{"id":4390,"date":"2015-01-22T08:00:52","date_gmt":"2015-01-22T16:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=4390"},"modified":"2015-01-12T14:40:20","modified_gmt":"2015-01-12T22:40:20","slug":"mark-watches-leverage-s01e04-the-snow-job","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2015\/01\/mark-watches-leverage-s01e04-the-snow-job\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Leverage’: S01E04 – The Snow Job"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the fourth episode of the first season of\u00c2\u00a0Leverage<\/i>, a case involving a slimy company\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s exploitation of disaster victims brings up bad memories for Nathan. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch\u00c2\u00a0Leverage<\/i>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Trigger Warning: For discussion of alcoholism and grief<\/b>.<\/p>\n

I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think that \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Snow Job\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is ever truly specific about what it is that causes Nathan to drink so heavily throughout the events of this episode, but I think that early scene between Nathan and Wayne is the clue. Wayne unknowingly appeals to Nathan\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s protective sense by invoking his own son, and from that moment on, Nathan drinks. Does he do this in order to hide away his own feelings towards what happened to his son? That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s my best guess. I imagine that unlike Wayne, Nathan had no one to turn to when his company refused to cover his son\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s life-saving medical procedure.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, though, this doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t mean that Nathan\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s work here is powered by some sort of revelatory motivation. Instead, Nathan increasingly relies on alcohol to \u00e2\u20ac\u201c what? Soothe the pain? Help him think? Distract him? Whatever the justification for it, Nathan finds that his team isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t terribly pleased with the result of this. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a rough thing to watch, especially when the\u00c2\u00a0audience<\/i> starts to wonder whether or not Nathan knows what he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s doing. On top of that, the issue at hand within \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Snow Job\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is a very real thing. What the Retzig company does here was not made up by the writers; that sort of predatory behavior really did happen to people who were victims of Hurricane Katrina. (Among many other things that targeted, for the most part, the black poor in New Orleans and the surrounding parishes.) And unlike past episodes, this story is about an entire LEGION of victims, all stemming from one single case.<\/p>\n

So, I do understand why Nathan changes the con as often as he does. This went from Nathan projecting his own fears and grief on Wayne Scott\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s case into something a whole lot bigger and a whole lot more disturbing that the Retzig\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s taking advantage of a single family. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the portrait we get of their lives; these people are greedy, entitled, and spoiled. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s who they are. This is not a momentary thing! As we get to know Dennis, Randy, and Henry, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s very obvious how despicable these people are. Calling back to what I wrote earlier this week, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why\u00c2\u00a0Leverage<\/i> can be so rewarding to watch. The villains are so obviously horrible people, but they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re often the kind of folks who rarely face the negative repercussions of their actions. Over the course of an episode, we get the chance to entertain the fantasy that there is a group of people dedicated to ruining the lives of those who have ruined others\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 lives.<\/p>\n

And what a perfect bunch of people that is, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. God, how is it that I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m so entertained by these characters interacting with one another this early into the show? I loved watching Eliot and Parker sneak into the Retzig house. I love that Parker is so horrified by the concept of not getting money, yet she still wants to help others out. (Though, real talk: What happened between her and her father? I feel like that was a little too close to home. LORD.) I ABSOLUTELY LOVED THAT HARDISON WAS CRYING OVER THE FAMILY GETTING THE RETZIG HOME INSTEAD OF THEIR OWN. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s even some more backstory given to us about Nate and Sophie\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time together, namely that they hadn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t spoken to one another in two years before he brought her into the Leverage team. Obviously, his drinking was a problem then, too, enough that Sophie is still concerned that he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not actively trying to\u00c2\u00a0improve himself. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m curious what the rest of the team thinks of these two, since it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no secret to them anymore that Sophie and Nate were at item at one point. But I think the show is deliberately not delving into the personal lives of these characters very much because it reinforces the notion that they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re still strangers, more or less, who have only just started to socialize with one another. (Albeit through work.) Yeah, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s some attraction between Hardison and Parker, but I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not surprised that the show hasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t taken it and run with it quite yet. I like that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s building slowly. I know I crave serialized television a LOT, but that isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t a dealbreaker for me. These cases have been a lot of fun to try and figure out, too. ONE DAY, I WILL GET ONE. Today? Not that day.<\/p>\n

The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Snow Job\u00e2\u20ac\u009d can be downloaded here for $0.99<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n

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