Leverage – Parker’s flight attendant vs. Hardison’s corporate Joe

(Season 1, Episode 8 – “The Mile High Job”)

Is it possible that Leverage is getting funnier? There was always smart banter and chemistry, but tonight I really laughed out loud, often. It’s a good thing, too, because it was one of the weakest cons of the season. But I’m not complaining, because as far as entertainment goes, this week’s Leverage really delivered.

My little gripe with this week’s episode is that there really wasn’t a con, per se; a big, get the bad guy con. Sure, he was gotten in the end, and the mini-cons were great: Hardison as an employee of the big corporation and the rest of the team infiltrating the plane in their individual roles. But none of the fun reveals at the end with the cleverness of the jobs the team puts into play. Again, not a complaint, because this episode was satisfying with the laughs.

The socially awkward Parker posing as a flight attendant was the highlight of the episode for me. And talk about quotes:

• “In the event of a water landing, your seat cushion can be used as a flotation device. But let’s face it, if this thing goes down in the water, more than likely the impact will kill you. Please take a moment to locate the nearest emergency exits; if this plane’s on fire, you’re gonna want to get out quick. Jet fuel burns at over 1,000 degrees — that’s hot, folks.”
• “Look, flying isn’t really all that scary when you think about it. I mean, there are a lot more likely ways to die than on a plane. Car crash, house fire, electrocution, drowning, autoerotic asphyxiation. I mean the fact is, death haunts us everyday, no matter where we are.”

Yep, not a comfort, Parker.

I love how they addressed the fact that Parker keeps appearing in a stealthy way in almost every episode:

“How’d she do that?” — Eliot, referring to Parker’s sudden appearance
“I don’t know. I don’t even ask anymore.” — Nate

OK, maybe I was wrong; perhaps Parker as a flight attendant wasn’t the highlight of the episode. Hardison, posing as an employee of the company that manufactured the toxic fertilizer may just win that title. He really proved himself as more than just the behind-the-scenes tech geek this episode: he snuck into the building as a maintenance man, called — and held! — a meeting to distract the CEO, got the employees to throw him a birthday party, and helped land the plane from the CEO’s computer. He’s nearly risen to Sophie status in the acting game.

Some funny situations arose from Hardison missing the first job, breaking into the corporation for the first time.

• Hardison missed the first job because he was up all night playing World of Warcraft.
• Without Hardison to rig the elevators, they had to walk up 30 flights of stairs.
• Because he was back at Leverage HQ alone, Hardison snooped in Nate’s office, finding only online poker, online chess, sudoku, and crosswords. “Damn, somebody needs to get laid,” says Hardison after that discovery.

And the suitcase switch gets an honorable mention here, not because it was any more clever than any of the slight-of-hand stuff the team usually does, but because Eliot and Nate both knew that flight attendants kept an extra uniform in their bags. Nate, because he worked airport security. Eliot, because her slept with a flight attendant, of course. A funny juxtaposition of the two characters.

So, while there were no clever reveals, no bizarre flashbacks, and no big cons, “The Mile High Job” still delivered big entertainment value this week.

Clacked by Debbie McDuffee
on Jan 20, 2009 @ 23:00 EST5EDT