- The Leverage team dives into the world of a high fantasy collectible card game with a devoted following to take down a pharmaceutical bad boy who is price-gouging drugs to fund his own house of cards.
- Led by Sophie and Breanna, the team go on a quest to stop a vulture capitalist from ripping off children dying because he hiked up the price on a drug they need and his company produces, and take advantage of his interest in a fantasy collectible card game.—Gislef
- Jenna and her father Michael are walking through the woods, and come to an uprooted tree. Michael gives Jenna her medication on schedule but only gives her one pill, and admits that it's the last one they have even though Jenna is supposed to have two. He hopes that the truck will sell, and she collapses after taking the pill.
Later, Harry and Sophie meet with Michael, who says that Jenna is still in the hospital and has a respirator disease called Swale fever. She gets treatment once a month, and the pill cost went from $30 each to $3,000 each. Michael got laid off six months ago, and the pharmaceutical company, Pendis, got bought out recently by a hedge fund, Cordocorp. He couldn't afford the deductibles and the pills, and the company wouldn't tell Michael the reason for the price hike, Jenna and other kids like her might die because of the price hikes.
The owner, Jim Cordozar, invokes his Fifth Amendment rights at a hearing about his price hikes. The team watch video of the hearing and Harry explains that no legal action was taken against Cordozar, a "vulture capitalist", and he's negotiating with several other pharmaceuticals after his success with Swale fever. What Cordozar's doing isn't illegal, so they'll find his weakness and go after him.
At Cordocorp, Parker and Breana go in with Breana looking for a job there after Parker makes sure the woman Breana would be replacing didn't show up for work. Breana "bumps into" Cordozar's assistant Carter Lagrange and introduces herself, and says the temp agency sent her. Parker is pretending to be a HR rep, making Lucy watch sexual harassment videos. Carter takes the coffee Breana brought in for Cordozar, directly to his boss. Harry and Eliot are at the office watching via Breana's hidden lapel camera, and Harry confirms that Carter is an artificial intelligence expert and Cordozar's key man who writes the programs that helps Cordozar make all the trades. Carter and Cordozar are college friends, and Cordozar exploited Carter's intellect in return for social status.
Cordozar goes off with Carter, and Breana sneaks into Cordozar's office and plans a hidden camera in a lamp. She searches his personal belongings and finds a photo of a castle that she recognizes. Carter comes in and asks Breana what she's doing there, and Breana asks him if Cordozar bought Springer's Castle. He's surprised that Breana recognizes it, and she says that she's a big fan of the game it's the origin for, Spirit's Ruse. Carter says that he wrote an algorithm to find it for sale, and they bond over geek talk. He confirms that Cordozar isn't a fan, but came in second place in a tournament in elementary school. As Breana leaves the office, she tells the others that Spirit's Ruse is the best CCG ever.
Later at the bar, Sophie tells the team that Cordozar can't resist exploiting an opportunity and they can use that against him. Breana briefs the team on Spirit's Ruse, who is a recluse who no one has seen in over a decade. Fans come to the castle once a year for an annual faire and there's a treasure hand to run the super-rare Queen Ziel card. The tournament winner is crowned queen or king of the faire, and they'll convince Cordozar to buy the company that makes the game, while making a fake company to sell him. Then Cordozar will invest all of his assets and lose everything.
The next day at Cordocorp Breana tells Cordozar and Carter that the people she works for want to buy the castle at twice the price Cordozar paid for it. She gives Cordozar a card with a number to call and leaves, and Cordozar tells Carter to follow Breana. Breana leads them to a hangar filled with promo material for the castle. Sophie poses as a developer, and Cordozar figures she wants to turn the castle into a theme park. Sophie says that she's working with someone who will pay double the amount Cordozar paid, even though Carter says Deric Springer would never sell the company. Cordozar tells Sophie that he's going to host the faire for at least the next two years, and Sophie says that she worked for Springer and the designs were what she did for the company. Cordozar doesn't think the company would have sold him the castle if it was worth anything, Sophie claims that Spirit's Ruse will be the beginning of a big franchise, and she'll tear it apart and sell the pieces. Cordozar says that it's a dumb idea and refuses to sell, then leaves. Sophie admits to Breana that they screwed it up... perfectly.
Back at his office, Cordozar confirms that Springer is a recluse that no one has seen for years. He send an email to Springer's last known email address, asking for a meeting. Breana intercepts it, and they send Harry in to pose as Springer, with a fake beard and some extra weight. Harry wants to sell the company because it has made the game into a business, not art, and negotiates as a curmudgeonly artist rather than a lawyer. The real Springer also shows up in Cordozar's office, and Eliot, posing as Harry's lawyer, drags Harry out of sight. Carter has used an analytic program to find Springer, and Springer says that he's ready to sell.
The team regroup at the bar and figure that they messed up by giving Cordozar the idea he could buy the game from Springer. Sophie says that they're not giving up, and what happened when Nate lost his son. Breana ties into the camera feed in Cordozar's office and they listen to Cordozar and Springer talk. Springer doesn't want to hand the game over to a non-fan, and Cordozar says that he has the Queen Ziel card, and shows a photo of it in its original vault Springer will only work from a handshake, and Cordozar is glad to shake with him. The game designer says that they'll shake at the faire on the upcoming Saturday, and Cordozar will walk him through the clues he solved to find the card. They'll trade the card for the company.
Breana tells the team that the Queen Ziel card is the holy grail of the game, and it's hidden in a secret vault in the castle. No one has been ever to solve the clues Springer left to the vault's location, and if they get their hands on the card before Cordozar does, they can kill the deal. They examine the photo and Parker figures she can break into the vault in the photo if they can find it.
The team go to the castle, and Harry will get Parker into the castle as Cordozar shows Springer how he found the vault. Sophie and Eliot will intercept Springer and try to keep him away from Cordozar as long as they can. Breana gives Parker her own note back on her analysis of the clues to the card, and Parker says she doesn't need it because she can find the vault doing the "Parker stuff".
Harry claims to be a member of the local union and distracts the guard while Parker slips in. Meanwhile, Sophie and Eliot slip into an employee to get costumes, much to Eliot's disgust. Breana intercepts Cordozar, Carter, and Cordozar's bodyguard, Bolo, and Cordozar tells her that he's buying the company so she loses. Breana isn't impressed, and Cordozar threatens to have Bolo throw her off the property. She reminds him that he came in second-place in his elementary school tournament, and Cordozar backs down so Breana walks off. Cordozar tells Carter that Springer will see through him in giving him the clues, but if he wins the tournament he'll prove himself worthy. He tells Bolo to find Springer before Sophie does, and make Sophie disappear.
Sophie and Eliot come out wearing costumes, Eliot dressed in armor. They spot Springer and check in with Parker, who says that she's searched everywhere and there is no vault. Breana says that the game is a quest, and the vault is somewhere on the property, hidden. Sophie greets Springer, who is happy that someone at the faire recognizes him, Springer goes to meet with Cordozar, but Sophie convinces him to stay and watch Eliot in the jousting tournament. Cordozar and his group see them and follow.
Carter rigs a pair of glasses with a hidden microphone to get him through the card tournament. Breana tells Harry and Parker that they have to be on a part of the ground where they can't see the castle, based on the first clue. That only narrows it down to half the grounds.
Eliot enters the jousting track wearing an inflatable dragon ring, and Bolo sends two of his men in with instructions to "break" Eliot. His opponent deflates the dragon and the two swordfight, along with Bolo's men. Eliot realizes they're experienced fighters, and Sophie spots Bolo in the crowd. The fight is real, and the crowd cheer as Eliot tosses away his sword and fights hand-to-hand. Everyone applauds as Eliot wins. Meanwhile, Breana is playing in the card tournament and realizes that the lake picture on a card is longer than the pond on the property. She figures the vault in in the space on the lake that isn't on the pond. Parker wonders what kind of mentor she is if Breana is teaching her things, and Harry says that she's the best kind and Breana is trying to connect with Parker, and Parker should let her.
Breana and Cordozar both win and end up playing each other. He tells her that she's going to lose the tournament because she's worried about being nice, and if she wants to be a winner then she has to take and take, and don't worry about who likes her. Breana points out that he's not worried about the kids who can't afford his drugs, and Bolo calls Cordozar and tells him that Sophie is with Springer. Cordozar tells Bolo to get Sophie away from Sophie and over to him.
Springer wants to leave, and Sophie asks him to stay for her sonnet recital. Breana has Sophie say that she's reciting one of his sonnets, and Springer gives in. While Sophie waits to recite, Breana is called back to her match with Cordozar. She realizes that he's cheating and calls a time out, then intercepts the signal to Carter, who says that Breana needs one card to win and Cordozar has an 86% chance of winning, using the same algorithm to calculate the odds that he used to find the vault. Breana tells Harry and Parker, and Parker hesitantly praises Breana.
Sophie gives her typical bad acting performance, and Breana listening in realizes that the clue is in the sonnet. Parker and Harry find the tree mentioned in the sonnet, while Sophie gets into her performance and everyone applauds as Parker finds the tree branch that is secretly a lever that opens the vault. Breana returns to the game, while Parker and Harry enter the vault and discover the card is gone, and Cordozar must have it.
Breana plays the one card she needs to, and Cordozar accuses her of looking through her glasses. She points out that's impossible because he doesn't have a camera built into his glasses. Cordozar has no choice but to toss away his glasses, but calls for a new deck for the final round. Eliot and Sophie find Springer and Bolo, while Harry searches the boxes in the vault and says they might have found something even better.
When Springer and Bolo enter the tent, Cordozar calls a timeout and goes over to greet Springer. Cordozar shows Springer the Ziel to prove he's a fan, and Sophie and Eliot come in. Harry and Parker come in and say that the FDA is going to freeze all of Cordozar's assets. Cordozar hid his own valuable in the vault thinking it was safe, including his research on the cure for Swail fever. They sent the cure to all of Cordozar's competitors, so now the drug treatment is worthless. That's fraud, so even if Cordozar doesn't go to jail, he'll lose his company and banned from ever busying another drug company again. Bolo tries to attack them, and Eliot knocks him out. Sophie points out that Cordozar doesn't have any money to buy Springer's company, and reminds Springer that he promised to sell him the company if Cordozar gave him the card. Springer insists on keeping his word, and Breana asks if he's going to keep his word to her and all the people who love the game he created. She says that Cordozar can't show Springer how he found the vault, and it's more than just a business to all the fans. Breana tells Springer that his game made them feel like they weren't alone in the world, and they could belong.
Springer tells Cordozar that he can't sell him his company, and gives the Ziel to Breana. She takes it as the fans applaud, and she bows to Springer.
Later at the bar, Michael tells Harry and Sophie that Jenna is responding to her new treatments. They got the company's new owners to pay Jenna's bills, and happy they can avoid paying a class action lawsuit. Sophie tells Michael that knowing Jenna and the kids like her will be fine is all the payment they need, and all she needs. Harry and Sophie then go back to the others, who are playing Spirit's Ruse for money with Breana teaching everyone.
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