{"id":4428,"date":"2015-02-02T08:00:45","date_gmt":"2015-02-02T16:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=4428"},"modified":"2015-01-24T18:48:23","modified_gmt":"2015-01-25T02:48:23","slug":"mark-watches-leverage-s01e11-the-12-step-job","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2015\/02\/mark-watches-leverage-s01e11-the-12-step-job\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Leverage’: S01E11 – The 12-Step Job"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the eleventh episode of the first season of\u00c2\u00a0Leverage<\/i>, the team runs a con in rehab, only to discover that maybe someone on their team belongs there. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch\u00c2\u00a0Leverage<\/i>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Trigger Warning: For talk of addiction and alcoholism<\/b>.<\/p>\n

This episode did not go where I expected, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s part of the reason it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s SO GOOD\u00c2\u00a0and<\/i> so deeply uncomfortable. LET US DISCUSS.<\/p>\n

The Con<\/b><\/p>\n

It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just so much fun to see how often the show fucks with their own narrative patterns. I KNOW I ALREADY SAID THIS! But here, we get a con where the Leverage team comes to realize that their villain is\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 well, not much of a villain. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not a hero, either, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s within this grey area that they have to accept that their own roles must change. It seemed incredibly easy to paint Jack Hurley as the antagonist, too! He bolts out of his office when the SEC comes calling; he clearly has stolen hundreds of thousands of dollars; he also appears very willing to spend it without any care in the world. For someone like Michelle Colby, who tried to raise more money for her food bank, this is a clear case of good and bad. It fits perfectly within the Leverage team\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s qualifications!<\/p>\n

Except as \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The 12-Step Job\u00e2\u20ac\u009d unfolds, this only gets more disastrous and more complicated. The introduction of the rival gangs suggests that Jack\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s money problems are worse than just theft, but the bomb? THIS IS MUCH MORE THAN A \u00e2\u20ac\u0153PROBLEM.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00c2\u00a0Someone was willing to kill Jack out of revenge, and I doubted that Michelle Colby had anything to do with that. So what happens when Nate finds out that Jack stole the money\u00c2\u00a0just so he could give it back<\/i>? It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a direct reference to the work the Leverage team does. Is it okay to break the law or do \u00e2\u20ac\u0153immoral\u00e2\u20ac\u009d things if you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re ultimately trying to do good? When do the means justify the ends?<\/p>\n

Thankfully, the writers don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t ignore that Jack\u00c2\u00a0still\u00c2\u00a0<\/i>stole, and they also don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t ignore the fact that most people wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t exactly feel thankful for such an act. I was so thrilled that Jack didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t \u00e2\u20ac\u0153get\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Michelle\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s affection or gratitude by the end of this episode. That wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t the point. The Leverage team had to re-assess their job, but Michelle was still the true victim here. Jack\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s theft raised the ire of the multiple international groups, so it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not like he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s entirely innocent. He just had good intentions that got horribly muddled along the way. In the end, Michelle gets her money, Jack gets a new identity and a chance to start over, and the gangs all believe that Jack is dead.<\/p>\n

Eliot\/Hardison<\/b><\/p>\n

I think nearly every character in this show got something from this job, though. And I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d like to think that Hardison came to respect Eliot for his work in this episode, as well as vice versa. This is the first time (I think!) that both characters worked the entire job with one another, and GOOD LORD, they went through some\u00c2\u00a0shit<\/i>. That bomb sequence was not at all okay, but I think it demonstrated to Eliot that Hardison does have some value in the field. Would Eliot have been able to escape that situation if Hardison was not there? And Hardison is not exactly a great fighter, so he relies mostly on Eliot\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s know-how.<\/p>\n

I ship them, for the record. Did you even have to ask after that one scene?<\/p>\n

Parker<\/b><\/p>\n

Her role in this episode was the most exciting and surprising one for me. At no point did I feel like the writers were belittling her for finding solace and guidance in rehab. Gods, that whole bit where Sophie explains to Dr. Frank why Parker needed a place like Second Act is so wonderful, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. The truth is that Parker\u00c2\u00a0does<\/i> need extra care because of what happened to her as she was growing up. Within the framework of that kind of therapy, she actually makes genuine progress in understanding\u00c2\u00a0why<\/i> she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s developed such an affinity for stealing. AND IT\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S TREATED AS VALID BY THE NARRATIVE ITSELF. I just love Parker a lot, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all??? A WHOLE LOT.<\/p>\n

Nate<\/b><\/p>\n

Like I said, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s very easy for me to empathize with Nate and his alcoholism, even if it manifested in me in a way that was drastically different from him. I was not a public drunk, and if you went back to my high school and asked anyone about my drinking, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d be hard-pressed to find anyone who even knew I\u00c2\u00a0did<\/i> drink. My alcoholism was a coping mechanism, a way of dealing with the trauma of abuse and to escape the existential despair I felt in that awful, oppressive city I lived in. With that came a pervasive shame, one that made me hide my drinking in plain sight. I wanted desperately to feel accepted, and yet I was terrified of anyone finding out that I was doing something so\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 what? Sinful? Wrong? Evil? I toyed with how to define it, and I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even know if I ever did. I just knew that I had to keep it a secret because I was aware of how bad it was.<\/p>\n

The denial was the worst part, though, because I\u00c2\u00a0knew<\/i> I was addicted, and I gave myself every possible reason to keep it going. I enabled myself, I justified it as normal, and I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t stop until it got so bad that I nearly didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t come back from it. The days after I stopped (and became straight edge, incidentally) were horrific. Sickening. Unbearably painful. It was a nightmare to have to fight an addiction, and I did it cold turkey and completely alone. I couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t ask anyone for help because then I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d have to deal with the shame of people finding out, and I knew\u00c2\u00a0that<\/i> would lead me to drink, too. I quit over the Thanksgiving weekend in 2001 because I knew I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d have time off from classes, and I holed myself up in a friend\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s bedroom, sweating and crying, and it is not something I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d ever like to relive.<\/p>\n

So it was hard watching Nate because I know how powerful an addiction can be. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s powerful enough to make you do irrational things in the face of undeniable evidence. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s powerful enough to make you manipulate those around you into feeling complicit in your disease. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s powerful enough to control every aspect of your life. It makes me sad that while Parker found joy in Second Act, Nate just found more anger. He found more justification for his behavior, and despite that Sophie tried as hard as she could to get him to be honest, his addiction was stronger than his willpower.<\/p>\n

It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just so distressing to watch, and I hope Nate finds a way to beat it.<\/p>\n

The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The 12-Step Job\u00e2\u20ac\u009d can be downloaded here for $0.99<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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

– Mark Does Stuff is now on Facebook<\/a>! Feel free to Like the page, which I’m running myself, for updates and SILLINESS.
\n– If you would like to support this website and keep Mark Does Stuff running, I’ve put up a detailed post explaining how you can!<\/a>
\n– Please check out the MarkDoesStuff.com<\/a>. All Mark Watches videos for past shows\/season are now archived there!
\n– My Master Schedule<\/a> is updated for the near and distant future for most projects, so please check it often.\u00c2\u00a0My next Double Features will be\u00c2\u00a0The Legend of Korra<\/i>, seasons 2 – 4, series 8 of\u00c2\u00a0Doctor Who<\/i>, and Kings<\/i>.<\/b>
\n– The 2015 Mark Does Stuff tour is being announced!!! Check my Tour Dates \/ Appearances page<\/a> often to see if I’m coming to your city!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"