In the eighth episode of the second season of\u00c2\u00a0Leverage<\/i>, Hardison acts as the grifter on a case when Sophie is unavailable, and\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 well, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a bit of a disaster. Just a bit! If you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re intrigued, then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch\u00c2\u00a0Leverage<\/i>.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Well, I figured that Sophie\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s characterization was about to take a huge turn, but I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t interpret that as her LITERALLY LEAVING BOSTON AND GOING TO LONDON. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s 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\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re just not the same without her. They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not! That doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t mean they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re hopeless, but \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Ice Man Job\u00e2\u20ac\u009d demonstrates that while these people are able to do\u00c2\u00a0some<\/i> things without her, she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s integral to their success.<\/p>\n
The thing is, Hardison isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t a\u00c2\u00a0terrible<\/i> grifter, and he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been an important asset over the course of this show. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s 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\u00c2\u00a0distract<\/i>. 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.<\/p>\n
Think about it! The DJ from \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Wedding Job.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d The emotional FBI agent that Hardison plays in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Bank Shot Job.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d The overzealous employee, the janitors, and now, the Ice Man. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s exactly the kind of character that Hardison can play well, but does he\u00c2\u00a0fit<\/i> for this con? Is this the right way to con Kerrity? Ultimately, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d say that if the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153goons\u00e2\u20ac\u009d had not been a part of this con, Hardison could have pulled this off. His performance was just\u00c2\u00a0barely<\/i> ridiculous enough that Kerrity bought him. Of course, without the other men, would Kerrity have even contacted Hardison to laser of the diamond IDs?<\/p>\n
It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a lot of hypotheticals, of course, and we could discuss that forever. The point is that Hardison\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s character was too ridiculous and over-the-top in this case because Kerrity\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s bodyguards truly thought the Ice Man was real. Which is hilarious to me because Hardison\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s 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\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 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\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s 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\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t mean these people are utterly terrible, but this case fell apart spectacularly\u00c2\u00a0because<\/i> she wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t there to keep it under control.<\/p>\n
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\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S ADVICE. She found her own way to let her character\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s appearance do the talking for her. Not only is this a great skill for her to develop, but it also shows us how Parker\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s figuring out how to socialize with others\u00c2\u00a0through<\/i> 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\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s safe,\u00c2\u00a0and<\/i> they rescue him from one of the most complicated circumstances we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve seen on this show. Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, this show is so consistently suspenseful!!! Week to week! HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?<\/p>\n
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\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 well, drop the ball. Sophie was expecting more from Nate. Maybe an \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I miss you,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d perhaps? Anything to confirm that like the rest of the Leverage team, she was needed. But Nate didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t saying anything of the sort.<\/p>\n
OUCH.<\/p>\n
The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Ice Man 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. In the eighth episode of the second season of\u00c2\u00a0Leverage, Hardison acts as the grifter on a case when Sophie is unavailable, and\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 well, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a bit of a disaster. Just a bit! If you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re intrigued, then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark … Continue reading
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