programs being shut down is a red state thing? You think that Targets exist in only Texas or some shit? No, Grandma! I've got a Target, like, fifteen minutes away from me! There's a Wal-Mart thirty minutes away from me! These companies are everywhere. And, what's insane, is that some of these companies are not being open about what their DEI policies and programs look like.

And when I'm saying, yeah all women are going to be affected by these DEI program shut-downs, she dares tell me that it's not gonna affect me! WHAT?! WHAT ARE YOU ON ABOUT?! Yes it is! Yes it fucking is! If I apply to Target right now and show up to the interview and a white man is applying for the same position, who do you think they might go for? They're probably gonna go for the white man.

Sometimes, I wanna look her dead in the eyes and shout obscenities about how much of a giant, flaming fucking queer I am. Just scream and scream and scream about how I was the trans kid, how I have always been the trans kid, how I wasn't confused—I was just shut down for thinking myself as in control of my own fucking body. I just wanna look her dead in the eyes and tell her how I'm still trans despite everything. And that—yeah, I'm really fucking worried about what jobs I apply to because I'm such a wave-flagging capital 'T' Tranny.

Just because I "live in Oregon" or whatever doesn't mean I'm safe. That I'm granted the opportunity. Just last week I got a message from a friend telling me that they were being called slurs for being an openly queer person in Downtown fucking Portland. Yeah, that Portland. Y'know, 'Keep Portland Weird' Portland. Y'know, one of the biggest queer cities in the nation, Portland!

I don't give a single flying fuck if where I live is "safe" or "a blue state" or whatever. I'm still here with a target on my back. Our federal government, y'know the government that sees over everything, won't recognize me. Trans people in all kinds of states are being denied their government documents because gender markers aren't matching. I don't care if I'm "protected" here—which no I'm not because Oregon's GOP has brought forth the idea to overturn the sanctuary state status we have because they want to assist the federal government and ICE agents in finding immigrants. If one domino is knocked down, the whole row will!

What I care about is:

Is the company I'm applying to going to support me, respect me, give me space? Is my of Christian faith neighbor? Are you, Grandma?

Get a fucking grip and open your fucking eyes. It's an attack on all sides. It's bigger than red vs. blue. It's the government vs. the vulnerable. You just don't want to recognize it because you believe you'll be safe, free from harm.

[ettadunham]

sometimes i remember the hunger games and how nobody actually paid attention to what was in those books

[firebirdsdaughter]

Rewatching again, and…

… There's no denying that 'Eliot, Parker, and Hardison' are a 'trio' w/in the team, but I'm also subject to an ongoingly increasing appreciation for the 'Nate, Sophie, and Eliot' trio.