Just compiling things Leverage creatives have said about The Grand Complication Job and the Sophie & Parker relationship
Notably the perspectives are wide and variable, which makes for nice layering in the relationship:
"It was fun because we wanted…Parker's not really a daughter situation with Sophie. It's more of a younger sister vibe, and that's the way the actors play it. But we did want like…when you meet your spouse's work friends or you meet your kids' friends. I remember [picking up my sister from college], and when I got [there] I realized, oh, she has a totally separate identity here…that's what we wanted to explore, the idea that…we have this relationship, but nobody's just one relationship…Parker creates relationships, and once they're comfortable, she's like, okay, that's the relationship. I will now die in this relationship. [But Parker has] to renegotiate the terms." - John Rogers
"When we talked about Sophie having the stepdaughter, the reality is that Parker has sort of been Sophie's daughter for the past several, several years. The underlying rivalry is that of the daughters, but the service-level rivalry is…the thief and the Interpol agent, the one that's trying to catch the other." - Kate Rorick
"Neither [Parker nor Astrid] grew up with siblings. Parker had one but lost him in a bike accident. And so there’s a lot of need that gets filled by their relationship. But at the same time, they’re both jealous of each other’s relationships with Sophie. So there’s a weird thing that happens. I see it with people all the time. You could be in your 30s or 40s, but you go home to your parents’ house and suddenly you’re 13 again. And so I think there’s that element of when they’re together around Sophie, they kind of revert to earlier versions of themselves." - Dean Devlin
Bellman points out that the days of Sophie feeling maternal to Parker are over. "[Parker's] been running international crews. She’s a powerful woman in her own right. The final episode this season, she’s really in her power. I feel like in a way Sophie’s always going to look out for her crew, but I think that relationship has evolved." - Gina Bellman
"Parker's very territorial, isn’t she? Over Sophie and her friends. So she doesn’t really like Astrid coming around. She doesn’t trust her. But I think by the end, there’s a real revelation that occurs when it’s like, ‘Okay, wait a second. We would both kill for this person. We would both do anything for this person.' [Parker and Astrid] have a competitive sisterhood about the relationship, which is really fun." - Beth Riesgraf
