{"id":4460,"date":"2015-02-18T08:00:46","date_gmt":"2015-02-18T16:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=4460"},"modified":"2015-01-31T13:13:25","modified_gmt":"2015-01-31T21:13:25","slug":"mark-watches-leverage-s02e09-the-lost-heir-job","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2015\/02\/mark-watches-leverage-s02e09-the-lost-heir-job\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Leverage’: S02E09 – The Lost Heir Job"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the ninth episode of the second season of\u00c2\u00a0Leverage<\/i>, I ADORE THIS SHOW SO MUCH. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch\u00c2\u00a0Leverage<\/i>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Bless this show.<\/p>\n

Sophie<\/b><\/p>\n

I was surprised by this show opening with Sophie\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s ongoing storyline, since I got used to the cold opens that introduced the case for the episode. But I understand why that scene needed to be at the beginning of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Lost Heir Job\u00e2\u20ac\u009d: We needed to see why Sophie rejected Nate\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s offer to come back home. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s one wrought with frustration because it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s clear to me that Sophie wants Nate to desire\u00c2\u00a0her<\/i>, and not just for her skills. And given that she went on this sabbatical in order to escape the world that had made her life so confusing, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s perfectly understandable to me why Nate\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s offer was offensive to her.<\/p>\n

She needs more.<\/p>\n

A new ally<\/b><\/p>\n

I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll talk about Tara herself later on in this, but I wanted to address my perception of this episode prior to the reveal of who Tara actually was. This was an ambitious story from the start because the very presence of Ruth Walton\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s lawyer complicated matters. This team does not allow anyone to see the inside of their operation. Period! It doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t work that way, and there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s too big of a risk of the whole thing falling apart if they do. The number one problem I foresaw here was that Tara Carlisle wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t going to support the sort of things that the team does. Lying, theft, deceit\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 how would a lawyer \u00e2\u20ac\u201c particularly one as strict as her \u00e2\u20ac\u201c ever accept the kind of work that the Leverage team did?<\/p>\n

The believable scenario, then, is desperation. This case was so impossible to prove that Carlisle\u00c2\u00a0had<\/i> to accept that her method couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t work. (Jesus christ, the layers of manipulation here are unreal. TARA KNEW EXACTLY HOW TO BEHAVE SO THAT THE TEAM WOULDN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T SUSPECT HER.) And that first attempt to persuade someone connected to Bennett\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s past was the \u00c2\u00a0perfect way to demonstrate that traditional means of justice weren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t going to cut it. Carlisle\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s methods were too on-the-nose, too precise, too\u00c2\u00a0legal<\/i>. And thus, it was time for the Leverage team to step in and dominate.<\/p>\n

All while trying to keep track of Tara Carlisle, mind you. Nate manages her by giving her a taste of the excitement that comes with their job. While Hardison and Eliot con the man who can provide the best skeleton from Bennett\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s closet, Parker and Nate are off conning Peter Blanchard, the entitled lawyer who believes that his life spent covering up Bennett\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s crimes means that he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s owed Ruth\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s money. CAN WE PLEASE HAVE JIMMY PAPADAKALIS BACK AGAIN? That may be Nate\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s most ridiculous character, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. HE\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S SO SLIMY AND PERFECT. And I think in that instance, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s more in tune with Hardison\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s style, since Jimmy Papadakalis exists to stall and to distract, and he does so GLORIOUSLY. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an utterly-on-the-mark stereotype, someone that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so easily recognizable as such that nobody questions him. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what makes him so believable!<\/p>\n

That doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t mean that everything works smoothly, because let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s be real: This is\u00c2\u00a0Leverage<\/i>. Something always complicates matters. In this instance, the team overreached, convinced they had the perfect skeleton in Bennett\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s closet: George Gilbert. Bennett\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s lawyer paid off someone who was traditionally a hit man, so CLEARLY, Bennett and Blanchard had done something SCANDALOUS! Which, ironically,\u00c2\u00a0was<\/i> the case, but not in the way they believed. Like all my favorite episodes of this show, the team is forced to re-adjust their con on the spot, which gives us THE LOST HEIR CON. Except the lost con is Parker? Which goes about as well as you think it would? Which is very awkwardly??? Oh god, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s from disasters like this, though, that ENTERTAINMENT GOLD is born. Watching Carlisle get the hang of conning was a delight. (I realize how ironic it is to say that.) Hardison and Eliot\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s prison guard routine was beautiful. AND PARKER AS THE LOST HEIR, HOLY SHIT.<\/p>\n

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

I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t believe I missed all the clues to Ruth Walton\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s identity, which was one hell of a resolution, BUT TARA CARLISLE. WHAT. THE. FUCK. Look, I couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t see a solution to this con after Blanchard\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s men shot at Parker and Nate. If Parker couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t make it into the courtroom, how could she help compel Blanchard to settle? BECAUSE NATE HAD A PLAN THAT WAS BETTER THAN SETTLING:\u00c2\u00a0giving all of Bennett<\/i>\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s estate to Ruth Walton<\/i>. Well, giving it implies it was his to give. Nope, it was always hers. And I liked that the show didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t erase the fact that Bennett was still gross; most of his life, he was an awful person. And Ruth would have been furious with him if she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d gotten to know him in another circumstance, and she admits that! But this is how she gets to interact with her biological father, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the best possible outcome.<\/p>\n

BUT HOLY SHIT, TARA COLE. I CAN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T. I was so ready to write a review where I begged to see her again because I loved the idea of them having someone within the legal system that they could use. But Sophie sent this friend of hers, knowing that they truly needed a good grifter. This is such a bold thing for a show to do, especially one where the chemistry between the characters is so integral to the story. BUT I AM SOLD. ABSOLUTELY SOLD. Jeri Ryan is unbelievable, I want a million episodes with her in it, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122M SO THRILLED THAT MY WISHES WERE GRANTED BEFORE I COULD EVEN SPEAK THEM.<\/p>\n

The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Lost Heir 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":"