History Recap / LeverageS05E01TheVeryBigBirdJob

Hardison begins briefing the team about their mark, Scott Romer, the owner of a large cargo airline. One of the airline's planes crashed, resulting in the death of the pilots. The courts have ruled it an accident, but the widow claims Romer's penny-pinching led to negligence in the construction of the plane. Nate agrees to take the case. As the widow leaves, Eliot notices characters in a dark SUV watching her. He follows, interrupting what the woman assumes is an attempted car-jacking. Eliot is less certain.

Nate begins tailing Romer at the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evergreen_Aviation_%26_Space_Museum Evergreen International Aviation & Space Museum]]. He introduces himself as an executive from another transport service, while Sophie tries to get into the airline's office building. Nate discovers that Romer is an aviation history buff, and is here to see them run the engines of their star exhibit, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spruce_Goose the Spruce Goose.]]

Parker breaks into the server room and steals some files, while Sophie has gotten herself invited into a meeting. They discover that Romer is planning on merging his company with a passenger airline. If the plan goes through, thousands of people will be riding on his faulty planes.

Romer continues showing Nate around the Goose. He sees himself as a kind kindred spirit to Howard Hughes. Nate brings up the recent suite prompting a rant from Romer . Eventually he expresses the wish to fly the Spruce Goose just once. Nate asks Romer if he would like to own the Spruce Goose. The mark is obviously intrigued.

Nate explains he's part of a consortium to buy the plane from the museum. Romer has a few conditions of his own, one of which is he, and he alone, can fly it. Nate agrees to the terms, and he and Romer shake hands. Back at Leverage headquarters, he tells the team that Romer is relying on the company to protect him so they need to strip that away. They also need to keep him away from the meeting so the merger can't go through.

Eliot finds out the goons are looking for a video file that proves the airline was paying of safety inspectors. The video was originally filmed by the now dead pilot, and the company believes that the pilot's family now possesses the file.

Nate and Romer meet in a warehouse, where he introduces Hardison as another buyer. But Romer brought some muscle, which prompts Sophie to come in and start threatening everyone in an Arabic accent. Hardison pulls a gun and herds them out and into Romer's car. Hardison drives them away, but they don't get far before Romer spots a bomb. They all jump out and run, just seconds before the bomb blows. In the confusion, Romer grabs the gun and shoots Hardison. Romer wants to call to police, but Nate tells him it's not a good idea: not only has he just killed a man, he's now got ties to terrorism. Romer wants to call his security head, but Nate causes him to [[DoubleAgent suspect that the security head was in on it too]].

Romer demands to know what the "terrorists" wanted with the Spruce Goose, and Nate tells him they wanted to ship it overseas and take it apart. Romer is confused by this and tells Nate to drive to the museum so they can look at the plans for the plane.

At the museum Nate and Romer look over the plans, noting that they are heavily redacted. They "discover" that it carries a device which wraps the plane in an EM field. This would destroy the aluminum aircraft of the time, but the "spruce" in the Spruce Goose is actually a light composite material not dissimilar from those used in modern drone aircraft. Romer then jumps to the conclusion the team wished him to - that the Spruce Goose is actually [[BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy a stealth bomber]].

Nate asks if they can call the police now, but Romer wants to keep this quiet, saying this technology will be worth a fortune. Nate congratulates Hardison on his doctored plans. Things start to go off the rails when Romer's security shows up looking for him. Sophie and Hardison show up in their guise as terrorists to drive Romer and Nate towards the plan. Eliot heads off the security guys and demands the return of the teddy bear.

Romer takes Nate into the plane and gets the idea to escape by flying it out of the museum. Nate protests, but Romer is set on it. He taxis out and takes off. Outside the plane, Sophie notes that Hardison is looking very pleased with his flight simulation setup. There are several flashbacks showing the team setting up mechanics to perfectly simulate take-off in the plane's cockpit.

When the time is right, Hardison pushes a BigRedButton labeled "Crash" that simulates power failure in all engines. As Romer begins to panic, Nate knocks him out.

In the morning Romer wakes up surrounded by the flaming wreckage of what he thinks is the Spruce Goose. He sees on his phone a story about the Spruce Goose being stolen and terrorists suspected and crashed. He tells him the thing in the news is him. The actual news story is about the pilot's crash and death. The security guys tells him not to say anything, but Romer blurts out

The camera pans slowly over to the very-interested FBI agents standing besides Romer's security guy.


Later Nate presents the widow with her settlement, and tells her no one will ever take Romer seriously again, amply demonstrated by cutting to Romer trying to tell the FBI how he stole the Spruce Goose to escape Iranians who were trying to kill him over 70-year-old stealth technology.

* LetMeGetThisStraight: The very end as Romer explains to the FBI what happened, clearly thinking he's getting his story across when their expressions make it clear they're not buying any of this.

-->'''Romer''': Yes.

-->'''Romer''': Now you got it!

* TranquilFury: Hardison realizes when Roemer makes a joke about the men who died and all he suffers is a fine, it will set Nate off into this territory and begs him to not do a con.

* NiceHat: Invoked and discussed with Romer's.

* BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy: The team manages to convince Roemer that Hughes developed ''stealth technology'' in TheForties. It's all part of the con, but it's still a pretty cool idea - and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duramold Duramold]] ''is'' the ancestor of what is used in modern drones.

* BigRedButton: "CRASH"

The Leverage team is spread around the world taking some well deserved time off, when they get a call bringing them to UsefulNotes/{{Portland}}. Hardison has gotten them a new place to lay low while federal agents skulk outside Nate's apartment in Boston. He even has a client and begins briefing them about their mark, Scott Romer, the owner of a large cargo airline, who has just been in a lawsuit about the crash of one of its planes resulting in the death of the pilot. The courts have ruled it an accident and the widow of the pilot is not pleased with it. Nate agrees to take the case. As the widow leaves, Eliot notices characters in a dark SUV watching her, and follows interrupting some thugs.

Nate begins tailing Romer at the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evergreen_Aviation_%26_Space_Museum Evergreen International Aviation & Space Museum]]. He introduces himself as an executive from another transport service, while Sophie tries to get into the airline's office building. Nate realizes that Romer is an aviation history buff, and is here to see them run the engines of their star exhibit, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spruce_Goose the Spruce Goose.]]

Parker breaks into the server room and steals some files, while Sophie has gotten herself into some meeting.

Romer continues showing Nate around the Goose. He sees himself as a kind kindred spirit to Howard Hughes. Nate brings up the recent suite prompting a rant from Romer . Eventually he expresses the wish to fly the Spruce Goose just once. The files Parker stole contain information that indicates Romer is merging with a passenger airline, meaning he's going to have people on his planes soon, putting them in danger. Nate asks Romer if he would like to own the Spruce Goose. The mark is obviously intrigued.

Nate explains he's part of a consortium to buy the plane from the museum. Romer has a few conditions of his own, one of which is he, and he alone, can fly it, then agrees. Back at Leverage headquarters, he tells them Romer is relying on the company to protect him so they need to strip that away. They also need to keep him away from the meeting so the merger can't go through.

Eliot finds out the goons are looking for a video file that proves negligence on the airline's part If they find the whole thing they can wrap it up.

Nate and Romer meet in a warehouse, where he introduces Hardison as another buyer, but Romer brought some muscle, which prompts Sophie to come in and start threatening everyone in an Arabic accent. Hardison pulls a gun and herds them out, [[MistakenForTerrorist acting like a terrorist]]. After they see a [[ExternalCombustion device like a bomb]], they get out. Romer grabs the gun and shoots Hardison (they're blanks). Romer wants to call to police, but Nate tells him it's not a good idea, he's got ties to terrorism. He tries to call his security head, but Nate causes him to [[DoubleAgent doubt his loyalty]], saying there was a double cross.

Romer demands to know what they wanted with the Spruce Goose, and Nate tells him they wanted to ship it overseas and take it apart. Romer is confused by this and tells Nate to drive to the museum so they can look at the plans for the plane. Meanwhile Eliot figures out where the recording is, but unfortunately so do the thugs. It's in the daughter's teddy bear. One of them grabs it and drives off. Parker manages to grab on to the car and tag along.

At the museum Nate and Romer look over the plans, noting that they appear to be redacted(albeit by Nate and the team) to "reveal" that it carries a device(in fact faked by Hardison) which wraps the plane in an EM field. This would destroy the aluminum aircraft of the time, but the "spruce" in the Spruce Goose is actually a light composite material not dissimilar from those used in modern drone aircraft. Romer then jumps to the conclusion the team wished him to - that the Spruce Goose is actually [[BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy a stealth bomber that Howard Hughes built in 1947]].

Nate asks if they can call the police now, but Romer wants to keep this quiet, thinking this technology will be worth a fortune. Nate congratulates Hardison on his doctored plans. Things start to go off the rails when Romer's security shows up looking for him. Sophie and Hardison show up in their guise as terrorists and then Eliot shows up demanding the teddy bear. He promptly starts fighting the security guys.

Romer takes Nate into the plane and gets the idea to escape by flying it out of the museum. Nate protests but Romer is set on it. He taxis out and takes off. Outside, Sophie notes that Hardison is looking very pleased with his flight simulation setup. Eventually Hardison pushes a BigRedButton labeled "Crash" that simulates power failure in all engines as Nate knocks Romer out. In the morning Romer wakes up surrounded by the flaming wreckage of what he thinks is the Spruce Goose. He sees on his phone a story about the Spruce Goose being stolen and crashed and calls his security guy. He tells him the thing in the news is him. The actual news story is about the pilot's crash and death. The security guys tells him not to say anything; the FBI is in his office.

* NiceHat: Romer's.

* BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy: The team manages to convince Romer that Hughes developed ''stealth technology'' in TheForties. It's all part of the con, but it's still a pretty cool idea - and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duramold Duramold]] ''is'' the ancestor of what is used in modern drones.

* ExternalCombustion: Someone plants a bomb in their car.
* FauxtasticVoyage: The team are able to convince Romer that he has stolen - and ''crashed'' - the Spruce Goose.

* WrongGenreSavvy: Romer thinks he's an adventurer stumbling on Hughes' secret and racing to save the Spruce Goose from terrorists, unware it's all one big con.
* YouHaveToBelieveMe: Romer tries this with the FBI to convince him of his story of crashing the Spruce Goose. Naturally, the fact the plane is still intact ruins the entire attempt.

* AppealToAudicity: Romer tries this with the FBI to convince him of his story of crashing the Spruce Goose. Naturally, the fact the plane is still intact ruins the entire attempt.

Nate begins tailing Romer at the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evergreen_Aviation_%26_Space_Museum Evergreen International Aviation & Space Museum]]. He introduces himself as an executive from another transport service, while Sophie tries to get into the airline's office building. Nate realizes that Romer is an aviation history buff, and is here to see them run the engines of their star exhibit, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spruce_Goose the Spruce Goose]].

At the museum Nate and Romer look over the plans, noting that they appear to be redacted (albeit by Nate and the team) to "reveal" that the "spruce" in the Spruce Goose is actually a light composite material not dissimilar from those used in modern drone aircraft, and it carries a device (designed by Hardison) which wraps the plane in an EM field. Romer then jumps to the conclusion the team wished him to - that the Spruce Goose is actually [[BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy a stealth bomber that Howard Hughes built in 1947]].

* BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy: The team manages to convince Romer that Hughes developed ''stealth technology'' in TheForties. It's all part of the con, but it's still a pretty cool idea - and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duramold Duramold]] is a marvelous material that never really got to shine.

At the museum Nate and Romer look over the plans, noting that they appear to be redacted (albeit by Nate and the team) to "reveal" that the "spruce" in the Spruce Goose is actually a light composite material not dissimilar from those used in modern drone aircraft, and it carries a device(designed by Hardison) which wraps the plane in an EM field. Romer then jumps to the conclusion the team wished him to - that the Spruce Goose is actually [[BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy a stealth bomber that Howard Hughes built in 1947]].

At the museum Nate and Romer look over the plans, noting that they appear to be redacted(albeit by Nate and the team) to "reveal" that the "spruce" in the Spruce Goose is actually a light composite material not dissimilar from those used in modern drone aircraft, and it carries a device(designed by Hardison) which wraps the plane in an EM field. Romer then jumps to the conclusion the team wished him to - that the Spruce Goose is actually [[BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy a stealth bomber that Howard Hughes built in 1947]].

At the museum Nate and Romer look over the plans, noting something about radar. Romer sees something in the plans that convince him the Spruce Goose is actually a stealth bomber. Nate asks if they can call the police now, but Romer wants to keep this quiet, thinking this technology will be worth a fortune. Nate congratulates Hardison on his doctored plans. Things start to go off the rails when Romer's security shows up looking for him. Sophie and Hardison show up in their guise as terrorists and then Eliot shows up demanding the teddy bear. He promptly starts fighting the security guys.

Later Nate presents the widow with her settlement, and tells her no one will ever take Romer seriously again. He is trying to tell the FBI how he stole the Spruce Goose to escape Iranians who were trying to kill him over 70-year-old stealth technology.

* ProductPlacement: The Evergreen International Aviation & Space Museum is prominently shown. The building with a 747 on the roof is actually an indoor water park.

Romer takes Nate into the plane and gets the idea to escape by flying it out of the museum. Nate protests but Romer is set on it. He taxis out and takes off. Outside, Sophie notes that Hardison is looking very pleased with his flight simulation setup. Eventually Hardison pushes a BigRedButton labeled "Crash" that simulates power failure in all engines as Nate knocked Romer out. In the morning Romer wakes up surrounded by the flaming wreckage of what he thinks is the Spruce Goose. He sees on his phone a story about the Spruce Goose being stolen and crashed and calls his security guy. He tells him the thing in the news is him. The actual news story is about the pilot's crash and death. The security guys tells him not to say anything; the FBI is in his office.

Later Nate and Hardison discuss something they are planning, which they are keeping from the others.

The Leverage team is spread around the world taking some well deserved time off, when they get a call ringing them to UsefulNotes/{{Portland}}. Hardison has gotten them a new place to lay low while federal agents skulk outside Nate's apartment in Boston. He even has a client and begins briefing them about their mark, Scott Romer, the owner of a large cargo airline, who has just been in a lawsuit about the crash of one of its planes resulting in the death of the pilot. The courts have ruled it an accident and the widow of the pilot is not pleased with it. Nate agrees to take the case. As the widow leaves, Eliot notices characters in a dark SUV watching her, and follows interrupting some thugs.

Nate begins tailing Romer at the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evergreen_Aviation_%26_Space_Museum Evergreen International Aviation & Space Museum]]. He introduces himself as an executive from another transport service, while Sophie tries to get into the airline's office building. Nate realizes that Romer is an aviation buff, and is here to see them run the engines of their star exhibit, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spruce_Goose the Spruce Goose]].

The Leverage team is spread around the world taking some well deserved time off, when they get a call ringing them to Portland. Hardison has gotten them a new place to lay low while federal agents skulk outside Nate's apartment in Boston. He even has a client and begins briefing them about their mark, Scott Romer, the owner of a large cargo airline, who has just been in a lawsuit about the crash of one of its planes resulting in the death of the pilot. The courts have ruled it an accident and the widow of the pilot is not pleased with it. Nate agrees to take the case. As the widow leaves, Eliot notices characters in a dark SUV watching her, and follows interrupting some thugs.

Nate and Romer meet in a warehouse, where he introduces Hardison as another buyer, but Romer brought some muscle, which prompts Sophie to come in and start threatening everyone in an Arabic accent. Hardison pulls a gun and herds them out, [[MistakenForTerrorist acting like a terrorist]]. After they see a [[ExternalCombustion device like a bomb]], they get out. Romer grabs the gun and shoots Hardison (they're blanks). Romer wants to call to police, but Nate tells him it'snot a good idea, he's got ties to terrorism. He tries to call his security head, but Nate causes him to [[DoubleAgent doubt his loyalty]], saying there was a double cross.

Nate begins tailing Romer at the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evergreen_Aviation_%26_Space_Museum Evergreen International Aviation & Space Museum]]. He introduces himself as an executive from another transport service, while Sophie tries to get into the airline's office building. Nate realizes that Romer is an big aviation buff, and is here to see them run the engines of their star exhibit, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spruce_Goose the Spruce Goose]].

Nate and Romer meet in a warehouse, where he introduces Hardison as another buyer, but Romer brought some muscle, which prompts Sophie to come in and start threatening everyone in an Arabic accent. Hardison pulls a gun and herds them out, acting like a terrorist. After they see a device like a bomb, they get out. Romer grabs the gun and shoots Hardison (they're blanks). Romer wants to call to police, but Nate tells him it'snot a good idea, he's got ties to terrorism. He tries to call his security head, but Nate causes him to doubt his loyalty, saying there was a double cross.

Romer demands to know what they wanted with the Spruce Goose, and Nate tells him they wanted to ship it overseas and take it apart. Romer is confused by this and tells Nate to drive to the museum so they can look at the plans for the plane. Meanwhile Eliot figures out where the recording is, but unfortunately so do the thugs. One of them grabs it and drives off. Parker manages to grab on and tag along.

At the museum Nate and Romer look over the plans, noting something about radar. Romer sees something in the plans that convince him the Spruce Goose is actually a stealth bomber. Nate congratulates Hardison on his doctored plans. Things start to go off the rails when Romer's security shows up looking for him. Sophie and Hardison show up in their guise as terrorists and then Eliot shows up demanding the teddy bear. HE promptly starts fighting the security guys.

Romer takes Nate into the plane and gets the idea to escape by flying it out of the museum. Nate protests but Romer is set on it. He taxis out and takes off. Outsdie, Sophie notes that Hardison is looking very pleased with his flight simulation setup. Eventually Hardison pushes a BigRedButton labeled "Crash" that simulates power failure in all engines as Nate knocked Romer out. In the morning Romer wakes up surrounded by the flaming wreckage of what he thinks is the Spruce Goose. He sees on his phone a story about the Spruce Goose being stolen and crashed and calls his security guy. He tells him the thing in the news is him. The actual news story is about the pilot's crash and death. The security guys tells him not to say anything; the FBI is in his office.

Later Nate presents the widow with her settlement, and tells her no one will ever take Romer seriously again. He, is trying to tell the FBI how he stole the Spruce Goose to escape Iranians who were trying to kill him over 70-year-old stealth technology.

Romer takes Nate into the plane and gets the idea to escape by flying it out of the museum. Nate protests but Romer is set on it. He taxis out and takes off. Outsdie, Sophie notes that Hardison is looking very pleased with his flight simulation setup. Eventually Hardison pushes a big red button that simulates power failure in all engines as Nate knocked Romer out. In the morning Romer wakes up surrounded by the flaming wreckage of what he thinks is the Spruce Goose. He sees on his phone a story about the Spruce Goose being stolen and crashed and calls his security guy. He tells him the thing in the news is him. The actual news story is about the pilot's crash and death. The security guys tells him not to say anything; the FBI is in his office.