Leverage: Redemption: The Rollin' on the River Job
July 9, 2021 7:49 PM - Season 1, Episode 3 - Subscribe
The Leverage team takes on a greedy riverboat casino owner, before he can bulldoze the homes of longtime New Orleans natives for his planned expansion.
Eliot: I always get the fun job, don't I?
Parker: Ah, that's nothing. You cut your way out of an ice cave.
Russian Mobster: Hey! You're not supposed to be here!
Parker: You escaped a gorilla enclosure. [Eliot knocks out mobster with an air tank] And... You catered a wedding for the mob.
Eliot: It wasn't catering! It was a food sensory experience.
Parker: Whatever. It was really good. [Eliot takes down another mobster using a life jacket.]
Eliot: I always get the fun job, don't I?
Parker: Ah, that's nothing. You cut your way out of an ice cave.
Russian Mobster: Hey! You're not supposed to be here!
Parker: You escaped a gorilla enclosure. [Eliot knocks out mobster with an air tank] And... You catered a wedding for the mob.
Eliot: It wasn't catering! It was a food sensory experience.
Parker: Whatever. It was really good. [Eliot takes down another mobster using a life jacket.]
Gina Bellman could make the COM4R4T costume look good. There is nothing she can't wear the hell out of.
posted by humbug at 8:25 AM on July 10, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by humbug at 8:25 AM on July 10, 2021 [1 favorite]
They've been putting Sophie in a lot of monochrome suits and shells/tops. The navy one in the first (or second) episode comes immediately to mind. I really like that look on her. It's smart, it's neat, it's versatile. It's really lovely.
posted by sardonyx at 9:51 AM on July 10, 2021
posted by sardonyx at 9:51 AM on July 10, 2021
I'm not convinced by the current characterization of Parker, who has been leading leverage for eight years. I would like a bit of talk about why she is stepping back to let Sophie take over (I could imagine reasons).
posted by jeather at 3:17 PM on July 10, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by jeather at 3:17 PM on July 10, 2021 [1 favorite]
They've all been running parts of Leverage International. The heavy hint is that they're all stepping back because Sophie needs to do some work just now.
posted by humbug at 7:42 PM on July 10, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by humbug at 7:42 PM on July 10, 2021 [1 favorite]
Wyle is better with a real fake accent, over a fake accent.
My fav Sophie garment this ep was her collarless jacket in the brief contract con briefing scene.
Agreed, Parker seems to have regressed some when the old crew (Sophie) is reunited, but she does seem to be taking a mentorship role with Breanna and she's splitting time in eye-in-the-sky management and on-the-ground roles.
Parker is in both whimsical and more professional outfits (that black sleeveless top evinces an 80's Hollywood ninja look and also flatters her now more mature hips), and Breanna has some flare in her style (those white patent Docs).
Hmm, the Breanna character apparently was supposed to be Asian LGBTQ, but Aleyse Shannon is doing well in the role.
I'm a bit surprised that Eliot is essentially unchanged; I would have expected some nod to his "hitting smarter" as he ages.
That is not a Russian mob tattoo - it says omerta, which is Italian.
If there was enough pressure (which there isn't) from the N2 tanks to "keep the water out" - everyone would have passed out when they walked into the vault.
posted by porpoise at 7:55 PM on July 10, 2021 [1 favorite]
My fav Sophie garment this ep was her collarless jacket in the brief contract con briefing scene.
Agreed, Parker seems to have regressed some when the old crew (Sophie) is reunited, but she does seem to be taking a mentorship role with Breanna and she's splitting time in eye-in-the-sky management and on-the-ground roles.
Parker is in both whimsical and more professional outfits (that black sleeveless top evinces an 80's Hollywood ninja look and also flatters her now more mature hips), and Breanna has some flare in her style (those white patent Docs).
Hmm, the Breanna character apparently was supposed to be Asian LGBTQ, but Aleyse Shannon is doing well in the role.
I'm a bit surprised that Eliot is essentially unchanged; I would have expected some nod to his "hitting smarter" as he ages.
That is not a Russian mob tattoo - it says omerta, which is Italian.
If there was enough pressure (which there isn't) from the N2 tanks to "keep the water out" - everyone would have passed out when they walked into the vault.
posted by porpoise at 7:55 PM on July 10, 2021 [1 favorite]
Ms. "St. Claire" was willing to make racist implications in her dismissal of Chaudhry. That jarred me and reminded me of how ruthless the crew can be. Elsewhere in this season, we see the old-timer Leverage crew dealing with the newcomers' misgivings about the meaner things they do. This is similar.
posted by brainwane at 9:28 PM on July 10, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by brainwane at 9:28 PM on July 10, 2021 [1 favorite]
It also reminded me unpleasantly of the original series's recurring xenophobia problem.
Re: the tattoo, I didn't see it for very long but I thought it said "смерть" - death. Similar-looking 6 characters, maybe I mistook it. It seemed a bit blunt to be a standard mob tattoo, but, *shrug*.
posted by polytope subirb enby-of-piano-dice at 10:10 PM on July 11, 2021 [2 favorites]
Re: the tattoo, I didn't see it for very long but I thought it said "смерть" - death. Similar-looking 6 characters, maybe I mistook it. It seemed a bit blunt to be a standard mob tattoo, but, *shrug*.
posted by polytope subirb enby-of-piano-dice at 10:10 PM on July 11, 2021 [2 favorites]
I can't be the only one who hates the opening credits? They have a Bond aesthetic that does NOT match anything about the rest of the series (so far), especially the setting.
Ms. "St. Claire" was willing to make racist implications in her dismissal of Chaudhry. That jarred me and reminded me of how ruthless the crew can be.
I was jarred by that as well. It's 100% what the character would say, but not what I would expect out of a Leverage character. I hope we get a little pushback at some point, beyond Breana's "are we the bad guys?"
This episode, for me, really made it obvious that they didn't get Apollo Robbins back on as a thief / legerdemain consultant. The whole "I'm Parker" shtick seems to be a cover for not having as many lifts on-screen.
I'm a bit surprised that Eliot is essentially unchanged; I would have expected some nod to his "hitting smarter" as he ages.
100% agreed. I'm hoping for some hitter guest stars to give Eliot a little more screen time / development, because in Classic, a lot of his character development had to do with Hardison, who is not here. Also, dude's solidly middle-aged now - bruises last longer. Makes sense to get some younger muscle in at some point.
They've all been running parts of Leverage International. The heavy hint is that they're all stepping back because Sophie needs to do some work just now.
I'm hoping that's part of why the season to date has been so small fry. (Other, more obvious part: Mr. Wilson and Breana need seasoning.)
posted by snerson at 12:56 PM on July 12, 2021 [2 favorites]
Ms. "St. Claire" was willing to make racist implications in her dismissal of Chaudhry. That jarred me and reminded me of how ruthless the crew can be.
I was jarred by that as well. It's 100% what the character would say, but not what I would expect out of a Leverage character. I hope we get a little pushback at some point, beyond Breana's "are we the bad guys?"
This episode, for me, really made it obvious that they didn't get Apollo Robbins back on as a thief / legerdemain consultant. The whole "I'm Parker" shtick seems to be a cover for not having as many lifts on-screen.
I'm a bit surprised that Eliot is essentially unchanged; I would have expected some nod to his "hitting smarter" as he ages.
100% agreed. I'm hoping for some hitter guest stars to give Eliot a little more screen time / development, because in Classic, a lot of his character development had to do with Hardison, who is not here. Also, dude's solidly middle-aged now - bruises last longer. Makes sense to get some younger muscle in at some point.
They've all been running parts of Leverage International. The heavy hint is that they're all stepping back because Sophie needs to do some work just now.
I'm hoping that's part of why the season to date has been so small fry. (Other, more obvious part: Mr. Wilson and Breana need seasoning.)
posted by snerson at 12:56 PM on July 12, 2021 [2 favorites]
I rewatched the bit with the tattoo and, well, it reads "OMEPT" with the final letter obscured by the shirt. Which is what you get when you ask a machine to translate "omerta" to Russian.
posted by polytope subirb enby-of-piano-dice at 9:10 PM on July 14, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by polytope subirb enby-of-piano-dice at 9:10 PM on July 14, 2021 [1 favorite]
That was fun but it did feel like there were some pieces missing.
I was bothered by the racist comments by Parker's character. It was believable from that character, but not from Parker.
Minor nits:
1. No way that dude in the office where Sophie & Wilson played divorcing spouses was a low-level city employee: that was not the office of a mid-level bureaucrat. And anyone with an office that nice would have had an admin outside.
2. National Register status doesn't stop anyone from tearing down your home, it just makes it take longer, and if you are the homeowner it may give you tax breaks while simultaneously making it difficult to make any modifications. It's not an unalloyed good, and a lot of homeowners will reject the opportunity to pursue listing for that reason.
What's the likelihood the Russian mob will eventually figure out that Leverage is the reason they've lost a ton of money? They are not without resources and intelligence assets themselves, after all.
posted by suelac at 9:03 PM on July 15, 2021 [1 favorite]
I was bothered by the racist comments by Parker's character. It was believable from that character, but not from Parker.
Minor nits:
1. No way that dude in the office where Sophie & Wilson played divorcing spouses was a low-level city employee: that was not the office of a mid-level bureaucrat. And anyone with an office that nice would have had an admin outside.
2. National Register status doesn't stop anyone from tearing down your home, it just makes it take longer, and if you are the homeowner it may give you tax breaks while simultaneously making it difficult to make any modifications. It's not an unalloyed good, and a lot of homeowners will reject the opportunity to pursue listing for that reason.
What's the likelihood the Russian mob will eventually figure out that Leverage is the reason they've lost a ton of money? They are not without resources and intelligence assets themselves, after all.
posted by suelac at 9:03 PM on July 15, 2021 [1 favorite]
Oh, and I guess we can assume that Breanna is about 25? Not really a kid, then.
posted by suelac at 9:03 PM on July 15, 2021
posted by suelac at 9:03 PM on July 15, 2021
I was sorta rolling my eyes at the "solution" - was it stated that the vault was underwater? And if it was, why didn't it fill with water when the bad guy unlocked the vault? If the impact was just slightly damp rugs.... And all those hundreds of blinking life jacket lights mighta coulda been HIGHLY OBVIOUS to anybody looking off the boat?
But yeah, I kinda sorta wondered if they were aiming to make the bad guy a little sympathetic with his "hey, we're not buffy st. claire, we came here and built up our fortune from the ground up" speech to Sophie, but nope! Russian mafia.
And I 100% saw that tattoo as Omerta, so I wonder if they had a last minute script change for production reasons.
posted by Kyol at 7:33 AM on July 19, 2021 [1 favorite]
But yeah, I kinda sorta wondered if they were aiming to make the bad guy a little sympathetic with his "hey, we're not buffy st. claire, we came here and built up our fortune from the ground up" speech to Sophie, but nope! Russian mafia.
And I 100% saw that tattoo as Omerta, so I wonder if they had a last minute script change for production reasons.
posted by Kyol at 7:33 AM on July 19, 2021 [1 favorite]
"I want the world to stop sucking. Because it sucks." I HEAR YA, GIRL!!!!!!!!!!
"Sometimes the best way to hide is to blind them with your brightness" is also an awesome line.
Parker's dress! With detachable skirt!
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:21 AM on July 24, 2021 [1 favorite]
"Sometimes the best way to hide is to blind them with your brightness" is also an awesome line.
Parker's dress! With detachable skirt!
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:21 AM on July 24, 2021 [1 favorite]
Ms. "St. Claire" was willing to make racist implications in her dismissal of Chaudhry. That jarred me and reminded me of how ruthless the crew can be.
Yeah it was a real departure from their other "not quite the good guy" roles when they're on the con, that one was personal, unnecessary and, yeah racist. Made the bad guy more sympathetic in a way that I think was not the plan.
the Breanna character apparently was supposed to be Asian LGBTQ, but Aleyse Shannon is doing well in the role.
She definitely has an androgynous vibe in a show where all the main characters have very cishet backstories.
I would have expected some nod to his "hitting smarter" as he ages.
Agree, he's clearly the one who has had the most emotional growth (imo) but he's still fighting in exactly the same way, right down to the "Now I will break a stick in half and pummel you with both sides of it" thing. Hope that changes.
posted by jessamyn at 8:04 AM on December 29, 2022
Yeah it was a real departure from their other "not quite the good guy" roles when they're on the con, that one was personal, unnecessary and, yeah racist. Made the bad guy more sympathetic in a way that I think was not the plan.
the Breanna character apparently was supposed to be Asian LGBTQ, but Aleyse Shannon is doing well in the role.
She definitely has an androgynous vibe in a show where all the main characters have very cishet backstories.
I would have expected some nod to his "hitting smarter" as he ages.
Agree, he's clearly the one who has had the most emotional growth (imo) but he's still fighting in exactly the same way, right down to the "Now I will break a stick in half and pummel you with both sides of it" thing. Hope that changes.
posted by jessamyn at 8:04 AM on December 29, 2022
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Decent enough episode overall, though not a particularly compelling villain-of-the-week. I mean, I feel like they did the fraudulent-foreclosure crime better with the evil contractors in 'The Snow Job'. On the Sophie fashion-watch front, I loved that lavender pantsuit. The gold casino dress was lovely, and the pink velvet dress was wonderfully awful, but that lavender suit had such a casual elegance.
posted by oh yeah! at 8:06 PM on July 9, 2021