S01.08: The Mastermind Job

[tessaray]

Drops July 9, 2021 on IMBd TV's free streaming service. 

Sophie must keep her feelings in check when she discovers that someone has written a memoir of the team, casting himself as Nate – which leads an exiled criminal to kidnap Harry and “Fake Nate,” forcing the Leverage team to pull a heist.

[Prevailing Wind]

I thought this one felt "off" - would Nate really have told those stories to an IYS accountant?  Yet it made perfect sense that he would have protected Sophie in the re-telling.

[leighdear]

I was fine with the explanation of how "Mastermind" got the stories.  As they said in the beginning, there were a lot of mistakes in the stories, but they did expose the actual clients, the money side and their situations enough to identify them.  Definitely things a bean-counter would have to know. 

And of course Mastermind turns out to be everybody's fave goofball, Joey Slotnick.  *LOL*  Very nice casting there.  

I loved how Eliot had to show off his non-hitter powers of seduction over the ex-wife.  Very cute.  CK is still awesome. 

Now, if they would just continue the 8-episode series each year, they could change cities and have new lairs.  Next they could go do a season in Seattle, then Charleston, then Chicago, etc.  That way the location doesn't get dull, they coud get plenty of local color and they don't have to travel too far afield.  

*sigh*  Never happen, but I loved the whole return with Harry & Breanna.  

 

Edited July 11, 2021 by leighdear

[Emma9]

When everyone was saying how little Mr. Mastermind's description sounded like Nate - and when it became clear the book portrayed them all in the way that would piss them off the most - I thought the twist was going to be that 'Nate' was Sterling all along. Especially when Interpol got involved at the end, Sterling could have showed up and the guy could have been all "Oh, hi Nate!".

[Prevailing Wind]

I kept thinking it was Sterling, too.

[Maelstrom]

I wasn't sure about this one from the little summary, but this was a strong episode, and a fantastic mid-season finale. So many things to love, and I'm sure I'm going to forget a bunch in this post.

I ended up liking Fake Nate/Milton a lot, and would love to see him back again. He gave me Hurley vibes, I think because both are "marks" who end up being a generally decent guys caught up way out of their depth by someone indisputably nasty. Having Milton be a former IYS coworker of Nate's was a nice touch to ground the character and his supposed memoir in the heart of the show's history. I did think it was interesting, though, that the others couldn't picture the kinder, gentler Nate that Milton mentioned. But I've always felt that Nate was a very different person when Sam was alive and he and Maggie were still together, so for me it makes sense that Nate could be the nice guy that stopped by to thank him. And, like Milton said, the forensic accounts are the ones putting the pieces together - Nate was smart enough to know to be nice to them.

Duchess Charlotte Prentiss! Always nice to see her again. She's one of my favorite Sophie aliases. (Though I think the Truffle Hippie from "The French Connection Job" is still my all-time favorite.

I loved that they addressed why Parker stepped back from running the cons to let Sophie be in charge, because I've been wondering about that all season. Parker's grown so much over the course of the larger story, and I've kinda hated seeing her reduced back to just being the thief/resident oddball. But acknowledging that she deliberately stepped back as a kindness to Sophie was an excellent choice, and very believable. Beneath the cons and the craziness, these people really love each other, and it comes through in so many small and subtle ways.

Though I'm still wondering what Parker's big problem with being called legendary was, and I had to laugh at Eliot's anger at being reduced to just a mindless hitter. (So of course he goes out of his way to seduce the mark's ex-wife, lol). I wish they could've gotten Aldis for even a video call or something, but I'm happy we had him as much as we did and won't complain.

Random: Breanna's vocal fry as the morning show PA was irritatingly accurate, lol, so kudos to the actress for that. I thought this ep made nice use of Harry turning the hired goon against the mark by using his Jedi lawyer mind tricks. Milton's superpower of being boring was put to good use. And Helium Parker was betrayed by the balloon!

Miscellaneous hopes/predictions for the remaining eps: Hopefully more Hardison, even a little! I'm guessing we'll have to meet Harry's daughter at some point, since she's been mentioned a few times now. Wonder if he'll track down and help Lucy, the woman from the first episode whose brother OD'd on that sleazeball's opioids. And, in the wishful thinking department, if I could have any of the recurring character from the original run turn up I'd pick Tara, or Agent McSweetin.

ETA extra thoughts after rewatching: More bits I loved were Parker's stabbing motions while acting as camera operator during Fake Nate's "interview," as well as her taser instructions to Harry ("point the sparky end at the other guy")

And of course Eliot's "I had hair in my eyes, Parker!"

Edited July 15, 2021 by Maelstrom

[Lugal]

3 hours ago, Maelstrom said:

But I've always felt that Nate was a very different person when Sam was alive and he and Maggie were still together, so for me it makes sense that Nate could be the nice guy that stopped by to thank him.

That's how I thought of it too, Nate when he was happy.  And we all know how fiercely loyal Nate could be.  And if he met Nate a few years later, after he was fired (IYS really are bastards, aren't they?) Milton may have known some of the broad strokes of the Leverage jobs already.

Navid was a nice twist for a villain: "I'm not a micro-manager."  I love how he explained the divorce:  "She hired one of my bodyguards to kill me.  I blew up her car.  Typical divorce stuff."

Almost forgot to mention that the French security guards sounded more Louisiana French than Parisian French.

Edited July 15, 2021 by Lugal

[leighdear]

4 hours ago, Maelstrom said:

Though I'm still wondering what Parker's big problem with being called legendary was,

Basically, she said if she was a legend, nobody would want to go up against her, and she'd have no challenge. (Really paraphrasing here!)

[Johannah]

Ha!  Eliot was exCIA agent turned bodyguard, Frank Farmer.  Wasn't that Kevin Costner's name as exSecret Service agent turned bodyguard in Bodyguard?  Or course, all he does is beat up people and flip his hair.  Lol.

Loved how FakeNate described them.  Hacker...I thought you were a guy....   Parker wasn't around when FakeNate first met them, so why didn't he assume Sophie was the thief? 

Awww.  FakeNate is going to use his superpower with another Leverage team.  We provide...  Alternatives.  (Can't remember what word he used.) 

And because it bears repeating...  Point the sparky end at the other guy.

 

[Lugal]

13 hours ago, Johann said:

We provide...  Alternatives.  (Can't remember what word he used.) 

He said "an Advantage" which sounded like a car rental ad.

[andromeda331]

I loved Fake Nate's description of them and how upset they were about it. Fake Nate boring people to sleep ends up putting security to sleep. I liked at the end he ends up on one of their other crews to use his "talent".

Navid's description of his and his ex-wife's typical divorce stuff. I liked that it turned out his ex-wife sold the piece years ago. Eliot being seductive with her. 

Return of Charlotte Prentiss. 

I really wish we didn't have to wait until the fall for the next eight its so great to have the show back.

[Chaos Theory]

I am glad Fake Nate actually turned out to be a “good guy” and not someone the crew had to mess up.     And yeah I can see how his ability to bore people to sleep can be put to use by robbery crews.  

[chaifan]

This was a nice mid-season "finale" (is it really a finale if it's mid season?).  I like that Sophie addressed her being "in charge", which is what most people on this forum had already guessed.  And I thought it was good use of the entire team.

It was very similar in theme to an episode of Stargate SG1, where someone had made an entire TV show that mirrored the team, and played up their quirks in funny ways.  But what I really didn't understand is why Milton would have access to the information about the Leverage team's jobs.  I thought by the time Nate put the team together he wasn't working for the insurance company anymore.  Wasn't that the point?  He was no longer a company man, and had gone rogue?  Or am I missing something here? 

[Prevailing Wind]

It was later that Milton ran into Nate in a bar. I can't imagine Nate relating ALL those stories while drinking with a former co-worker, but who knows WTH Nate did when he was drinking?

[Chaos Theory]

You can probably fanwank that by the time  Nate ran into Milton he was always looking for new people with “special gifts” that might have been unhappy in their chosen jobs  and Milton was an old friend who was one of the good ones.    And Nate probably did while drunk and among friends tell stories about his adventures with the crew leaving out important details.    Milton got enough right to be dangerous but still enough wrong that you can clearly see that Nate edited his stories alot.    Nate was proud of what he accomplished so I can see him bragging enough but also being so much in love with Sophie that he left her completely out of the story out of respect never thinking that someone would turn his adventures into an actual book.

Edited July 23, 2021 by Chaos Theory

[wanderingstar]

I really loved this episode. Eliot’s fury at being described as just a hitter was hilarious – as was Parker’s reaction (“Who wants to be legendary! How’s that a challenge!”)

Milton turned out to be a fun character. His scenes with Sophie were great.

The con was good, and I like that everyone was involved. It was also nice to see Nick Tarabay as King Navid.

I can’t get over how well Noah Wyle has fit into this group. Same with Aleyse Shannon. (I still miss Hardison, though)

When do we get the rest of the season?

 

Edited July 24, 2021 by Gillian Rosh

[Prevailing Wind]

18 minutes ago, Gillian Rosh said:

When do we get the rest of the season?

Not soon enough.

[Johannah]

Yeah, I also find it a little bit hard to believe Nate would spill all the stories at a bar, and I'm not willing to say it was because of alcohol.  He drank during the cons and was fully functional, so I don't see him telling drunken stories.  I prefer to believe he was pumping fakeNate for information.  "Hey, we had this one time when we had to steal the....  Anything like that happen at the company, lately?  Like someone attempted to steal the (something we're going to steal), but couldn't because the security was the Impressive 214 System or. .. what was it...?". So Nate gave fakeNate vague details to entice him to tell details about some insurance security coverage and he was so smooth, that fakeNate, even in telling that to the others, didn't reveal that he was giving away secrets, because he didn't realize that he was.

[Johannah]

Oooooo. My other fanwank was that Nate really did want their adventures published so the world would know what good they had done, especially if they died during one of their cons, but he didn't expect fakeNate to write the stories until he retired and by then, he figured his team would be retired, too.  But fakeNate got laid off and jumped the gun to make some money.

 

[DearEvette]

The Dagger of Aqu'abi gets a shout out!  The Roshomon Job is one of my very favorite episodes.

This is a fun mid-season finale.  Heh to Breanna's reaction upon first seeing Fake Nate "Is he a bit of a ...schmoe?'  Her voice and exaggerated expressions when she was a tv intern.  Also her snoring when Fake Nate told one of his "funny" stories to Sophie. LOL. I just love her.

Elliot pouring it on as the dangerous romance hero with the ex-wife.  It was so over the top.  And awesome. 

And yeah, glad that Milton turned out to be a good guy and helped them in the end. But he really is the Fake Nate he can't handle brown liquor at all.

[andromeda331]

On 7/23/2021 at 2:24 PM, Johann said:

Yeah, I also find it a little bit hard to believe Nate would spill all the stories at a bar, and I'm not willing to say it was because of alcohol.  He drank during the cons and was fully functional, so I don't see him telling drunken stories.  I prefer to believe he was pumping fakeNate for information.  "Hey, we had this one time when we had to steal the....  Anything like that happen at the company, lately?  Like someone attempted to steal the (something we're going to steal), but couldn't because the security was the Impressive 214 System or. .. what was it...?". So Nate gave fakeNate vague details to entice him to tell details about some insurance security coverage and he was so smooth, that fakeNate, even in telling that to the others, didn't reveal that he was giving away secrets, because he didn't realize that he was.

I really like that idea. I can see Nate doing that. Giving FakeNate just enough information to keep him giving Nate information that he needed. 

Edited July 25, 2021 by andromeda331

[DoctorAtomic]

Parker making stabbing motions behind the camera was worth the episode. 

On 7/11/2021 at 10:34 AM, leighdear said:

I was fine with the explanation of how "Mastermind" got the stories.

It's a bit silly, but I think you need an episode like that now and then. 1 out of 16 isn't that draining on the core themes of the series. 

I did think it was a little bit much the 'mastermind' took halfway into the show to ask who Sophie was. It's fair Nate kept her out of it, but when he was naming off 'hitter', 'hacker thought you were a guy;' there's no 'oh, I don't think I know you?'

I like the Wilson isn't still totally cool under pressure, but still chatting up the guard to get information. And it was very lawyerly. 

I did like how they found the 'superpower'. 

On 7/15/2021 at 12:44 PM, Maelstrom said:

Nate was smart enough to know to be nice to them.

This seemed a very Nate 'mastermind' thing to do. 

I liked in the standoff there at the end, when Sophie was explaining about Interpol, Wilson perked up and smirked as he was putting 2 and 2 together while she was talking. Nice touch. 

I liked the actor that played the king. He's good in everything I've seen him in. Always seems to play off everyone really well. Kind of like Mark Sheppard tbh. Casting has a eye. 

[LisaM]

I really enjoyed this episode. Fake Nate was great and I liked his interactions with Sophie. Cracked up at Parker throughout. 

Looking forward to the rest of the episodes in the Fall. TPTB have done an excellent job with this revival despite the lack of Hardison. I hope he is more available for the remainder of the episodes. So far, Noah Wyle is not eating the show - which he often did during appearances in The Librarians. 

[blueray]

On 7/22/2021 at 7:23 PM, chaifan said:

It was very similar in theme to an episode of Stargate SG1, where someone had made an entire TV show that mirrored the team, and played up their quirks in funny ways.   

I thought of that instantly. And Sophie was basically in Vala's role "I'm not even in this...".  And in SG-1 Martin also is a nice guy who is just nerdy and "out there", not boring but not cool either lol.

I thought this episode was okay. The biggest complaint I had is I don't see Nate talking about any of them (and definetly not their names). It would have made more sense if their names were different as were the cons. I did call the reason that Sophie wasn't in it, she meant way to much to Nate.

I'm also glad they addressed why they let Sophie take over running the cons. And Parker & Elliots reaction to the book. I do wish we got Hardison reaction. Because I'm sure he didn't want to be called the "hacker" either.

Edited September 8, 2021 by blueray

[Mabinogia]

21 hours ago, blueray said:

The biggest complaint I had is I don't see Nate talking about any of them (and definetly not their names). It would have made more sense if their names were different as were the cons. I did call the reason that Sophie wasn't in it, she meant way to much to Nate.

That was a misstep IMO. Because if he didn't include Sophie because he cares about her but included all the others, and used their names and clear identifiers, it means he didn't really give a shit about them. I am certain that is not what the writers were going for though. They should have said something more like he didn't include Sophie because he didn't want to share her with anyone. And he certainly should have changed their names and details of the con, but then the episode wouldn't have worked since Mastermind had to recognize them. 

This was probably my least favorite ep of the reboot but I still liked it well enough. I loved many moments without really liking the whole very much. 

[Johannah]

On 9/8/2021 at 5:27 PM, Mabinogia said:

That was a misstep IMO. Because if he didn't include Sophie because he cares about her but included all the others, and used their names and clear identifiers, it means he didn't really give a shit about them. I am certain that is not what the writers were going for though. They should have said something more like he didn't include Sophie because he didn't want to share her with anyone. And he certainly should have changed their names and details of the con, but then the episode wouldn't have worked since Mastermind had to recognize them. 

This was probably my least favorite ep of the reboot but I still liked it well enough. I loved many moments without really liking the whole very much. 

Well, we don't really know his motivation, so it could very well be that he didn't want to "share" her.  What we saw was fakeNate's interpretation.  I do agree that Nate shouldn't have used their real names, unless, maybe, fakeNate already knew them from reading Spencer's reports.  I'm sure HE would have named names.

 

Sterling, not Spencer.  Thanks, Prevailing Wind.

 

 

Edited September 9, 2021 by Johann
Messed up. Again.

[Prevailing Wind]

Sterling's Reports - that's a good point. I never thought of that.

[blueray]

That makes more sense. Now that I think about it FakeNate did say that they had detailed reports from the insurance company. 

[DoctorAtomic]

I do recall the line about the reports. I can buy that. 

[Daff]

On 7/16/2021 at 10:19 PM, Johann said:

And because it bears repeating...  Point the sparky end at the other guy.

I laughed far too long over that line, mostly remembering the bumbling librarian who needed a different blonde to save him!!!

[aradia22]

I appreciate the show making a point that Parker was letting Sophie run things to make her feel better about Nate's death.

Loved Parker's yellow plaid skirt in the opening

lol, it's been a while since Elliot romanced a mark. I liked the CIA bit. Giving her a whole romantic fantasy. No reason to think that would have worked but it was fun so I'll go with it.

I was impressed that Harry managed to use his shady lawyering to get the guard talking. Even if he did drop Parker's favorite taser.

This was an okay episode. I appreciated that they managed to included some traveling. 

I thought it was a nice bit of fanservice to throw in a normal person but also wholesomely show that everyone could have a superpower.

[andromeda331]

I love that Parker has a favorite taser. Of course she does.