#leverage meta

[wordybee]

The thing about Leverage is it prioritizes what it takes seriously exactly right.

It's a fun, pulpy, goofy show but it has the most nuanced, thoughtful, and lasting character development.

A love story unfolds between a socially inexperienced thief and a hacker who doesn't hesitate in his willingness to be patient and understanding as she works out her unfamiliar feelings.

Wil Wheaton gets electrocuted and you can see his skeleton like a cartoon.

A grifter has an identity crisis and embarks on a lone journey of self-discovery, to return better and more certain of herself than before.

The team invents the Holodeck so they can hack into the dreams of off-brand Steve Jobs.

It's ridiculous. It's silly. It's brilliant. I've watched every episode over a dozen times.

#leverage #leverage meta #the day I can no longer rewatch my Leverage DVDs is the day I truly die #if not in body then in spirit.

[my-beloved-lakes]

Several times throughout leverage, the team tells Nate he's taking a job too personally and that it's dangerous and someone could get hurt because he's not thinking clearly. And just about every time, Nate denies there's any issues and agrues that he has it under control and that everything will be fine. Then we have the last episode, their last job together. When the Interpol agent asks Nate what his mistake was and how his friends died, he starts by establishing that the job was very personal. His mistake was not miscalculating the guards, it was letting his personal feelings get in the way. (The very thing he said Parker doesn't do before passing on the roll of mastermind to her, but that's not the point.) The point is, that the Interpol agent had no way of knowing about all the times Nate took a job too personally and it made the job more dangerous. She didn't know it had been an issue before, so it was almost like Nate only added that detail to the story for the team. It's like Nate was admitting to them that they had been right and that he did have a bad habit of putting them in danger because he was taking a job too personally. It was like an apology.

#leverage #Nate Ford #Eliot Spencer #alec hardison #parker #Sophie Devereaux #leverage meta #im totally normal about this realization 🙃

[eyrieofsynapses]

hey, Leverage peeps, I've got a thought. I've seen a lot of posts and memes joking about Nate's inability to understand that his clients do not want money, they want revenge. I also find this funny. but I was thinking about it and I realized something: there's a personal reason behind it. there is a very, very good reason why Nate doesn't get that.

Nate's drive to lead Leverage, outside of the crew, originated from his son's death due to his insurance company's refusal to cover the bill for the required treatment. we all know this. if his company had paid for Sam's treatment, everything would've been fine.

…or, if Nate had been a little wealthier, had a little more change to spend… maybe he could've paid for it. maybe Blackpool never would've had a say in any of it. maybe Nate would've had everything under control from the start.

we've discussed at length in the fandom how money equals safety for some of the others in the crew (Parker and Hardison grew up with little to none and know its importance to survival, Eliot needs it to stay ahead of his old enemies, etc.), but I don't know that I've seen any discussion on how it's relevant to Nate. for him, however, money equals security in healthcare and in housing (he lost the house, remember?). Nate's older than the others. he remained in the same place for much longer, and he had a stable life for a while. the others haven't been in that position before. many of their clients, however, are at that place in life.

yes, for the others, money keeps them ahead of the game and it keeps them secure. but none of them ever lost a kid because they couldn't pay for healthcare. none of them risk losing the life of someone who is completely dependent on them when they don't have enough.

(Hardison, perhaps, has the closest understanding, considering he hacked a bank to pay for his Nana's healthcare. but he never lost her.)

Nate thinks ahead, you know? he has a long-term view of things. I imagine that for him, when clients refuse the money, they're not just refusing a month's worth of groceries, or a place to stay the night, or the ability to keep running. for him, they're refusing control over their hard-earned, stable, long-term living situation. they're refusing the potential to save a family member's life.

I dunno, guys. I think that's a pretty good reason to not understand why people don't want the money.

#leverage #leverage meta #nate ford #meta #ello folks it has been A While #but I saw another one of these memes today and couldn't help but ask myself 'why?' #and this came out #anyway I figure this is a fair reason to have more trouble Getting It #when you think about it Nate's probably gotten the closest to most of their clients' living situations #the rest of them have had Very Unusual Lives #but so many of their clients are PARENTS #they're people with STABLE LIVING SITUATIONS #they're ordinary middle-class people! #and Nate was the only one who lived as an adult in that situation! #he's the only one who understands what it's like to have a regular family depending on him to keep the household running! #no WONDER he worries more about this! #he understands the consequences better than the others do! #I dunno I feel like that gets overlooked a lot #anyway have fun playing with this #synapse meta

[littled0lls]

The thing that's so tragic to me about Eliot is that he obviously likes the violence. In the tap-out job we find out that's he's basically constantly holding himself back. That for all the violence we do see, he's capable of much worse and he HAS to hold himself back. He didn't do all those horrible things simply out of loyalty/obedience, he didn't stumble into the military, the PMCs and Moreau by accident. He chose this because he enjoyed hurting people. I think that's why he still doesn't think he'll ever be redeemed even after 10+ years. Regretting your actions is one thing but how do you come to terms with the fact that you enjoy inflicting pain? How do you accept the part of you you have to bury to keep others safe?? How can you think you're anything but a monster???

#i love him so much it's making me insane actually. #eliot spencer #leverage #leverage meta

[unloneliest]

in the low low price job eliot is at the center of the gloat and the walkaway. eliot brings beer when he returns and is denied entry to the home he grew up in. when nate's at his lowest with alcoholism in the snow job eliot gets himself between nate and the rest of the team; pushes back in a way that draws his attention and keeps nate from lashing out at anyone else. we know eliot isn't an only child, thanks to the miracle job; his nephew would love bibletopia.

(low low price: eliot grew up in rural oklahoma. low low price: eliot hasn't been home since he was 18. what about eliot who performs landmarks of typical masculinity so well could result in such complete rejection from his god loving father? it's hardison eliot's able to confide this in. is it a question we really need to ask, after all?)

in the order 23 job it's eliot who knows on sight that the child with a broken arm is being abused. the kid's dad's social tie to the local cops: they drink together. when eliot and hardison impersonate cops in the morning after job, eliot demands they respond to a called in disturbance with a weapon, because there might be kids in the house.

where do you think eliot learned the relational dynamic he engages in with nate, and before that moreau? eliot left home because he "needed to get out of there". eliot has never lived a life free from controlling men. he may have left, but did he succeed in his escape? why or why not?

it takes eliot five seasons to mention his dad. he never mentions his mom. the carnival job does not center eliot in the gloat but as they walk away we get him centered briefly. nate's the one who says she's dead, but it's eliot who asks about the kid's mom. it's eliot who connects with her in a way it seems nobody has since that loss. in the future job eliot rummages in a car to provide facts so tara can pull off the psychic act. his voice wavers, when he mentions the breast cancer ribbon on the mirror. eliot never mentions his mom. eliot never mentions his mom.

would parker have ever mentioned the brother she lost, were it not for the fake psychic's violating reveal? why do you think eliot never mentions his mom?

fuck redemption's revisionist history. the original run said enough to paint a full and heartbreaking picture of eliot's family all on its own.

#eliot spencer #leverage #leverage meta #the low low price job #the carnival job #jam posts #leverage posting #eliot

[leverage-ot3]

love how we all went into redemption either wary of or expecting to hate harry but within two episodes we all collectively went, oh, he’s just some lil weird guy and we adopted him just like the leverage crew did

#the writers definitely knew what they were doing writing him #I think it’s definitely interesting and a feat to good writing because we were technically losing two series regulars and they had the task #of both finding new characters while also making sure they wouldn’t just erase or dismiss the old characters #they had to come up with something completely different and have it appealing enough to satisfy us as we are missing two of our original #beloved characters (nate and hardison) #and they came up with harry lmao #he’s such blorbo shaped #skinny little dude that is a former evil lawyer bad dad forgot he was bisexual until he saw eliot fighting #skrunkly lil gamer guy pathetic man silly little disguises way too enthusiastic just happy to be there #honestly me too bitch #jackie talks #mine #leverage #leverage redemption #meta #harry wilson #harry wilson meta #leverage redemption meta #leverage meta #character appreciation

[zero-buds]

Everytime someone says bring back Nate, I shiver with dread.

And for someone who's a really big fan of Nate, I really would hate having to see him come back to Redemption. I saw on a Facebook group I'm in where someone asked how Nate would react to the Jackal Job, and I remember thinking that Nate, the Catholic man, would either not be a supporter or simply not be able to empathize or participate in the con without prejudice.

Look, OG Leverage has a place in my heart for a reason, but I cannot justify bringing back Nate at all. Nate's story could never fit into Redemption for a variety of reasons.

OG Leverage took the experiences Nate had and made a point in every episode why the man does what he does.

OG Leverage was about revenge first and foremost, then doing the right thing after, then building something more.

You know the reason why the stories never mentioned the disabled, the LGBTQ+, or the plain old voiceless of immigrant communities (this one was touched on but not really)?

It's because it wasn't Nate's story to tell. The original message was, if you are in a position where you have been wronged, then you should have the power to make it right. You deserve a second chance. That's why he always dealt with the scammers, the rich white men, the corporate greed, etc. He always tried to give people a second chance from a dumb or honest mistake, or to right someone's wrong.

That's why the Black Book was so important by the end of OG Leverage. It closed Nate's story with the idea that what has been wronged will be righted even if it meant taking a less than legal approach by others who are willing to bring justice to light.

Redemption is not that story. I mean it is, but it isn't. Redemption is the story where those less fortunate, those who are inherently going to lose no matter what they do, get a voice. They deserve a say in how they are treated, and they, as much as the impoverish and the naive, can have the power given back to them.

It's shown with victims like the elderly, the disabled, the people of color, the young who don't quite fit the social norm, and the LGBTQ+ community.

Through Harry Wilson, Redemption also shows us that those with power, need to take responsibility for their actions.  It is not enough to fight those in power, but that people like Harry - who do have power, are vitally needed to change the system.

Redemption does not need to see Nate to accomplish this story, but the fact remains that the message Nate started is still here, if not more refined and nuanced than ever before.

Nate should not come back to Redemption because his story was told in OG, and now, a new story can begin where the crew can be expanded and fight for what's right as well as give every victim of an injustice, an opportunity to tell their story as well.

#leverage #im just rambling #nate ford #leverage meta #leverage redemption #eliot spencer #sophie devereaux #alec hardison #parker leverage #harry wilson #breanna casey #it annoys me to no end when someone says bring back nate #like no do u not understand the story?

[aberrations-reality]

Just imagine a few years after the end of Leverage, with Parker leading her crew, and building other crews around the world. Nate and Sophie haven’t heard from them in weeks, the three active team members busy with job after job.

Imagine Nate and Sophie come home one day, and there are twelve bottles of orange soda in Nate’s wine fridge, cereal spilled on the counter, and a pot of stew simmering on the stove.

Sophie pretends to be exasperated that her home is now a mess, even though it’s a nice break from Nate’s obsessive tidiness.

Nate is genuinely annoyed, if only because there are ‘muddy footprints on the walls, Parker!’

‘They needed decoration!’ Parker yells back from where’s she’s snooping in Nate’s office, accompanied by the clack of Harrison typing on the keyboard.

‘Yes the do!’ Sophie says. ‘You had better put my Monet back where it belongs!’

Eliot comes into the kitchen, looking exasperated but happy, his cooking bandana tied around his head. ‘Dinner at five thirty,’ Eliot says in greeting.

Nate and Sophie share a look.

The family is home.

#leverage #leverage meta #crime siblings #crime family #Parker the cereal fanatic #Elliot the chef #Hardison and his orange soda #Hardison the snoop #nicki’s archive

[evasleveragefanshit]

I wanted to talk about The Broken Wing Job and a thing I noticed about Parker.

I think we all know that Parker is definitely Autistic-coded, though to exactly what extent that was directly intentional depends largely on who you ask.

What I noticed is Parker's initial hostility toward Amy. She gets upset because Amy is trying to be friendly towards her in a way Parker interprets as insincere.

I think a lot of Autistic people can relate to the experience of being suspicious towards people who act friendly, especially if it might be insincere, because social interaction can be filled with invisible landmines. This can result in people who do the opposite of masking. Basically, seeing conversation/ friendly overtures as a type of conflict and refusing to play the game. Rather than try to figure out the rules for optimal conversation (and risk getting them wrong and being ostracized), they just skip to choosing to make things as uncomfortable for the other person to avoid trying and failing.

I think we see Parker do this a lot throughout the series. I mean, her first instinct when she feels social conflict while grifting is literally to start stabbing. She never masks to make the team more comfortable, even when she learns how to play the game to grift.

So, when it comes to The Broken Wing Job, Parker acts as weirdly as possible. See: "Best meal I ever had was in French prison." I see this as her trying to communicate 'I am not like you' in an attempt to get Amy to acknowledge the communication barrier and leave her alone.

HOWEVER, as the episode goes along, Amy not only accepts all the strange Parker gives off, but shows Parker some of her own strangeness back. (See: all of the people watching).

Amy met Parker on her level and communicated in a way Parker understood.

This is really important because even her teammates sometimes fail to do this. They don't always 'get' Parker, and because of this they can sometimes dismiss her. I think Eliot and Sophie are the worst about this.

Sophie gets Parker sometimes, but as a grifter she relies on the rules of neurotypical interaction, and can sometimes get frustrated with Parker, or try to get her to do it the "normal" way.

Eliot out of all of them is the most stereotypical man out of all of them, and as such he has a strong tendency to enforce this worldview. He does this to Hardison, at least originally, when he sincerely does not value computer skills because he deems them "geeky/ nerdy". Similarly, he is the one who most frequently chides Parker to get her to be less weird. That said, he tends to speak straight forwardly, say what he means, and honor his word. So out of all of them, he may be the one she understands the best.

Anyway, that's all.

#leverage #parker (leverage) #eliot spencer #sophie devereaux #leverage headcanons #leverage meta

[asterlark]

just rewatched the broken wing job recently and am thinking about how in the grave danger job we see parker admitting she needs hardison, and then in the broken wing job we see her acknowledge (just to herself, but still) that she also needs to be needed. she wants to be integral to the team, wants them to miss her, to not function without her. which is just so real and so emblematic of an assortment of insecurities in parker that i don't think we talk about enough: being left behind, forgotten, not useful or needed, left out of the group (hashtag relatable autism things).

(sidenote- this is the first in a series of season 5 episodes that don't feature the full crew tackling a job, which really shows how far they've come as a team that they can work so effectively in smaller numbers. it also shows their trust in each other to do their own jobs well, and to adapt when needed. i just think it's neat)

this episode is great for a lot of reasons, one of them being that we learn a lot about how parker functions when she needs help from others- that is to say, not well, at least not at first. after a conversation with eliot (and it feels significant that it's eliot, not sophie, that she talks to here when she's freaking out; the trust and intimacy there is palpable), she realizes she has to adapt and change her typical planning process to successfully catch the thieves.

the plot device of having her do a job by herself + needing to team up with amy is so clever because it also serves as a great vehicle for character development. what does parker want in this episode? she wants something to do, she wants to not be injured, she wants to not have to lean on anyone or ask for help, she wants to feel needed. enter Thieves, who are the type that will get someone hurt in their process. suddenly she has a job, people to protect, but she can't do it on her own. she is needed, but she also needs. she has to adapt, and change- and we see her do this not just by asking for amy's help, but by calling the team and asking for their help too.

by the end of the episode, she has grown enough to have asked several people for help in her plan, and has adapted to her limitations and turned them into advantages, as eliot advises her to do. but when nate asks, she says nothing about the job she did- which i think is interesting. i think it's because she doesn't want them to worry about her or berate her for trying to take down two thieves with guns while healing a torn ACL. it's also probably partially because when she asks about japan, the team says it was normal and boring, to spare her feelings about being left out. so when they ask her, she says nothing.

she's not stupid, though, and neither are the team- nate notices the bullet holes in the wall, and i'm sure the others do too at some point. (plus the pub staff is probably not gonna just leave out the fact that there was a fire alarm and several gunshots and a wounded cop in the pub while they were gone?) parker knows it's only a matter of time before they're aware she's lying. this is a great example of how much the team trusts each other! they notice that parker is not telling the full truth, but since things seem to be resolved, they trust her to have handled it. and she trusts them not to push her on her lie, just as she's not pushing them for info on the japan job.

this team is not without its secrets, but in this case i think it's more about trusting each other to speak up when it's needed. almost all of them got a call from parker this episode, so at this point they know she can and will ask them for help when she needs to. they give each other space to have lives away from each other, but they also trust that if there's a problem, it will be brought up and dealt with. which is so far from the juror no.6 job in season 1 when parker was doing things without thinking of/ informing the crew, or even the inside job in season 3 when she took on an impossible job on her own without telling them. they've grown so much by season 5, and it shows.

anyway. ramble over, i just love this show and this episode in particular and will always thank the leverage writers for giving us a parker-centric ep with strong character development!!!

#parker #leverage #leverage meta #mine #i love her so much.... characters of all time episodes of ALL TIME

[my-beloved-lakes]

I just now noticed the dirty/scolding look Sophie gives Breanna when Breanna asked if Eliot was off to kill someone in The Fractured Job. It was very subtle, but if you watch carefully it's there.

While I did think it was funny, her question also bugged me a little, even though I know she was joking, cuz it felt a little insensitive considering all the guilt Eliot feels about his past. But now that I think about it it actually kinda makes sense that she wouldn't understand how insensitive it could be. Like yes, she knows Eliot and she's known him for a long time. But she knows a different side of him than everyone else. She knew him as the cool, badass uncle who her older brother always brought to family gatherings and Christmas and stuff. She probably knows little snippets of Eliot's past but not enough to fully realize that her joke might be a little insensitive. (She would never intentionally be insensitive about it!) Eliot probably never let her see the guilt ridden side of himself because she's like his little kid niece.

Her joke didn't really seem to bother Eliot that much, but Sophie immediately shut it down and I love that. Because Sophie knows just how much guilt Eliot feels and she knows it's something that's caused him a lot of pain. And like Hardison said, they trust her to make sure they're okay. So even if Breanna's joke didn't actually bother Eliot, Sophie still felt like she needed to let Breanna know to back off a bit. And then Breanna did back off.

Idk what point I'm trying to make here but I thought it was an interesting little detail.

Edit: just in case it wasn't clear, (I should have made this more clear to begin with.) This is not a hate post about Breanna or even a criticism really! The way I see it, Breanna didn't know and had no way of knowing what she said would be insensitive because Eliot didn't let her know. That's what I was trying to get at. Eliot has been doing a very good job of shielding her from his past and she knows a different side of him than the others. I don't want negative things about Breanna said on this post (or any of my posts for that matter.) Of course everyone is entitled to their opinions but please don't put that sort of thing on my posts. If you have something negative to say about Breanna go make your own post please and thank you.

#leverage #leverage redemption #the fractured job #Eliot Spencer #Breanna Casey #Sophie Devereaux #alec hardison #Parker #leverage meta

[high-warlock-of-brooklyn]

The Boiling Rock is the The Rundown Job in ATLA verse and The Rundown Job is The Boiling Rock in Leverage universe. I said what I said.

#leverage #leverage ot3 #avatar the last airbender #atla #zukki #atla zuko #atla sokka #atla suki #zuko x sokka x suki #alec hardison #parker leverage #eliot spencer #eliot x parker x hardison #crime ot3 #jace.txt #atla headcanons #leverage headcanons #leverage meta

[ziorite]

buckle up lads— i’ve played cello since before kindergarten and even if i’m no virtuoso, i’m about to unleash my thoughts on the scheherazade job upon the world anyways.

look, if hardison was good enough to play the scheherzade solo at fourteen there’s just no way he sounds that shit even if he hasn’t touched the instrument for ten years. he’s supposed to have been the most promising violinist in the city which has to be stiff competition because most classically trained string players start playing young. like three to five years old young. and we know hardison was a foster kid so he almost certainly started later than most. obviously he was talented, but now he can’t even play a scale? it just doesn’t make sense to me from what i know. i’ve gone a month without touching my cello and pretty much hopped straight back into the stuff i was practicing before after fifteen minutes of warm up. the knowledge of how to hold a bow and pull it across the string and make quality sound is the kind that doesn’t leave you— for anyone of teenage hardison’s supposed skill, that instinct is part of you for LIFE. so no, the persistent portrayal of present day hardison as completely incompetent just doesn’t sit right with me.

but that doesn’t mean i think he could pull off scheherazade’s solo without nate’s rather convenient hypnosis. so i googled around and here’s the sheet music:

to be honest i thought it would be absolute batshit crazy the way they treated it in the show. the shifts are kind of crazy but i can see a very dedicated fourteen year old who practiced the shit out of this solo being able to play it. not to say it’s not still hard! there are some SERIOUS high notes that you’d be hard pressed to hit perfectly every time even with weeks of practice under your belt. shit makes me sweat and i don’t even play that instrument.

it’s a damn impressive solo for a teenager to be playing and an absolutely deranged one to try and perform on such little notice. that’s why i need someone to rewrite the scheherazade job with more focus on hardison and his violin dammit! i feel like hardison would be able to bluff his way through the other parts of the piece with enough practice in the time he has before the job, but there’s just no way he’d be able to play that solo on his own after ten years of not touching the violin. he might not even be able to practice during all the time he has— his calluses would be gone!! that’s a whole other story!!

string instruments strings are vicious y’all. and a VAST majority of the scheherazade solo is on the teeny tiny e string that basically slices through raw fingertips. i can barely make it through five minutes of dedicated practice shifting around on my thinnest string and i’ve had my calluses built up for years; i can file these babies with a nail file and poke a hot pan with them— they get pretty damn thick, and hardison’s working with nuthin y’all. you can only go so far before you give yourself an actual blister you physically cannot play on.

as a result, i feel like hardison would’ve let nate hypnotize him if ONLY the oily little slime ball (with hate and love) had told him. i really don’t understand why nate didn’t say anything until the first place. aren’t they supposed to have learned that you’re not supposed to con your own crew already?? (not that i think nate would ever really take that to heart.)

anyways, that’s my hardison-should-be-better-at-violin propaganda as well as my why-the-scheherazade-job-needs-to-be-rewritten manifesto. maybe i’ll write it myself one of these days— leverage brainrot is real and it is a sickness. hope this 2 am rant didn’t disrupt anyone’s dashes too much!

#leverage #the scheherazade job #alec hardison #hardison #aldis hodge #leverage meta #nathan ford #nate ford

[eyrieofsynapses]

Been thinking about The Two Live Crew Job again, specifically about Sophie and Eliot with the bomb, and... y'know, it's interesting to me, how Sophie looks to Eliot while they're trying to figure out what to do with the bomb. He's not the expert in the room, not really—that’s Parker and Hardison, truth be told, though Eliot’s got more field experience with explosives, and we see that in how they're the ones providing feedback. Heck, Parker's the one that comes up with the solution with the instant pudding. Nate takes the natural leader position, and he and Sophie are... Nate and Sophie. But it's Eliot that we see Sophie consistently coming back to, who she locks eyes with.

That could be for plenty of reasons. He does seem to have the steadiest control of the situation, likely because he's the best at dealing with high-stakes life-threatening issues (the hitter with extensive military experience is, of course, going to be better under that kind of pressure than the ones who are technically civilians). But I think maybe there's another layer there: he's the one she can trust to be blunt.

See, Eliot's not going to try to soften this. He's a tactful person as a general rule, but he also knows when to be honest. Sophie doesn't want this to be softened. I suspect that's because it introduces a layer of instability; if she only hears optimistic viewpoints, there's an uncertainty in what could go wrong, a fear about what might really happen. But Parker and Hardison and Nate don't necessarily get that—in fact, they themselves won't want to stare down the flat truth, and they may take the optimistic standpoint simply to keep themselves comfortable, even without realizing it.

Conversely, Eliot's not (and never has been) the type to try to look only on the bright side. You don't get to do that in his line of work. He knows how to look at all possible outcomes and take the scene in as-is, and he understands that some people don't want platitudes. Sophie's one of them. She knows, then, that she can trust him to tell her exactly what's happening and what the stakes are, no sugar-coating, no shaky voice, just steady truth.

And she knows, too, that he knows when something is a lost cause—and he understands when to cut his losses. Eliot can be impartial in the moment, no matter how much he beats himself up about it later, and he can weigh the odds and decide, coldly, when to abandon her.

The others can't do that. Parker, even here, even now, two years before The Long Way Down Job, could never choose survival over Sophie in that way. Hardison and Nate? They'd stay, no matter how bad the odds, no matter if it was sure that they wouldn't make it. But Eliot can. More importantly, he's the one who can drag the other three out of there.

He's the one Sophie can depend on to keep them alive. Even if it means she dies alone, even if it means she loses that slim, tiny chance she could live—he'll get them out, and they'll live. She won't let them stay behind, and she even shouts that at them, yells at them to get out, and she knows even as she does so that Nate and Parker and Hardison might not listen. But Eliot will. No matter what, Eliot will, and he'll listen to her and follow her orders.

It's Eliot that she watches, and it's him that she keeps steady with, because he'll be honest with her, and he'll be honest with them, and he'll keep them safe, the same way she "[makes] sure we’re all okay," as Hardison so poignantly puts it.

And do you know what else? In spite of all of it, though, in spite of being the one to be blunt, he still manages to be gentle. He's reassuring, holds her gaze and speaks soft and even and gentle, calming, steady, sure. He's the one who hates explosives, who knows exactly how bad this could be, and he stays steady for her.

This is their second year working together. It's mere months after she apologized for lying to them, point-blank, in The Second David Job. Yet there's still this trust, this holding anchored balance, that they'll keep the crew safe together.

But here's the other thing. It's not just that they trust one another with the rest of the crew. It's that Sophie trusts him to keep her safe, and Eliot trusts her to keep him safe, even if "safe" doesn't mean physically. Because sometimes "safe" isn't about that. Sometimes it's safety in reassurance, even when everything is going to go horribly wrong. Sometimes it's safety in keeping secrets, or listening to each other without judgement.

And sometimes, it's about safety in knowing the truth, no matter how vulnerable and terrible it may be.

#leverage #eliot spencer #sophie devereaux #leverage meta #I have... more thoughts on this #about how Eliot and Parker start teasing Sophie so extensively after #which would--y'know--seem wrong after something like that #but is actually exactly what she needs? #because it's this reassurance of normalcy almost #and of reminding her that she's not fragile and they won't treat her as such #...anyway that's probably another post #just!!! SOPHIE AND ELIOT GUYS #the way they work together to keep the crew safe! #and how they keep EACH OTHER steady and safe! #(and also just... it's hilariously lovely to me how this translates #into the lighter aspect of their friendship #in that they're not afraid to be honest with each other and call each other out #like. everyone needs that One Friend who's going to be totally honest #and yet will also always be there to listen to all the bullshit #and they do that for each other! so! well! #like these are the two who are more than happy to call each other up #(especially post-s5 I'd bet) #and rant about how their partner/s are being dumbasses #and just... idk #something about how that lighter-hearted vulnerability and honesty #translates into knowing that in the darkest moments #they'd rather know the truth than hear any kind of platitude #...gosh. just. these two. #I will never be over these two) #synapse meta

[leverage-ot3]

since it's my birthday I'm sharing what I have (ROUGHLY) written down so far for my ot3 video analysis' section on the long way down job (if you haven't been able to figure it out yet, that's one of my favorite episodes)

Here we are seeing the aftereffects of the San Lorenzo Job in real time in the relationships between the characters. It seems as though Hardison is feeling off-balance in his relationship dynamic with Parker, who we we remember confessed her feelings and willingness to pursue a relationship with Hardison at the end of the Big Bang Job (note, there weren’t many relationship developments that happened between them in the San Lorenzo Job for obvious reasons- i.e. they were actively trying not to die). Hardison, who has been living that slow-burn life for the past three years is obviously ecstatic that this is happening, but it seems as though there is a disconnect between his expectations and reality of the relationship. NOTE: One of the wonderful things about Hardison is that he doesn’t expect anything from Parker- he wants her as she is in whatever way he can have her. When I’m talking about expectations, I’m saying that he doesn’t know how to act with this new relationship development- he doesn’t know where the ‘lines’ are of Parker’s comfortability and what she is ready for, which is leaving him a bit confused and unsure of how to act. 

For example, he goes in to hug her but she either doesn’t notice, doesn’t compute what he’s trying to do, or isn’t up for that level of physical affection at the current moment. She high-fives him instead

[significance of eliot 'don't touch me bro' spencer not only giving hardison a hug but INITIATING IT because parker didn't take his open arms as an invitation. talk about how much lighter he looks after the events of the san lorenzo job- it's almost like a literal weight has been lifted off his chest]

It’s easy to see the Parker-Hardison dynamics in this episode, but don’t miss how there is also significant development in the relationship between Parker and Eliot. Parker and Eliot are paired off for most of this episode climbing the mountain to try to recover the incriminating notebook from the dead mountaineer. They work efficiently in tandem, literally keeping even pace with one another.

[talk about heart-wrenching cave scenes here]

And when they’re free, this closeness and ability to be on the same wavelength is displayed when they are confronted by the gunman looking to destroy the evidence. He grabs Parker and points a gun to her head, demanding that Eliot hand over the notebook. She yells at him to not hand it over, but in actuality, she is distracting the gunman from noticing her sliding the dead man’s cellphone with an incriminating video into his pocket. Eliot plays along and into the bit, throwing the notebook over to get Parker back.

[talk about hardison being so happy to hear parker (and eliot) over the comms. talk about how he isn't expecting a hug and is resigned (if not content) to do a high five and is floored when parker practically jumps into his arms. where she knows it's safe and warm.]

#jackie talks #leverage #leverage s4 #leverage 4.01 #the long way down job #parker #alec hardison #eliot spencer #parker x hardison x eliot #leverage ot3 #ot3 meta #parker meta #eliot spencer meta #alec hardison meta #meta #leverage meta #read more #wrote some of this on company time bc I'm quick at doing tasks and because my coworker heard its my bday and told me not to work too hard < #didn't even reread what was already written i just copy pasted from the doc so what you see is what you get sorry my dudes if its bad lmao #mine

[wordybee]

Leverage does a phenomenal job with consistent character development across all episodes barring a few exceptions (*cough*French Connection Job*cough*) but they really deserve bonus kudos for Parker. Parker is a stand-out example of good character development without sacrificing the elements of a character that make them great.

Parker starts out as a quirky super thief with an occasional cutthroat lone wolf attitude that seems, frankly, strange in hindsight. Moments in the pilot like drawing a gun and saying “That makes me cry inside my special, angry place” is not Parker language we recognize from her at any other point during the series run. The closest we get is her jaunty “Bye, now!” when she’s a few moments away from throwing Tara Cole off the roof of a building, but that’s still not quite as affected as the ��special, angry place” line, which really sounds more like she’s mimicking something she’s seen elsewhere.

And what might have been a scene in which writers new to these characters were trying to find their footing but slipping a bit becomes a moment of genius when you realize that a core aspect of Parker is that she is mimicking the people around her, all the time. She doesn’t have a good enough hold on social norms to respond confidently to situations without using others as a blueprint. We see it constantly throughout the show, where she questions whether something is supposed to be funny, or “hot”, or creepy, and it becomes retroactively clear that her “special, angry place” line is terminology she likely got from someone in her past.

Leverage effortlessly portrayed Parker’s growth as stemming from her exposure to the other members of the team. Sophie is probably her most formal teacher of socialization, since Parker asks her directly about what to do in certain situations. She learns human connection more naturally from Hardison, who also helps by reassuring her that she is not broken, not crazy, and there is nothing fundamentally wrong with her. Parker recognizes an innate goodness in Hardison and tries to mimic it while Sophie gives more specific direction. From Eliot, Parker learns that the things that make her different aren’t necessarily bad and can in fact benefit the rest of the team. And the way Nate affects Parker might be the most interesting, since it’s clear from the start that Parker observes Nate’s methodology and approach to jobs — they collaborate on plans, he tests her, and his influence takes her from the loner she was before meeting the team to the leader of the team when Nate and Sophie retire.

The team members other than Parker are fairly set throughout the original series run. There are moments of growth and learning (Sophie and her sense of identity, Nate and everything going on in his head, Hardison and his strengths/weaknesses and generally growing up, Eliot and wrestling with his past) but they are primarily the same core people from beginning to end. 

No one experiences as dramatic a shift as Parker, who goes from being so removed from humanity that she doesn’t understand why anyone would be upset by death/dying, to wanting to understand that concept and throw herself into it, to embracing empathy and understanding around grief especially and kind of becoming a secondary emotional core (Hardison is, of course, the primary emotional core of the group). That's amazing growth, portrayed subtly but consistently over the course of the original series while the writers "show their work" the entire way.

And the best thing is, she never loses her quirkiness. She never becomes less weird or less Parker, she just evolves into a greater version of Parker. That’s the key to excellent character development: leaving room for growth and evolution but sustaining the character in the same way actual people might change and grow but remain, ultimately, themselves. Leverage manages that beautifully and it’s a remarkable, remarkable thing.

#leverage #parker #leverage meta #I wrote this when I should've been working which is why it's a long rambling mess of thoughts #with every leverage rewatch comes meta