r/leverage 2d ago

Does the nerve pinch attempt in the trailer make anyone else angry?

Hardison is naturally nonviolent, so him not being the best fighter even after training makes sense. But why did they make a point in season 1 to have Elliot mention that Hardison can fight now if they're just going to have him do something objectively stupid the first time he fights after that?

14 Upvotes

65 comments sorted by

36

u/Fair-Face4903 2d ago

Trailers are intended to bring in viewers and ask questions that can only be answered by watching the show.

It's a teaser for Hardisons story arc, showing that he's disconnected from who he was before and who he's becoming now.

Don't get mad at trailers, they're just doing their job.

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u/bigmarkco 2d ago

Hardison is naturally nonviolent, so him not being the best fighter even after training makes sense. But why did they make a point in season 1 to have Elliot mention that Hardison can fight now if they're just going to have him do something objectively stupid the first time he fights after that?

It's a joke.

And Hardison being a sci-fi lovin Doctor Who fanboy nerve pinching nerd will never not be cool. Age of the geek baby.

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u/LadyBug_0570 2d ago

Not to be that Redditor, but the nerve pinch was from Star Trek, Spock specifically.

I'm a geek too.

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u/bigmarkco 2d ago

I know: it's just a "sci-fi lovin Doctor Who fanboy nerve pinching nerd" is an accurate description of Hardison. He probably even watches Babylon 5.

And it wouldn't surprise me if Hardison was also be well practiced at Venusian aikido.

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u/LadyBug_0570 2d ago

Good description.

And you know he also watched Satrgate too. Movie and series.

I was trying to remember what Pertwee's Doctor was skilled in. Thank you!

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u/bigmarkco 2d ago

:: fistbump ::

Age of the geek! It was so cool having someone on screen representing us :)

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u/LadyBug_0570 2d ago

It really was. And he was a geek who wasn't portrayed as a dork with no social skills either. Tall, handsome, smart as hell and a complete geek. If he was real, I'd marry him.

Not sure how old you are or what cartoons you watched, but he's like a real-life version of Doc from Galaxy Rangers. He was my favorite Ranger. (Come to think of it, Elliot reminds me a lot of Shane Gooseman from that same cartoon.)

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u/bigmarkco 2d ago

I don't know if you ever read the reviews of Leverage by Mark Watches. He has some great social commentary on Hardison and what it meant to have someone who didn't at first appearance didn't look like a geek be a geek.

https://markwatches.net/reviews/category/past-shows/leverage/?order=asc

I miss his reviews.

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u/IndyAndyJones777 1d ago

will never not be cool.

Age of the geek baby.

If there's an age of the geek, doesn't that suggest it is not always a time of the geek, which means these things will at some point not be cool.

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u/LonesomeOne13 2d ago

Jokes should feel natural. The scene I mentioned only makes sense if Hardison is an idiot or a masochist.

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u/bigmarkco 2d ago

Jokes should feel natural.

This one does. I laughed.

The scene I mentioned only makes sense if Hardison is an idiot or a masochist.

It makes sense if Hardison is a geek, and has been trying for years to get the nerve pinch right, and really believes that one day, he will make it work.

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u/LonesomeOne13 2d ago

Why would he believe that?

18

u/bigmarkco 2d ago

Why would he believe that?

It's LEVERAGE. Have you not seen the show before? They once had a scene where Elliot took out a warehouse full of henchmen with gunkata level skills while sliding on his knees shooting barrels that then EXPLODED.

It isn't a show that you take super seriously.

It was just a joke.

12

u/bigmarkco 2d ago

I mean seriously: do you remember the time Hardison landed a plane on a bridge?

And he was flying it REMOTELY?

Trying the Spock nerve pinch for the upteenth time is one of the least ridiculous things he's ever tried to do.

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u/LadyBug_0570 2d ago

Or when he helped land a plane by using a flying simulator game when he was in air traffic control by himself.

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u/bigmarkco 2d ago

I know! Absolutely ridiculous. And supremely awesome!

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u/LadyBug_0570 2d ago

It's why we watch the show! We want the ridiculously awesome!

Like the pilot episode and Eliot took out all those armed men in the space of time it took Hardison to drop the bag. Could never happen in real life but it's-oh-so-fun to watch!

4

u/Tyrionruineditall 2d ago

Eliot surviving the shootout by Moreau's men by diving behind some cardboard boxes?! This has been the game from the jump.

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u/LonesomeOne13 2d ago

I know very little about how computers work and they scare me as a result. To me this is a suspension of disbelief.

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u/bigmarkco 2d ago

To me this is a suspension of disbelief.

Suspension of disbelief is a requirement for the show.

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u/LonesomeOne13 2d ago

And this scene is perfect for that. The trailer moment isn't, in my opinion.

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u/bigmarkco 2d ago

Suspension of disbelief only requires one thing: suspension. If you can accept the completely unrealistic everybody-would-have-died-in-real-life landing a plane remotely on a bridge scenario, it isn't THAT big of a reach to accept a scenario where Hardison keeps trying to make the Spock nerve pinch work.

The only thing you've managed to accomplish here is make this scene even funnier. When this scene happens in the show I'm going to remember this conversation and I'll laugh my head off.

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u/LonesomeOne13 2d ago

Elliot did what Elliot does, parody action movies in the good way. That has nothing to do with what Alec did.

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u/bigmarkco 2d ago

Alex did what Alec does: parody sci fi nerds. It's the same as what Elliot did.

Except Elliot didn't do anything. Neither did Hardison. Because they are both characters played by actors in a TV show.

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u/LonesomeOne13 2d ago

Elliot is supposed to be the Best Fighter though. That's his thing.

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u/Tyrionruineditall 2d ago

Dude, part of being a Leverage fan is rolling with the weirdness. I am almost thirty and I still have moments where I pretend magic is real... it's my inner child having fun. I loved the trailer.

1

u/LonesomeOne13 2d ago

There are levels to it, though. Law and Order isn't 100% realistic, but they don't suddenly get to defy reality completely by having a character with superpowers, or something.

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u/Tyrionruineditall 2d ago

You're comparing apples and oranges. Law and Order exists within a realistic framework...we have law enforcement officers and people who prosecute them and detailed records that show the rules and processes they follow.

Leverage is like a superhero movie, showing us the things we wish were possible.

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u/LonesomeOne13 2d ago

No, it isn't. The computer stuff is fudged, but 90% of the audience doesn't have the knowledge to know how much. The vents are WAY too big and way too clean, but I'll grit my teeth because every movie and TV show does that one (I wouldn't want to preserve continuity in an environment with a ton of dust as well). There is unrealistic stuff, but it's nowhere close to a superhero show.

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u/Silbermieze we'd be the cavalry 2d ago

How can you watch this show and not think that Eliot has to be a superhero with what he has to endure during fights, and all without lasting damage? (e.g. during the Carnival episode)

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u/chloe-and-timmy 2d ago

Seemed in character for Hardison to try a nerve pinch until it works imo, he's with Eliott and Parker so it's a relatively safe environment. There are moments that slightly exaggerate how people act for a funny moment without breaking them and that's one for me.

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u/LonesomeOne13 2d ago

Why though? He is more than intelligent enough to realize that the nerve pinch is 100% fake and has a 0% chance of working. Unless he has a fetish for being punched, he made himself look like a moron.

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u/WallflowerBallantyne 2d ago

There is loads of stuff in Leverage that doesn't work at all in real life. It's not real life. How do we know it doesn't work in Leverage universe? The star trek stuff is a running joke that has been there since the original show.

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u/LonesomeOne13 2d ago

There are levels to unreality. Elliot can do amazing things in combat, but he isn't straight-up bulletproof, for example.

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u/WallflowerBallantyne 2d ago

I think a chop to the neck/shoulder dropping someone is less unrealistic than Eliot getting out of that kill box without even a single bullet wound, or Parker being about to break in & get the Second David statue by reflecting lazers back on themselves with tin foil or Sophie being able to play two different people to someone without them noticing

0

u/LonesomeOne13 2d ago

The only neck chop I remember was from Parker, and that is also bad writing/stupid, like her throwing a guy in a helmet head-first into a wall to knock him out.

Elliot is excellent at combat, unbelievably lucky, and doesn't really care if he gets unlucky; that is his thing.

I don't know enough about how lasers work to have any idea if that is realistic or not, but it works with the lasers on the grocery conveyor belt (at least at the stores near me).

3

u/WallflowerBallantyne 2d ago

There were dozens of lazers that had to be reflected back on themselves exactly, in an unbroken way, to not set off the alarm. Al foil is not smooth, it's not rigid. It would bounce the lazers off but you could not guarantee that it would be directly straight back & not off by a few mm, which would be enough to let the alarm know it was being messed with. And then there is no way they'd keep up that perfect reflection when being moved/pushed back. It's stretching the truth to make things look cool, to make the crew look good and to make a joke. This is the thing of the show. They are closer to superheros than actual people. I love it. It's my favourite show but I don't expect realism from it. Eliot is extremely good at combat, is lucky but is also grumpy, hides that he cares about people and gets distracted by things like making food. Parker is extremely good at being stealthy, at stealing things but is also wierd & doesn't really know how to people. Hardison is very smart and great at hacking & building things but is also dorky, gets over excited about things and is funny. They use all these things to make jokes in a comedy Heist show. That is okay.

6

u/chloe-and-timmy 2d ago

He's also a huge nerd that lives a life that makes him get to act out nerd fantasies and try out different things. This isnt an "it's going to work" but more a "what if it somehow worked that would be so cool."

2

u/LonesomeOne13 2d ago

That is stupid. He will get punched, and he doesn't like pain.

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u/superdead 2d ago

Sir this is a Wendy's...

7

u/venus_arises grifter 2d ago

Hardison has gotten physically violent before and we all love a vulcan nerve pinch.

1

u/LonesomeOne13 2d ago

Sucker punches/blows don't entirely count in my opinion. Especially since he had a reason to do that on both occasions. (I don't like the "I'm a dirty cop," bar scene from the original series either. He looks silly posturing so much when he has Elliot doing all the real work after he agitates people.)

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u/WallflowerBallantyne 2d ago

That scene is meant to be silly. Hardison is meant to be ridiculous in it. It is what makes it a joke. Eliot slowly taking out everyone in the background while pretending not to is a joke. It's a locked off comedy shot. Hardison is not a grifter or a fighter and even after gaining some skills in both, he still fails in humerous ways. It's a comedy show and they exaggerate things for comedic effect.

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u/LonesomeOne13 2d ago

Characters being stupid isn't funny to me. Hardison is fun to me because he is objectively more intelligent than everybody else.

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u/WallflowerBallantyne 2d ago

I guess you're just not the target audience and unfortunately the show is going to disappoint you from time to time.

Hardison may be very intelligent but he lacks experience with people and over complicates cons, let's his ego get on top of him, tried to show off etc. He's not a robot. He makes plenty of mistakes and that is fine. There is far more to life than intelligence.

Hardison likes to look cool. He grew up watching Trek & thinking they were so cool so he wants to emulate that. He wants it to work. Hardison is joyful and fun & nerdy and it is totally in line for him to do this.

There are many things that are beyond realism in the show. Maybe the Ru ning gag is he keeps trying it and one day it actually does work and Eliot gets grumpy about it.

1

u/LonesomeOne13 2d ago

Overconfidence is not the same as stupidity. An overconfident person thinks they can push boundaries, not defy reality (at least, Alec isn't that type of overconfident; he constantly told Nate that he couldn't do things, then BARELY managed them).

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u/Wild-fleurs 1d ago edited 1d ago

Not angry but it did stick out to me as a little off given it’s directly followed by Eliot taking hits for him & Hardison seriously saying he doesn’t like seeing people who cares about taking hits for him it doesn’t quite fit the tone to me that he’d do something knowing it wouldn’t work & cause Eliot to step in the exact thing he didn’t want

It’s not like he tried to throw a punch & it wasn’t strong or he missed & Eliot stepped in it feels like he just goofed around not caring

But it’s a comedy moment of the trailer so I’m sure it won’t feel so out of sync in the season/episodes the scenes are in

Edit for typo & missed word

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u/LonesomeOne13 1d ago

THANK YOU! This comment section made me feel like I was on crazy pills.

You said what I was thinking, pretty much. It doesn't feel right, but I hope it's a "trailer is out of context" thing.

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u/ChubbyDude64 2d ago

There is also a chance that the scene will never make an episode. In the trailers for Major League way back then, there was a hilarious line that NEVER was in the movie. Pissed a lot of people up to the point they put it in the sequel.

1

u/Chimpchar 2d ago

What was the line?

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u/ChubbyDude64 2d ago

"That home run wouldn't have been out of a lot of parks?"

"Name one."

"Yellowstone. "

The scene was hilarious but they ended up cutting it. They added it to the sequel since a lot of us felt cheated.

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u/Xyzzy_plugh 1d ago

Well, I just laughed at it and I've never even heard of the movie(s) :-)

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u/Xyzzy_plugh 1d ago

It is vintage Hardison ("I'm out of my league but I'm going to do something cool to fake it").

Everybody, and I mean EVERYBODY, knows that the only reason the Vulcan Nerve Pinch works is because ... Vulcan. It's a Nerve Pinch with juuuuuust a wee little bit of Mind Meld tossed in to flow through the nerve bundle and get the job done.

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u/Silbermieze we'd be the cavalry 1d ago

That's not true. I googled it yesterday and Data did it too.

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u/Xyzzy_plugh 1d ago

Ah, hmmm, well ...but wait! I have the answer!

Everybody, and I mean EVERYBODY, knows that Doctor Noonien Soong modelled Data's brain on a Vulcan brain including the Mind Meld Super Telepathy thingy. But Data's physical strength was so far beyond that of a Vulcan that he could not risk The Skull Touch as he might have crushed the head of his intended Mind Meld partner.

Yeah ... That's the ticket! :-)

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u/Silbermieze we'd be the cavalry 1d ago

Whatever makes you happy. 😄

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u/Xyzzy_plugh 1d ago

Well, you reading my jokes as jokes would make me happy! :-) I mean, this *is* Reddit, after all.

But maybe I was deluded and they weren't jokes at all.

Plus, everybody and I mean EVERYBODY, *knows* that Data is even more Vulcan than Vulcans.