Eliot and Hardison
Without a doubt my favorite relationship in this show is the relationship between Elliot and hardison. They're sarcastic back and forth has delivered some of my favorite leverage moments.
shareHardison was too over the top and too sure of himself to even listen to Elliot who was right most of the time
shareSarah, did you watch any episodes beyond the pilot? Because it sure doesn't sound like you were watching the same series I was.
We provide ... Leverage.
I've watched the entire series series several times and have all the dvds,. The episode gone fishing where Elliott knows where he is going and how to mask his scent, Hardison was constantly arguing with him. The cooking episodes, Elliott had all the experience and Hardison kept telling him he was wrong. He would not listen when he had to play the part of the wine guy in the lonely hearts episode. He had to take charge in the episode with Damien Moreau saying he was going to play this one part and Elliott tried telling him that would not work. He jumps in with these grandiose ideas, when simple would work better. I could go on.
shareWell, always replying with a simple "check!" and do as asked would have made for boring tv.
Besides? Hardison just liked to rile Eliot up and tried to outsmart him because he was obviously irked that Eliot was more than just muscles. It was part of their brotherly charm.
Sarah, Eliot and Hardison had a squabbling sibling type relationship, wherein they had different approaches to problems. But ultimately, they always worked together to accomplish the goal. While on the surface they often disagreed, and needled each other, underneath they had a healthy respect, and growing affection for each other. To say that Hardison was always over the top, or that Eliot was always right, merely reveals that you liked one character much more than the other. To take just one of your examples, Hardison was doing his best to follow Eliot's instructions while playing the sommelier in the Lonely Hearts Job, where he clearly recognized and respected Eliot's superior knowledge in that area. The Grave Danger Job and the Rundown Job are just two of the episodes that give a much clearer picture of their relationship than what you have posited.
We provide ... Leverage.