S01.E14: The Great Train Job

[tessaray]

Two local farmers are targeted by a hate group, but something more poisonous on the farm leads Team Leverage to a crooked green energy innovator and an old-fashioned Train Heist.

Original air date: October 8, 2021
 

[Zonk]

"This is an energy dense battery that achieves 600 watt-kilogramms per hour."

🤦‍♂️ Oh my god. Who screwed this up this badly? Was it the writers? Or was it the actor and nobody caught it? I mean that might be the worst tech-gibberish I've ever heard. Makes absolutely no sense.

Correct would be 600 watt-hours per kilogramm (600 Wh/kg). And for the record that would be really impressive. LFP batteries are currently at about 175 Wh/kg, NMC batteries at about 200 Wh/kg.

I know the guy is a grifter and he doesn't actually have a battery with that capacity, but come on, a grifter would know his stuff better than this.

 

At least I can fanwank, that Sophies horrible german, with an accent so thick you could support a sky scraper on it, might fool an american, who isn't a native speaker. Often in shows we are to believe that other germans are fooled or that the characters are german and my eyes almost fall out of their sockets from all the rolling.

Still, could you stop with the ", nein?" at the end of a sentence? That only works if you translate a ", no?" directly and why would a german do that when trying to speak english? If you want to show them falling back to german for a few words the correct word to use would be ", oder?".

 

Harry, do you think you should maybe zip up your hazmat suit there, buddy?

 

I'm pretty sure those few batteries wouldn't contaminate anything to a noticable extend. There isn't actually that much Cobalt in NMC batteries. It ranges from 13% to 4%. Pretty much none of it would reach ground water. That dump site would have needed to be from a whole vehicle fleet, not from a few experimental batteries, to have such an effect. And I know they said "he overstuffed" those batteries with heavy metal, but that still wouldn't be that much from the dump site we've seen and it frankly makes no sense. If anything you'd overstuff the batteries with Lithium and change them so that with every charge some Lithium gets unrecoverably stripped. That would reduce the charge cycles by a lot but it would give you temporarily a high energy density.

 

Other than that it was a fun episode. But this was quite a bit more than the usual stuff you had to ignore in a Leverage episode. At some point it becomes a bit much.

Edited October 9, 2021 by Zonk

[Maelstrom]

I thought this one was a lot of fun. Can't go wrong with a good train job (just ask the Firefly crew! Oh wait... better not). I got a kick out of Sophie's quick change as she walked through a doorway - nice touch by the director (did Beth direct this one? The downside of watching multiple episodes at once is that I can't remember what happens where).

Emily is a good character with potential to recur in the future, especially if she and Breanna work out. I loved Breanna's "crush vision" complete with fan-blown hair flip, sultry lighting, and a big wink. All that was missing was some bubbles or sparkles floating around her (maybe I've been watching too many Asian dramas, lol). Always nice to see inherently decent secondary characters who happily turn on the mark once they know the truth.

Harry, if Eliot has to ask whether you're a serial killer after seeing the contents of your trunk, you may want to rethink your life choices a little bit. Also, the more we learn about Harry the more apparent it is that he really was a corrupt POS before joining the crew.

Just when I think the marks can't get any worse, they prove me wrong. Racist lying megalomaniacal white supremecist polluter, yikes. Nice touch showing Sophie's obvious disgust while Elon Blake was trying to kiss her.

Favorite twist: the reveal of the episode's secret villains... Mounties! *entire crew cowers*

Favorite line: "I think of it as a reverse Mjolnir that poisons everyone it touches with racism." Ha!

Stanley Cup reference! Sophie still can't remember where she stashed the damn thing... but it doesn't matter because Parker stole it from her! Also loved in the final scene at the group dinner when Parker gets overexcited about the safe, yet again, and Eliot takes her fork away for safety's sake. :D

[Lugal]

This was still a fun one, nothing like an old-fashioned train heist, where they robbed Elon Musk (I mean...eh, let's face it, it was Elon Musk), proved him a fraud and then handed him over to the Mounties.  Interesting that they don't work in Canada.

Interesting Harry can represent the worst clients for the worst thing, but hitting a guy in the face with a shovel unnerves him.  It's one thing to have distance, but another to see the violence up close and personal.

 

[Hanahope]

loved the take on Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos, but with electric batteries.  i suppose at least liz didn't use white nationalists and gay haters.  

[blueray]

I liked this episode. And how excited Parker was about stealing something on a train. I liked having the teams split up and be in their groups.

I did like Brianna with Emily. I can see her recurring, but I couldn't help but wonder what they told her. The group is sort of talking openly about stealing stuff in front of her (and the farmers). I suppose that she could have said she was a reporter trying to get that guy for environmental reasons. 

That guy was making me uncomfortable especially in the scene with Sophie. I was half expecting Parker to jump in to save her. As that was just creepy and it seemed like he wasn't going to let her leave. 

[DoctorAtomic]

You can't beat a good train ride. I love trains. I liked the timing with Breanna gearing up the web page while Sophie was getting her intro. 

Dude is all swinging the bat around, and I'm like 'ok, *mustache*.'

[chaifan]

I have to admit, the opening scene with the farmer guy getting beat up with the bats was too damn realistic, and almost made me turn the episode off.  Sort of the same with the opening of the last episode, where the cops were beating up the guy under the boardwalk.  Is someone in production a little too much into violence, or are they hammering home the reality of dirty cops and homophobic neo-nazis? 

And speaking of homophobic neo-nazis, was I the only one who found it odd that the leader of the gang was in a vest, skinny pants and had a old-timey handlebar mustache?  I mean, wouldn't most homophobic manly men look at that getup and go, damn, he's gay, let's beat the crap out of him!

I agree that the mark seemed to be channeling Elon Musk.  But, as said above, I think his con was much more Elizabeth Holmes/Theranos-esque.  It's a shame they didn't leave the Theranos style plot to another episode with the mark being an obvious Elizabeth Holmes knock off.  Because they could figure out a way for Parker to have to impersonate her - Beth Reisgraf could do a great Elizabeth Holmes!  (She already has a closet full of black turtlenecks, you know.)

I love how Breanna is in the dining car, laptop open, openly talking to herself and no one notices, or overhears or anything.  Wouldn't they have had a cabin, or shouldn't she have found somewhere somewhat private for all of that?  And I didn't like the whole fantasy hair down thing - that's the cliche male male fantasy of the uptight repressed bunned-up woman letting loose.  Can't women have their own fantasy? 

 

[DoctorAtomic]

1 hour ago, chaifan said:

And speaking of homophobic neo-nazis, was I the only one who found it odd that the leader of the gang was in a vest, skinny pants and had a old-timey handlebar mustache?

 

On 10/23/2021 at 6:23 PM, DoctorAtomic said:

Dude is all swinging the bat around, and I'm like 'ok, *mustache*.'

Not to quote myself, but dude was a fancy neo-nazi. I guess they respect facial hair. 

 

[Lugal]

Maybe he was going for an "Early Hitler" look?

Edited October 30, 2021 by Lugal

[Mabinogia]

18 hours ago, chaifan said:

I have to admit, the opening scene with the farmer guy getting beat up with the bats was too damn realistic, and almost made me turn the episode off.  Sort of the same with the opening of the last episode, where the cops were beating up the guy under the boardwalk

I had to fast forward through both those scenes. I am fine with seeing people get shot, with zombie hoards tearing people to shreds, but I have a horrible, visceral reaction to beatings. 

 

18 hours ago, chaifan said:

And I didn't like the whole fantasy hair down thing - that's the cliche male male fantasy of the uptight repressed bunned-up woman letting loose.  Can't women have their own fantasy? 

I don't see why a lesbian can't have the uptight repressed bunned-up woman fantasy as well. I loved that scene because it was so cliche, with the slow-mo and all. It felt more like the show was taking the piss out of the cliche. I didn't take it too seriously. 

[Johannah]

On 10/30/2021 at 4:35 PM, Mabinogia said:

I had to fast forward through both those scenes. I am fine with seeing people get shot, with zombie hoards tearing people to shreds, but I have a horrible, visceral reaction to beatings. 

It's weird because I love action movies, but I hate torture or fight scenes.

I thought Parker was too manic this episode.  I know the actress directed this one and I have no complaints, but maybe she should have someone there to help her tone down her character.  Parker has always been lovably quirky and enthusiastic, but this episode just had her being a bit too manic.

Mounties are worse than bachelorettes!  Yikes!  LOL.  Someone on the writing staff really wanted to put in a good word about the Mounties.  Yes, most of us just think of them as second-hand cops on horses.  Glad they brought that storyline around to having them catch the bad guy at the end, otherwise, it was just a bit of an awkward way to get that information out there.

Glad that this time the science underling that Breanna wanted to "save" was willing to jump right on board.  It would have been sad if she was hesitant like the doctor in the medical scam episode.  Hope they stay in touch and something develops, even if only temporary.  

I watched an old episode recently and even though I am loving this new version and the new cast (hope Hardison comes back for an ep or more), but, I really miss Nate.

[Orbert]

I agree about Parker.  Each of the other characters from the original series seems like a believable older version of who we knew eight years ago, but Parker just seems different.  It doesn't help that there's still something "off" about her appearance that I can't quite place, but sometimes she acts so differently now.

The in-show explanation would be that Parker had the most growth during the original run, so now eight years later she's gone from quiet and quirky to full-fledged manic.  But there have been many times I've just thought "the 'real' Parker wouldn't act like that".  Yes, this is the "real" Parker, officially and all that (and in this case directed by the actress herself), but I would prefer someone a bit closer to the character I knew before.

[LaylaGirl]

On 11/4/2021 at 11:54 AM, Johann said:

It's weird because I love action movies, but I hate torture or fight scenes.

Not weird at all - I am exactly the same way! I close my eyes during torture scenes and have been known to plug my ears too. I ask my husband to tell me when it is over!

[aradia22]

Maybe something's wrong with my ears today but the sound mixing felt really bad on this one (especially with the background train noises and all that stuff). I had to leave the closed captioning on the whole time.

It is silly enough when the bad guys see one website and consider that a background check that one of the team is legit. But it is even SILLIER that the bodyguard was like... one wikipedia page? Sure, checks out.

They did a good job casting Nazi Elon Musk. Solid actor and a good grasp of accents. Dare I say, a better than Gina as Sophie (at least managing between British and German). There were times she was little like a knockoff Clue character. It went French... German... Swedish... British... that accent went touring all over Europe and might have even stopped over in New Zealand and Russia. 

I don't know if they filmed in order or I just appreciate it more after all these episodes but they really have a great balance with Breanna of someone with similar mannerisms/inflection to Hardison that makes sense for siblings without forcing the actress to be a perfect copy/replacement.

I don't know if the original show was this PG or it's just the new version but Blake trying to put the moves on Sophie reminded me how long it's been since they really had to seduce a mark. Maybe it was also the covid of it all but it was weird that Blake chose to passionately kiss her cheek without Sophie turning her face. Plus, with things as they are, there's no implied sexual tension between Nate/Sophie or Hardison/Parker.

It was still pretty chaste but adorable that Breanna had a crush on the mark (or the engineer adjacent to the mark). The sweet nerd flirting warmed my heart. I hope Emily sticks around. It's nice for Breanna to have a story that's truly her own and not related to being a hacker.

The bad guy burying prototype electric car batteries was an... interesting premise. I'm not sure I totally followed it beyond the batteries being evidence that the energy dense battery was a lie. And the farm just having the unfortunate luck of being located near the place where Blake thought he could just dump the batteries without issue. I'm not sure "greenwashing" is the right term here. 

It is WILD that Blake didn't mind Emily seeing all his Nazi memorabilia. 

The inclusion of the Mounties seemed odd but as soon as they started making a big deal of it, I knew it would factor into the resolution. Noah did a great job playing up Harry's nausea after the fight. Also, amazing that he made that anonymous tip call right before driving into a person.

Uhh... how did Emily know the canister would be full of pennies before dumping it onto the floor?

[aradia22]

Quote

I thought Parker was too manic this episode.  I know the actress directed this one and I have no complaints, but maybe she should have someone there to help her tone down her character.  Parker has always been lovably quirky and enthusiastic, but this episode just had her being a bit too manic.

Agreed. It might just be the distraction of directing. I also noticed how the character was largely sidelined this episode. But while we still expect her to be Parker, I do think some of it reads differently from an older actress. Especially when we know the character has been in therapy and helping to manage teams in other countries... she's not the Parker from the original series but it seems like sometimes she regresses but without the repression, she's just manic all the time. It's fine for her to be excited about safes or vents but she has to be grounded the rest of the time or she comes across like a cartoon. It did feel like more of a writing issue from the moment she parachuted in. 

[andromeda331]

I love how everyone on the team is afraid of Mounties. 

[AncientNewbie]

I thought Parker was oddly manic, too, but supplied my own fan explanations for it just so I could move on. But you're all right that it was an odd choice for the character. 

I loved the Mountie bit, though, because the RCMP usually doesn't get much respect on US tv.