The Inside Job - Recap

At the Wakefield Agricultural Corporation, security teams chase Parker through the upper floors.

At his apartment, Nate is cooking when Sophie comes in and notes that they're using his apartment as their new offices. He offers her some food and suggests they talk about a kiss, but she notes he's still working off the slap. The phone rings and a man informs him that Parker went in on her own and she's in trouble. The man warns him that the building has a Steranko security system, and she's in over her head. Nate immediately leaps into gear and tells Sophie to call the others.

At the building, the security teams close in on Parker and report to their boss, Voorhees, who insists it's only a matter of time until they have her.

Nate and Sophie arrive at one of Parker's several cover addresses, a warehouse. Sophie realizes that the security code is her own real name and enters it without telling Nate. Hardison and Eliot arrive and discover a post-it note with the word Archie on it, and plans for a break-in. Nate tells the others that Parker tried to get past a Steranko system, and they explain to Sophie it's the toughest security system in the world. It adapts and it learns to compensate against the person trying to break it. Hardison agrees to take it on, but warns that he has to be on-site to break the system. Nate finds plans for the Wakefield Building, and they head downtown.

As they get there, Nate confirms that the CEO is Charles Rushing, who is in trouble after two years of losses. Eliot warns that they may have trouble getting in during the daytime, and argues with a nervous Hardison. Nate realizes that Parker set up a base camp nearby to scout out the building, and the man on the phone was her partner. Nate and Eliot start searching rooftops, while Sophie gets Hardison inside.

The vice president of research, Dr. Anne Hannity, checks in with Voorhees. He informs them that the thief has gotten further than anyone but is locked in the building. Rushing, warns that they have auditors and any hint that someone was able to bypass the system will plummet their system. Russian says he can lock down the building entirely in 50 minutes. Rushing goes to greet the newest auditors... Sophie and Hardison.

Eliot and Nate check out the rooftop and run into the man who called Nate. Nate knows the man from his insurance days and introduces him to Eliot as the world's greatest thief, Archie Leach. Two men arrive with guns. As Eliot disposes of them, Archie notes that he faked his death and wonders which side of the fence Nate is working. He then explains that he's a hostage and Parker is rescuing him... and he's her father.

Sophie and Hardison ask for a private office and access to the computer so Hardison can check the systems. She browbeats Rushing into giving Hardison access.

Archie explains that he's Parker's mentor, not her real father, but he trained her from an early age as a professional thief. Nate insists that Parker was broken, but Archie explains that his real family thinks he's an accountant, and Parker wouldn't have fit in. He explains that someone forced him to break into Wakefield and steal a canister, or they would have killed his family. His employer gave him the blueprints and codes, Archie called in Parker just to plan, and Parker jumped the gun and went in.

Nate calls Hardison, who confirms that's he's in the system and downloads the files. Hardison taps into the shielded cable and gets what he can. Nate then has Sophie create chaos to get the employees to focus on her instead of Hardison, and tells them that they're all fired. When Dr. Hannity challenges her authority, Sophie tells them to justify themselves and they all start talking simultaneously.

Hardison tells Nate that Steranko is running at level one, passive shutdown. All Parker needs to do is stay away from the guards and monitors, and can't try to escape. If she does, she'll set off the additional levels. Eliot checks the perimeter from the street, but figures that one of the CEOs has shielded his office from the sensors. Now they have to find out where Parker is located. Hardison warns that anything he does to use the sensors to find Parker will give her away to Steranko, and all they can do is wait for her signal.

Parker crawls through the air vents and finds laser tripwires, and realizes that she's in problems. She emerges back into the hallway and spots the security teams checking employee badges and retina checks. Parker grabs a lab coat and tries to blend in, stealing a security badge from another employee. She then goes to an office cubicle and tries to call out, but discovers her cellphone is jammed. She calls Hardison on the company landline and he assures her that they're there. However, he warns her that she has 30 seconds until Steranko pinpoints her call. He tells her to get to Cubicle 27 and wait for him to contact her.

Nate confirms that the blueprints have Wakefield watermarks on them, mean that they came from someone on the inside. He has Sophie check out the conference room and she notices that Hannity is the only one unconcerned about the firings. Hardison checks her history and learns that Hannity has access to all the systems. They realize that Hannity is the inside person, and if they find Parker, they'll kill her as a loose end. Archie wants to warn her immediately, but Nate assures him that his people are already on it.

Hardison has a messenger send a package with an earbud to Cubicle 27 where Parker is waiting. She confirms that Archie is okay and he wonders what she was doing. Parker tells him that she had to do it because he would have failed and they would have hurt his real family. Archie tells her to focus on her surroundings. A marketing employee, Brian, runs into Parker and says they been sexting, and wanted to meet her in person. They both get rushed off to a severance party before he can mess things up. Archie then checks with Hardison, who finds a hole in the grid at Rushing's office on the 40th floor. Nate tells Eliot to climb to the 40th floor, and he spots a window-cleaning team preparing to go up.

Hardison confirms that Hannity blew through $60 million on a super-wheat product. Nate tells Sophie to let everyone else go and then get Hannity steamed. Sophie starts insulting Hannity's credential and warns her about her wheat project, and Hannity angrily brings up her super-wheat project and defends her research to come up with a wheat strain immune to the UG99 blight. Further, she hints that she's been developing a blight that Wakefield would know about in advance, and then walks out. Sophie tells Nate what happened, and Nate figures that Hannity forced Archie to steal the blight sample. Once it was out, it would be released and Hannity's super-wheat would prove its worth. Hardison confirms that the blight is kept in the canister that Hannity forced Archie to steal. Wakefield will dominate the market once the blight gets out. Archie wants them to get Parker out first, and tells Parker to head for the door because the Leverage team botched it. Nate tells Parker not to move.

At the severance party, Parker watches as Brian gives her a final goodbye. Desperate, she asks for a way out, and Hardison warns that Steranko is rewriting the security door codes.

As Eliot heads up the side of the building on the window-washing platform, Parker ducks the security teams and Hardison gets her up to the 40th floor. He can hack the electronic systems, but she'll have to bypass the guards with the retina scans. Meanwhile, Sophie tries to figure out a way to bring Hannity down.

Eliot gets into position as Parker arrives. However, she tells him that she can't leave. She insists on going back, explaining that Hannity can walk out with the blight now that Parker's break-in is on file. Archie tells her that they can't get involved, but Parker insists that's what he does, not what she does. Taking down bad people is what the team does, and Sophie agrees. Parker explains that she knows what she did wrong before, and that she can do it with the team's help. Nate tells her to go for it, and defends to Archie what he and the team do. Archie warns that Nate has killed Parker.

A security guard gets the drop on Parker, who fails to bluff her way past. Eliot knocks the man on and they continue. Hardison guides them to the stairwell only to find more security guards waiting for them. Parker heads upstairs and insists that she knows what she's doing.

Voorhees confirms that Sophie and Hardison are fakes, and Hannity figures that they can hold them, recapture Parker, and kill all of them at once.

As Eliot holds off the guards, Parker rigs a line and goes down the center of the stairwell, telling Eliot to bring one of the retinal scanners when he refuses to ride down with her. Hardison gets them an elevator but is locked out. Nate tells him to get out with Sophie and makes a call.

Hannity goes to the conference room and discovers that Sophie has left. Meanwhile, the security guards close in on Hardison only to discover that he's left as well.

Eliot fights his way past more guards and Parker's sexting partner Brian runs into her. She tells Eliot that he's okay and gets to the access door. Using the retinal scanner, she uses Steranko's own system to get in, enter the shell code, and get the canister. However, the system goes into level 4 shutdown.

Fire trucks and news crews arrive outside Wakefield and Nate prepares to steal a hazmat uniform. Archie draws a gun on him and says that Nate is to blame. He made Parker unique, and Nate ruined her. Nate warns that Archie is a thief, not a hitter, and tells him to shoot if he's going to shoot. When Archie hesitates, Nate tells him that he's going to get Parker, and he always planned to.

Rushing and Hannity realize that the team is working with Archie, and they're using the hazmat suits as cover. They go down to the lobby and get into the elevator, and find four individuals wearing hazmat suits. One of them is holding the canister. Hannity and Rushing take them up to an empty floor, and Archie removes his mask and tells them that he's doubling the price. In return, Hannity says that Voorhees will kill all of them, dispose of their bodies in the incinerator, and release the blight. In response, Archie has the other three persons remove their masks, to reveal Janet Lin, a newscaster. She has the entire thing on camera. Nate contacted her and convinced Janet to go inside. Parker got the canister to Archie and escaped through the roof of the elevator.

In the office, Hannity watches as the team drops by the window, escaping on the window-washer platform.

Later, Archie meets with Nate and congratulates him on succeeding, despite how slipshod his operation was. They agree to part as gentlemen. After Nate leaves, Parker admits that her team is undisciplined but good, and Archie figures she can work with that. He thanks her for helping his family, and wishes that he had brought her home. Parker hugs him and admits she wouldn't have fit in with a real family. He points out that she made her own family, and they shake hands. As she leaves, Archie asks for his wallet back and she tosses it to him. Parker goes with Nate, who asks if she's okay. She tells him that they just discussed thief stuff.

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