In the eighth episode of the second season of Leverage, Hardison acts as the grifter on a case when Sophie is unavailable, and… well, it’s a bit of a disaster. Just a bit! If you’re intrigued, then it’s time for Mark to watch Leverage.
Well, I figured that Sophie’s characterization was about to take a huge turn, but I didn’t interpret that as her LITERALLY LEAVING BOSTON AND GOING TO LONDON. It’s a good move for her, to get away from the team to sort her life out. And it has IMMEDIATE ramifications for the Leverage team in a way that tells us that they’re just not the same without her. They’re not! That doesn’t mean they’re hopeless, but “The Ice Man Job†demonstrates that while these people are able to do some things without her, she’s integral to their success.
The thing is, Hardison isn’t a terrible grifter, and he’s been an important asset over the course of this show. He’s the most willing to step out of his role as a hacker to help the others, whereas Parker and Eliot are far more reluctant to try and act as grifter. Unless they need to, of course! But Hardison provides a very specific type of grifting for the Leverage team: he is loud, brash, ridiculous, and over-the-top. All of his characters in the past fall along these lines, and it has always worked because the point of those characters was to distract. He was the sleight of hand. He was the person who got people to look the wrong way while the rest of the team did what they needed to.
Think about it! The DJ from “The Wedding Job.†The emotional FBI agent that Hardison plays in “The Bank Shot Job.†The overzealous employee, the janitors, and now, the Ice Man. It’s exactly the kind of character that Hardison can play well, but does he fit for this con? Is this the right way to con Kerrity? Ultimately, I’d say that if the “goons†had not been a part of this con, Hardison could have pulled this off. His performance was just barely ridiculous enough that Kerrity bought him. Of course, without the other men, would Kerrity have even contacted Hardison to laser of the diamond IDs?
It’s a lot of hypotheticals, of course, and we could discuss that forever. The point is that Hardison’s character was too ridiculous and over-the-top in this case because Kerrity’s bodyguards truly thought the Ice Man was real. Which is hilarious to me because Hardison’s accent throughout this episode was good enough for anyone who had NEVER HEARD the specific accent he was attempting. For anyone else? Wow, it was… well, obviously bad. At times, he even switches between two or three different regional accents! The show knows this, though, and Eliot even makes fun of him for it. But it’s part of the story that needs to be told: no one can do accents like Sophie can. No one can grasp the subtle nature of a grift quite like she can either. Again, that doesn’t mean these people are utterly terrible, but this case fell apart spectacularly because she wasn’t there to keep it under control.
And holy shit, this disaster was SO ENTERTAINING TO WATCH. Not only is Aldis Hodge an absolute dream here, but Parker shows off her ever-growing grafting skills, too. That must be acknowledged because SHE TOOK SOPHIE’S ADVICE. She found her own way to let her character’s appearance do the talking for her. Not only is this a great skill for her to develop, but it also shows us how Parker’s figuring out how to socialize with others through the work she does on the team. I LOVE IT. And in a pinch, she and Eliot are able to figure out a way to make it seem like Hardison can break into Kerrity’s safe, and they rescue him from one of the most complicated circumstances we’ve seen on this show. Y’all, this show is so consistently suspenseful!!! Week to week! HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?
Even though Sophie is away from the action, though, the writers still find a way to make her matter, and I appreciate that a lot. It was funny seeing the entire team call her for advice, but I was a little heartbreaking watching Nate call her himself and… well, drop the ball. Sophie was expecting more from Nate. Maybe an “I miss you,†perhaps? Anything to confirm that like the rest of the Leverage team, she was needed. But Nate didn’t saying anything of the sort.
OUCH.
The video for “The Ice Man Job†can be downloaded here for $0.99.
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