{"id":4443,"date":"2015-02-10T08:00:11","date_gmt":"2015-02-10T16:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=4443"},"modified":"2015-01-28T10:47:15","modified_gmt":"2015-01-28T18:47:15","slug":"mark-watches-leverage-s02e03-the-order-23-job","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2015\/02\/mark-watches-leverage-s02e03-the-order-23-job\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Leverage’: S02E03 – The Order 23 Job"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the third episode of the second season of\u00c2\u00a0Leverage<\/i>, I ACTUALLY UNDERSTOOD THOSE\u00c2\u00a0STAR TREK<\/i> REFERENCES AND I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122M VERY PROUD OF MYSELF. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch\u00c2\u00a0Leverage<\/i>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Trigger Warning: For nonconsensual drugging, mysophobia, and child abuse<\/b>.<\/p>\n

Holy shit, this show is so good.<\/p>\n

Revenge<\/b><\/p>\n

You know, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to ignore that there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an uncomfortable element to some of these cons, particularly in how often the Leverage team are willing to drug someone. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a personal issue of mine, I know, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m aware that it probably doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t bother a lot of people. Having been drugged before, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not an experience that you necessarily want to remember. And yet, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t find myself triggered or grossed out by the drugging that happens here, and I wanted to talk about that. The show operates within these revenge narratives, and so I end up finding it meaningful that the team takes these people who normally get away with their crimes, and it forces them\u00c2\u00a0to be accountable for their actions, often through violence, manipulation, challenging their sanity, or other means. Which, in another context, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d feel more apt to complain about! I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t like a reliance on drugging as a plot point in general, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve certainly criticized it before.<\/p>\n

So why doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t this upset me as much as it normally would? I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know that I have an answer, to be honest with y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. I think that Eddie Maranjian is designed to be the kind of character who is unapologetically heinous, like many of the antagonists on this show. He represents such a common and recognizable scumbag that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s almost like the show acts as catharsis. It gives us an outlet for our anger and rage where we normally don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have one, particularly since people like Eddie get away with their crimes all the time. Investment fraud is shockingly popular in my country (and I imagine it is all over the world). The rich get access to things that those below them will never have, like that posh \u00e2\u20ac\u0153prison\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Eddie was going to be sent to. So I watch this show, and I feel a sense of pleasure watching these people get their due, knowing that in the real world, they often don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t.<\/p>\n

I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know that I have an actual point beyond this, haha. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m conflicted, and I wanted to bring up the topic because I think it would be interesting to discuss.<\/p>\n

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

This felt like one of the most complicated cons the show had given us so far because there were more parts than there were team members. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a closed-room scenario, except\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s in an entire hospital where any number of variables can upset their plan. And while Nate and Hardison come up with ways to combat possible changes to their con, a great deal of tension rests in the inevitable moment when this will all fall apart. They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re on a limited schedule to manipulate Eddie into revealing where he hid all the money he stole from his clients, and on top of that? They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got to\u00c2\u00a0also<\/i> con two federal marshals\u00c2\u00a0and<\/i> a hospital staff\u00c2\u00a0and<\/i> a security guard, and that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just ridiculous.<\/p>\n

At least on Eddie\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s part, I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t really doubt that Nate, Parker, and Sophie would be able to trick him. They utilize Eddie\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s mysophobia (commonly known as germophobia!) against him so that his mind fills in the blanks, believing that he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s actually catching a disease that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s utterly fake. And holy shit, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know where Melik Malkasian came from, BUT HE\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S SO GOOD AS EDDIE. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s able to be an utter scumbag one second and then frightened for his life the next. But it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s all the other parts of the con that make this particular case so hard to control. I mean, THE ARMENIAN MOB TWIST WAS WILD. I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t see that one coming. (Neither did Eliot, hahaha. KEEP YOUR EARBUD IN.) Again, bravo to the writers, who have kept me guessing for sixteen episodes straight without me once figuring out how the Leverage team would pull this off.<\/p>\n

Randy<\/b><\/p>\n

I suppose I find it a tad ironic that in my last review, I spoke about how Eliot clearly views the world in a dichotomy: there are those who cause injustice, and there are those who are the victims of it. He is fine being a human punching bag in order to deflect the hits that normally fall on those who are on the receiving end of them. This episode furthers that idea, since he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s able to recognize a vulnerable person in an instant. Now, this could either be because he himself knew what this experience was like or, as I suspect, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s able to care and empathize easily. Like, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d need more information on Eliot\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s past to be able to say that he was definitively abused, since I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d feel uncomfortable stating otherwise. At the very least, Eliot has a clearly defined moral system that recognizes perpetrators and victims, and he knows that Randy is powerless against his abusive father. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so obvious to Eliot that even amidst a ruthlessly complicated con, he cannot ignore the suffering of that kid.<\/p>\n

Look, as someone who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been a victim of numerous types of abuse, both physical and emotional, it means a lot to me to see someone like Eliot fighting for people like me. I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have anyone to turn to as a kid, so I guess this is like wish fulfillment for me. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a fantasy where the knight in shining armor saves me from what happened to me. Hell, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the main dynamic of this show, isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t it? But in Eliot\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s case, the writers are refusing to portray him as some violence-obsessed meathead. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a tenderness to him that roots his behavior. It grounds him in responsibility and accountability, namely in how he accepts his own power and makes others realize his own. He knows that he can help Randy, both by threatening his father and sending the marshal to speak with Randy. He does it because he feels responsible; not for what happens to Randy, but to\u00c2\u00a0stop<\/i> it from happening again.<\/p>\n

I appreciate that. More than you know.<\/p>\n

The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Order 23 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":"