#1x05 the paranormal hacktivity job

[independent-fics]

Inde Watches “The Paranormal Hacktivity Job”

Leverage Redemption 1x05

Honestly I was gonna say faking a haunting with candles def would have a fire hazard (loving the house decor tho very cozy)

But lowest of the low faking a haunting with a dead relative just to get a house (one of those guys looks familiar to me and idk from where)

Halloween is like my least favorite holiday because I’m a big chicken with the scary stuff but love Breanna’s enthusiasm (Sophie makes a good point tho. Sophie’s autumnal decor choices are more my speed)

Loving Sophie’s fit once again

Sophie you housed people all the time before

“Agreed we’re not committing any crimes” ladies please

Harry and Eliot on a buddy trip this I gotta see

Breanna what is that accent

Parker what is THAT accent 😭

Who are they right now

“You say human brains like you have an outside perspective” …”squishy human things” “you mean emotions” I love them

I’m sorry Breanna are you using adobe illustrator to analyze this handwriting photo because it does not do animations like that? I can’t tell if it’s the show to show what they’re reading or Breanna supposed to be doing that

“No the moments past now” “…so” Parker just moving on hahaha

NOT THE PSYCHICS EPISODE REFERENCE

I’m living the attic

“You just happened to have a backstory lying around like that” Breanna it’s Sophie

For a split second that photo of big daddy looks like Hurley haha (I do know he comes back in this)

Sophie is literally walking these guys through their own con it’s wild they’re stupid

Dang I do feel bad I thought the girls house could at least be saved didn’t know the whole place was gone that’s terrible

Ah the mob or whoever these criminals are make more sense with these guys oof

I love Parker and Breanna giggling over Eliot breaking knees hahah

“There are some powers in this world that are stronger than we know” “yeah and we’re three of them” yes you are

New Orleans buildings are so beautiful with the courtyards goodness

Sophie is going hard with this performance I love how kooky this episode is

But these guys are so bad dang

Parker being like this is called the gloat the best part hahahaha I loveeee them acknowledging what we all called it (because I don’t think it was ever referred to that officially in the first show)

Oh well this took a turn

Okay the guy being called the wraith reminds me of a really good avengers/leverage crossover fic so shoutout to that

Most notorious? Sorry Eliot still holds that title in my head and that guy doesn’t even kill anymore

OOO THE POLITICIAN IS THE HIT OKAY

“You’re going out the window” “what” 😂

NOT THE HITMAN BEING SCARED OF GHOSTS BRO

This man thinking about the people he’s killed and not thinking he’s ever gonna get haunted? Like you chose the wrong career path bro

The realtor saying exactly what I’m thinking

A good weapon? That is not how you explain away killing (but that’s probably how Eliot explained it away once upon a time oof Moreau vibes)

OO PARKER COMING IN WITH THE MOVES DANG

Okay Brenna how many houses did you haunt

Yes hand the knife to the realtors they’re gonna handle it for sure (ig they’re kinda mob members but dang yeah man he’s rusty)

If I didn’t know Sophie was already kinda gaining his trust I would be so scared rn

What kind of notorious hitman can say he missed a mark because of a ghost

Wipes the knife. Doesn’t wipe anything else.

“You just happened to have fake blood packs on you?” “Of course I do it’s Halloween” Breanna I love you

The selfies I can’t haha

Wait does this con count as the white rabbit in a way?

Good luck in design school kid.

They’re real fun neighbors let me tell you

I’m loving them learning a bit more about who lives around them

“And we went trick or treating afterwards” love that for you

Breanna’s little “yess” heheh I love her

Hehehe I love them scaring them hehehe perfect time in the year to get to this episode

[the-goofball]

Bonus

[botanicallyinclinednerd]

Parker: "You're going out the window!"

Tina: "What?"

Parker: "Mm-hmm."

Tina: "How about you can do that and I'll stay here and die? That's fine!"

Tina here being a wholeass mood. Honestly that would probably be my response to being told to jump out the window of a 3 (?) Story building too.

[thieves-never-say-die]

LETS GO CON OURSELVES A CONMAN

[eg515]

oooohh is The Golf Job the boys' counterpart to the girls' Paranormal Hacktivity Job? 👀

[readinginthereadyroom]

it’s the paranormal hacktivity job (lev: redem 1x05) and it’s november 1st. girl’s night in is over and the boys are back from brunei. 

because the thing is. while the team sits around the bar. while they rundown the con. while the girls gloat a little (and plan a prank). you can see that parker’s sweater actually matches eliot’s scarf. 

the color schemes are the same. cream and charcoal and dark orange and navy blue and black. a mixmash of stripes. eliot’s favorite earth tones and parker’s affinity for bold patterns. 

and since harry and eliot were away helping hardison. it’s not that big of stretch to assume they are gifts from him. for his peoples. because hardison misses his more-than-a-team. 

not to mention, that out of the 3 of them--the ot3 of them--he’s the most nuturing. buying headquarters for them to live. homes for them to grow. arms outstretched for hugs and secret handshakes. pet names and endearments.

but also. I can’t help but wonder. what if he made them? learned to knit during his travels and sent these pieces as a reminder. I’m still thinking of you. I miss you. so they can have something warm and homey until he get back. I’m coming back. 

[smallblueandloud]

some leverage: redemption reactions

i finished leverage redemption today! and i don't have anyone to talk to about it so, here we have my reactions for all eight episodes, both positive and negative. please feel free to reblog/comment -- discussions are what i'm here for! (under a cut because spoilers and also this ended up being 2k. whoops!)

EPISODE 1: the too many rembrandts job

the "aww, this guy is trying to pull his first heist! how cute" job

what they chose to do with nate was... interesting. it might just be that i read too many of those cracky "here's how they should explain nate's absence" posts, but i was expecting something funny. the grief permeating this episode -- it makes SENSE, but it was still weird. leverage doesn't usually have sadness like this. pain, yes, rage, certainly, but sadness? not usually

the way sophie immediately spots the signs of a con and slips into a character? phenomenal. i'm here for EXPERTS BEING EXPERTS and this show does NOT disappoint

harry wilson is a really solid character! most impressively, he's not flynn, which is impressive enough that i'm making a whole bullet point about it. i was worried that noah wyle was kinda a one-trick pony, but it appears not! good for him tbh

i'm LIVING for the ot3 moments in this episode. "what happened?" "we happened" YESSSSS!!! i wish we'd had more domesticity, but i know they did what they could

"he gets it from his father" FUCK!!!!!

the discussion about redemption in this episode is FANTASTIC but personally i am still delirious with excitement about "my nana leads a multi-denominational household" so expect those thoughts in 3-5 business days

EPISODE 2: the panamanian monkey job

the "flash electropop concert" job

BREANNA INTRODUCTION! i love her so MUCH, y'all. we only got to see her dynamic with hardison in this one episode, but man, it manages to be one of her best dynamics anyway. i just! i love her! i love the way the team works with her!

"in our field, you're one of the best. but there, you're the only one." god we have ELIOT/HARDISON rights and i am NOT OKAY. just!! them!!!!!! being supportive!!!!!! they have learned how to be sweet with each other! they work together so much better (in part because we're seeing them from harry's outsider pov instead of nate's insider pov, but STILL)

midway through this episode, i thought "huh, leverage always focuses on specific people, when really the problem is systematic, and pretending it's anything different is just an excuse to not fight for change". and then at the end harry talks about how the system itself is broken! i love knowing that john rogers and i were reading the same tweets last summer. it's a good feeling to trust the people making a piece of media

who let noah wyle speak spanish. whoever it was, they need to rescind their permission

god, the parker/hardison in this episode. THE PARKER/HARDISON IN THIS EPISODE! they KILL me friends they KILL ME!

also just like, hardison in this episode in general. he made a star trek reference! he made a doctor who reference! he decides there are other people who need him more! the way they wrote around gina bellman's maternity leave in s2 was good but this was phenomenal.

also i'm here for ot3 crumbs so "is this like the time when eliot wanted us to say no" is going on my ot3-is-canon conspiracy board

this is a tiny detail but eliot taking out the drone with a goddamn ORANGE was so good. he's so good at his job!! they're all so good at their jobs!! i know i literally just talked about this but AAA

EPISODE 3: the rollin' on the river job

the "sometimes you just want to rob a vault wearing a floofy dress, and that's valid" job

i did... not. like. how the villain in this one was an immigrant whose exploitable weakness was a "desperation" to be included in the upper crust. and the fact that they beat him with a literal southern belle who explicitly beats him BECAUSE her family has been in the area for "hundreds of years"? it just feels Iffy.

also iffy about this episode was breanna's characterization. it felt inconsistent. she feels inconsistent across the whole season, but this episode in particular... she tells harry she's only with the team because she's desperate, that she doesn't believe in hope, and then at the end of the episode she tells parker she wants to be there to change the world. and like, even in the first place, she's not here out of desperation! SHE asked to join the team! like, i can see how it all kinda fits together, but it just feels... inconsistent. idk. i think these scripts all could've benefited from an extra round or two of editing.

anyway! i loved the way they tied hardison into these episodes, even though aldis hodge couldn't be there. he has binders! breanna doesn't want to read them! parker did! he put in big letters, "when in doubt, trust the person in the van". i'm just so !!! about how much i love him and how much he loves his team and how much his team loves him. FOUND FAMILY, BABY!

all inconsistencies in breanna's characterization aside, i really liked her speech at the end. i know how she feels! it's really nice to have someone on the team who's from -- not my world, really, but a lot closer than any of the others. it's a nice feeling! i love her a lot. i hope her writing gets more consistent

lol, parker ate eliot's carrot cake. i love the parker/eliot rights we get in this show, they're so domestic and it's wonderful.

EPISODE 4: the tower job

the "hardison made his partners learn klingon" job

watching this episode was what made me go "they're not going to make us sit through a harry/sophie romance... right? right?"

i'm still not sure they're gonna let us avoid it but it COULD work so... i've decided to just not worry about it for now

i liked the number of ways the con goes wrong! it was fun to watch them work on the fly like that. i think them not having a dedicated Mastermind(tm) is a good watsonian explanation for their plans being pretty haphazard in general, but it's good, they think well on their feet

nate was a chessmaster. he had the whole situation in his mind from the beginning, accounting for every possible outcome. parker and sophie are much more adaptive, and it's cool to see. they can rely on their respective skillsets a lot more than nate could

a really solid episode! probably one of the strongest ones in the season. i liked it a lot.

(ALSO as mentioned above the klingon lines were fantastic and not just because they were a star trek reference -- every time eliot and parker both mentioned hardison, together, it added a year to my lifespan)

EPISODE 5: the paranormal hacktivity job

the "sophie was worryingly prepared to fake her death" job

i know why they characterized the client as a skeptic, i really do, and i loved the format of this episode, but also. But Also. she should've been a love interest for breanna and I'm Right.

having a girl's episode was the CORRECT choice. they do crimes in their free time! they fleece newbie, cruel criminals! it's so good!

it would've been cool to have eliot around for the assassin guy, but it was also cool to see the others take him out without having eliot to rely on. it's like getting to see how they'd take out eliot, if they were ever on opposing sides.

PARKER CANONICALLY USES SCRIPTS IT'S THE BEST THING EVER

breanna bristling about letting the criminal into the theater's electric system was so good god i love her so much. she knows hardware! i bet she likes to work with her hands. i bet she stims. i bet she has adhd

actually, sidenote, but i LOVE these headquarters. they look so nice! the stage is so nice! i loved having an episode set in and around it, it was such a good choice.

EPISODE 6: the card game job

the "FINALLY AN EXPLICITLY QUEER LEVERAGE CHARACTER" job

QUEER BREANNA QUEER BREANNA QUEER BREANNA QUEER BR

UNFOLLOW ME NOW THIS IS GONNA BE THE ONLY THING I POST ABOUT FOR THE REST OF TIME

GOD, what a good way to reveal it. it's fully about her! i love queer romances, of course i do, but i don't think i've ever seen a character come out without a romance being their reason for doing so (however indirectly). i still think she should've gotten a date with the client from 1x05, but i really liked this too.

this episode just felt like a love letter to fandom, and i love that. i love how much it shone through. i'm used to writers specifically going out of their way to make fun of fans and laugh at them, so it was just. really nice to have someone stand up and go, no, this is important for a reason! people love this for a reason! it MEANS something!

very fun to watch eliot swordfight. very fun to watch sophie recite a sonnet in her classic fashion. very fun to watch parker work at being a good mentor. breanna was so excited about the card game! they're all so good!

oh, and i guess harry's here too.

EPISODE 7: the double-edged sword job

the "harry is addicted to mobile games, which is a mood" job

hot take alert! i think this is the weakest episode of the season by a LOT. it needed so much more editing. it felt so disjointed, so all over the place. the plot was haphazard but in a muffled way, where you had no idea why they were doing what they were doing. the climax was sudden and didn't make any sense. it was just weird.

i'm not the person to comment on this but it feels kind of lazy to cast an east asian guy to play a socially-awkward tech genius. just a thought.

oh, of course jonathan frakes directed this episode. sometimes his stuff is really good but other times (ahem, ds9 3x02) it's disjointed and all over the place. i'm not even surprised it was him.

idk if i have anything else to say about this. oh! some of the team moments were great -- mostly involving eliot. i loved the moment of him recognizing the headshot, i LOVED the ten seconds of everyone teasing him. he and parker talked about the wellbeing of their friend, the woman whose ex tracked her down!

separate bulletpoint to say how much i LOVED his conversation with breanna outside the house. he's so good at reassuring! he could go deeper there, talking about being better than your worst day, but he knew when not to push! it was so good.

"first off, this guy can't TOUCH hardison" deserves its own bulletpoint because like. y'all. Y'ALL.

EPISODE 8: the mastermind job

the "eliot is more than just a pretty face" job

oh man this post is so much longer than i thought it would be. okay just one more episode and then i'm done.

the callbacks to original leverage were SO well done and made me feel emotions without feeling overbearing.

i didn't like the central premise -- that nate would share so many details with a random insurance agent -- in the first place, but i did like how it allowed them to bring back nate without actually hiring timerty mcasshole.

i liked eliot's insistence that he's more than just the muscle! he is, and it's really good to know, textually, that the writers do too!

me, watching the resolution of the episode: ah, yeah, insurance fraud. a classic!

harry bonding with his guard had "they don't even have dental!" energy and i am SUCH a fan. i know it was all for the con but also give me harry, unable to stop advising people, even when they're actively holding him hostage

parker! on the phone with hardison!!!! ADORABLE

is it just me or was someone else expecting the accountant's name to be something significant? with the way they led up to it, i was waiting for a "sterling" or something else. my sensors were pinging for another tara reveal. i'm still convinced we're gonna get this guy dramatically revealed in the season finale.

a really nice episode! i had a lot of fun with it. and now i want to rewatch the rashamon job, but tbh i ALWAYS want to rewatch the rashamon job.

and that's a wrap! overall, a fun season, i enjoyed it a lot. not as solid as original leverage, but it's the very beginning, and it was put together during a global pandemic, so i'm cutting them some slack. also levar burton is gonna show up at some point. that's a big reason of why i'm cutting them so much slack.

my personal ranking of the episodes is 1x04, 1x06, 1x08, 1x01, 1x02, 1x03, and finally last (and least), 1x07.

what did you guys think of the new season? what was your favorite episode? do you agree with any of my opinions? disagree with any? let me know, please, i'd love to discuss!