god every time i watch leverage i'm just reminded that like. they didn't HAVE to put in the amount of effort that they did! they didn't NEED to keep nate's storylines about his addiction and his son and his father consistent. they didn't NEED to stretch out the parker/hardison slowburn so elegantly. they didn't NEED to give tara goddamn cole a character arc despite her being in the show for like half a season!

but they did!! they did all of these things!!! and they also dedicated entire episodes to team-building (the rashomon job), they also kept sterling consistent, they also made the goddamn RUNDOWN JOB like. this show did not have to be as good as it is!! but it really is just SO GOOD

when eliot is scared he freezes. when hardison is thrown into the pool in big bang, he doesn't react at all -- and yeah, that's bone-deep trust in hardison's ability to get out alive. but it's also a very deep, animal fear of showing moreau any kind of weakness or attachment. eliot is a guy who knows how to take a punch and when it comes down to it, he crouches over his stomach and takes the fucking punch

like. yeah, okay, the ot3 is never going to be canon. we know this. we accept this. it's already a lot more than i thought we'd ever get in this day and age

BUT EVEN SO

eliot is just? so CLEARLY a part of the parker-and-hardison unit? they're a FAMILY! he and parker join breanna in teasing hardison! he and hardison have mandated Stealing Practice with parker! he had matching halloween costumes with them, for god's sake!!

like, yeah, the ot3 is never going to be confirmed as Fully Romantic, and that's a bit of a bummer. but these characters are a family anyway. parker and hardison's romantic relationship NEVER comes above their relationships with eliot. he's part of their unit! and that's so special

ooh, the fact that sophie uses the name of lady charlotte prentice during "the lonely hearts job" is EXTRA good now with the added context from leverage: redemption

they're fighting grifters who did exactly what sophie did. lacie had the exact same problem that sophie did. their client, who sophie calls a romantic and wants to believe loved his wife? sophie had a husband who was the exact same way

parker and hardison and eliot... and they love each other.... and parker wants to save the body because it's what hardison would do and eliot comforts her by saying that they do what hardison couldn't do........ [and therefore, it's implied, can keep him safe]...........

we just watched the queen's gambit job and like. a damn fun episode. a DAMN fun episode. i know i rewatch this episode like twice a year but it never fails!! eliot and hardison hug!! hardison has parker's back!! nate and sterling are ♠️!

sophie: [the bad guys] brought me in when they realized just how badly they'd screwed things up, especially when they realized you'd found that video...

harry, found in the wild doing The Right Thing: a video?

sophie: yeah, the video

harry's phone: [receives an .mp4 titled THE VIDEO]

harry: oh! the video!!

guys oh my god this is such an incredible edit please watch it and cry with me

breanna and parker are going to nana's for christmas and she sent pie when she heard they'd be late and ELIOT THOUGHT SOME OF THE PIE WOULD BE FOR HIM!

then breanna turns and invites SOPHIE to christmas, implying that eliot is ALREADY INVITED/GOING, and i am. i'm doing just fine, folks! everything is fine!!

i was craving some leverage, so i decided to turn on the big bang job and revel in the gloriousness of the eliot reveal, only to find it paused directly after the "don't ask me that, parker" scene. lmao i have consistent taste huh

the only thing better than eliot and parker co-parenting breanna is eliot and hardison co-parenting breanna. i am just. i love them SO MUCH

OH MY GOD THEY HAD GROUP HALLOWEEN COSTUMES????

in love with the way breanna is friends with parker. she continually takes parker's side in bickering with eliot :D

i can't believe parker and hardison have a canonical third and it's not even eliot

i just realized that, in the same three-week span of 2019, i:

listened to "when you were young" for the first time (which is what jumpstarted my interest in the killers)

watched, like, three full seasons of leverage for the first time, and

experienced the Into The Woods Time Vortex where i did basically nothing except listen to itw and do math

fun times!!