The First David Job

“	That's the funny thing about con men, they don't bluff.	”
— Jim Sterling

Season finale, Part 1. For Nathan Ford's benefit, the team targets the CEO of the company that denied Nate's son's medical treatment and allowed him to die (Ian Blackpoole). All they have to do is steal Blackpoole's prized Michelangelo maquette (The First David) and sell it back to him as its twin (The Second David). All goes according to plan until Jim Sterling reappears.

The Client[]

Nathan Ford

The Mark[]

Ian Blackpoole, CEO of IYS

The Con[]

The team plans to sell Ian Blackpoole a fake Michelangelo maquette so that when he insures it and it's found to be a fake, his own company will accuse him of fraud. Eliot poses as Professor Adam Sinclair, an art history expert, while Sophie poses as Portia delDuccio from the Vatican Museum. When Nate (as himself) approaches Blackpoole at a party with an offer to sell him the Second David (the counterpart to the First David maquette already in his possession in a secured vault), Sophie supports Nate's claim that the Second David is the real deal, and suggests they bring in Eliot as Sinclair in to verify.

When Eliot comes over to talk with Blackpoole, he brings along the woman he's been talking to at the party, who turns out to be Maggie Collins-- Nate's ex-wife and an art expert in her own right. Thinking that Nate is in dire straits, Maggie offers to lend her expertise to verify the authenticity of the Second David, and Blackpoole insists upon Maggie's word before he will complete the purchase.

Knowing Maggie won't be fooled by the team's replica David, Sophie proposes they steal the First David from Blackpoole's vault so they can show it to her the next day. Parker and Hardison maneuver their way into the vault and successfully replace Blackpoole's maquette with their prepared fake. Back at Leverage headquarters with the real David in hand, Sophie works to sell the team on an even more ambitious con to not only sell Blackpoole his First David back but switch it out with another fake in transit so that Blackpoole will end up with two fake Davids. Nate reacts poorly, thinking Sophie is running a con on their team, while Sophie in turn accuses him of getting cold feet interacting with his ex-wife on the job.

The next day, Nate and Eliot meet with Maggie and Blackpoole at a small aircraft hangar, where Hardison arrives off a small aircraft posing as Nate's sheikh contact. Maggie examines and verifies the David for Blackpoole, and Blackpoole excitedly accepts the sale. Outside, Sophie as Portia informs Blackpoole that the Vatican will be lending him the art he's requested for his exhibition. Nate approaches and punches Blackpoole, who seems unfazed and stalks off into his car. Over the comms, Hardison confirms he's got the $8 million that Blackpoole paid to buy back his First David.

At the hangar, a man in a suit secretly snaps photos of Nate and Sophie driving off together. When Eliot attempts to intimidate the man, he fights back with more skill than Eliot had anticipated and knocks out Eliot's comm. Elsewhere, Hardison takes the money back to Leverage HQ, and a number of agents with comms follow after him into the building, break into the headquarters, and knock out Hardison. At the same time, Parker breaks into Blackpoole's armored vehicle intending to swap out the First David with a fake, only to discover that Jim Sterling is waiting for her inside.

Sterling's agents recover Blackpoole's money and take Parker and Hardison into their custody, and Sterling uses Parker's comm to goad Nate into meeting with him at the IYS offices. On the IYS rooftop, Sterling states that in exchange for returning Parker, he wants the Second David-- not the First David that the team was about to steal back, but the Second David that was stolen from the Vatican ten years prior. Sterling reveals that he's engineered the circumstances of the original con to trap both Nate and Sophie-- Nate with the promise of revenge on Blackpoole and Sophie with Blackpoole's First David. At Sterling's prodding, Sophie admits to Nate that she stole the Second David, and Sterling instructs Sophie to bring the Second David to him while Nate meets his men at the Leverage offices.

Nate and Sophie go to a warehouse where Sophie's stored many of her stolen treasures. As they locate the Second David in one of the crates, Sophie confesses she was using the team to get at the First David, but confronts Nate about his pride and his own desire for revenge. When Sophie tells him that Sterling already knows how they think, Nate suggests they'll have to "think like somebody else."

Sophie attends the rooftop rendezvous with Sterling while Nate turns himself in at Leverage HQ, encountering a tied-up Hardison. Over the phone, Nate tells Sterling to cut Hardison loose and let Sophie and Parker go, but Sterling orders his agent to keep both Nate and Hardison at HQ. As Sophie trades the David for Parker, Eliot arrives at the Leverage offices. With a flourish, Sophie reveals a harness and cable to get Parker off the roof ("thinking like Parker"), while Eliot pulls out a phone and activates a bit of code ("thinking like Hardison") that sends a painful whine through the headsets of Sterling's agents.

Eliot, Nate, and Hardison are able to take out Sterling's agents while Sophie and Parker escape from the IYS rooftop, and when Sterling takes the rest of his team to the Leverage offices, he finds his men tied up and a recording of Hardison followed by a 30-second countdown on the monitors. Sterling and his men flee the building, and shortly after, Hardison's bomb goes off, destroying the Leverage offices and the evidence contained therein.

However, Sterling declares victory-- he has the Second David, while Ford and the Leverage crew have blown their covers and are without a base of operations. He confidently proclaims that the team will scatter and disband, knowing they've lost. In a parking lot elsewhere, the Leverage team shares a look and parts ways.

Guest Cast[]

Mark A Sheppard as James Sterling
Kari Matchett as Maggie Collins
Alex Carter as Sterling's Henchman
Clayne Crawford as Quinn
Kevin Tighe as Ian Blackpoole

Episode Notes[]

Major Events[]

When Sterling and his men attempt to take the Leverage building by force, Hardison is forced to plant a bomb which results in the building being destroyed and the team losing their HQ.

Trivia[]

Parker's Elite Aviation uniform is the same Vista Atlantic Airlines flight attendant uniform she wore in The Mile High Job.
This episode begins Leverage's custom of starting the final story of a season in media res, then going to a flashback for the bulk of the episode.