Leon | |
---|---|
Species: | Human |
Allies: | Whiterose Elliot Alderson "Hot" Carla Ernesto Santiago Otto Irving Tyrell Wellick Darlene Alderson Dominique DiPierro |
Enemies: | Sunil "Mobley" Markesh Shama "Trenton" Biswas |
Status: | Alive |
Portrayed by: | Joey Badass |
“ | Do you want to be here, right now? And I don't mean here-here, I mean here in a cosmic sense, bro. Like... existence could be beautiful, or it could be ugly. But that's on you. | ” |
— Leon |
Leon is a friend of Elliot Alderson during the latter's prison sentence, joining him for meals and basketball games. He is extremely friendly and talkative, and frequently waxes philosophical about situational comedies. In secret, he is an agent of the Dark Army, assigned to protect Elliot during his prison term, among other jobs. Leon has extensive connections within the penitentiary, trafficking in contraband like pornography and drugs.
Leon is later utilized by the Dark Army to carry out various tasks which include transportation, murder, and protection.
Leon eventually becomes a freelance agent. He is hired by the Aldersons to transport Darlene and Dominique to the Boston airport.
He was portrayed by Joey Badass.
History[]
Leon grew up in Brooklyn. He has two younger sisters, who he helped raise. He is otherwise very reluctant to talk about his background; when asked about the reason for his incarceration, Leon said that he was doing a "favor for a friend", and left it at that. (“eps1.91_redwheelbarr0w.txt”)
Season 2[]
Leon strikes up a conversation with Elliot on his first day in prison. Undeterred by Elliot's silence, Leon advises him to find allies and establish a routine, offering to connect him with contraband. Elliot requests a notebook. (“eps2.7_init5.fve”)
When he and Elliot aren't together at mealtime, or at the basketball court, Leon works at the prison library, watching DVD box sets on the computers. During the course of Elliot's prison term, he heralds Mad About You as an artistic triumph, and begins watching Seinfeld. Though he initially struggles with its nihilist philosophy, Leon comes to enjoy the series - with the exception of the Soup Nazi, as people obsessed with rules "bug the shit out of him". (“eps1.91_redwheelbarr0w.txt”)
Watching one of the basketball games, Leon fails to return a ball that bounces under the stands, angering one of the players. Leon makes a show of throwing the ball away, deliberately sparking a confrontation; Ray Heyworth intervenes, retrieving the ball and reminding Leon to behave. As the players return to the game, Ray muses on the social dynamics of power and performance. (“eps2.0_unm4sk-pt2.tc”)
Hoping to rid himself of Mr. Robot, Elliot asks Leon for Adderall. Leon advises him to be careful with the dosage. (“eps2.1_k3rnel-pan1c.ksd”)
When Elliot brings a chessboard to lunch, Leon offers to play a game, and discusses chess as a method of self-improvement. When Elliot says that he's playing for "existence", Leon applauds the stakes, but asks why Elliot is passively waiting around. He encourages Elliot to dream of his ideal future, one that he is willing to fight for. (“eps2.2_init1.asec”)
Leon's loyalties are finally revealed when Elliot is menaced by a group of white supremacists. Armed with a knife, Leon takes down all four single-handedly. He tells Elliot to expect a letter the following Tuesday, and asks him to put in a good word with the Whiterose the next time they meet. (“eps2.5_h4ndshake.sme”)
Soon afterwards, Leon is released from prison. He leaves Carla a business card for "Art Vandelay, Importer/Exporter", in case of emergency. (“eps1.91_redwheelbarr0w.txt”)
Later, in Arizona, Leon approaches Mobley and Trenton, asking them for the time. (“eps2.9_pyth0n_pt2.p7z”)
Season 3[]
Leon escorts Mobley and Trenton back to their home and holds them hostage at knifepoint, murdering Mobley's roommate when he refuses to comply. After driving out to the desert to bury the roomate's body, he is surprised when Trenton and Mobley try and fail to escape in his car, and forces them to dig the remainder of the roommate's grave. Upon returning Mobley and Trenton home, he calmly parts ways with the hackers, leaving their fates in the hands of a group of Dark Army soldiers.
Later, Leon returns to New York under new orders from the Dark Army and waits for Elliot at the latter's apartment. He is surprised when Elliot returns with Angela Moss and openly mistakes her for a call girl. Angela in turn accuses him of eavesdropping on them, though he calmly denies it. After Angela leaves, Leon escorts Elliot to the meeting with Whiterose and leaves him in the company of Dr. Wang, once again parting with his charge on good terms.
By the time Otto Irving arrives with Elliot at a barn outside the city, Leon has been helping keep an eye on the captured Darlene and Agent Dominique DiPierro, along with Ernesto Santiago and two other Dark Army agents. When Irving, Santiago and DiPierro leave, Leon remains inside to help guard the Aldersons. After Dominique returns shaken, having witnessed Santiago's brutal murder by Irving, Leon offers her some weed to ease the tension, but she refuses. Eventually, when the meeting turns sour after Elliot threatens to expose the Dark Army, Leon puts a gun to Darlene's head and forces him to cooperate.
Season 4[]
Leon appears in the motel room rented by Darlene Alderson. Dominique discovers him and displays shock and fear, which Leon does not appear to register. Dominique questions his lack of memory of her, but has to bring up literal details of the barnhouse encounter for Leon to recall their prior meeting. Leon, who has been focused on rolling papers, responds with a lighthearted laugh when he remembers her. Leon states, "that's on you babe. I'm full freelance now. Only loyalty is to the almighty paper". Darlene enters and apologies for not warning Dom about Leon's presence. Leon brings up, "Three Days of the Condor", and is disappointed Darlene has not seen it.
Dominique remains suspicious of Leon while he drives Darlene and Dominique to the airport. Leon becomes the third person to tell Dominique to rest. Dominique notices that he is not taking the standard route to Boston. Leon explains that Connecticut is full of Dark Army RWA's ("Rich White Assholes") and thus "Were taking the scenic route".
Leon declares they must find a rest stop soon as he has consumed too much Code Red Mountain Dew and he needs to steal a mirror. When they stop at the Hamden Dam, Darlene repeats to Dom that Leon told her that he needed to "piss red and steal someone's mirror?" Leon is angry they do not understand the Kurt Vonnegut, parallel worlds nod reference and ponders "what is happening to literacy in America these days?".
Upon arriving at the airport, Leon asks Darlene if she's interested in working with him in the future. He explains that he her rewards are more savory than his regular jobs. Darlene does not turn down the offer completely and states that she will consider it.
Leon's final statement to Darlene may reveal why he ended up working with Dark Army to begin with as he is once again appearing to seek employment with those operating under pretense of philosophical reason rather than simply for "the almighty paper".
Personality[]
Despite being a prominent member and a vicious hitman for the Dark Army, Leon is charismatic and empathetic. He is friends with Elliot and loves talking about 90's Sitcoms and such. Being a hitman, he is highly trained with knives and guns. Apart from that, Leon is geeky and loves smoking weed.
However, he obviously isn't just a good guy. He does whatever the Whiterose tells him to do, whether it be that he watches over Elliot in jail, or killing someone. He is therefore extremely loyal to the Dark Army.
Leon is extremely anti-nihilistic and values life a lot. He makes a speech to Elliot about his views on nihilism.
Trivia[]
- Leon is the first ever character in media portrayed by Joey Badass.
- Leon's character might have been inspired by Léon, the New-York hitman from the 1994 French thriller film Léon: The Professional.