Leverage – 101 steps to forging a book

Jeff Kirkpatrick is back Guest Clacking for us, after sharing his thoughts about Project Runway last time. You can find more of his TV show commentary on his personal blog, Sooper Power TV.

After last week’s absolutely brilliant “The Rashomon Job,” I braced for this week to be a letdown but was pleasantly surprised. We actually had some movement on the Moreau storyline, as the gang tracked one of Moreau’s associates, Keller, who was using children to smuggle antiquities. “Acceptable loss?” What a jerk. I kept waiting for Eliot to get a punch in on Keller, but it never happened.

Having Nate and Sophie switch roles was very interesting. Usually Nate is the one either too emotionally invested in the con or too tied to his own ego to let himself be outsmarted, where Sophie is usually the one trying to temper him. Sophie became both grifter and mastermind as Nate’s initial plan exploded in his face (Note to self: You can tell if your artwork has been stolen by smelling it.), and Sophie figured out what Keller really wanted — a royal Baron title. Um, I guess that means something in Jolly Old England, but when I hear Baron my mind goes to pizza. Nice change of pace to have Sophie in charge and running the gambit, and especially so when we learned a little about her past. Is she really of royal blood or was that just part of a running con? Oh, and funny thing — there were moments I actually had some trouble understanding Sophie’s accent myself, which makes me wonder if the running gag from last week may have also doubled as an inside joke among the cast and crew.

Parker, dear sweet Parker. Always my favorite. She added the most comic relief this week as she was running the auction, pointing out the history of each piece — from her thieving point of view — and tossing a “fake” ceramic back on the floor to a crashing mass. Her approach to taking out the auctioneer? “Does this rag smell like Chloroform to you?” Beth Riesgraf’s delivery is on point every episode. Particularly enjoyed her love affair with the safe, caressing it and talking about all of its features and flaws.

Did Hardison actually do what I think he did with that paper he was using to create the forgery? Nasty! I tried doing a Google search on the topic — something I’m going to recommend you DON’T do. But Eliot’s reaction was priceless. He and Hardison really are like two teenage brothers who are constantly bickering, but have each other’s back when the time comes.

Overall a better than average episode, I thought. Do you think she lied about Charlotte being her real identity? Who had the funnier moments, Parker or Hardison? Will we get much deeper into Moreau in the final episode of the summer? And what do YOU think Hardison soaked that paper in?

Clacked by Guest Clacker
on Aug 30, 2010 @ 09:00 EST5EDT