Leverage--The Cross My Heart Job
We open with a team scene. They’re in and airport on their way home from a previous (and unseen) job and bickering about all the things that went wrong. Eliot is griping about having to “fight three ex-Brazilian combat divers with spear guns under water,” while Hardison is lamenting the damage to the team’s earbuds. Parker is eye rolling at the boys, and Sophie is complaining about her sunburn (Sophie’s version of a war wound, lol). And once again, literal!Parker thinks she missed out on seeing a real emerald (“the emerald of the Caribbean)-much to the frustration of her teammates. In short, we have a great team dynamic that reminds me of a Season Two episode. Great banter, great little character moments, great body language.
Then Nate spots a damsel in distress and decides to come to her aid. This particular victim is a transplant nurse who had to turn over a heart bound for a fifteen-year-old boy in order to save her kidnapped daughter. In short, he’s found the team a new job while they’re still coming down off the old one.
I love the use of team interaction in this one. Eliot is paired off with the girls at first and then just Parker for most of the episode. His dynamic with both women is fun here, as always. I particularly love when he asks for a distraction so they can rescue the child, and Sophie immediately starts to transform herself, complete with the high heels she has in her purse. I love how Eliot and Parker turn away and try to look casual as Sophie stands behind them stripping off her outer garments.
The Eliot-Parker dynamic is as fun as always. They have such similar ways of looking at the world that when they’re off together on a job, the results are entertaining. I love that after Sophie fake-twists her ankle to get the first ID, Parker keeps escalating the injuries she imagines they might need to inflict on team members to get the other IDs. Eliot grouchy “settle down” was just perfect.
AND HELLO STRIPPING ELIOT IN YOUR BEATER! Rawr!
One of the things I loved about this episode was the fact that the team was barebones as they started the job. They had no access to their equipment and have to make do with what they can scrounge up in the airport. Poor Hardison has to work his magic with a clunky desktop and walkie talkies (“stone knives and bear skins”).
And of course the banter between him and Eliot continues. (“Nobody’s asking Eliot to fight a guy with a Nerf sword.” “Damascus, 2002.” “Like you’ve been to Damascus.”) Great stuff here. This is the kind of back and forth between the two that I love to see.
Score one for geek-speak! Hardison has evidentially exposed Eliot to enough Star Trek that Eliot knew how to contact him using geek code (Kirk Picard, lol).
And OF COURSE Eliot got Hardison a girl’s badge! The whole “sex change” scene was implausible but laugh-out-loud funny. I love it they way Hardison goes overboard on his covers.
Nate’s conversation with Sophie was a great callback to Nate’s background and why he’s in this team in the first place. I love the way the writers handled it, allowing Nate to talk about Sam a little and accept minor comfort from Sophie. But in the end, he’s still racked with the pain of losing and son, and we’re reminded exactly how much that event has influenced everything Nate has done in the past few years. The end was particularly creepy, as Nate revealed to Chesney that he’s watching him (literally-he calls up the cameras then and there). Creepiest, though, was his “Oh, I didn’t kill you. God killed you. I just made sure it took.” Oh Nate. This mental state you’re in can’t end well.
I loved the little details they put into this story. For example, when everyone is gathering in the crab restaurant, Parker is suggesting to the little girl that they get her a taser to carry around with her, lol. And when Eliot and Parker start to strip in the locker room, Eliot has a bandaged bicep, presumably from one of the spear guns. And of course, I loved Eliot’s and Sophie’s side conversation about handcuffs (“I don’t suppose you travel with handcuffs.” “No, not on this trip.”)? The Eliot/Sophie and Eliot/Nate/Sophie shipper in me squeed. We already know that Eliot quite possibly has a thing for handcuffs (“The Two Live Crew Job”).
So overall, this episode was a squeefest, and I love it so hard right now. Possibly my favorite of the season.