Leverage Season 1 Episode 4: The Snow Job

[vae]

It's time for us to discuss and delight in another episode! Today we're watching and commenting about season 1 episode 4, The Snow Job. Expect spoilers for episode 1 - 4 in the comments.

If you want to comment about anything that happens in later episodes, please use rot13 to encode your comment, so anyone trying to avoid spoilers can do so. And yes, there are some people here watching for the first time!

Not sure what to comment about? How about your favourite scene? Your favourite character so far? What surprised you? Did any of the things said resonate with you? How about setting or design choices?

And don't forget about our fic prompt post if anything strikes inspiration!

Comments

The Snow Job

[pensnest]

Ah, the evil guy from Wolfram & Hart, plus 'Jonathan'. An easy Spot The Villain opening, plus another veteran as the victim/client, honestly it's almost too much. I mean, how many of us have suffered from evil builders? Too many! (Although, truthfully, not me, our builders were great.)

Anyway. Good job of presenting a clear-cut moral case where the law isn't going to help.

Nate's alcoholic tendencies took a substantial hit from the kid reference. He really does up the asshole quotient during this episode, and I find that I don't like it when the five of them are not entirely a team. It's early days, of course, but they work so beautifully together when they are on the same page, and I don't like to see Nate making all the decisions without onscreen justifying them to his people. I don't entirely trust Nate to make good decisions, now it's clear how much he is drinking, and I don't like to see the others looking like puppets kept in the dark when a collaborative team is such a joy to watch. And, as Eliot proves in the hospital, Nate isn't the only one who can come up with good answers to the problems en route.

Liked the just-in-time internet updates and the indignant German woman's reaction to being edited out of her own triumph!

Eliot's expression when he is actually picked up by the mark is probably the best thing in the episode.

They did a good job of tying in all sorts of interesting threads, particularly using the cops' surveillance to get the job done. It's a very satisfying denouement, most particularly when the three villains are presented as such thorough weasels. However, not quite such a satisfying episode, because of Nate's behaviour.

[ruric]

It was the scenario in this episode which made me realise how crazy the US house buying system is to the UK. I mean the UK isn't perfect but the set up here most likely wouldn't work - because we have more checks and balances and resort to legal action at an earlier date (or at least we did when the episode was originally made - it's been eroded a lot since then).

Nate being druk again - it felt more like a gradual decline if you watch it in aired order but a sudden descent if you watch in creator's order - which again just makes it feel a bit off to me.

Good to see Buffy/Angel alumni making an appearance.

Eliot's face when idiot brother sweeps him into a hug and Sophie's body language/expression when asked to o the lunge runs - perfect.

"Guten tag!" "French...nice!" - so much said in a bare four words *G*.

Sophie taking a swan dive out of the second floor window into Eliot's arms.

Eliot being pissed about Nate changing the plan on the fly.

The on thinsg that jar's is Nate being such an asshole again so early in the season (if we go with creatior's viewing order).

The whole team arguing again in the hotel room also feels a bit off to me.

Was this the first episode where they all start mentioning the names of the classic con jobs? The London Spank, The Genevan Pasodole, The Apple Pie. (Love Eliot's peeved expression when he realises they don;t know what he's talking about). "Like the cherry pie but with lifeguards!" Sophie's "Ooooo" and Parker's little piggy snorts of luaghter. *G*

I was surprised by Eliot's relutance to inject the good into the brain of the cadaver - that felt a bit out of character to me.

Loveed Parker's attitue to acting - "don't I just pretend?"

I liked the reveal - but the one blemish on this for me was Nate's behaviur and spiralling.

[pensnest]

It sounds as though there must be more than one way to view these - I have them on DVD and don't know whether that matches airing order or creator's order... Interesting.

I loved those classic con job names!

[hebethen]

The DVD should be the intended order, AFAIK!

[vae]

The DVD should be the order here, which is the creator's order, but if you go to the comm, there's a link to the schedule we're following which is based on the DVD release. Amazon's streaming option has them in the original airing order, which is how I got confused last week.

[sorchasilver]

The "Guten tag" - "French, nice!" exchange is such a great beat.

Yeah, on rewatching I'm finding Nate much more deeply unpleasant and unlikeable than I remember. Not sure if it's the running order or me, but I'm really feeling it this time.

[vae]

I'm going to be really interested to see how the different order changes his character development.

[lilituc]

This one was DARK. It's just barely changed from the real things that went on, unfortunately.

We can see Nate is struggling with a lot. He's still acting like an asshole, though.

CK's hair is a lot in this one. I could watch the guy lifting him off the ground all day.

I love "Glengarry Glen Death" as a name. Just love it.

Drunk driving makes me angry.

Frakes cameo YES! (Apparently Frakes just sitting there was so funny that they had trouble doing the scene.)

I love Eliot and Hardison in this.

I feel like Sophie should leave. I guess we're supposed to feel that way?

[vae]

It feels so much closer than the schemes in the previous episodes, to me. It hits home more on a personal level.

[rhade]

I notice this time that there is a double meaning in the title: it's obviously about a snow resort but also "to snow someone" is to deceive them by flattery. I don't know how to do the rot13 so I won't pursue that further now.

GlenGarry GlenDeath refers back to David Mamet's play/film "GlenGarry GlenRoss" about a group of shady phone salesmen selling the dream of home ownership in plots of Florida swamp land. I like that the team know all the other shows which involve cons.

The other thing I continue to remark on is the consistent use of good actors. Ones who will know their lines but also be prepared to play around with character and each other to get the best out of a scene. People who are professional but will have fun with what they are given: not give the same reading take after take after. So nice to see Sam Anderson and Danny Strong again.

I like Parker hanging one-handed off a ski-lift and looking like she could stay there for hours and Eliot convincing Hardison he has a tell for rock, paper, scissors.

John Rogers has made it clear all the scams the team tackle are based in reality. For me, the scary thing is that somewhere in the USA there were builders doing this - guess they were caught otherwise there would be no story.

[vae]

I've seen the life insurance one turn up on other shows, as well, though sometimes with the people who buy the policy helping the results along a little.

If you want to ROT13 comments, just use the link in the post (I open it in a new tab) and type whatever you want in plain text, click the button to encode it, then copy the result into your comment here.

[vae]

Wow, this one was... yeah, the smaller scale scams are definitely getting to me more than the bigger ones. Working on the domestic scale and going after peoples' homes makes it more real than the last couple of episodes somehow.

I didn't remember how much this skips about the scams. The builders taking peoples' homes, the initial scam to get money from them via the ski resort, to the life insurance scheme (which, alarmingly, I believe is actually perfectly legal?) to turning everything around on the bad guys, there are a lot of shifts in the plan here. Nate's clearly improvising like mad, potentially losing control, and as a balance I think we're beginning to see the others working together more. But I'm seeing less and less incentive for them to remain together as a team with this running order.

Side note to appreciate Parker, always, and Eliot having unexpected suggestions because he dated a (gender not specified) neurologist (and clearly listened to them talk about work).

[lilituc]

Eliot having unexpected suggestions because he dated a (gender not specified) neurologist (and clearly listened to them talk about work).

Ooh, thanks for noting that.

[vae]

It's very specifically "I dated a neurologist" not "I dated a girl/woman who was a neurologist".

[sorchasilver]

Continuing to catch up, here goes...

The opening of this one is dark and

Then "I had fortune cookies for breakfast." Oh, Parker!

Nate's drinking seems to be escalating a lot more suddenly that I remember- perhaps that's the difference in the runnng order. I'm not liking him as much this time around.

The mobile phone Google search graphics! Ah, nostalgia.

Eliot does dorky so well. And then boom! Oh, the look on CK's face when the guy picks him up :DDD

Parker's "stealth" outfit is delightful.

Nate making decisions without consulting the team. Trying to reassert his authority after the last ep where someone else brought in the case? Raising the stakes - thrill-seeking?

"It's like the cherry pie but with lifeguards." I love this whole bit.

"You invest in death." Yup, creepy.

The lieutenant makes some good points, Nate!

"Organ failure, death, death-like symptoms." Hardison <3

Definitely getting creepier, I completely agree.

[sorchasilver]

Hardison and Eliot bickering over who injects the wax into the brain is cute.

Nate freestyling again. Is he running this con or scrambling to keep up?

The drinking thing is so much bigger than I remember, and I'm glad Eliot calls him out on it. I'm not seeing much reason for the team to go along with him here.

Eliot's disguise in the bank is amazing.

The con in this one flips around so much but they keep it clear what's going on pretty effectively, especially with the flashbacks.

The key toss at the end, mirroring the cop tossing the keys to the bad guy at the start, is a nice touch.

We're four eps in and Sophie's pointing out they might not stick it out with Nate. This feels much more uncertain that I recall. Hmmm.