Leverage Season One

I don't care that is was cancelled two years ago - I still love this show. It was all good fun and great characters, interesting storylines, and a feel good all-around show that had character growth. You could do a lot worse.

All screencaps were taken by me. Click on any gif for the source location.

The Leverage Team

Nathan Ford

Ex-insurance hack. Lost his son and turned into an alcoholic. Wants revenge. Good planner.

Sophie Deveraux

Grifter. Can only act if it's a con, otherwise world's worst actress. Too good for Nate, but totally hung up on him. British.

Eliot Spencer

Ex black ops, ex assassin, ex pretty much anything that kills or beats people up. Gruffly gruff. He has very distinctive hair.

Parker

World's greatest thief. World's most awkward woman. Enjoys money, jumping off buildings, and sugar.

Alec Hardison

Computer hacker and tech extraordinaire. Talks too much. Likes Parker. Can be anything he wants to be.

Season One: The Episodes

I will now outline my favorite bits of each episode because this is my blog and you can't stop me.

The Nigerian Job

This is the first time we see all our babies together. They all become my babies. Except Nate. I just don't get the love for him. I feel like everyone got a pretty cool introduction, but watching Sophie absolutely murder your eyes on stage was hilarious. Everyone following Nate around at the end like lost criminal puppies was just a bonus.

Eliot: "What's in it for me?"
Nate: "Payback. And if it goes right, a lot of money."
Parker: "And what's in it for me?"
Nate: "A lot of money. And if it goes right, payback."

The Homecoming Job

Sophie, again, playing the world's worst and most deranged actress by turning a soap commercial into something from The Shining. It also set into motion my desperate need to have my own aged and possibly wigged portrait of myself. We are also introduced to Hardison's complete lack of grace when confronted with jumping off buildings. I'm with you, baby. My other fave is our intro to Eliot's ability to identify nearly anything with the smallest details, you know, as long as their distinctive.

Hardison shows them the new conference room. "Long version or the short version?"
Sophie: "Short."
Eliot: "Short version."
Parker: "Shortest."

The Two-Horse Job

And then there was Sterling, the slickest of the bad guys who is also a good guy. Kinda. I don't care how much I hate him, I still love him.

Parker: "*gasp* He's like Nate. Evil Nate."

The Miracle Job

So, a priest gets beat up in the first minute of the show. You've got my attention. Then we get to see the fallout of Sophie butchering "The Death of a Salesman" and then they steal a miracle. No big. Plus, they made sure not to hurt Santa just for Parker.

Hardison shoots Stigmata paintball gun and misses by a wide margin.
Eliot: "What are you, 10 feet from that? How can you miss that, you're standing right here."
Hardison: "Everybody can't be Eliot."
Eliot: "Unbelievable."

The Bank Shot Job

Hardison and Parker impersonating FBI agents is one of my favorite things about this show, especially the way Hardison insists on dealing with cops like they're puppies. Meanwhile, the team shows way more cohesion and loyalty than you might expect from people that have only been together a few months. Well, Nate took a bullet for Sophie kind of, but we expected that.

Bank robber: "My wife's life depends on that money getting where it needs to go."
Parker: "I understand. Sometimes bad guys are the only good guys you get."

The Stork Job

We get a peek into Parker's past when the team deals with an illegal orphan ring in Serbia. We also see that flirting with her sometimes ends in stabbing, but they usually deserve it. The team steps up to save the orphans and Parker when she goes off on her own to save them.

Hardison: "You don't work alone anymore, you know that right? We're a team."
Parker: "We're a little more than a team."

The Wedding Job

Taking down a mob boss while orchestrating his daughter's wedding isn't easy. Luckily, the team pulls shifts from thieving to wedding planners to FBI again. All hail the return of McSweeten and Taggert!

Eliot: "Hardison, how am I supposed to get out of the FBI with a box full of surveillance tapes? Huh?"
Hardison: "Punch somebody!"
Eliot: "Oh... I'm gonna punch somebody!"

Nate: "Did you just kill a guy with an appetizer?"
Eliot: "I don't know, maybe."

The Mile High Job

An agricultural company tries to take out one of its employees once they realize she could expose their coverup for poisoning a young girl. Hardison has to prove his expertise to keep the plane from crashing while Parker makes the worst flight attendant ever.

Parker: "In the event of a water landing your seat cushion can be used as a flotation device, but let's face it, if this thing goes down in the water more than likely the impact will kill you."

The Snow Job

When contractors who are paid to do work on houses end up stealing them from their owners, the Leverage team decides to steal them back. With a little interest of course. Meanwhile, reminded of his son's death, Nate starts to slip farther down the rabbit hole and does most of the job drunk.

Hardison loses at rock, paper, scissors to Eliot. "Well I'll be damned. How do you do that?"
Eliot: "You've got a tell."
Hardison: "I've got a tell? In rock, paper, scissors?"

The 12 Step Job

Leverage goes to rehab! Well technically they go there for a job, but they all agree that Nate and Parker could use some help. Also, Hardison and Eliot bond over nearly getting blown up by a bomb. No big. We get to see Sterling again, though he ends up only being one of Nate's hallucinations.

Hardison: "It's a computer bomb; I.. I know computers. Computer bomb... we gotta reboot the system."
Eliot: "You want me to kick it?"
Hardison: "Oh God, I'm gonna die."

 

Hardison: "No, I am with him. He thinks the flirting makes me jealous but it doesn't. You know, if you was like Brad Pitt or Denzel or somebody oh, girl it would be on, seriously. *tugs Eliot towards door* Bring your ass!"

The Juror #6 Job

One of Parker's aliases is so good that Alice White gets jury duty. After endangering her team, Nate orders Parker to fulfill it. While on the jury, Parker figures out that it's a setup and she convinces the team to help her get justice.

Eliot: "You have an orange. Alright, now convince me that I want the orange, not the apple. I'm gonna take a bite."
Parker: "I put a razor blade in that apple!"
Eliot: "Are you serious?"
Parker: "Maybe. But do you know what doesn't have a razor blade in it? This orange. Don't you want it?"

The First David Job

To get back at Nate's old company that let his son die, the team decides to go after them with the one thing that his old boss can't refuse: the second David. Things get complicated with the con when Nate's awesome ex-wife, Maggie, shows up and tries to help Nate. She's just as good as he is, putting their plan in jeopardy inadvertently. It also doesn't help with Sterling trying to catch them in the act. We also get the best Eliot fight scene so far against a truly competent hitter working for Sterling as the rest of the team is getting foiled as well. Doesn't help that Sophie was trying to con the team so she could get the first David to go along with the second one that she actually stole a decade earlier. The team is forced to scatter.

Eliot's Hair

And now to the most important part: Eliot Spencer hair. It's like a Pantene commercial, right?