So I know absolutely nothing about Leverage except what I've been seeing you post lately and I have to admit you're making it look tempting to watch! Can I ask what are some of your favorite things about the show/reasons you would suggest people watch it? And is there really a poly relationship that is canon?
Okay. Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay. I am going to do my best not to just âasdfghkjlâ at you and answer coherently.
In a nutshell, Leverage is about 5 people. 4 are criminals (Parker, Hardison, Eliot and Sophie) with different and unique skill-sets and 1 is an ex-insurance investigator (Nate) who, at one point or another in his career, has tracked down (or at least attempted to) the other 4. The whole show is essentially: man reluctantly reforms 4 criminals to use their criminal powers for good and 4 criminals move into manâs life and stubbornly refuse to leave because, goddammit, now they have morals.Â
Iâve got a lot of favourite things about the show but the main ones are as follows:
1. Found family. And Iâm not talking about loners who come together to fight crime and happen to co-exist to the point where they realise they happen to have found themselves a family. I mean, Nate and Sophie are the Drunk Uncle and Wine Aunt who somehow become Mom and Dad to 3 beautiful criminal children. Mom and Dad love their criminal babies and the kids love them (as well as each other, but weâll come to that in a moment). You get amazing family moments such as: Mom and Dad packing the kids lunch before sending them out to kick corporate greedâs ass; Mom and Dad giving the kids ridiculously expensive and personal Christmas presents causing their most Grumpy Kid to go very very quiet and soft as he runs off to gleefully play with his new murder toy; the kids interrupting Mom and Dadâs big Movie Style Kiss to ask if they can please keep their new underground layer and huffing and puffing when Dad tells them no.
2. Found family: the OT3 edition. To answer your question, the OT3 is indeed canon, confirmed by the creator. Now, usually, âconfirmed by the creatorâ infuriates me because most of the time itâs a way for a creator to be seen as âprogressiveâ without doing anything to actually be progressive. That isnât the case here. The OT3 are built up carefully and while it is obvious the creators didnât originally intend for all 3 of them to become a relationship in the romantic sense, by mid-season 5 we are given a very clear picture of where Parker, Hardison and Eliot are heading in their relationship. There arenât any kisses at the end to signal this but there are solid marriage vows in not only one but two episodes. (And by marriage vows I mean literal equivalents of marriage vows: âfor better or worseâ and ââtil death do us partâ. Iâm not even exaggerating). The OT3 also doesnât need explicit romantic narratives to convey how much they love each other. Their love is laced through the whole show, from the way they teach each other things to the way they respond to each other and work as a unit. The way they fiercely protect and admire each other. Like someone once said, if you need characters to kiss or say I love you to let the audience know they love each other, you are writing them wrong.Â
Aside from that, each of the parings in the OT3 are just. Gah. They are so well done, with friendship being the solid basis for them all. The creators never expect the audience to assume anything about them or fill in the gaps. They give us their relationships on screen and reference many things off-screen to show us how these relationships continue to build in between episodes.
Hardison and Parker are a canon couple and date in the show: itâs approached slowly and they are so goddamned sweet. They are basically every fluffy slow-burn trope with a healthy dash of mutual pining in the mix. They are basically that quote âlove is patient, love is kindâ. (I would like to add their romance never becomes the focus of the show or overrides the importance of any other relationship they have with the other characters, especially Eliot.)
Hardison and Eliot are the Old Married Couple and from day one are already bickering and looking at each other/making comments that are found in every UST fic ever (not to mention Hardison has a very good knack for making Eliot grin like a little kid, when usually heâs basically an Angry Little Chef Man). They argue, they play, and love each other plain as day.Â
Parker and Eliot are more subtle but every bit as wonderful. They have an unspoken connection and understand each other on a level no-one else can. Parker and Eliot are not good with giving themselves over to affection for different reasons (and Hardison plays a central role in helping them realise itâs okay to want it and have it- that boy has endless patience) but there is something so beautiful in the way the two of them come together on their own and develop their own special bond that works for them. Parker and Eliot are that trope where the characters donât need to speak to understand each other perfectly. They just do. Their love language is a lot of the time non-verbal but speaks volumes. (Parker also likes to annoy the hell out of Eliot and Eliot....just.....lets...her. Because heâs soft. The softest, grumpiest boy.)Â
I could go into so much depth for each pairing and their dynamics as a 3 but that's for another post.
3. Subverting stereotypes. There is the occasional hiccup in the show regarding stereotypes but ultimately, Leverage gets an A+ when it comes to writing characters and making them 3 dimensional people who are not defined by certain characteristics or events. Nate could so easily fall into the White Man Pain trope where he uses the trauma of losing his kid as a reason as to why he is entitled to act like a dick. Nate is a dick but he doesnât use his pain to excuse it and I appreciate that. Hardison is a black man who is soft and nurturing. Easily the most empathetic and patient of the group. Heâs nerdy, an actual genius, and has the biggest heart of all the characters. Nate is maybe the glue but Hardison is definitely the heart. Mediaâs usual aggressive, amongst other, racist stereotypes can fuck right off. Parker is canonically autistic (I am sure this was confirmed by one of the creators) and she is not defined by it. Itâs not written as some kind of singular personality trait. Itâs part of what makes up Parker but itâs only one facet of who she is and not once is her actions, thoughts or feelings treated like a joke. Sometimes people donât understand why she does and says the things she does but itâs met with patience and fondness over the course of the show. Equally, itâs not met with over-caution. Parker is just Parker. No-one tries to change her. The other nice thing is Hardison, who always makes sure Parker knows sheâs amazing because of who she is and not in spite of it. Finally, Sophie is in her 40s. Sheâs not treated like sheâs past her prime. Ever. Sheâs sexy, smart and never is she pitted against or compared to Parker (who is younger) for anything. Sophie is amazing and thereâs never even a conversation of âI may be older but I am still *insert adjective typically associated with younger women here*â. Sophie is possibly the first female character Iâve ever seen who isnât just unapologetic about her age but has never had to apologise for her age. Itâs a non-issue and thatâs that. The women on the show are written so well, right down to secondary characters and itâs beyond refreshing. Â
4.) Itâs just fun. The show has a âmonster of the weekâ type format. Except instead of a ghoul or a ghost, the monster is some corrupt wealthy and powerful individual or organisation. The show draws on real-life individuals to do this and therefore closely parallels real-life people and events. It addresses important political, economical, social and environmental issues while at the same time remaining fun and light-hearted. The characters constantly get the chance to play dress up and by GOD do they have fun with it. You get to watch Eliot beat up bad guys in the most delightful of ways, usually after a witty non-sequitur and with a weapon youâd never think could be a weapon. The dialogue and back and forth between the characters is everything. And finally - my favourite thing- the team can never resist striking a dramatic pose after theyâve taken down the bad guy, making sure the bad guy sees them. I mean, they COULD just walk away, satisfied theyâve taken the person down, but nope. They gotta be dramatic bitches 24/7 and pose like they are models for every single month of this yearâs Criminal Calendar. Â
5.) Competence Porn. So. Much. Competence Porn. Â
Honestly, I could list a thousand reasons for why Leverage is amazing but to list them would to be spoiling so many amazing moments youâd get to discover for the first time on your own if you do choose to watch it. Itâs the kind of show you can watch with an eagle-eye and sink your teeth into. But itâs also the kind of show if, you would prefer, put on in the background for something entertaining while you do something else. Each episode is about the job at hand but itâs made up of so many moments between the characters that show how much the creators and writers care about them. Youâll laugh, youâll cry, youâll do whatever it is you do when something Soft and Wonderful happens that makes your heart melt. I am so beyond grateful for Leverage. Itâs everything I always wanted in a show. Nearly every show Iâve watched in the past 10 years has disappointed me in some way, usually either because the writers run out of steam or characters who I love are treated poorly or given some kind of unnecessary âshock valueâ arc. Leverage doesnât do that. Leverage is what it says on the bottle. Fandom isnât something I joined because I needed canon fix-its. Fandom only enhances and celebrates an already excellent canon.Â
