Mark Watches ‘Leverage’: S03E04 – The Scheherazade Job

In the fourth episode of the third season of Leverage, Hardison is given a near-impossible task in order to help prevent an assassination. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Leverage. 

Goddamn, what an episode. Where do I even start??? This was terrifying in a whole new way (OH LORD, PERFORMANCE ANXIETY IS THE WORST), and it nearly made me cry, and it was uncomfortable, and GIANCARLO ESPOSITO.

h e l p

Wadata

Okay, not sure why the show felt the need to invent a fictional African country, but I understood that it was meant as a stand-in for Sierra Leone or somewhere along the Ivory Coast. The concept here is based on some truths, though, and we’re meant to dislike Moto because he exploits people from his people so he can better his own life in the States and back home in the country. It works, and Esposito is so charismatic and unnerving as Moto that I bought the part with little question.

Hardison

But this con – which must take Moto out in a way to prevent him from running his home country – involves Hardison pulling off a grift that would have been better suited for someone like Sophie. He brags to Nate at the opening of “The Scheherazade Job” that one day, he could probably run his own crew like Nate does. Thus, most of this episode is a test, albeit one that Hardison accepts entirely on his own. Can he see every angle necessary to make this heist work? Can he become the Wadatan immigrant whose masterful violin playing inspires Moto to let down his guard?

I don’t think Nate ever once doubted Hardison’s skills. He knows Hardison is the best hacker around. He’s also relied on Hardison’s grifting – which is often over-the-top and ridiculous – to make cons work or to distract so that a heist can go more smoothly. The problem here is doubt. When Nate and Sophie realize that they have the perfect opportunity to con Moto, they go ahead and set it up without asking Hardison whether or not he can actually do what they require. Look, I wouldn’t even consider myself a mild expert of composers or classical music, AND EVEN I KNEW THAT KORSAKOV’S SCHEHERZADE WAS SUPER DIFFICULT TO PLAY ON THE VIOLIN. To make matters worse, a significant portion of the heist depended on Hardison being able to play the violin perfectly at the exact moment needed.

On the one hand, I felt really bad for Hardison. It’s not comforting to see him panic like this; even in the past, when faced with monstrous hurdles, he never got this anxious. I can understand the performance anxiety aspect of it. I still get nervous these days before I do my own events and readings. I actually have a little freak-out about half an hour before an event that allows me to get those feelings out. But Hardison’s fear wasn’t just because he’d have to perform in front of a large, hyper-critical audience. No, he wasn’t even sure HE COULD PLAY THE VIOLIN AGAIN.

So did Nate go too far here? At the very least, Parker, Sophie, and Hardison are justifiably disturbed by Nate’s decision to use hypnosis (WHO DID HE LEARN THAT FROM IN PRISON???) in order to give Hardison the confidence he needed. I’m guessing that Nate thought this would be inspiring, that he would be praised for figuring out a way to give Hardison what he needed in order to pull off that solo. But Hardison was so jazzed to have been able to find his zone, y’all! Did you see how thrilled he was when he was talking to Parker? And then in swoops Nate, to take it away from him by taking credit. Hardison has every right to feel upset about this.

Musical Design

One of the absolutely coolest things this show has ever done is set that heist to Schehezerade. The fight sequences? Perfectly timed and in-sync. It was a brilliant choice to highlight the unbearably tension of that whole scene. Would Hardison be able to pull this off??? Could they time it all perfectly so that no one would hear the explosions? AM I GOING TO SURVIVE THIS EPISODE?

And then Hardison was hitting every note perfectly, and I don’t even care if Aldis Hodge wasn’t truly playing. THAT MOMENT WAS SO EMOTIONAL. It was so powerful that the rest of the team forgot they were in a vault. How does that not speak volumes about the incredible nature of what Hardison accomplished? The team was shushed into distraction. INCREDIBLE.

The video for “The Scheherazade Job” can be downloaded here for $0.99.

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