Leverage

Thanks, Jim.

See you soon.

Tell your mom I hope she feels better soon.

Will do. Thanks, Tabitha.

What are you doing here again?

I'm gonna have to write you up, Ms. Delavega.

What for this time, Oscar?

Last week, it was what --

a leaky water heater and exposed wires?

Neither were true.

Loose tiles.

Somebody might get hurt.

You've got to be kidding me.

You don't fix these safety violations...

City's gonna shut you down.

Didn't our class vote you "most likely to succeed"?

Wonder what they'd say if they could see you now.

Hardison, you've gone too far this time.

Hey, man, we're in Portland.

Got to do as the hippies do.

I have no problem going green, all right?

I put in your tank-less water heater

and your low-flow faucet and all your solar-powered crap.

But composting, dude?

Seriously, it stinks in here.

That, my friend, is the sweet smell of sustainability.

Now let's see what's next.

Oh, we got some recycling bins.

You got to put those in.

There's a cardboard crusher -- very effecti--

Since we lost dad,

I've been running things on my own.

I know it's a small store, but he built it.

You know, it reminds me of him.

I just don't know how much longer I can keep it going.

Value!More opens tomorrow.

There's three already in spitting distance.

All those neighborhoods became a ghost town within a year.

Mom-and-pop stores closed up, and the folks just left.

Why do you think the city's in on it?

Because Value!More got the property re-zoned

without even a public hearing.

We found out too late they had already bought the building.

That makes it tougher to stop them.

I mean, that ship has sailed.

Well, now stores like mine

are getting hit with trumped-up city fines.

Somebody's definitely getting their palm greased.

What they're doing is, they're pushing people around.

They want you to take notice.

Some people are excited about it.

They have no idea what it's gonna do to our town.

Little towns like ours --

there's something special about them.

Once that's gone,

I just don't think we can get it back.

It's so cute here.

Ms. Cowan, did you know Apple Springs

is home to the nation's largest garden gnome?

First, yawn.

Second, we are not here to sight-see, Abigail.

We are here to work.

Yeah, it's Anna.

And, Ms. Cowan,

I just wanted to say what an honor it is to work with you.

You're the best regional team leader

Value!More has ever had.

What are you thinking about?

Pharmacy.

I give it two months.

Bakery -- three weeks, tops.

Candy shoppe with an "e."

Oh, grocery.

This is a toughie.

Hanging on for dear life.

Sweet, huh?

Bye-bye.

Man, she's a beauty, don't you think?

No, I'm not gonna miss this.

Look, you've got the right to know.

I've decided this is going to be my final business trip.

Oh, my God. You're quitting.

Please.

I have been on the road for Value!More for 15 years -- 15.

I'm tired of the airplane food,

the hotel bedbugs, and the jet lag.

There's a corner office

and a parking space at corporate with my name on it --

or there soon will be.

And you're gonna help me get it.

I am?

In two weeks, we're gonna have this place

up and running like a well-oiled machine.

Apple Springs won't know what hit it.

Okay.

So, yeah, I'm casting the new season -- "Devereaux."

I'm gonna be the new Stanislavsky.

Well, it's amazing,

except that Devereaux's not even your real name.

Pff! Details.

You're not listening to what I'm saying.

I'm talking about saving a small town.

From what?

What's -- what's going on?

Eliot found us a client,

but Hardison doesn't think it's a client.

It's not a client.

Look.

A big-box store is gonna destroy a small town,

and I want to save it -- Is that not what we do?

Value!More?

It's -- it's a huge brand.

They started with one store, and they grew like a weed.

It's an American dream.

Each store is ginormous.

I mean, they probably supply hundreds of jobs.

And thanks to their low prices,

my Nana was able to feed all us kids when money was tight,

and money was always tight.

So what are you saying about the people who shop there?

I'm saying they were lied to, all right?

This family-friendly act is all bull--

No, he's -- he's right.

I've had Value!More on my radar for a while.

What they do is, they bribe local governments

for tax and real-estate subsidies.

Look, and you're right.

A new store will make new jobs, okay?

But it also kills all the mom-and-pop shops,

and that hurts the town double.

Not to mention all the factory jobs that are outsourced to --

to foreign sweatshops.

Now, full-time workers should get health insurance, right?

Well, to get around that, Value!More --

they don't even offer full-time jobs.

Wait. If they're so bad, why haven't we hit them yet?

'Cause they're too big.

"Too big."

We overthrew a government in a foreign country.

A small foreign country.

Look, Value!More, what they earn in a year --

it trumps the GDP of most first-world nations.

And they're gonna have an army of executives.

Exactly.

So there's no single weak spot to target.

I mean, you can't just take down the entire company.

All right, then one store.

This store.

You'd -- you'd have to...

You'd have to nip it in the bud, though.

I mean, you know, you'd have to close the store

before it even opened.

And when is it opening?

Tomorrow.

Tomorrow?

Okay. Better move fast.

Is anybody thinking here?!

We are selling hot dogs! So what do we need?!

We need ketchup, mustard, relish!

- Go! - Oh, sure, Ms. Cowan. Uh, uh --

go!

Hardison, there's a woman running the show here.

She's not on the roster.

That's because she doesn't work in apple Springs.

She was sent by corporate.

Caroline Cowan, regional team leader.

Company veteran.

She moves from store to store and gets them up and running.

Well, she's the one to look out for.

We'll set up surveillance on her.

Fancy digs.

Oh. Well, that's one thing Value!More's good at

is pinching pennies.

Okay, guys, there's only three Value!More stores

that have ever closed in the past.

The first one was over a land dispute.

So that will be our way in.

Oh, they don't wash these, do they?

No, no. Okay.

Yes, Ms. Cowan.

Taking your luggage to your room right now -- room 32.

Okay.

You're gonna be playing Dr. Ellie Sattler,

ex-pat, environmental activist.

Hmm? What?

I have to -- what?

Are you serious?

Mm-hmm. No.

People study for like years to learn this stuff,

and you want me to do it in like 20 minutes?

"Eryth-ocroc-ra-tes...

Erythrocytes. ...Glomerul-- aliq...wot.

Aliquot.

It's probably not even a real --

it's, like, names of dinosaurs or something.

Dinosaurs were real.

There. Now you finally got it.

Gudong.

G-gudong?

It means "shareholder."