#leverage s3

[theatrical-penguin]

When I think about Leverage by season, I usually think of Season 3 as the weakest. Mostly because the whole Italian lurking-in-shadows, blackmail thing annoys me.

But as I finish Season 3 on the latest rewatch, there are so many amazing episodes in it. I just never seem to remember they were which season they were in.

The Ho Ho Ho Job

The Double Blind Job

The Scheherazade Job

The Morning After Job

The Inside Job

And of course the masterpiece: The Rashomon Job

Mostly posting to remind myself that there is NOT a bad season of Leverage. Just the occasional weak subplot.

[aqua-cultured]

the Reunion Job wouldn't have gotten busted if ford had just been like "yeah he transitioned like 7 years ago man you didn't hear? kinda a dick move to misgender him like that"

but alas it was 2008 😞

[lehdenlaulu]

Leverage 3x14

What better time to try to get back to my Leverage bingewatch than 3:50 AM on a Thursday night, huh?

A Christmas episode, I see.

Sorry, boo, I don't think he's a storm sorcerer. 😂

Sometimes she really puts the 'cat' in the 'cat burglar', huh.

Why does this guy look like G.R.R. Martin, though.

Lapland, Parker, Lapland.

Oh Eliot. 🙄

But at least it is part of the job this time.

Come on, Eliot, you like it. I saw that smile. 🤭

Okay, that is a cruel and unusual punishment. I don't know who's more unhappy, Eliot or the kid. 😂

Interesting goth elf getup, Parker.

Ah, the magical EMP gun. Could be very handy.

Okay, Sophie, that's one way to do it.

...Moreau?

Never mind, Parker's dress is dark green.

Ebenezer. Of course.

Oh, that bitch. Should have known the second they said 'hacker'.

Ew. Can't blame ya, Parker.

This is a bit too real right now, you know?

That actor is very good at being hateable. Kudos.

Honestly, he actually reminds me of someone I knew IRL.

The bloody 'callsign' too, now that I think of it.

Aww, he's going to avenge Lucille II on Hardison's behalf.

Get wrecked, loser.

Aw, mum and dad got the kids presents!

So, was that the real name this time?

Bless. ❄

[londonspirit]

Ui, look, new trailer!!!

[booksandstuffsthings]

Miss Christian kane's longer hair, like yes, the bob is classic but his long hair? Man, that made him so majestic. Bring back his beachy waves fr.

[stompmesqueezeme]

Leverage: redemption s3 really said just in case y’all are missing the message NO MORE SUBTEXT LEGALITY DOES NOT EQUAL MORALITY

[green-green-grass]

everyone shut the fuck up i'm not crying you're crying

[breannacasey]

"Parker was essentially feral when we met her"

hilarious but also not wrong

[leverage-ot3]

I know the ep literally came out 6 hours ago but yall ??? the close touching line immediately cutting to eliot and sophie casually touching parker/putting hands on her shoulder?? parker lowkey nuzzling sophie??? HELLO???

(honorary mention the girl from the polycule visually having bi panic seeing parker and eliot fighting. you’re so real bestie, i hope you find peace and fulfillment)

[happygirl2oo2]

Leverage textposts part 10/?

[aardvaark]

all i want from the next episode of leverage redemption is for parker and astrid’s conflict to be played as though it’s a ridiculously intense sibling rivalry. not the whole episode, clearly it’s gonna get a lot more dramatic, but just a couple of comedic moments where parker is seething at having to share her mother figure with her kind-of-ex-nemesis. parker has gotten a little used to being mom’s (sophie’s) favorite child through the years and she does NOT want a new interpol agent sister.

[lehdenlaulu]

Leverage 3x10

Guess the name didn't refer to the London Metro system, then.

But hey, I was wondering when we were going to talk about the mining industry.

Why does Blackwell sound familiar, though?

Bruce Davison!

Eliot's 'ordinary blue-collar common folk are facing injustice' senses are tingling.

Oh Parker.

Cute glasses, Hardison!

I mean, this is basically Annoying Hat Guy, but without a hat.

"I don't woo." I feel ya, baby girl, I really do.

Well done, boo, you can do this.

Oh Eliot.

Hey, be nice to Hardison. We know you're capable of not being a dick, c'mon.

Well done, baby.

Also, nice restraint there, I might have punched this dude.

ILU Eliot.

"For morale!" Hardison's clearly discovered the magic words to get physical affection out of Eliot. Oh boys, you're getting there. 🤭

Oh honey. ❤ (I mean, as a fellow autistic ace I get it, but sometimes she's a bit too naive, you know?)

Also, while we're at it, Eliot's not actually dumb.

Ah well, they've both had worse characterizations and this episode's generally pretty tight actually, so eh.

Hard hats, guys, maybe wear them? Even if the mine isn't actually a death trap?

I almost feel sorry for this lady.

You know, fighting with comically oversized pickaxes in an unstable mine seems very smart, too.

Haven't had one of those telenovela-style scene repeats in a while, huh.

"Village People construction dude thing." Uh-huh.

Oh honey, I feel ya. I'd want a nap, too. I'd kick my heels off first and maybe change into sweats, though.

Aww, the kiddo imprinted on Eliot. Uh... not in a gross Twilight way.

You'll learn to hug yet, babe. I believe in you.

[cockadoodlebumtits]

Leverage OT3 + watching each other fight

+ bonus:

[shutupineedtothink]

Thank you leverage redemption cast and crew thank you John Rogers thank you Dean Devlin thank you Beth, Gina, Christian, Aleyse, Noah, Aldis, thank you for a stellar season of television it is so freaking wonderful to end a season like this and be just completely satisfied and grateful for the experience and know i can go back anytime 🙏🙏🙏

[tinylittlelokitty]

Leverage redemption needs a s4 renewal immediately or else 🔪🔪🔪

[meanderingstream]

Eliot at peace with being Damned

One of the things that makes Eliot hard to write for in-character (but also such an interesting character to explore) is that he believes he is damned to Hell and he is at peace with that. He has a lot of guilt, oceans of guilt, but it's not so much the tortured, anguished catholic guilt à la Nate or like, Daredevil. 

He has done monstrous, unforgivable things. But, on his own, he came to a realization of what he had done, and pulled away from that world. On his own, he left the worst person he ever worked for, and stopped using guns, and stopped killing. On his own, he switched from wetwork to retrievals. This all occurs before we ever meet him, so while there are many hints and inferences, the specifics of how that happened, how he came to those decisions, are left up to the audience’s imagination. 

Eliot wants to make the world a better place, and he works everyday with the team to help people, and he genuinely enjoys helping people and the work he does on the job. But he does not believe that he can be redeemed. (Not my own personal belief about him, but it is what he thinks). When he dies, he will go to Hell for his sins, and there is nothing that can possibly be done to change that. He doesn't need to angst over it, because it’s just a fact. It is what it is. There is no point agonizing over whether his soul can be saved, because he knows it cannot. This is both a keystone of his character, and also something he doesn't spend a lot of time thinking about day-to-day, because it’s a settled matter. 

And as much as we love Eliot the character, he has a point that lives are not tradable for equivalent exchange. If he killed a specific family 25 years ago, that was snuffing out the light and potential and future of those particular parents and children. The surviving extended family lost those particular relatives. Saving a family now does not balance that ledger, because each person is a unique life and not interchangeable for another. While I may have different beliefs about Hell and redemption than Eliot, I still want to acknowledge that he has a point. That changing now doesn't necessarily help the people he hurt in the past, and unlike Harry, he can’t work down a list of making amends, because almost all of his victims are dead. There is no atonement to the dead. 

Eliot’s redemption is in seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, and helping others get to it. Particularly the team, and particularly the pair he’s going to protect until his dying day. He will stay down there in the dark forever (he believes), but getting the others out is his redemption. 

I do not believe that Eliot will actually go to Hell when he dies, but his belief that he is damned is fundamental to who he is as a character, and he is going to believe that for the rest of his life. It can be really challenging to balance that when writing his POV, particularly when delving into events that dredge this stuff up for him (which we writers love to do because it’s so delicious). Eliot doesn’t exactly have a low self-esteem. He knows he has many skills and is exceptional at them (cooking, fighting, grifting, guitar, sports, etc). He pretty much knows his teammates love him, and care about him, and want him to stay alive for them, and spend the rest of his life with them. He has professional pride, and he will argue when he wants something. He is certainly not a doormat. However, he also believes he is fundamentally and irrevocably a bad person. Balancing between him not being too self-deprecating in normal situations / about his usefulness to the team, with his inherent belief in his own moral depravity can be a thin blade to walk without falling to one side or another. But it is also one of the biggest aspects of his psyche that makes him such a fascinating and complex character to explore.