#leverage the big bang job

[passiveagressivepoet]

live laugh love eliot’s harness

[leveragecentral]

Leverage (2008-2012) The Big Bang Job (S03E15)

[lindseymcdonaldseyelashes]

Leverage 3x15 - "The Big Bang Job"

[evarelis]

[brionysea]

a very unnerving part of the big bang job is that eliot isn't being underestimated for once. they know exactly who he is. they outnumber him 10 to 1 and still pull their guns on him when he just walks into the room, because they know what he's capable of, even more than the team or the audience does. eliot LOVES to downplay himself and take people by surprise, which always gives us a delightful moment of "oh, this is about to go badly - for you" before he beats his opponents up. he can't do that here. that control is taken away

[erodingsinner]

Leverage 3x15: The Big Bang Job.

[hedgiwithapen]

The Big Bang Job: Eliot at the pool

We all know that the Big Bang Job is the gift that keeps on giving.  But one thing that struck me recently, while rewatching that great conversation--the “If you ask me, I’ll tell you, so please don’t ask me” one-- was … Hardison, through it all. Hardison, still just a little damp, Hardison angry, but softening--he won’t let it go, but the anger is directed. And through the whole thing before, the meeting, in the pool, he keeps to his character. And I got to wondering … Well. Eliot Knew Moreau. He’s known all season long, exactly what kind of man Nate’s pointed them at, he hates this so much that the only reason he’s not going to ground over it is he knows that everyone else will follow Nate right into to the fire, and that’s his Team. That’s his People. He can’t let them die.  Eliot wants to be a million miles from anything with Moreau and wants his team away, too. And Eliot’s the one to say, “me and Hardison will hit Moreau. We'll get an invite to the auction.” And I thought about why. Eliot has to know that this meeting could go wrong in a thousand ways. He has to know that this meeting is going to let whoever goes with him know about that tied up corner of his past. So why Hardison, who’s proven many (many) times that he’s no fighter. He can’t take Nate. Nate’s face needs to stay hidden a bit longer, but more than that, Nate finding out in the heat of the moment can’t be trusted. Nate’s the kinda guy who needs to take a step when he gets all new information, and usually he gets it, but Eliot knows Moreau will not give him that moment to pivot. Sophie, Parker? Parker’s still shaky in her grifting, but Sophie’s solid, she can compartmentalize, she can overcommit to her bit in a safer way than Hardison definitely will.  So it comes down to this: Eliot knows there’s a lot of ways this meet can shake out. Moreau’s got people, people like him, people worse than him.  And if things go well and truly south, if they get made…. Hardison’s the one Eliot can save.  Nate, he’s nothing to Moreau--actually worse than nothing, he’s an annoyance. They get made, and Nate’s dead, fast. Sophie and Parker aren’t worth anything to Moreau either: they’re slippery, their talents require far too long a leash.  Moreau would throw them to his dogs. But Hardison?  Eliot can make the case for Hardison. A genius with tech, he can move money like a kid slides a checker on a board, he can get into anything you want him too, but he can’t break a chain and he’s got an open heart. He can be Contained and Controlled and Kept, and he’s the only one who can be.  Eliot knows he can buy Hardison enough time for Nate to come up with a new plan, for Parker to pick a lock, Sophie to walk him out. And that Hardison’s the one that will forgive him, after.

[werewolfsmile]

Just watched The Big Bang Job again today and I rambled about this in an earlier post reblog but it deserves its own post..

The way Eliot dresses makes so much more sense after meeting Moreau and his goons. He rejects all notions of being anything like those well dressed men in their suits again. So blank and uniform, just another soldier in Moreau's private army.

That's why his shirt is always untucked, sleeves rolled up, collar unbuttoned. Not to mention the hair - the biggest rebellion is his hair. A constant reminder of who he is now that stays the same, no matter what he wears.

And it just makes me think how this is such a good representation of the identity crisis he went through (and let's be real, is still going through).

Eliot used to be one of those men. He had his hair short, wore the tailored suits and carried the guns. He didn't accessorise. He suppressed every aspect of an individual personality in order to fit the role that Moreau had for him.

Sure, we're not blatantly told all of those things in the show, but we can infer, simply from looking at Moreau's goons and how they're presented.

Seeing Eliot surrounded by those goons in the pool scene is more than just showing us the threat to Eliot and Hardison - and also the threat that Eliot and his reputation present. It's about showing us the demons of his past, the nightmare that he doesn't want to go back to. Eliot had alluded to his past before but it's been nebulous. Now, we finally see that past take shape and it's hideous.

But Eliot didn't stay like that. He got out - he got free - and he has been reclaiming pieces of himself ever since. Until, finally, he's the evolving Eliot that we know and love. He prefers to dress casual and relaxed, with strong reminders of his roots throughout. He keeps his hair long and loose - not military regulation, not 'professional' as far as male standards go, not even convenient for fighting. It's all a way of stealing himself back, and making sure the differences between who he was then and now are stark and vivid.

I could keep rambling but this is already twice as long as I intended. Just ... Eliot Spencer. He still doesn't view himself as a better man, never mind a redeemable man, but he is. When compared to those goons, his transformation is clear as day.

[independent-fics]

Eliot’s little head tilt though when Moreau says “but I know you.”

[246bce]

poll winner for favourite season: Season 3

with such hits as: The King George Job, The Rashomon Job, The Inside Job, The Scheherazad Job, The San Lorenzo Job

Bonus for fun:

[lunasquared]

Rewatching leverage and I forgot that’s how season 2 ends. Like first off THE CALLING THEM FAMILY thank fuck THE HIDING THE FACT HES ACTIVELY DYING what the fuck AND THEN CALLING HIMSELF A THIEF fucking finally

Not normal about this show

[catawonkus]

i know eliot is our little meow meow, i know he’s the woobie and we love him. however. he really should’ve given hardison a heads up before dragging him into a lion’s den, eliot was the one who SUGGESTED that him and hardison go to moreau. he could’ve suggested hardison stay away, stay outside, or taken two seconds to say “look man, ive actually met moreau so i cannot pretend otherwise—follow my lead whatever happens”. or at the very least he could’ve apologized to hardison for nearly getting him killed. hardison forgives him way too fast for someone who doesnt even get a “sorry you drowned, i promise i would’ve come in after you if worst came to worst” instead eliot just yells at him. i know that’s their dynamic but eliot put him in danger and that wasn’t cool and it drives me crazy that they don’t talk about it

[iridescent-glitter-dragon]

Just noticed, in The Big Bang Job, when Eliot first sees Moreau, he starts to look away before refocusing on Moreau. He didn’t want to look at him, but actually looking away would have been a Weakness

[lindseymcdonaldseyelashes]

Leverage 3x15 - "The Big Bang Job"

[leverage-ot3]

[brionysea]

the frequent cuts to parker and hardison dealing with a bomb while eliot's in the killbox. parker tasing a guy, hardison punching one and then immediately regretting it, parker saying "yeah, that's why I use this." hardison being mad at eliot for the pool fiasco and the secret-keeping and the acting so unlike himself in the big bang job. parker explicitly understanding that violence can hurt you too at the same time as eliot's being forced to use guns and kill people. parker not asking what eliot did because he didn't want to tell her. hardison figuring out that violence backfires on you, that what eliot does is difficult and painful and takes skill, firsthand. "you know what I'm in the mood for? pretzels."