#parker & nate

[aardvaark]

[erodingsinner]

Leverage x Onion headline

[ghostlyarchaeologist]

"Turns out they’re just audio recordings of static. Hundreds of hours of it."

Leverage S05E03 The First Contact Job.

[listen-to-the-inner-walrus]

I love the Leverage episodes where they're truly just psychologically tormenting a guy.

Like obviously they first establish that the guy is a terrible guy who does terrible guy things. And we really do need the terrible guy to be doing a lot of terrible guy things because this is kinda an ethical nightmare, but don't worry, they are reliably doing a lot of terrible guy things.

But then it is just like "hey, let's convince this guy that he's made first contact with aliens and also that aliens are trying to kill him" or "hey, let's make this guy believe he's contracted a deadly disease and is going to die in quarantine because medical staff are abandoning him" or "hey, let's first try to persuade this journalist that the government is secretly creating Guantanamo Bay 2: Underground Boogaloo in your backyards and when she doesn't run with that story, let's then make her think that oops the government accidentally leaked some kind of bioweapon into the waterways and now water is gonna kill you instead."

[lindseymcdonaldseyelashes]

Leverage 4x15- "The Lonely Hearts Job"

[chronicowboy]

started my leverage rewatch and never has a pilot episode piloted so hard. it genuinely feels like walking into a room of old friends you haven't seen in about a year. they work alone, they always work alone. parker? she's insane. what're you gonna do when she finds out you live with your mom? age of the geek, baby! twenty pounds of crazy in a five pound bag. boys are on their way. what is it that you do? that's what i do. are we gonna talk about how hard we rocked last night? one show only, no encores. it was kinda cool being on the same side for once. i don't like guns. my money is not in my account that makes me cry inside in my special angry place. eleventy million dollars. that's a computer thing i told her to say that. so this time you really are inside my head. i'm just very good at what i do. somebody kiss this man so i don't have to (🤨). bad guys have money. we work on an alternative revenue stream. we provide... leverage

[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

[geekynichelle]

The Leverage crew whenever a child is involved: Guys this might seem unorthodox, but we might have to kill the mark...

[leveragecentral]

But worst of all, he completely forgot that I gave him that same button camera for Christmas three years ago.

Leverage - 1x13 The Second David Job

[dont-read-this-im-dead]

You know what I love about The Order 23 Job?

It's not the absolutely INSANE way Nate catches the bad guy, no. Though, being able to give a guy a nosebleed with the power of your mind is pretty hot.

No, what I LOVE about this episode is that Eliot is surrounded by cute nurses and he doesn't care. He doesn't care about the con. He doesn't care about the job. He sees a little boy with a broken arm, showing signs of abuse, and he gets tunnel vision.

I love it when Eliot threatens the boys father, takes his actual freaking driver's license! I love when Eliot tries to empower the boy to speak up for himself, AND, when he learns that the boy can't trust ANY of the cops in town, Eliot takes the matter to the US Marshals.

He literally tells a freaking marshal that a little boy is in trouble and living with his abuser, and that his abuser is on friendly terms with the cops in town, and will he please help him out?

I love that the marshal takes the matter seriously. Instead of being like, "well, that's not my jurisdiction," he takes care of it. He personally goes to the boy's house and tells him, "let's talk. You'll be okay." He personally removes the boy from the presence of his abuser WHILE the abuser is watching!

I love that Eliot is outside the house watching them, instead of just passing the message along and letting the marshal take care of it. He goes to the house and watches, makes sure--until the very last second--that that little boy is safe. He makes sure that that little boy will never have to be afraid of his father again.

And if this episode isn't enough to get you to fall in love with Eliot Spencer, then you're a monster.

[aardvaark]

everyones fave thieves

[ageofthegeekdotcon]

[ghostlyarchaeologist]

Leverage S01E12 The First David Job.

[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.

[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

[booksbabybooks]

One of the things I love most about Leverage: The Carnival Job is that it's one of the few times we are reminded just how very dangerous all of these people actually can be.

The pivot is so fast, so severe - from kinda fun heist that has Sophie and Nate Sophieing and Nateing to the max - to deadly serious the minute a child is in danger. Eliot's pivot is usually the most commented on - because we love protective Eliot! - but it's also the least surprising because we already know how dangerous he is.

This is emphasized by their badass entry into the carnival. We usually see them together like this during the Gloat, so it's often goofy, or at least smug. Here they are just grim determination.

It's also evident in how they present Hardison - usually he's styled to hide what a big guy he is and to play up his gentleness and goofiness (even before Hodge bulked up for the movies) and to emphasize his brains over brawn role in the team. Here he has his hoodie up, his face shrouded, hands in pockets, which makes his silhouette look bigger.

The camera work also changes in the first few scenes after Molly is taken: starts swooping, mirroring a carnival ride, disorientation.

It's just so many little details that make this such a great show.