The crew finds out that a shady plastics exporter whose dumping threatens local waters is smuggling black market antiquities on his barges, and plots to relieve him of his ill-gotten gains.
Tropes stolen in this job:
- An Aesop: Breanna learns that she and the rest of the crew can't take on all of the world's problems by themselves, but they can still make small improvements that add up to a big difference.
- Continuity Nod:
- Arthur Wilde is familiar with some of Sophie's identities, including Charlotte, Duchess of Hanover and Kiki Carmichael.
- In his guise as an FBI Agent, Elliot mentions Agent McSweeten, a recurring character from the original series.
- Faking the Dead: Harry and Arthur both have to play possum as part of the con. Harry does well, but Arthur needs some help; after Hammond shoots him, Sophie has to tell him to "Fall down, you idiot!"
- Heel–Face Door-Slam: After they finish the con, Arthur doesn't forgive Sophie for her crimes against him, saying that she hasn't really changed.
- Hollywood Blanks: Arthur suffers no injuries from being shot with a blank at close range by Hammond.
- My Greatest Failure: Sophie still feels guilty about letting Arthur go to prison for the thefts she committed, and hopes that letting him be part of the con (and get part of the profits) will make up for it.
- Noodle Incident: Arthur lists a variety of past aliases he's known Sophie by in their encounters, including "Charlotte" who sent him to prison.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Sophie removes her earpiece when she first encounters Arthur, leading the rest of the team to realize that something's up between them.
- Skyward Scream: Hammond does one when he realizes how thoroughly he's been screwed by Team Leverage.
- Spanner in the Works: The initial scam involves Sophie posing as an insurance investigator to Hammond, asking for paperwork on his items he doesn't have and tricking him into offering a bribe. Naturally, the team is thrown when Hammond offers up the paperwork, realizing he must have a forger to supply him with the fake documents. That's when Sophie gets a good look and realizes Arthur is the forger, just as he waltzes right in. From that point on, Arthur's ability to recognize any tricks Sophie might try complicates the job even as Sophie tries to use him.
- Wicked Cultured: Sophie, Arthur and Hammond are all required to know a lot about ancient history to identify the artifacts they're smuggling, although Hammond is much more thuggish than most examples of the trope.
