S01.E09: The Bucket Job

[tessaray]

The Leverage team’s Holiday good deed goes awry when their attempt to give a small-town librarian the spy-thriller adventure of a lifetime is interrupted by a shadowy spy organization.
 

Original air date: October 8, 2021

[Prevailing Wind]

It's the Detective Bonanno Memorial Episode!  (The actor who portrayed Bonanno died in January 2020). I love that LeVar's character is named Robert Blanche. Lovely salute to the late actor.

"TNG? What's that?" LOL

I enjoyed all the references to The Librarian. It was just enough, not too much.

Could have easily done without the commercials for fake eggs.

[blueray]

I got about 10 minutes of this episode and I'm not sure I like the premise. So he's a good guy and they are going to trick him? It just seems mean an completely unnecessary. If they wanted to do something with a library it should have been about saving it or something. I'll probably finish this at some point or maybe I'll just skip this episode? Of course this is just airing so I won't know if it is important...

[DearEvette]

A little different than their normal fare.  Took a twist I didn't expect but was pretty cool.  And in retrospect... of course it did.

Harry's as a villain who does an actual mustache twirl was funny.

[Prevailing Wind]

44 minutes ago, blueray said:

I got about 10 minutes of this episode and I'm not sure I like the premise. So he's a good guy and they are going to trick him? It just seems mean an completely unnecessary. If they wanted to do something with a library it should have been about saving it or something. I'll probably finish this at some point or maybe I'll just skip this episode? Of course this is just airing so I won't know if it is important...

Finish it. The twist will grab you.

 

[blueray]

11 minutes ago, Prevailing Wind said:

Finish it. The twist will grab you.

 

I realized that I probably should right after I posted. I totally didn't see that coming lol

That actually was a good episode, I'm glad I didn't skip it.

[MissLucas]

That was fun - welcome back show! Great twist and lots of wonderful details, shout-outs to TNG and the Librarian, character beats like Eliot not even bothering to look around when Parker dropped from the ceiling or Parker's silent scolding of Wilson when he played with Blanche/Copperhead's gadgets.

Kudos to the wardrobe department for getting Christian Kane a shirt in that particular color! Eliot had some great scenes, I loved his face when Wilson as moustache twirling, eyepatch wearing villain showed up LOL! Kane also sold the trauma (the shirt helped) - and now I'm wondering who they cast as Eliot's Dad. That he'll make an appearance is one thing I'm sure of after watching this episode. The other is that the floppy is still working.

 

Edited October 8, 2021 by MissLucas

[AnimeMania]

Copperhead has what looks like a heart attack at the beginning of the episode and should have gone to the hospital, yet the rest of the episode he is running around and fighting like he is 40 years younger.

Copperhead ran out and didn't even lock up the library.

Why would R.I.Z. leave Copperhead knocked out on the floor and then spend the rest of the episode demanding everyone they meet to give them Copperhead.

Those guys put a lot of bullet holes in a lot of books.

I guess the town needs a new librarian, I am sure if the kid knew that his request would cause the librarian to leave and never come back, I am sure he would have never visited Leverage.

[blueray]

4 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

Why would R.I.Z. leave Copperhead knocked out on the floor and then spend the rest of the episode demanding everyone they meet to give them Copperhead.

 

I was confused by this too. I was half expecting Elliot to be like "idk, you are the one who knocked him out". Unless they didn't know that was him. But that still doesn't make sense as then why would Elliot know or have anything.

[AnimeMania]

1 hour ago, blueray said:

I was confused by this too. I was half expecting Elliot to be like "idk, you are the one who knocked him out". Unless they didn't know that was him. But that still doesn't make sense as then why would Elliot know or have anything.

R.I.Z. knew he was Copperhead because when they were following Elliot, R.I.Z. took a photo of Copperhead, I.D.ed him, and shifted their focus to "The Ledger". The R.I.Z. goons were the first people to call him Copperhead during the fight where R.I.Z. left Copperhead knocked out on the floor.

It made perfect sense that R.I.Z. thought Leverage was going after "The Ledger" based on their actions before approaching Copperhead. I almost believe Hardison knew that Leverage would end up with "The Ledger", this should give them plenty of targets for seasons to come. The international nature of  "The Ledger" might allow them to involve some of the other "Leverage Teams" from other countries that Parker formed. I would like to meet them, if the stories start taking them to different countries around the world. It would be funny if all the different "Leverage Teams" were "our Leverage Team" with silly regional costumes and stereotypes with bad accents. The only problem is this might be considered more "racist" than funny, but more than likely it would be both.

[Zonk]

There is a second part to this season? A surprise to be sure, but a welcome one.

"What's TNG?" That got a good chuckle out of me.

[SnapHappy]

That last scene with Eliot going to see his dad just broke my heart.  Christian is such a fine actor in some of the more quiet moments, I wish he got more credit.  

I also loved the TNG callbacks.  Levar will always be Geordie to me.  

We've always had to so a lot of suspension of reality for this show.  It honesty doesn't bother me in the least, as I just adore all the characters.  

Edited October 9, 2021 by SnapHappy

[Zonk]

Interesting enough I just rewatched the pilot of the original Leverage and the

"Shouldn't I be playing the computer guy?"

"No, I need you to actually be the computer guy."

conversation we had this episode between Sophie and Breanna happened the same way there between Nate and Hardison.

Intentional callback or the writers not remembering what they wrote 12 years ago? You decide. :D

[Prevailing Wind]

Oh, that was an intentional call back to Nate/Hardison.

[Llywela]

Managed to see this one now. A strong entry to kick off part two.

At the end, all I could think about what that lad who went to Leverage in the first place, wanting to do something special for his favourite librarian. No sooner do Leverage step in to grant his wish than his favourite librarian disappears without trace - what's he going to think?!

[roctavia]

3 hours ago, Llywela said:

Managed to see this one now. A strong entry to kick off part two.

At the end, all I could think about what that lad who went to Leverage in the first place, wanting to do something special for his favourite librarian. No sooner do Leverage step in to grant his wish than his favourite librarian disappears without trace - what's he going to think?!

I'm hoping since Hardison "sent" him, that he's going to get some explanation/ info to know that Mr. Blanche is okay. 

[marceline]

This was a rousing return for the series and Levar Burton as international super spy was such an amazing twist. His conversation with Eliot was sweet.

This was such a love letter to so many different fandoms: Star Trek, The Librarians, Reading Rainbow.... it was just like a warm hug.

I still can't believe that we're here with NEW episodes of Leverage. When it went off the air, I never could've imagined a comeback.

[Maelstrom]

Welcome back Leverage 2.0! It's been a long few months without you.

When I initially heard the premise for this episode I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but they managed to give us enough twists and turns and Leverage-y goodness to make for a very satisfying episode. I mean, how many other shows have holiday episodes involving fake spies, real spies, private military contractors, PTSD and chemical torture, book nerdery, and multiple fandom shoutouts? Leverage is the best.

Levar Burton as a fantastic ass-kicking spy is something I never knew I needed in life but now I wouldn't want to do without.

Poor Eliot. :( His backstory has been little more than a giant question mark for many years now so it was a bit unexpected, though welcome, to finally get a glimpse into his past. I'm assuming we may learn more when RIZ returns in future episodes (spec, not spoiler) since they clearly know all about it (or maybe they were involved?). It's a miracle that Eliot is as functional and compassionate as he is with the amount of trauma that's been hinted at and alluded to in his past. I hope too we learn more about his father and their troubled relationship. I was unclear though, at the end he's texting "J" and learns that "Dad's a no show." Is that a sibling? A friend? Was Eliot meeting both Dad and J and then ditched out on both when Dad didn't show? Did they clarify any of this and I just missed it? Just curious, since we have so few crumbs of backstory on Eliot, I don't want to miss any.

So, Harry wasn't led down the wrong path of lawyering so much as racing ahead and showing everyone else the way of corruption and evil. Very interesting. This the third time (right?) he's lied about/withheld crucial info from the rest of the crew, and they keep giving him second chances. Wonder what would happen if he pushes his luck too far.

Nice touches of continuity with Parker still loving Christmas, and Breanna displaying a light-up menorah on the wall of Food Truck Lucille - Nana does run a multi-denominational household, after all!

[DearEvette]

4 hours ago, marceline said:

I still can't believe that we're here with NEW episodes of Leverage. When it went off the air, I never could've imagined a comeback.

No only that but it is, imo, exactly how a reboot? Refresh? should be done.  Most of the OG cast, the same chemistry, new cast that slots in perfectly and are used intelligently, energy that feels like the OG show, call outs to the OG in a great easter-egg way and not in a heavy/pandering way. 

[MissLucas]

3 hours ago, Maelstrom said:

I was unclear though, at the end he's texting "J" and learns that "Dad's a no show." Is that a sibling? A friend? Was Eliot meeting both Dad and J and then ditched out on both when Dad didn't show?

IIRC Eliot mentioned a friend of his Dad's issuing the invitation. His Dad and J were together in Vietnam (another piece of backstory). And the way I read the scene was that Eliot decided to not show up once he learned that Dad was a no-show. Bit of a jerk move - J got ditched by two generations of Spencers and that on Christmas Eve.

[DoctorAtomic]

Glad there's others that peeped The Librarians. I'm disappointed we never got our holiday crossover.  

I liked that they took a 'side trip' from the usual jobs. 

I liked Eliot glaring at Parker to dial it down as the hacker. 

Wilson literally twisting his moustache made me have to pause for a minute to crack up. 

What I did really like were Kane's reaction shots to everyone 'acting'. He really carried this episode for me. Highly recommend to check him out in Almost Paradise as a main character. 

I'm laughing that the ledger was a floppy disk, but a 5 and a 1/4! I cannot imagine where they found them.

I don't know if anyone was around in the 80s, but the Shogun miniseries was massive event tv.

Edited October 10, 2021 by DoctorAtomic

[Abra]

I didn't realize the actor who played Detective Bonnano had passed away; it's lovely they paid tribute to him by naming LeVar's character after him.

The time between librarian Robert kicking ass and the reveal of him as Copperhead was a very amusing ride. And was that a picture of young LeVar that they used for Copperhead? If so, damn.

Could someone point out the references to The Librarians? I binged it last year a few months after the pandemic started, and that combination doesn't allow my brain a lot of recall (although there is a lot of gratitude that Noah Wyle isn't acting like Flynn Carsen here - he drove me up the wall).

It looks like Eliot was still in New Orleans for that final scene - is his father living there too?

[DoctorAtomic]

On 10/8/2021 at 6:55 AM, AnimeMania said:

 The international nature of  "The Ledger" might allow them to involve some of the other "Leverage Teams" from other countries that Parker formed.

Or maybe to invite a certain Interpol agent. Speculation not spoiler, but I think we all want Sterling to come back. 

Edited October 10, 2021 by DoctorAtomic

[Prevailing Wind]

2 hours ago, DoctorAtomic said:

I'm laughing that the ledger was a floppy disk, but a 5 and a 1/4! I cannot imagine where they found them.

In my ex-boss' garage.  "You can straighten up the garage, but don't throw anything out until I look it over."  She probably still has a computer that can read them.

1 hour ago, Abra said:

I didn't realize the actor who played Detective Bonnano had passed away; it's lovely they paid tribute to him by naming LeVar's character after him.

I didn't either, until I looked him up to make sure I was putting the double-n in the right place in Bonanno.  How sad - has a deteriorating lung disease, gets a double-lung transplant, and then dies later of multiple complications.  https://cascadememorial.com/obituary/344803/Robert-Blanche/

[Maelstrom]

MissLucas, thanks for clarifying the ending with Eliot! I figured I had to have missed something important.

22 hours ago, DoctorAtomic said:

Or maybe to invite a certain Interpol agent. Speculation not spoiler, but I think we all want Sterling to come back. 

I've been thinking about this, and IMO Sterling wouldn't work without Nate. I mean, sure, we'd all love to see Eliot beat the crap out of Sterling the instant he sees him, but Sterling and Nate's interplay was the core of the character and I don't know if it would be the same without Nate. JMHO, of course.

On 10/7/2021 at 12:38 PM, Prevailing Wind said:

Could have easily done without the commercials for fake eggs.

Forgot to comment on this yesterday, but YES! Enough with the fake eggs already.

Edited October 10, 2021 by Maelstrom

[Johannah]

Liked everyone's comments and I also would like someone to recap the Librarian comments.  Went over my head.  And I watched that series.  Got the TNG one, though.  For whomever asked, it was short for ST:TNG or Star Trek: The Next Generation, in which Lavar Burton starred.

fun episode, Elliot was great, but why did it have to end on a downer?  So much fun before that.  And a Christmas episode.  Don't end my Christmas episodes on a downer.

[Hanahope]

I know that floppy disc is coming back.  I was just surprised we didn’t see the information passed along now.  Maybe it was given to Hardison and he’s doing good

[Llywela]

Didn't Breanna say that the floppy disc had deteriorated just like she predicted, and was therefore sadly unreadable and useless? The point of the gig wasn't to procure the info on the floppy but to save the librarian.

[Hanahope]

Yeah, she "said" that, but her facial expressions and the way she said it made it look like she was being evasive.  i guess we'll see based on later episodes.  

[DoctorAtomic]

I don't know. Keeping that in a book for 30+ years in open air seems legit it would deteriorate. What's funny is how much information would be on the disk anyway? It's 512k. I have a flash drive the size of my pinky 32 gig. 

[chaifan]

With all the ST:TNG and Librarian references, I was surprised that the book used to hide the disk wasn't Roots.  They missed a good opportunity there. 

OK, now that we know that Harry has been keeping things from the team, maybe it's time for him to reveal that he really isn't from New Orleans, but from some podunk midwest town, and he can stop trying to use that horrible New Orleans accent.  It drops in and out at whim, and is just horrible. 

Fun episode.  I also think the disk will reappear later in the season.  Breanna was definitely lying about nothing being on it.

[Mabinogia]

21 hours ago, chaifan said:

OK, now that we know that Harry has been keeping things from the team, maybe it's time for him to reveal that he really isn't from New Orleans, but from some podunk midwest town, and he can stop trying to use that horrible New Orleans accent.  It drops in and out at whim, and is just horrible. 

Wait, he was trying to do a New Orleans accent? I've watched the whole season and didn't realize it. HAHAHA, yeah, might be good to just let him drop it and we'll all pretend it never happened. 

[LisaM]

I really enjoyed this episode. Liked the text from Hardison. Cracked up at the TNG comment. 

I hope that the revival gets renewed. It is very fresh - not a bit tired. 

[seacliffsal]

Okay, I kept floppy disks of all of my curriculum from the 1990s.  Had to teach AP Macro for the first time since then so I bought a floppy disk reader.  The info was all still there and accessible (and had just be stored in desk drawers, etc.).  So, yes, there are those of us who still have our disks, have disk readers, and whose disks still work.  I was actually surprised that they couldn't retrieve information from the disks.  Yes, I am ancient, why do you ask?  

[aradia22]

I've been saving this one for Christmas. I thought LeVar's acting was a little lackluster at first but once the spy mission got going, he was very funny. It was a nice twist on the accountant who pretended to be Nate. Breaking into cars, throwing Elliot's phone out the window, knocking out Harry... Mr. Blanche was too prepared for this. 😂 I kind of wish he really had been a librarian but secret spy works too.

Parker's and Harry's characters were a little too goofy to be believable. Subjecting Elliot to PTSD felt like a bit much to put in the same episode. 

I can't remember the last time a bad guy had a taser.

Elliot flipping to smash the chair was a very cool move. 

It feels weird that Harry's boss was so clear about firing him but now wants him back.

I realized he hadn't died almost as soon as it happened. He needed them to stop chasing him and he did say the hero should really die at the end.

I love that you know Parker is getting a text from Hardison from the way she reacts before you see the texts on screen.

[wanderingstar]

Finally catching up on this show, and this episode is delightful. LeVar Burton was great as the spy-masquerading-as-a-librarian. Loved his scenes with Eliot.

"What's TNG" - ha!

[andromeda331]

2 hours ago, Gillian Rosh said:

Finally catching up on this show, and this episode is delightful. LeVar Burton was great as the spy-masquerading-as-a-librarian. Loved his scenes with Eliot.

"What's TNG" - ha!

He was really good. 

[GingerPudding]

Towards the beginning when the team were discussing the books that the librarian had checked out on his account, I had to pause the show a have a little rant. As a librarian, I've checked out loads of books that I have no intention of reading, but just to test various things on the system. I nearly died laughing when at the end Harry figured out where the ledger was stashed because of the librarian regularly checking the book out so it wouldn't be weeded. I've done similar (though not to hide spy secrets) loads of times. 

 

I love this show. 

[Mabinogia]

6 hours ago, GingerPudding said:

I've done similar (though not to hide spy secrets) loads of times. 

You would say that, wouldn't you. But is it true, or are you a secret spy? hmmmm

[GingerPudding]

If I told you I'd have to kill you.... (Elliot hard stare)