While the main point of Eliot's running gag where he knows things because of all the women he's dated is to show off how attractive he is to "desirable" women, it does show that Eliot listens to his partners. He talks an interest in the things they care about. Even when his relations probably don't last long
I just finished the Low low price job on Leverage and I am crying over the scene at the end where Eliot finally goes back to talk to his dad and his dad isn't home. 😭😭😭
Also by the way Vance calls Parker Eliot’s girlfriend & nobody explicitly says ‘no she’s only with Hardison’ so she’s their girlfriend that’s canon
I mean come on that’s as close to canonising an OT3 that early 2000s got surely (next to “will you marry us” on Psych with Gus/Shawn/Juliet which I think was the same time)
Was rewatching part of 'The Morning After Job' and just now realized that in the scene where Eliot tackles the fugitive to the pavement, it's really quick but you can hear Hardison ask him, "You alright?" Call me overdramatic but I was reminded all over again of how much I absolutely LOVE their friendship
What I find most interesting with the way The Long Good-bye ended is that Parker was left filling Nate's seat, because she was Nate's favourite so he made her the successor, and there are a two issues with the way it is framed at the end of show:
A) Hardison and Eliot, especially Eliot, were given more opportunity to show off their capability as potential leaders, so to make Parker the leader feels a bit unearned (I haven't rewatched Season 5, Episode 10 to 14 so if I'm wrong do tell me)
I should also caveat this with, by the time we get to Redemption Parker has clearly grown into the role and is no questions asked capable of it, that's just not where we leave her
B) More importantly, that's just not how Eliot, Parker and Hardison are shown to work together
So let's talk about the others being capable first
First of all they are all clearly capable of doing the whole thing themselves, as the Rashomon Job shows, it reminds us just how capable they were as independent agents before they became a team, with it clear that they only failed to steal the sword because of them accidentally thwarting each others, each of their plans would have succeeded if not for the rest of their current team at play, which is what makes it so hilarious, I love the episode
So it's not about whether they are individually capable of pulling off the heists, it's about how they lead the team
Hardison
Hardison has actually run point for most of an episode before, he was given free reign to do it in The Gold Job, and sure his plan fails, but it fails because he can't get out of the way of his own genius
It's not that Hardison isn't capable of it, it's that he was too capable, he made it too complicated and elaborate because his genius level intellect got in the way
Hardison actively wanted it, more than anyone else, Nate frequently undercuts him and undervalues, because he finds his suggestions too complicated and does not see how valuable Hardison because Hardison's presence is everywhere in the show, it's in the fake identities, the schematics, even the insights into the marks, and the team forgets that, especially Nate, so it upsets me to see Nate give it to Parker who never showed an interest in it, but I think Hardison's interest along with Nate's favouritism is why he doesn't give it to Hardison
To Nate, the role of mastermind is a difficult one, one that involves making hard calls, this is what Nate shows Hardison in The Scheherazade Job, where Hardison explicitly says he wants to run his own team one day
So that's Hardison, he needs more experience but is shown to be capable and actually wants it
Eliot
But then we have Eliot, Eliot who in the dynamic of the show sits between Sophie and Nate, & Parker and Hardison, he is the older brother, the one closer to the parental figures, the one who expected to protect
In this dynamic, where Nate and Sophie are both shown to be capable of taking point, The Davids Job shows Sophie is capable, whilst the show is focused on Nate as the mastermind, so it makes sense that Eliot would also have a chance to show he can lead when called
The Zanzibar Market Job only ends successfully because of Eliot, Eliot takes point because it's retrieval, his speciality, he not only takes control but he also catches that they're being misled, Maggie notes that Eliot is underestimated and Nate remarks that's what they count on because they do count on it
Eliot always knows more than he lets on, he is used to keeping secrets, and he respects the team's privacy so he lets them keep their secrets, I'm pretty sure he looked directly at Sophie's bra after Nate and Sophie first sleep together and squints but doesn't bring it up until Hardison and Parker do, because it's not his business
But also, this was an accomplished fighter who General Flores refers to as Commander in The San Lorenzo Job, for as much as Eliot does not work with people at the start of the show, it's not like Hardison, who thinks he doesn't need people because he's so brilliant, or Parker, who doesn't play well with others at the start of the show, Eliot doesn't work with others despite being repeatedly shown to be a friend and ally to multiple people throughout the series, such as the Shelly, in The Boys Night Out Job, General Florres, I. The San Lorenzo Job, and Colonel Vance, who he is shown to fight alongside with during the time between Season 4 and 5, and then is essentially commissioned to work for in The Rundown Job, but I don't think it's a coincidence that the people he's shown to have worked with can take care of themselves, Eliot spends a lot of the show having to protect his team, and I think that's why he doesn't work with people before the show starts, he's capable of doing jobs on his own so Hardison and, to a much lesser extent, Parker (seriously I love how capable of handling herself Parker is shown to be) are liabilities, he cares enough to want to look after them but that means he can't do the other parts of the job himself, because he is focused on protecting them, it's only because Nate takes the load of leading off his shoulders and focuses on minimising the violence in all his plans, that Eliot gets to show his other skills
Eliot is shown to be capable of it, early on, so it actually doesn't make sense that Nate wouldn't even consider Eliot
Especially if it's about making the hard calls, because Eliot makes hard calls all the time, my favourite example of this is The Long Way Down Job where Eliot straight up tells Parker he's glad that it's them who found Alan Scott because he believes the others would have died trying to bring him home (not sure how true that it is, but Nate would have definitely killed he team trying to)
Thus proving that both Eliot and Parker can make the hard calls, but it is also the episode that proves Parker is too similar to Nate, she needed Eliot to tell her it was okay not to bring Alan's body down, otherwise they would have both died there, once again proving Eliot has what it takes to be a better leader than Nate
Parker
In contrast to both Eliot and Hardison, Parker does not have an episode where she takes point, the closest we get is the Broken Wing Job, but an important part of that job is Parker is not leading a team, she's using Amy as her legs, Parker isn't given a chance to lead the team in the same way as the others, so we haven't established that she is capable of it, she's literally the only one who hasn't taken point on the team, the closest is the Girl's Night Out Job, where she is being advised by Sophie and more doing her own thing whilst Sophie and Tara work together
Parker is never shown to lead the team which is pretty important because she is the only member who starts out genuinely bad at working with others, Hardison and Eliot both have people skills but a disinterest with working with others, Parker is just straight up bad at people and she goes through the most character development to get to the point of being capable of grifting, rather well as the Girl's Night Out Job shows, but that doesn't make her a good leader, which is why it feels strange when she becomes the mastermind at the end, she is untested but given the job anyway
Part B: that's just not how Eliot, Parker and Hardison are shown to work together
But the part that gets to me the most is that that's just not how Eliot, Parker and Hardison are shown to work together
The Rundown Job is proof that the team without Nate would not function the same way
Nate was an asshole, a control freak, and a 'my way or the highway' man, there was no room for others contributions (other than their expertise) in his plans, he actively shuts Sophie out, who we know can lead a team from the Davids Jobs and from Redemption because Nate had to be in control
But Hardison, Eliot and Parker aren't like that
Hardison and Parker get a place they choose together which included a pub for Eliot, they chose to include him even when he's not there to have a say, they got the pub for him and Hardison annoyed him into being involved, by being incorrect about something Eliot is an expert in (Hardison might think he's right but he also knows Eliot will disagree and when Eliot disagrees he's gonna get involved), Parker and Hardison are a team and they want Eliot to be part of it (Eliot also wants to be part of their dynamic but that means being wanted and he is not ready to admit that)
This could not be more obvious in the Rundown Job, it's not a con so it does play out differently, they are reacting to the situation rather than planning ahead, but the key part is throughout the episode, the person taking point is the person who can do the job, Eliot is keeping Hardison calm, Hardison is gathering the intel to act, and Parker is acting to ensure everyone is safe (which once again the most character development out of anyone in the show, from only caring about herself to literally risking her life to save a city full of people) and they succeed
None of them are actually in charge in the way Nate is becoming that is not their dynamic
They work together and seamlessly taking charge and carrying out the plan when needed
So to have Parker be in Nate's chair makes a cool shot, harkening back to the beginning, but feels inauthentic to their dynamic
Parker wouldn't take charge, not because she's not capable, Redemption shows she is, but because the three of them are capable and they will spend the rest of their lives sharing the role of leader, it's why Hardison have to watch over the other teams is a good excuse for his absence, he is more than capable of being a leader, but he shares the burden with Eliot and Parker, it's only his expertise that causes the hat to fall on him for now
