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S03.E05: The Grand Complication Job

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Llywela

Llywela

I've been expecting Tara to show up in Redemption at some point ever since seeing an online exchange between John Rogers and Jeri Ryan after she wrapped on Star Trek: Picard, way back when, in which he basically asked if she was available (hinting that he meant for Leverage) and she confirmed that she was. It's been so long since then that I figured they hadn't managed to make it work after all, so I'm glad to see they got there in the end. Always great to see Tara, and I love a good ladies night out, Leverage style, so this was good fun.

(Might have been more fun still if I hadn't been accidentally spoiled for Tara showing up before I had a chance to see the episode, but never mind. I'm fairly certain I'd have figured out the twist anyway, just from how hammy the show was being - Leverage was always a bit hammy, but Redemption tends to be doubly so!)

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KittenPokerCheater

KittenPokerCheater

Good episode! (although I, too,  was confused about the stabbing bit).

Nice to see Tara again, and the woman from RIZ is a good villain and I enjoyed seeing her getting her butt kicked.  And Sophie freeing herself from the handcuffs.

And fun to see Breanna fan girl out over Tara, as well as the little side con involving a militry submarine.  

I like Astrid/Parker bonding at the end of the episode.

I liked the easter egg joke about Eliot being in Pakistan- probably doing something hinky-hee!

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Riplet68

Riplet68


Astrid cut her hand instead of stabbing Parker. Loved seeing Tara -small voice…I’ve always thought she was a better grifter than Sophie.  Sophie is more being the brains and heart of the group.

i really don’t like how Beth Reisgraff has been portraying Parker in the series. She’s way too goofy. Parker was always odd, never goofy, and by the end of original leverage, she had grown into being able to be serious and care. She was way past the way she’s acting now, I mean Nate put her in charge!

why isn’t Noah Wyle in credits?  He’s been in every episode so far. And where is Elliot’s girlfriend?

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Sarah 103

Sarah 103

(edited)

I wonder if we will get an episode that's all or some of the guys doing something on their own, since this was ladies' night. 

I'm a bit embarrassed to admit this, but I'm totally on Parker's side with the cake. I am normally a mature, responsible, reasonable adult. When chocolate cake (or other chocolate desserts) are involved, I do have a tendency to regress to pure 5 year old "My cake. Not yours." 

Edited by Sarah 103
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fastiller

fastiller

I was inadvertently spoiled for Tara by @Llywela above (so I totally knew it was her as the waitstaff giggling at the host).  Totally my fault; I need to remember that these episodes are released not in the evening of the day and others will have watched before me!  I felt a bit 'meh' on the ep, TBH.  Could be down to the day I had yesterday & the mood I was in.  

I still think Hodge should've been in an episode where a watch was prominent, what with him being an horologist and all.

Makes sense Tara would be in a "Girls Night Out Job" ep, considering she was in that ep in the original series.  And yes, Peggy should've been there too ( @Prevailing Wind - GMTA!).  Back when I was still twittering, I would occasionally pester Devlin/Rorick/Rogers about having Lisa Shurga back as part of Leverage: Int'l.  I mean she was a chef and FOOD TRUCKS!!!

A "Boys Night Out Job" should be next, if they follow the old template.  

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Llywela

Llywela

On 5/2/2025 at 12:38 AM, Riplet68 said:

i really don’t like how Beth Reisgraff has been portraying Parker in the series. She’s way too goofy. Parker was always odd, never goofy, and by the end of original leverage, she had grown into being able to be serious and care. She was way past the way she’s acting now, I mean Nate put her in charge!

I agree, but tend to fall in with the online consensus that Parker in the original series was always masking, trying to appear more normal, but by the time Redemption rolls around she has become so much more comfortable with who she is that she doesn't bother to mask around the team anymore. It makes as much sense as anything!

16 hours ago, fastiller said:

I was inadvertently spoiled for Tara by @Llywela above (so I totally knew it was her as the waitstaff giggling at the host).  Totally my fault; I need to remember that these episodes are released not in the evening of the day and others will have watched before me!  I felt a bit 'meh' on the ep, TBH.  Could be down to the day I had yesterday & the mood I was in. 

Oops, sorry. Episode discussion threads will always contain spoilers for that episode, though, enter at your own risk, so at least you had to deliberately click into the thread to see the spoiler. It was spoiled for me in the title of a thread elsewhere, so I saw it just by scrolling past!

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blueray

blueray

I have to admit I didn't see that twist coming at all and squealed when Tara suddenly appeared. I like that they brought her back as she's a great character. When Astrid talked to the server, I was confused on why they "laughed" as her question was a legit question as the display was open to the party. Then of course the reveal that Tara was there made it make so much sense.

I will say it took me a stupidly long time to realize that this was just the girls. I imagine next week will be what the guys were up too?

On 5/1/2025 at 11:33 AM, AnimeMania said:

So, who was stabbed and why? It might have been better if they had done a little blood brothers sisters oath.

Astrid lightly stabed her hand. Though I'm not sure why, as she didn't need to show blood, as the villian didn't have a camera (or she would have known Parker is alive).

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MissLucas

MissLucas

Oh, I'm so glad I went into this completely blind - i.e. not spoilered! Great episodes require a list of things I loved.

  • The heist music which reminded me so much of French 60s movies and that I can't identify.
  • The nutcase idea of basing a fundraiser on Marie Antoinette (to be fair, she never said the thing about cakes).
  • The horrible speech that lady gave.
  • The atrocious Marie Antoinette costumes - the costume department must have had a field day sourcing those monstrosities.
  • Parker randomly muttering 'baguette', 'croissant', 'macron' and my favorite 'french fries' to other guests LOL!
  • Sophie's bracelet.
  • Bringing back RIZ.
  • Tara!!!
  • Brianna fangirling over Tara!
  • The cake fight.
  • The whole 'Girls Night Out' callback.

I really hope they follow this up next week with 'A Boys Night Out' homage.

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chaifan

chaifan

I thought this was a fun episode, and I didn't see the twist coming.  I agree, the costume department must have had a field day finding all the gowns and wigs, and making what probably were good costumes look bad.  (They weren't all bad, but many were.)

But what I really got out of this episode is now much of a drag Harry is on this show.  I generally like Noah Wylie, but I've just never warmed up to Harry.  At least this season he's seemed to have toned down the awful here it is ooops there it goes New Orleans accent.

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MissLucas

MissLucas

2 hours ago, Prevailing Wind said:

I thought she said, "Why don't they eat cake?"

The quote is normally translated to 'let them eat cake' - but there's no historical evidence she ever said that. It can be traced back to Jean Jacques Rousseau who used in an anecdote and attributed it to an unknown princess - Marie Antoinette was 9 at the time that book was written. Some authors claim the phrase and story are a even a lot older.

The phrase was then used in the aftermath of the French Revolution when painting Marie Antoinette in as bad a light was part of the ongoing propaganda. Interpretations of her character vary over time, I consider her a bit of an airhead (no worse than others) who was placed in an impossible situation. France was a powder-keg even before her marriage but the 'Austrian' (as she was referred to with a chauvinistic whiff) made a perfect scapegoat regardless of what she said or did.

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Llywela

Llywela

15 hours ago, chaifan said:

But what I really got out of this episode is now much of a drag Harry is on this show.  I generally like Noah Wylie, but I've just never warmed up to Harry.  At least this season he's seemed to have toned down the awful here it is ooops there it goes New Orleans accent.

I go back and fore on Harry. On the one hand, I really like what the character brings to the show. He is so much the opposite of Nate, and that was exactly what the show needed, replacing like for like would not have worked, so in that sense Harry is perfect. He provides someone for Sophie to bounce off (and the project she needed to get herself back into the game) and fills broadly the same function that Nate did in cons (the fixer) while at the same time being as different from Nate as night from day. That works really well. But on the other hand, Noah Wyle overacts, constantly, imo. That sometimes works for the character, as it makes sense for newbie Harry to be a bit of a ham as he learns how to play all these roles for the team...but he doesn't just do it when Harry is in character, he does it all the time, even in serious scenes just with the team. Redemption is hammier than original Leverage was, I find, and Wyle's overacting plays a part in that, for me.

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fastiller

fastiller

15 hours ago, Prevailing Wind said:

Are we ever going to see Sterling again?

 

15 hours ago, KittenPokerCheater said:

God I hope not.

 

1 hour ago, Prevailing Wind said:

But he was such a good antagonist.

 

I like Sterling in small doses.  I thought they missed an opportunity in The Mastermind Job when Sophie was speaking to the Interpol agent at the party.  She could've at least mentioned Sterling (as Astrid did in Crowning Achievement Job, saying she'd been offered a promotion on the spot, or however it was worded).  If Interpol is to be a recurring mention, Sterling should show up for a tiny cameo. I felt the same way about the Taggert & McSweeten when Maria mentioned them in The Harry Wilson Job.

  • Like 4
fastiller

fastiller

(edited)
47 minutes ago, KittenPokerCheater said:

I would be good with this.  I, too, like Sterling in small doses.

Oh, and if Eliot gets to punch him just the once, that'd be fine to me.  (Generally I'm anti-violence IRL and in the TV/film I consume; this is very much one of the exceptions.)  Bonus points if Sterling walks into a place, behind Eliot, but with Sophie facing him, and Sophie says 'Eliot, I'm gonna ask you not to do anything violent.'

Edited by fastiller
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DoctorAtomic

DoctorAtomic

Is the 'Quinn guy in Miami' an easter egg? 

Did Astrid actually think she was going to walk into the museum and shut down the gala? Come on. 

I didn't remember who Bligh was, but thank you x-ray.

You'd think they wouldn't have masks you have to hold all the time and just wear. 

I was screaming at Parker to take one of the cakes when she grabbed the torch. I thought she was going to swap the real watch for the cake.

Costuming must have had a blast with this episode. 

I thought for a second Breanna was able to snag the watch, but they showed her in the truck right after. I knew 'Parker's dead' was part of their con though. I mean, you just leave the phone on the roof. Not that hard. 

And then Tara shows up! I mean, lucky she happened to be there in the first place, but that's the show. 

Actually, stealing the watch was kind of easy. 

On 5/3/2025 at 3:07 AM, Llywela said:

I agree, but tend to fall in with the online consensus that Parker in the original series was always masking, trying to appear more normal, but by the time Redemption rolls around she has become so much more comfortable with who she is that she doesn't bother to mask around the team anymore. It makes as much sense as anything!

That may be true, and we aren't privy to what Hardison and her are doing in their spare time. I'm sure he's been good to her own personal growth. To be fair, when Tara called her, Parker immediately took charge, gave orders, and waited for the call. I don't like being in charge much, but when it's time to step up, you step up. 

7 hours ago, Lugal said:

He was a good antagonist for Nate.  To have one without the other doesn't quite feel right.

As much as I like the actor, this is true. It would be nice to mention that he's retired to the south of France or something. 

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Llywela

Llywela

5 hours ago, DoctorAtomic said:

Is the 'Quinn guy in Miami' an easter egg? 

 

As much as I like the actor, this is true. It would be nice to mention that he's retired to the south of France or something. 

Yes, the 'Quinn guy in Miami' is an Easter egg. Quinn featured a couple of times in the original show, once as an antagonist working for Sterling (attempted to capture Eliot at the end of season one, failed) and once as an ally (called in to help the team in I can't remember which episode when they needed alternates in all their roles).

Sterling has been namechecked a couple times in Redemption already, so we know how he is doing, in much the same way that we know how McSweeten is doing without having seen him. Sterling isn't retired. He is very senior in Interpol - he recruited Astrid (by phone) at the end of last season, that's the reason she is working for Interpol in this episode when she was with the Metropolitan police last time we saw her.

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GingerPudding

GingerPudding

The over the top kookiness (and about 90% of that is Parker) is really starting to make me dislike this version. In so many of the cons, it's like 'lets all act like extreme weirdos and maybe that will distract the mark". It just takes me completely out of the story. 

In the original, there was humour but it didn't feel like a cartoon. I nearly stopped watching this episode until Tara showed up and it felt a bit more like old Leverage. I really hope they can turn it around as original Leverage is one of my all time favourite shows. 

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andromeda331

andromeda331

I love this episode. Marie Antoniette costumes, cakes, and Tara.

Parker and Astrid individually going to the gala to steal the watch for Sophie and how they both went about it. 

Alexandra was more competent in season one then this episode. She really thought Astrid stabbed Parker? Or that she could get one over on Sophie? She thought that last time and got her entire business destroyed. 

I figured the watch cake would come into play but not how it ended up happening. Tara ended up with the watch. 

Happy to see Tara but surprised Alexandra didn't know who she was. Great seeing her working with the team. It felt like Ladies night out part two.

I hope we see Peggy sometime soon. I had hoped we would have heard her mention back in season one with the golf job and Hurley. The last episode we saw Hurley in was Boys' Night he met Peggy at the end and they seemed to hit it off.

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DearEvette

DearEvette

(edited)
On 5/3/2025 at 6:29 PM, MissLucas said:
  • The nutcase idea of basing a fundraiser on Marie Antoinette (to be fair, she never said the thing about cakes).
  • The horrible speech that lady gave.

Not just any old fundraiser, but one for a food bank! I thought the Marie Antoinette of it all was being done ironically, but nooooo.  That woman really thought she was a Girlboss who just wanted the people to eat well.  LOL.  Her entire speech was a buffet of privileged cluelessness.

It was nice to see Tara again and I enjoyed the call back to the Girl's Night Out as well as the way the reveal re-wind went. 

The score card for their head-to-head snark offs: Sophie 2 - Alexandra Bligh - 0. I also liked that this one Sophie asked 'Do you remember who I was with when you snatched me?' was very reminiscent of their earlier spy-vs-spy conversation where she asked Bligh 'Do you remember how this all began?' To prod Bligh into understanding that she'd made a mistake in dismissing a threat.  Gina Bellman's line delivery is so smooth.... I could listen to her whisper speak like that all day.

Breanna's fan-girling was funny.

I actually found Parker quite the revelation in this.  She can be quirky, but as she was laying out the plan with Tara, her line delivery was staccato, very business like, well thought out, and a little scary.  That was the first time I could believe she was the boss of a lot of splinter Leverage organizations, not just the person with a case of arrested development who just liked to steal things.

I am glad she and Astrid bonded. Although, Astrid's dislike of Parker 'displacing' her makes no sense. Parker didn't come into Sophie's life until well after Parker was an adult.  Archie was Parker's parental figure.

Good episode and how apropos that Tara made off with the watch.

Edited by DearEvette
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