Leverage Episode 1.13 The Second David Job

Things begin rather intensely as Blackpoole stands in his wing of the art museum with a gun to Nathan's head. Sterling, Maggie and a large group of people watch with panic-stricken faces. Blackpoole asks, "Where are they?" right before Sterling yells for everyone to clear the room. Nathan looks his would-be murderer in the eyes and, rather calmly, asks, "Are you here to shoot me, Ian?"

Three days earlier. . .

In conference room at IYS Insurance, Blackpoole announces that the rather smug Sterling has been promoted to Vice President at the company. His promotion wasn't solely based on the fact that he recovered the First David that had been stolen from Blackpoole three months ago, but it certainly helped.

At the art museum, Sophie pretends to speak on her cell phone to some fictitious significant other while really taking photos of security personnel guarding the art in the Blackpoole Wing. According to the sign she's standing in front of, the Two Davids display will open in three days. Up on the second level, Parker cases the art work in the room.

Back in the conference room, Sterling goes over his plan for IYS. He wants the company to both insure AND secure its clients' pieces of art. No more hiring outside security to take care of this matter-IYS will staff their own guards from now on. Blackpoole fully supports this plan and says his new wing at the museum will be the showcase. When it opens, they will use their own security and only Blackpoole's art-or that of high-profile clients-will be on display as a big show of faith.

At the museum, Eliot, dressed as a security guard, takes notes on a few of the real guards as he walks around the halls. Meanwhile, Hardison dons a hardhat and utility bag. . .

At IYS, Blackpoole shows Sterling his new office-a very spacious corner office at that. When Sterling tells his boss that he doesn't know what to say, someone else answers for him. That someone is Nathan. He swivels Sterling's desk chair around and, with drink in hand, says, "How about, ‘I prefer enclosed spaces.'"

At the museum, Sophie strolls around the Blackpoole Wing taking in various details until-oops! She almost runs right into Maggie, who is looking at a few pieces of the art with another analyst. Sophie quickly turns around and heads in the other direction.

In Sterling's office, Sterling makes threatening remarks towards the slightly tipsy man seated at his desk. Blackpoole steps in and speaks to him. The last time he saw Nathan, he says, he was trying to sell him something. Him and Portia, err, Sophie, right? The fact that Blackpoole knows his crew's real identities doesn't impress Nathan. When he asks him what he's going to try and sell him now, Nathan says he's gotten out of sales. Oh, really? What's he in now? Nathan doesn't skip a beat-theft. At this point, he's outright blunt with his old boss to the point of utter disrespect. He tells him that he's going to be stealing from the Two Davids gallery on opening day. He then helps himself to another drink at Sterling's wet bar.

Meanwhile, in the bowels of the museum, Hardison works his magic with bundles and bundles of wires. Only he knows what he's really doing. . .

Taking a swig of his fresh drink, Nathan asks Blackpoole if he's going to call the police. Of course not. He says Nathan is a sick man who still believes he's responsible for his son's death. Finally, Nathan shows a little emotion-by getting angry. Blackpoole himself turned down the insurance claim for his son's treatment. He might justify it by saying no policy is picked up without a full investigation, but Nathan knows what it really is-stalling until the company doesn't have to spend the money. Multitudes of people have lost their homes and scores of children have died as a result of that policy. Until Blackpoole came along, IYS never automatically denied a claim. Always the heartless businessman, Blackpoole tells him that he has a responsibility for his shareholders. No exceptions, even for personal implications.

The rest of Nathan's crew-or former crew, perhaps-seems to be surprised when they run into each other at the museum. Apparently, they were all working alone-or so they thought. When Sophie notices a laser measuring device flash across a painting she's looking at, she sees Parker up above casing the room. She tells her to leave, but to no avail. Parker says she was there first. In another part of the museum, Hardison emerges from an electrical closet and runs into Eliot. They tell each other to leave-they believe the museum is each of their jobs.

Back in Sterling's chair, Nathan offers Blackpoole a one-time deal. If he resigns as CEO of IYS and donates all of his assets to charity, Nathan won't rob him. Blackpoole scoffs and tells him their little meeting is over before walking out. That leaves Nathan alone in the room with Sterling. He tells him he needs to run, as well, so he can go buy some supplies for his heist.

At the museum, Eliot pauses his argument with Hardison to point out the two guards coming up behind him, but to no avail. Hardison doesn't see them until they call him out and, by then, it's too late. He starts speeding down the hallway away from them towards Eliot. When the guards yell at him, Sophie and Parker notice that the other two of their old crew is at the museum, as well. To make matters worse, Maggie turns around and recognizes Sophie, who then tries to make a clean escape.

Back upstairs, Hardison asks for help and Eliot obliges in the best way he knows how-he grabs his arm and flips him over on his back. As far as the guards are concerned, the problem is averted because it appears as though one of their own is going to take care of the imposter. Eliot puts Hardison in cuffs, tells the other two guards to check upstairs, and shoves his friend(?) into the elevator.

Down on the first floor, Parker and Sophie run out of the museum together. They almost run smack dab into a large group of guards who chase them from the back of the building, which is exactly the direction they were heading, so they turn around to run towards the street. They meet up with Hardison and Eliot who have just run through the doors and all four of them sprint away. Just as it seems the guards are going to nab them, Nathan pulls his car up to the curb at a screeching halt and tells them to jump in. All five of them make their escape unscathed.

Since they no longer have an official headquarters, Hardison takes the group to his new place-a huge mansion on a sprawling estate. The man sure does have taste.

First thing's first-how did Nathan know they'd be at the museum?

Well, it's within a week of the David gallery opening and the wing's security isn't fully staffed-it's the best time to case the place. Plus, Nathan spent a good deal of his life chasing all of them. He knows how they work.

Unfortunately, Nathan's former team doesn't seem to be able to work together anymore. They all begin arguing amongst each other-Eliot berates Sophie for conning her crew, Parker scolds Hardison for saying that he doesn't need them, and so on and so on. This goes on for a few moments until Nathan calls them back to the task at hand. As soon as the heist becomes the main topic once again, the former crew works like a well-oiled machine.

Nathan looks at the security system the museum uses and is impressed. It's quite a good one. Parker tells him that isn't the half of it. The Two Davids are encased in bulletproof glass and standing on a motion sensor pad. The case is also environmentally sealed and kept at a constant humidity. Any change will trigger an alarm.

Hardison says it's not quite as bad as it sounds. He set up a link to the security system and its video feed, so they can get around the motion detector. Eliot reports that the guard rotation is too heavy for a day grab. There are two standing guards stationed there at night.

With all of that information out, Nathan asks a question-why were they all at the museum? They agreed to scatter for six months. Being there was an amateur move.

Parker explains that it was too hard leaving a job undone. It's like an itch. Hardison says the Leverage office was like his second home-he was basically forced to blow it up and he wants retribution. Eliot tells them that, as annoying as they are, he quits a job when he determines when it's time to quit. Nobody decides for him. Sophie just really wanted to hurt Sterling.

Well, that's convenient. Nathan tells them that Sterling is now head of security of the gallery. If they can work together, they can destroy Blackpoole and humiliate Sterling. Hardison points out that it's going to be twice as hard to steal the statues-Sterling knows them and the way that they think, as he's recently proven. No, Nathan, says, it's going to be four times as hard because they know their coming.

Um, what? How do they know that?

Nathan went to their offices and told them, of course.

None of the crew is happy to hear this. Sophie points out that, since they know about this, their response is going to be bigger than anything they've seen before. Nathan responds by saying he's counting on it.

A bit later, they go over what they know. Sophie thinks the roof is the way in, but they have installed alarm sensors on the skylights. No problem-Parker can get around them. Eliot asks if she can get around the 20 new cameras they have in the basement after they lifted the First David last time. She looks at Hardison, smiles coyly, and says that was a fun time. Hardison still wants to talk about what happened down there-when they made out-but they move on. Sophie points out that none of their intel covers anything security measures Sterling might've added since Nathan's little meeting at IYS, so who knows what they might end up getting thrown their way.

Nathan doesn't address this at the moment and asks where the air in the statues' glass case comes from. If they're kept at a constant humidity and temperature, air has to flow in from somewhere. They known it filters in from the base, which means it's hollow. So what's below the base?

Hardison figures it out-it's the restoration room. Everything below Blackpoole's wing is a maze of rooms that are all air controlled. Why didn't they think of that before?

Nathan knows: because they were each trying to solve each part of the puzzle based on their own specialties. They didn't look at the big picture. That's why they work so well as a group.

Anyway. . .

They need to get access to the restoration room-they need someone on the inside. Eliot points out that none of them can run a con because Sterling knows their faces. Parker suggests Maggie-she's definitely on the inside. Sophie doesn't like this idea, of course. Most of the museum staff won't recognize their faces, but they'll all definitely know Maggie. Parker doesn't let up. Using Maggie is a great idea because she's on the inside. Hardison backs her up. They can have Eliot call her as Sinclair to feel her out. Now Nathan doesn't like this idea at all. Sophie reminds him that she's his ex-wife. Parker puts an end to the bickering-if they don't like her idea, what's Plan B?

Nathan doesn't have anything to say-there is no Plan B.

In the museum, Maggie and Dr. Lloyd, Director of the Museum, walk to meet with Sterling and Blackpoole. On the way, Dr. Lloyd sniffles and complains about his allergies. Between coughing and sounding like a complete ball of snot, he seems rather miserable. When the two of them meet the two men in charge, they're told that Sterling is now head of security for his gallery, Dr. Lloyd bristles a bit. They already have security. Blackpoole says it's not good enough. After all, this is no longer a museum-it's a vault with visiting hours. The three men walk off to "discuss" this turn of events and Maggie receives a call from Eliot/Sinclair. He says he's back in L.A. for a while and was wondering if she'd like to get together at some point. Nathan stands over his shoulder as he says this with thinly veiled jealousy and is shocked when Maggie asks Eliot/Sinclair if he'd like to get coffee with her. . .in an hour. It took Nathan ten tries and several weeks to finally get her to have coffee with him for the first time.

A bit later, the two of them sit at a table at an outdoor café. The rest of the crew sits in a parked van across from them in the parking lot. Eliot has an earcom device in, so they can hear everything going on, and Nathan made Eliot wear a button cam. Parker points out that this wasn't really necessary, but, you know, whatever.

When Maggie makes a bit of a verbal pass at Eliot/Sinclair to let him know she's interested, Nathan cringes and Sophie says that it's definitely a date. When Maggie says she hopes that they won't only talk about art because that's all her ex-husband wanted to talk about, Nathan just shrugs. Eliot/Sinclair, feeling completely awkward, tries to get to her to say some nice things about Nathan, but to no avail. She says he was controlling, obsessive and, honestly, awful in bed. Eliot/Sinclair just smiles awkwardly until she drops the real bomb. She tells him that, worst of all, her ex-husband completely forgot that she got him that same exact button cam for Christmas three years ago.

Game over.

Eliot and Maggie walk over to the van and open up the back door. Nathan feebly says that he can explain. . .

Back at Hardison's mansion, the two ex-spouses argue like old pros. Maggie feels affronted because Nathan lied to her about being broke and sleeping in his car. She points to everything around them, including the crew, and wants to know how he intends to explain it all. He tells her they help people. She says they break the law. Nathan counters: they pick up where the law leaves off. Maggie is amazed at how much he's changed-he's not the man she married.

In any case, she wants to know who he's helping by stealing from Blackpoole. She wants to know why Nathan wants her help. This forces Nathan to tell her something that he's neglected to say for a long time. He reveals that he found a treatment that would've helped Sam, their son, when he had stage 4 cancer, but Blackpoole refused to pay for it-even when Nathan told him that they'd mortgaged their house and sold their cars.

Tearfully, Maggie asks why he never told her. She works with IYS-why would he let her walk around being friendly with them like a fool? In the end, he explains that he didn't want her to hate him. She says she would've never hated him. Why would he think she would?

Because he hates himself. He wouldn't have been able to stand seeing her look at him like he looks at himself in the mirror. . .

At the museum, things take a turn for the worse for the crew. Sterling receives a report from his second in command, Geary that, while Eliot used the Sinclair alias when he worked at the museum, he used his real cell phone number as a reference. Someone who works for the museum just received a call from that number-Maggie.

Crap.

Back at the mansion, Nathan finishes going over the plan and Maggie isn't impressed. She can't believe he thinks that'll work. The crew lets her know that, somehow, Nathan's crazy plans pretty much always end up working. It's his superpower.

Nathan asks Maggie if the museum has the inventory he mentioned in his plan. She says she'll have to look into it when she gets back there, but Hardison is a step ahead of her. He's already hacked into the museum's database and hands her his computer. Astounded at his ability, she takes a moment to look at what the museum has. She's says there's only one piece big enough to accomplish what Nathan intends. The crew is pleased. What will it take to get it out of its display and in the restoration room? Maggie explains that they'll have to convince Dr. Lloyd to move it down there. When they all act like this isn't a problem, she's shocked-they can't just make someone do whatever they want. This response gets a laugh. Of course they can-it's what they do best.

Maggie walks through the halls at the museum a bit later with an earcom in place. She can't believe that the rest of the crew doesn't get distracted when he nags them through that thing during a job. Hearing his voice trying to tell her what to do in her head is why she's in therapy. Nathan wasn't aware she's in therapy and wants to know more, but he's interrupted by the crew-they're trying to stay on task. Sophie, who's standing in the museum's Egyptian Room with an earcom, suggests she lead Maggie through this one. Nathan tries to say this isn't necessary, but Hardison stops him. They actually liked the way Sophie ran the last job-until they got caught-so her taking over might work.

Fine.

Maggie asks what Parker used to replace Dr. Lloyd's allergy medicine. Sophie tells her pollen, ragweed. . .and dextramphetamines. Ouch.

Upstairs, Parker "accidentally" runs into Dr. Lloyd, who isn't feeling so hot. She knocks his glasses off and, while he's distracted with picking them up, she pickpockets his cell phone. She walks away and, as Maggie hurries towards him, Parker hands her the cell. When Dr. Lloyd rights himself after picking up his glasses, Maggie hands him his phone and tells him that he left it in her office. He's confused-when was he in her office? Five minutes ago, when they went over the plans for the Two Davids display. They agreed on putting benches next to the statues. Does he not remember that? No no, he says he does. Clearly, he doesn't. She asks if he's feeling okay, to which he answers yes, even though it's clear that what combination of stuff Parker gave him is wreaking havoc to his mind and body. Confusing him is just making it worse. Sophie coaches Maggie on how to steer Dr. Lloyd to her position in the Egyptian Room. She shouldn't state it outright, but just suggest it to get him going. Maggie picks this up like an old pro. She tells Dr. Lloyd she'll bring him the rest of the display plans after his thing in the Egyptian Room and walks away, leaving him questioning his own sanity. He has a thing in the Egyptian Room?

In the museum security room, Sterling goes over surveillance video of what just took place a moment ago with two guards. He sees Parker hand the cell phone to Maggie and tells the guards to keep there cameras on Maggie, even though Dr. Lloyd is there as well. Sterling knows he can trust Dr. Lloyd-it's Maggie he's worried about. Unfortunately for him, keeping his focus on her allows Sophie to show her face around Dr. Lloyd without getting caught.

Dr. Lloyd walks into the Egyptian Room hacking up a lung. He puts his laptop computer down and, before he can check to see if he has an appointment, Sophie walks up and introduces herself as Dr. Rahman of the Cairo museum. She's glad he's there-she was worried she had the wrong day. He begins to say that he thinks she does because he doesn't have a meeting scheduled, but he opens up his computer and sees that it's telling him he has a meeting right now. Nice work, Hardison.

Sophie/Rahman asks him if he's feeling okay because he sounds awful. He says he does, but whatever he has, it's been around for weeks. She moves on nonetheless. They stand before a pharaoh's sarcophagus and she says she's confirmed the markings on it. It's definitely Fourth Dynasty-the sarcophagus of Pharaoh Menkaure. She also tells him that she's happy to see that someone finally showed the sense to ignore all of the curse business surrounding it and put it on display. As she makes her exit, she lets Dr. Lloyd know that she'll certify the authenticity as he requested and tells him to go to a chest. All of his wheezing sounds like it's going to his chest.

Moments after she leaves, Dr. Lloyd jumps on his computer to look up information on this supposed curse. He finds a variety of news clippings and none of them are good. Thanks to Hardison putting some fake articles on the internet, it seems that every museum that's put the sarcophagus on display suffers the untimely death of one of its staff members. In addition to this, the three people who uncovered the sarcophagus have all passed away. Dr. Lloyd looks completely distraught, which Sophie sees as she walks through the Egyptian Room's door. Through the earcom, she tells Maggie to move in and finish the job.

Moments later, she breezes through the door and asks Dr. Lloyd to sign a few papers. He asks her if she believes in mummy curses, mysterious deaths, and other stuff like that. She laughs-of course not. Everybody knows that's all caused by a fungus. Dr. Lloyd doesn't share her laughter. What does she mean? Aspergillus flavus. It's found on Egyptian artifacts and gets in the eyes and nose, and spreads from there. Dr. Lloyd asks what the symptoms are. Well, congestion, memory loss, blurred vision. . .

. . .within the hour, Dr. Lloyd and Maggie watch as three maintenance men load the sarcophagus to an open crate in the restoration room. When Dr. Lloyd leaves, the three maintenance men turn around and their identities are revealed-Nathan, Eliot, and Hardison.

Back at the mansion, Eliot puts together some sort of cable rig and Sophie approaches him. Still fuming about her stealing the Second David, he asks what she wants. Just to be useful, she answers. He tells her the last time she tried that they had to blow up headquarters and scatter. He'd just started getting used to working as a team and really didn't appreciate that. Sophie is stunned into silence when Parker walks in and wants to know what's up. Eliot tells her that Sophie was trying to apologize, even though she denies it. Parker says she tried doing that to her earlier, but she really sucks at it. Hardison strolls in and reports that Sophie gave him the old, "We're thieves, you would've done the same thing" speech before. Eliot gets even more agitated because she came to him last. All three of them stare at her for a moment waiting for a response. Finally, they get one. Sophie says she just wanted to see if they were all "okay." Relieved, the crew takes this as her apology, even amongst her protests. Parker forgives her outright, Hardison does, too. Eliot lets up on the bad attitude towards her. For all intents and purpose, she's forgiven by them. To signify this, Hardison hangs the portrait of the "founder" of Leverage &Associates above the large fireplace in the room.

At the museum, Maggie instructs maintenance guys to set up the Two Davids on a specific spot on the floor, telling them that it'll catch all of the light coming in from the sky light. She looks up and sees Sterling waving down at her from the second floor. It's not quite a menacing gesture, but it's not exactly friendly, either.

Later that day, Blackpoole unveils the Two Davids to the public. His photo is snapped as he thanks his fundraisers and everyone else involved in their display. From above, Sterling watches before Geary pulls him aside. He tells him that photos of Nathan and his crew have been distributed throughout the museum and each guest that comes in is being scanned. Sterling asks about Eliot and Geary goes through his rap sheet, which, for all intents and purposes, is pretty impressive. He's wanted in five countries for various thefts and Sterling smiles. Catching Eliot, in addition to taking care of Nathan's proposed museum heist, will be the icing on the cake. . .

It probably won't be as easy as he thinks because, as he says this, Eliot walks right behind him and Geary, and notes what's just been said about him. He doesn't look pleased.

Geary goes through the rest of the crew's exploits, noting that each one of them is wanted in multiple countries. Sterling visibly relishes the opportunity to catch each one of them and out of the country. Again, he might be a little too cocky-as the two of them speak, they walk past each thief who has somehow made his/her way into the museum completely unnoticed by Sterling or any of his guards.

When they arrive at the security room, Geary says Nathan's name. Sterling says he has something special planned for him, but Geary stops him. He wasn't saying his name because he was about to go through his rap sheet. He points to the surveillance video monitors-Nathan is walking into the museum.

He's stopped at the doors by Blackpoole. What the hell does he think he's doing there? Nathan matter-of-factly tells him that he bought a ticket. Sterling arrives shortly there after with the cavalry, but Blackpoole lets Nathan go. Sterling looks shocked, but after Nathan walks away, Blackpoole tells him his thinking. Conspiracy for robbery will only get Nathan five years in prison. Getting caught in the act will get him twenty. Blackpoole walks away pleased with himself, but Sterling isn't of the same mind. He tells Geary to pull guards from other gallery and have them follow Nathan. Sterling himself is going to scratch and itch. . .

Moments later, he's sitting in the security surveillance room with Dr. Lloyd watching the video of his exchange with Maggie earlier. Sterling wants to know what they talked about. Dr. Lloyd, sneezing and wheezing, assures him that it was nothing of consequence. He just ended up moving a mummy. When Sterling asks why, Dr. Lloyd sheepishly tells him it was for no reason in particular. Still, Sterling is intrigued.

Nathan stands in front of the Two Davids and takes them in when Sterling, Dr. Lloyd, and security guards run past the Blackpoole Gallery. They're heading to the restoration room. . .

Upon arrival, Sterling sees that the sarcophagus's crate is directly below the Two Davids display. He surmises that the person who going to try and steal the statues is going to drill up right underneath them through the base. Dr. Lloyd asks who's going to steal them-Sterling says whoever is hiding in the sarcophagus. He and Geary pry the coffin open and. . .a dusty true-to-life mummy tumbles out.

Point for the Leverage crew.

Then, an alarm starts going off. It seems that Sterling has set something off by opening the sarcophagus. . .

Up above the, the case holding the Two Davids begins filling with a mysterious white gas. After a few seconds, the statues are no longer visible-they're completely enveloped in the smog. Nathan watches this and links up his cell phone to those of the crew. Hardison, who's somewhere in front of an electrical box in the bowels of the building, completes the connection by starting a countdown on each of their phones. Five minutes and counting. . .

Meanwhile, Sterling, his cavalry, Dr. Lloyd and Blackpoole run to the statues. They tell one of the guards to open it, but he says he can't because of Homeland Security. Dr. Lloyd tells them that a mysterious gas has been released in a public space and federal regulations prevent them from messing with it. They have to evacuate-this could be a chemical attack. A scared guest hears "chemical attack" and asks them if they're for real. Sterling assures her that it's not that-it's actually a robbery. She, along with a good number of guests, hears this and runs to the doors. Sterling instructs security to evacuate the building. He tells Blackpoole that they have to follow suit, but he doesn't want to leave. They don't even know if the statues are still in their case. Unfortunately, this doesn't matter at the moment-they have no choice but to get out of there.

In the museum's gift shop, store clerk Parker hands out replica Two Davids statues to a good number of guests. They all stand in the lobby of the museum somewhat confused at what they've been given. Blackpoole sees this and doesn't know what the hell is going on. Sterling does. The thieves are trying to smuggle out the real statues amongst all of the fake ones. He tells everyone to stop evacuating until he can confiscate all of the statues, but Dr. Lloyd tells him they must get everyone out immediately.

Sterling's well-oiled machine has fallen into chaos in a few short moments. . .

In the bowels, Hardison accesses the museum's security system. . .

Now outside, Sterling tells all of the guests to hand their statues to the security guards. Dr. Lloyd tells him that he can do whatever he likes now that they're out of the building.

Out. . .of the building.

Oh, crap.

Sterling rushes to the museum doors and finds them locked, thanks to Hardison. Blackpoole sees what he's doing and soon realizes their mistake-Nathan has gotten them, and almost everyone else, out of the museum. Sterling radios to Geary, who's still in the building, to see what's going on. He reports that someone tripped an alarm on the roof, so they're heading that way. . .

Up there, Nathan stands above an open skylight and hooks himself into a rappelling apparatus. Geary and his men get up there just in time to see Nathan jump through the opening and make his way down into the Blackpoole Gallery, where Sophie, Eliot and Parker wait for him. Once down there, the three of them smile up at Geary. . .then the lights go out and security doors come slamming down in the room, closing off any possible exit.

Time to go to work.

Later, when Geary unlocks the front doors, Blackpoole, Sterling, Maggie, Dr. Lloyd, and a group of guards come back into the building. They make their way to the Blackpoole Wing. Right before Blackpoole opens the security door, Sterling tells Maggie that this is her last chance to come clean. She says he doesn't know what he's talking about as the door opens.

They find Nathan looking straight at them, leaning calmly on the Two Davids case. The gas that had been in there is now gone and the statues are visible. Blackpoole is relieved. Sterling tells Nathan that they've got them, but is a bit unnerved by Nathan's reaction: That was the whole point, he says. Fifteen seconds before the lights come back on, Nathan explains that it was his intention to get Sterling to follow his every move because, in this case, he wasn't the mastermind. . .

. . .he was the bait.

The lights pop back on and everybody finally notices what's happened. All of the other art in the Blackpoole Wing is gone.

Blackpoole is incredulous. The room was locked-how the hell did he get all of the paintings out? He has a bigger problem, though. Dr. Lloyd begins saying that those works are extremely valuable. He's absolutely correct. Maggie says, in total, they're worth $150 million. Dr. Lloyd says they must call the police, but Blackpoole stops him. Those paintings were his personal responsibility. He can't let it get out that they've been stolen.

Nathan agrees-that would be just awful for his career. After all, all of the paintings are insured by IYS. He wonders out loud what the board of directors will do when they realize Blackpoole has lost the company that much money.

With his back to the wall, Blackpoole grabs a gun off of a guard and holds it to Nathan. Sterling clears the room, including Maggie, so it's just him, Blackpoole and Nathan. It's now back to where it all started. . .

"Are you here to kill me, Ian?"

Nathan pays Blackpoole no mind when he doesn't answer right away and tells Sterling the deal. Blackpoole orders him to speak to him after a moment because he's the guy in charge. Or so he thinks. . .

Nathan explains to Sterling that the paintings will be returned to IYS when Blackpoole is stripped of his CEO status and relieved of all of his assets. Also, his policy of denying all claims must end. Sterling points out that this is extortion, but Nathan disagrees. It's oversight. He pulls out a tape recorder and plays the conversation Blackpoole and he had in Sterling's office-the one where Nathan told him outright that he'd be robbing the Two Davids gallery on opening day and asked if Blackpoole is going to call the police. He said he wasn't of course. Nathan tosses Sterling the tape recorder. When the owners of the paintings find out that Blackpoole knew there was going to be a theft and didn't call the police, they're going to sue him for all he's worth. However, if IYS returns the paintings in good faith, they probably won't fire Sterling and just go after Blackpoole.

Sterling, always the opportunist, likes this idea very much. . .

Blackpoole, who's now been played for a fool, turns the gun on Sterling, yelling that he works for him. The two other men in the room, however, are far beyond taking him seriously. When Sterling shrugs, Blackpoole turns his attention back to Nathan. When he says IYS is his company, Nathan makes him eat his own words: personal feelings can't have a place in these situations. It's all about being responsible to the shareholders, right?

Nathan snatches the gun out of Blackpoole's hand and tells him that he's lost his only son-does he really think he's scared of him?

Blackpoole, with nobody else to turn to, runs for Maggie. He doesn't even get the chance to finish his plea for her help before WHAM! She decks him and sends him sprawling. That feels much better than therapy, that's for sure.

Sterling summarizes his role in the whole deal. Nathan's plan wouldn't have worked unless Sterling was a complete self-serving a-hole, huh? Nathan smirks and tells him that that's a stretch. He strolls out of the building and Sterling tells him that he'll call him when it's all done.

Later, Nathan and Maggie sit on the bench next to the Two Davids. She asks him if he thinks he'll stop, he says he doesn't know. She finds this interesting-he's actually admitting that he doesn't know something. He smiles and answers his ringing phone. He hangs up and says it's done-Blackpoole is out as CEO. Time to get the paintings.

The two of them stand and flip the bench cushion up to reveal an opening into the restoration room below. The rest of the crew stands there amongst all of the missing paintings. They make their way into the room next door, using the sarcophagus's crate as a door. As it turns out, the coffin itself wasn't hiding anything. The entire box was a door into the next room. Nathan tells the crew to collect the paintings and put them on the loading dock. That way, it'll look like someone dropped them off from the outside. Maggie hears him giving direction and says he's definitely not the man she married. He asks if she likes this one better. Well, she doesn't love him, but she likes him a little better. She gives him a smile before walking off.

Later, at an airplane hangar, the crew stands looking at each other. Nathan thanks them-they surprised him. Eliot says it was a good run. Hardison says now is a good time to move on. Parker says she's moving on to somewhere else. Sophie says it's time for a fresh start. None of them really believe what's coming out of their mouths. Nathan tells them to remember that they made a difference. Hardison asks Parker where she's going-she doesn't tell him, but says, "Let's see how hard you look.

They're all hesitant to leave-none of them want to be the first one to walk away. When they finally start moving to their individual planes, they only get half way there and stop.

Is this really the end?