Leverage 1.13. “The Second David Job”.

Previously on Leverage: In the first part of the two-part finale the team sets out to steal one of two original models of Michelangelo’s David. In doing so they’ll ruin the man who ruined Nathan’s life by refusing his son’s cancer treatment. The plan nearly worked before Jim Sterling stepped in. The team escaped using skills learned from one another and fled their separate ways.

Instead of stepping right in on last week’s closing events we open in the museum with Blackpool holding a gun in Nathan’s face. “Where are they?”, he demands. Maggie, Sterling, suits, and museum staff watch on in shock. I have no idea what’s going on either. Sterling clears everyone out of there. “Are you here to kill me, Ian?”, Nathan asks calmly in a mimic of Blackpool’s own opening words from the previous episode. Unfortunately I don’t think Nathan has any shrimp on him to offer as an olive branch.

The scene flashes to white and takes us to the inside of an IYS Insurance office. Three Days Earlier. Blackpool speaks to everyone at the meeting. “Before we conclude this meeting, I want to introduce to you the new VP of IYS insurance, James Sterling.” The weasel (badger) sidles out of the shadows next to Blackpool. Everyone applauds and Blackpool goes on to explain how Sterling is the chief investigator who recovered the Michelangelo that the team stole three months ago. Ah, so time has passed.

We get a shot of the outside of Blackpool’s museum. Sophie’s voice takes us inside where she pretend-chats on her cell and really snags shots of the security. I just pretend to talk on my cell phone when I want to avoid somebody. Swing up to a second floor catwalk where Parker strides to a vantage point and starts measuring the distance to certain paintings with a cool laser pointer.

Back in the IYS office: Sterling is giving a presentation on how the company will be the ones protecting what they insure. Not some sleep security guard. Blackpool stresses that the showpiece will be his wing of the museum. Every piece of art will belong to him or one of their high profile clients as a show of faith to Sterling’s skills.

Eliot wanders up to some security guards on a higher catwalk and gives them a casual nod, as he’s dressed just like them. He jots some notes down on a pad. Just as he’s out of the shot, Hardison walks in across the room. He’s in a yellow hardhat and lets himself into a corner closet.

Blackpool and Sterling retire to Sterling’s new corner office. Sterling doesn’t know what to say. “How about something like ‘I’m more comfortable in enclosed spaces.'”, Nathan suggests as he turns around in the swivel chair to face them. He takes a sip of his morning drink.

Back down to Sophie who nearly runs right into Maggie, Nathan’s ex-wife and art expert. Gangs all here! She makes a quick turnaround.

Corner office where Sterling speculates that Nathan would fit through one of the windows if he were traveling fast enough. He’s a Watchmen geekboy. Blackpool says the last time they saw each other Nate was selling him something. He compliments the team. Nate tells him that he’s not in sales anymore, but theft. “Yeah, I’m going to rob the Two Davids gallery on opening day. Nice wet bar, btw.” (K, I threw in the btw.)

Elsewhere we see Hardison hooking up some wires to his own equipment.

Corner office again. Nate asks if they’re going to call the police. “Of course not.”, Blackpool says. “You’re a sick man, you still blame me for the death of your son.” Nate reminds him that he’s the one who turned down the insurance claim for the treatment that would have saved his son’s life. The one subject Nate can’t stay cool about. He points out how all of these company policies only cropped up when Blackpool became president of the company. The Fords weren’t the only family hurt by Blackpool’s stalls and money grubbing.

Back in the gallery of the museum Sophie scopes out a painting that suddenly acquires a red laser dot. Her eyes widen and she turns to see Parker up on the higher level. “What are you doing here?”, they hiss at each other and continue to childishly banter about who was there first. Meanwhile Hardison sneaks out of his closet of many wires and is spotted by Eliot across their catwalk. “What are you doing?”, Eliot growls. Hardison spreads his hands wide, indignant Sam Winchester style, “This is my spot! You go!”. Eliot shushes him.

Back in the corner office Nathan says he’s going to make Blackpool an offer. He’s back in the swivel chair with his feet on the desk. Either he sat back down or it’s just a little filming sequence futz. “One time only. You resign as CEO. You donate all your assets to charity, and I will not rob the museum.” The offer is laughable to Blackpool and says they’re done. Nate has some errands too. “Ropes, masks, knockout gas!” He finishes his drink and says seeya to Sterling.

Back to the boys where Eliot warns Hardison of what’s behind him. Real security guards. They go after him and in the commotion Parker and Sophie notice Eliot above their levels and Maggie notices Sophie again not ten feet away. Hardison strides toward Eliot asking for help and Eliot offers it by flipping him over onto the ground. Maggie asks Sophie if they know each other and Sophie apologizes in Spanish, saying she doesn’t speak English. Of course Maggie bloody speaks Spanish though and Sophie just takes off. Eliot cuffs Hardison and escorts him down the elevator. Parker leaps down in front of Sophie at the entrance and they flee outside. In all of the commotion, security has amped up and there’s suits coming around the corner outside. Sophie yanks off her heels and the ladies meet up with the boys, all running away together. Nathan screeches up for everyone to hop in. “Need a ride?”, he asks.

We open back up on a lavish mansion. Hardison explains that he needed somewhere new to lay low after they blew up the HQ. “This is your idea of laying low?”, Sophie asks as they ascend the cypress tree lined staircase. The inside is huge and awesome but empty. No toilets even. It was an IRS foreclosure that Hardison got for cheap. “IRS doesn’t take toilets.”, Eliot comments. “They do when they’re solid gold.”, Hardison explains. “Heard this was M.C. Hammer’s place. I guess you can touch this. With a swat team and a federal warrant.” I can roll with this being the new HQ. He leads them through the grand hallway to another room. Eliot gives Sophie a glare as he follows. Nathan takes a second to look around. “You see that?”, she asks him. “We’re a mess.” He simply agrees.

“How’d you know we’d be there?”, Hardison asks once they’re all gathered. Nate points out that it’s the best time to case the joint and he did after all chase all of them at one point and knows how they think. Eliot asks if Sophie is in on this and she takes offense. Hardison tells Eliot that there’s no “this” and they all start fighting at one another. Nathan wanders away and lets out a low whistle as he looks at Hardison’s plans. Everyone shuts up. He points out the security system and Parker then says that the Davids are under bullet proof glass and a motion detector pad. “Really!”, Nate breaths. The rest of the team gather around the table and before you know it they’re sharing all their intel. “Why’d you come back?”, Nathan demands. Everyone straightens up. “We agreed to scatter for six month. All of you made an amature move being there. Everyone says how their peace. Parker couldn’t leave a job undone, Hardison put too much work into the team, Eliot quits when he says so, and Sophie wanted to hurt Blackpool. Nate tells them that Sterling is in control of security but if they work together they could break Blackpool and humiliate Sterling. Hardison points out that Sterling knows how they think now so it’ll be twice as hard to steal the statues. Nathan says no, it’ll be four times as hard since he told them he plans on stealing the Davids. The team isn’t thrilled.

Still in the house, the team discusses how to get in the museum. All have different methods because they’re all different kinds of crooks. Nathan asks how the air gets into the display case since the Davids have to be kept at a constant humidity. They all realize that the restoration room is right underneath in the basement. Speaking of the basement, Parker had fun with Hardison in there a few months back. He wants to talk about the macking but she doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Eliot wonders how they missed this. (The restoration room, not the kissing, everybody caught that.) “Grifter, Hitter, Hacker, Thief. You were all trying to solve your version of the crime instead of just solve the crime. There’s a reason we work together.”, Nathan answers. Eliot who is still so very bitter reminds Sophie that there “was”. Nathan continues that they need a contact inside but too bad everyone knows their faces. Parker brings up Maggie and they conclude that Eliot can be Dr. Sinclair to her again. Nate’s not to happy with the idea of Eliot “feeling out” his “ex” wife, but he doesn’t have any better ideas.

In the museum Maggie walks with the director who is sneezing up a storm. He tells her they moved a sarcophagus from the restoration room to the lecture hall because it needs to be validated. They’re distracted by metal clanking sounds coming from the gallery. Sterling and Blackpool are inside and Blackpool introduces Sterling to Dr. Lloyd and we learn he already knows Maggie. He explains, to the museum director’s surprise, that Sterling will be in charge of the security for the Blackpool wing. Sterling flips a remote and with an annoying alarm-clock buzzing a CGI metal grate slides down between a window of space in an upper level catwalk. Other than explosions, the effects really aren’t impressive on this dear show. Sterling tells his main suit that he wants them floor to ceiling on all four floors. Blackpool tells Dr. Lloyd that the museum is now a vault with visiting hours. Maggie keeps her mouth shut but obviously isn’t happy with the description. The men leave and her cell phone rings. It’s “Dr. Adam Sinclair”, aka Eliot. On the other end Nathan gives Eliot tips on how to ask her out. It took him ten times to get her to go out for coffee with him. Eliot gets a coffee date in five seconds, each party seeming genuinely interested in the other. “She probably just really wanted some hot coffee.”, he offers and starts pulling his hair back. Nate tells him to shut up and fusses at him for fixing his hair. Eliot snaps back that it’d just because he’s playing the Sinclair dude. Hee.

At the coffee date Eliot is decked out in his glasses and blazer and pulled back hair of course. He asks if Maggie comes there often and she says no, she just wanted to see him. Zoom to the creepy black van of surveillance where the team watches the scene from Eliot’s button camera. “That’s a date.”, Sophie states. Maggie hopes Eliot doesn’t want to just talk about art, since that’s all Nate did. Nate was also obsessive and controlling. “Organized!”, he defends himself from the van. Eliot really tries by saying her ex must have had some good qualities but she says “No, not even in bed.” Hardison’s eyes get huge, Sophie freezes, and Parker lets out an “ooh!”. Maggie continues, “But worst of all, he forgot that I gave him that same button cam three years ago.” Ah hah! Daylight floods into the van as Sophie opens the doors. “I can explain!”, says Nathan.

Back at M.C. Hammer’s old place Maggie and Nathan argue in the back room. The kids sit on the staircase. “I feel used.”, Eliot tells Hardison. Naww. Maggie storms out and makes her way down the long outside staircase. “To think I felt sorry for you! The whole sob story about being broke and sleeping in your car and a drunk.” Nathan admits that he was all that (and still a drunk). He starts telling her how they help people but breaking the law doesn’t fly with her right now. She wants to understand why Nathan is so after Blackpool. He hesitates but finally tells her about how Blackpool refused their child’s treatment. She’s shocked and angry at him for never telling her. He’s just let her work with and be friendly with these people. “He’s my son too!”, she says and wipes away a tear. I’ve liked Maggie but so far she hasn’t seemed like a product of tragedy the way Nate is. We’re finally seeing that side of her and it’s good. She asks why he’s carried this all alone and he admits that he doesn’t want her hating him like he hates himself. We get a Desaturated Flashback that we’ve seen before where their son dies on the table and Nate screams while observing. It goes on longer this time to show his epic freak out; storming into the room, picking his little boy up off the table and sobbing and finally setting him back down, all while Maggie watches, crying as well. Back to the present where Nathan cries and apologizes over and over. She holds him as they sit on a bench together.

Down in the restoration room Sterling’s main suit brings him a file. “When Eliot Spencer worked here as a security guard under a fake name, he gave his real number as a reference. Now look who just got a call from that number.” Now why in the hell would he do that? Anyway, Maggie’s picture is what’s in the file. Sterling’s onto their inside contact.

H.Q. Hammer’s: Nathan goes over the plan at the display boards in front of the team. Maggie’s new to the operation and asks if they actually expect this to work. They all assure that Nate’s crazy planning is his super power. He asks if she has what they need, but she’ll have to check museum inventory. Hardison’s on it, having hacked his way into confidential information in under two seconds. She jokingly wonders if he reads her e-mail and he assures her that he hasn’t, nodding to Nate that he has. She turns the laptop around to show them what they can use. She needs to get it into restoration but says that isn’t her department. They’ll have to convince Dr. Lloyd to take it off display. Nate says alright but she says you can’t just make people do what you want. The whole team huffs and laughs and scoffs. “You’re adorable.”, Parker says, petting Maggie’s hair.

Back in the museum Maggie makes her way to Dr. Lloyd complaining about the comm in her ear. Nathan tells her just to ignore it and she says she’s been trying to ignore his voice in her head for a long time, with help from therapy. Sophie suggests she takes this one. Hardison and Eliot, sitting with Nathan in the HQ agree that they like Sophie’s approach. Nate starts to ask about the therapy but Hardison threatens to cut him off. Maggie smartly changes the subject by asking what Parker switched the allergy meds with. “Pollen, ragweed mostly. And dextra-amphetamines.” We see poor Dr. Lloyd inhaling his “medicine. A nerdily dressed Parker bumps into him in the hallway, snagging his cell from his pocket and handing it off to Maggie who trots up. Sophie tells her to act slightly out of breath, it’ll make it harder for him to pick up that she’s lying. “See, that right there. It’s informative.”, Hardison points out. “You learn, and you con.”, Eliot agrees with an unhappy Nate in between them. Maggie tells Lloyd that he left his cell in her office. He’s confuzzled and doesn’t even remember being there. She reminds him how she showed him the designs for the Two Davids exhibit and he signed off on the benches not five minutes ago. Sophie tells her to steer him towards her. “I’ll show you the rest after you finish that thing in the Egyptian room. “I have a thing in the Egyptian room?”, the poor guy asks and wanders off.

Jump to Sterling in a security room. He catches the phone handoff between Parker and Maggie. He orders the camera guys to stay on Maggie.

Back to poor Dr. Lloyd, coughing and wheezing away. He gets to what I’m guessing is the Egyptian auditorium-like room. Sophie comes up behind him, introducing herself as Dr. Rhaman of the Cairo museum. He fusses that he doesn’t have an appointment but a check on his laptop tells him that he sure does. She confirms that the sarcophagus standing in front of them is legit fourth dynasty. He puts his glasses on but his vision is suddenly blurry. I’m guessing Parker did a little switcharoo there too. She’s so relieved to find somebody who can look past all of that silly silly…curse business. She takes off, assuring him she’ll certify the authenticity. Along with suggesting he see a doctor about his cough. He quickly looks up what Hardison has planted on the history of the sarcophagus. Every museum director before him and the three men who discovered it have all died. Sophie encourages Maggie to wrap things up. She bustles into the Egyptian room suddenly for Lloyd’s signature. He asks nonchalantly if she believes in curses. She laughs and says how everyone knows it’s just a fungus. He asks the symptoms and they’re all what he’s got, of course.

Next thing we see is the mummy being toted down into storage in the renovation room by non other than our three guys.

H.Q. Hammer’s: Eliot is tinkering with a device I’m sure we’ll see sometime soon. “Need something?”, he flatly asks as Sophie approaches. “Just trying to make myself useful.” Last time she tried that they had to blow up the office. Eliot was just getting used to being part of a team. She stutters around a bit more as Parker and Hardison come in and ask what’s going on. Eliot says she’s trying to apologize but she immediately says “No, I wasn’t!” She obviously tried with the other two as well. Eliot throws a little fit about being last. Damn, this boy is sensitive! “I just wanted to see if we were all okay with each other.”, she finally says. With that they all forgive her, even though she still protests that she so totally wasn’t apologizing. Hardison has set his portrait of Founding Father Nathan on the mantle. Sophie helps with the positioning and gives an unmentioned grateful look towards Eliot.

Gallery: Maggie directs where to set benches for artwork viewing. Sterling creepily watches her actions from the catwalk. (The scene will be relevant laterz, I promise.)

New scene, but still in the gallery: Blackpool announces the two Davids reunited after 400 years. He thanks the museum staff and fundraisers and guests. Sterling, up on the catwalk, is informed by his main suit that pictures have been distributed and security is scanning every guest that comes to the museum. “Eliot Spencer?”, Sterling asks right as our Eliot comes into the shot not three yards behind the two. The suit gives him the rundown on the whole team. Eliot is wanted in five countries including Myanmar which is offering a half a million dollar bounty on his head. Parker is wanted in nine countries, including Brazil and Yemen. She’s also currently behind a counter taking up people’s personal bags. Sophie Devereaux is basically wanted throughout Europe. She scoffs as she overhears Sterling’s comment on France’s horrifying prisons. Hardison better not show his face is Iceland. Aww, our boy was the one behind that mess? Hee. “Nathan Ford.”, the suit says as they get to the security room. Sterling has something special planned for our Nate. “No, it’s Nathan Ford!”, he reiterates and points to the screen showing Nathan entering the museum. Blackpool, Sterling, and a couple of the suits stop him but he waves his ticket around saying it’s open to the public after all. “Of course, enjoy yourself!”, Blackpool obliges. Nate walks off and Blackpool tells Sterling that conspiracy to commit robbery is five years while catching him in the act is twenty. Sterling tells Suit to pull guys off the gallery to follow Nate. He’s off to scratch an itch.

Nice segue to Dr. Lloyd sneezing into a tissue again. He tells Sterling, in the security room again, that he has a museum to run. Sterling is re-watching his encounter with Maggie earlier and asks if anything happened there. “I moved a mummy.”, Lloyd finally explains, and doesn’t want to tell Sterling exactly why.

In the gallery Nathan admires the Davids and turns around to see Sterling, Dr. Lloyd, and several suits running through the entry hall.

Down in storage Sterling points out how the sarcophagus is directly under the Davids. Out of sight from the cameras. He suspects that whoever is hiding in the sarcophagus is going to drill up right under the display base. Too bad there’s nothing but a dusty, wrapped up mummy that flops out. The movement, or opening of the sarcophagus triggers a small alarm attached to the ceiling.

People admiring the Davids are suddenly startled to see the glass display filling up with an opaque white smoke. Nathan taps his touch-screen to connect the rest of the team’s phones into synchronizing to a five minute countdown. They all show expressions of amusement and preparation.

Blackpool pushes his way towards the Davids’ display. He demands that the case be opened but Homeland Security says an unknown gas in a public place means evacuation. Patrons of the museum, being people, freak out at both the prospect of chemical attack and a robbery and immediately start evacuating. Blackpool doesn’t want to leave but Sterling tells him they have no choice and orders his security out.

Over to Parker handing out bags; with complimentary model Davids in them all! Everyone’s got a little David and isn’t sure why but is happy. Until Sterling snatches one out of somebody’s hands saying that nobody moves until they’ve got all the statues. Nate and the gang are trying to smuggle the real ones out with the fakes. Or so Sterling thinks until everybody has evacuated from the building. Everybody. Plus the doors are locked thanks to Hardison hacking away in his little wire-room. Sterling walkie-talkies to his suit asking where Nathan is. Over to the suits climbing the stairs saying he’s on the roof. Nathan hops through a skylight just as the suits make it to the top and rappels all the way down to the museum floor where Eliot, Sophie, and Parker wait. He tuggs the rope and his custom made anchor that Eliot made releases it. The garage-door security from before takes effect and all of the catwalks are sealed off. “Lets go to work.”, says Nate.

Apparently the threat of chemical warfare is over because Blackpool, Sterling, Maggie, and the suits get back in the museum. There’s red and blue lights a flashing outside. “You got him?”, Blackpool asks. “I got all of them.”, Sterling answers. Sterling gives Maggie a last chance to come clean, but she has no idea what he’s talking about. Blackpool gets the sliding metal security door open to reveal Nate leaning up against the David display with both Davids safely inside. It’s dark in the room with a single light on Nate and the display. “Gotcha Nate.”, Sterling says. “Yes, that was the whole point.” The Suit says that the lights are back up in about fifteen seconds. “You know all that chasing me around?”, Nate continues. “Don’t let Nate Ford near the two Davids, How’s he going to get the two Davids? I wasn’t the mastermind on this one, Sterling. I’m the bait. Three, two one.” The lights come on to reveal that there’s not a thing on the walls. All one hundred and fifty million dollars worth. Blackpool and Lloyd are freaking out of course, and when Lloyd starts to call the police Blackpool stops him. As we’ve heard many times, he’s responsible for everything there, it’s all insured by IYS. Here’s what we saw at the beginning now; Blackpool snags a suit’s gun and points it in Nathan’s face. “Where are they?”, he demands. “Are you here to kill me Ian?” Sterling clears everyone out and Nate tells him how it’s going to go. The already impressed Sterling tells him he’s all ears. “Every single painting will be returned to IYS the moment Ian Blackpool is stripped of his position and all his assets in the company. Also his policy of denying every claim? That ends.” Sterling says “Extortion” but Nate would prefer to call it “oversight”. He picks up a tape recorder he happened to have the day he threatened to steal the Davids up in Sterling’s corner office. He tosses the recorder to Sterling. “When the owners of these paintings realize that Ian knew there would be a theft but didn’t call the police then they’re going to sue the hell out of him.” Sterling asks what if the company returns the paintings, and Nate tells him that they might not fire him if he gives them blackpool. Sterling giggles evilly. Blackpool turns the gun on Sterling and then back to Nate. He protests that IYS is his company. Nathan recites some of Blackpool’s own company policy words back to him that he probably heard about his son’s illness. He snatches the gun away and says, “I have lost my only son. Do you really think you scare me?” Blackpool turns back to the foyer, asking Maggie that she understands. He’s cut off with a right hook to the face that floors him. “Screw therapy. That felt really good.” Sterling stands next to Nate and realizes that the entire plan depended on his being a self serving loser. Nate just agrees and walks out the front door. Blackpool sits up and straightens his tie, looking completely terrified.

Nathan and Maggie sit by the David display on the benches she had been arranging earlier. She asks if he’ll stop all this now. He doesn’t know and she finds it interesting that he admits that. Nate gets a call that Blackpool is out. It’s time to return the artwork. Nate lifts a plush seat cover to reveal the rest of the team waiting down in the restoration room with all of the paintings and sculptures. Nice shot of the team standing in a semi-circle, looking proud of themselves. They’ll seal up the hole in the floor and leave the art at a loading dock outside so it looks like somebody dropped it all off. “You are not the man I married.”, Maggie says. Nate asks what she thinks of this guy. She doesn’t love him, but she might like him a little more. He looks alright with that.

Cut to Nate standing in a hanger with a small jet behind him. Sad piano music plays. “Thank you. All of you. You surprised me.” We move around the faces. They all agree that they’ve had a good run and it’s a good time to move on and start fresh. Nate assures them all that they’ve made a difference. Hardison asks Parker where she’s going. “Lets see how hard you look.”, she says. Go get her, boy! They all just stand around sadly for a moment. Then we get our above-shot of them turning and walking their separate ways from the circle. Everyone’s reluctant though and stops just having taken a few steps. Sophie sheds a little tear. We zoom on to Nathan’s face as the piano picks up on a repeated chord, and the screen goes black.

Oh yes. They did us that way. But don’t worry, Leverage fans! We’ve been renewed for a second season and will be back in the summer! Meanwhile, I’ll be recapping earlier episodes, and don’t forget to talk in the forums!