{"id":4488,"date":"2015-03-04T08:00:16","date_gmt":"2015-03-04T16:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=4488"},"modified":"2015-02-07T14:13:56","modified_gmt":"2015-02-07T22:13:56","slug":"mark-watches-leverage-s03e03-the-inside-job","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2015\/03\/mark-watches-leverage-s03e03-the-inside-job\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Leverage’: S03E03 – The Inside Job"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the third episode of the third season of\u00c2\u00a0Leverage<\/i>, the team\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s heist ends up being one of their own. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch\u00c2\u00a0Leverage<\/i>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

Well, that was extremely messed up.<\/p>\n

This is not an easy thing to pull off in a show like this, but\u00c2\u00a0Leverage<\/i> still manages to thrill me. It still manages to scare me at times. And then, when I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m least expecting it, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m flattened by the U.S.S. Feelings<\/i> because PARKER. HELP.<\/p>\n

But how? How is\u00c2\u00a0Leverage<\/i> so consistently good, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all? Sometimes, I worry that I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m being repetitive in analyzing this show because the pieces of the stories that I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m enjoying so much appear regularly in these episode. I mean, I have no problem admitting that\u00c2\u00a0Leverage<\/i> seems perfectly tailored to my tastes in television and fiction. (Shout out to my unbelievably prophetic comment during\u00c2\u00a0Farscape<\/i> about a ragtag band of thieves committing heists, or whatever it was. IT\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S BEEN GRANTED TO ME.) I like serialization when it involves emotional characterization. I like shows that address the evils of our own world, either directly or through analogous creations. I enjoy writing that makes me care about fictional people. All these things are here, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve certainly commented on them before.<\/p>\n

So what is it about \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Inside Job\u00e2\u20ac\u009d that made this particular episode feel so immense and meaningful? There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s growth of Parker\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s character; there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s serialization within her relationship to the team; there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a gnarly heist that felt impossibly difficult; there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s even a hidden moral core to the heist itself. All of these contribute to the frantic pacing of this episode, but the heart of this was\u00c2\u00a0always<\/i> Parker. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think any of them are surprised by her antics, necessarily. But this specific heist is not an example of Parker\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s wackiness; no, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a sign that she cares deeply for a very few people in this world, and she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll do anything for them.<\/p>\n

I suppose that\u00c2\u00a0Parker\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s continued characterization is a huge part of my emotional response to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Inside Job.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d True, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll instantly relate to characters who were adopted or were in foster care, and that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s never been a secret. So I found myself drawn to her because it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a chance for a character like her \u00e2\u20ac\u201c one that often never gets the spotlight in fiction \u00e2\u20ac\u201c to be the hero. To be the one given development that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s layered and respectful.\u00c2\u00a0To be desired<\/i>. The people in Parker\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s life care about her so deeply, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. When Hardison hears that Parker is trapped, he doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even hesitate to try to save her, even though he knows it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be one of the worst heists he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s ever worked on. When Nate learns of Parker\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s connection to the heist, he doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t question her involvement in it. He knows that family matters, at least to someone like Parker who hasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t had a traditional family in her life. And Archie Leach, the man who taught Parker to be the kind of thief she is, wants nothing more than for Parker to be safe.<\/p>\n

That conflict is a part of this episode\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s suspense, especially once we find out\u00c2\u00a0why<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0Archie was hired in the first place. Both men are convinced, at one point, that the other was responsible for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153breaking\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Parker. Nate believes that Archie\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s lack of tenderness and his ruthless mentorship left Parker ill-prepared. However, Archie is certain that\u00c2\u00a0Nate<\/i> made her value other things over her own life, which has confused her. While I think that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an important conversation to have in some respects, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m pleased that this story doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t make this about either man. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s\u00c2\u00a0Parker<\/i>\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s<\/i> decision that matters. When she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s face-to-face with Eliot, just feet from a perfect escape, she realizes that she can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t leave. In this, the show demonstrates that Parker\u00c2\u00a0has<\/i> changed from who she used to be when the show started. This is the same woman who once hated that they didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get to keep an entire shipping container full of missing cash.<\/p>\n

This sort of growth makes\u00c2\u00a0Leverage<\/i> so rewarding to wash. Parker still cares about her craft \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m sure she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d marry a pile of money if she could \u00e2\u20ac\u201c but she is also starting to care about the world around her. Her team has influenced her moral sensibilities! Well, calling them her \u00e2\u20ac\u0153team\u00e2\u20ac\u009d isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t quite appropriate because this is her\u00c2\u00a0family<\/i>. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not that she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s replaced Archie; she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s simply found the right group of people to trust and love. And that group of people is really good at conning people and ripping them off.<\/p>\n

TRUE LOVE, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all.<\/p>\n

The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Inside 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.
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\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":"