In the eighth episode of the third season of\u00c2\u00a0Leverage<\/i>, the team goes up against a car salesman who is using stolen cars as stock and EVERYTHING HURTS. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch\u00c2\u00a0Leverage<\/i>.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Trigger Warning: For discussion of misogyny<\/b>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Lord, I love this show. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m left with no more creative ways to say this anymore, so just accept it. Accept it! This episode is a fantastic example of the many things the writers do that impress me and keep me interested in a show like this. THERE\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S NO SHOW LIKE THIS, WHO AM I KIDDING.<\/p>\n Joy<\/b><\/p>\n So, let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s begin with something I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve spoken of in the past\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 sort of. Watching the opening scenes of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Boost Job,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I realized that the cast managed to convey something that kind of snuck up on me: the sheer joy of working with one another. As they prepped Eliot\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s car so that Nate could race it, I saw how\u00c2\u00a0thrilled<\/i> they all were to contribute to the process. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not really been a secret that the show aimed to bring such a disparate group of people together, so it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not like I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m questioning what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s on screen. I knew that was the point the whole time.<\/p>\n At the same time, this episode felt striking to me for what I suppose was an entirely unintended reason. These people care deeply about one another. That is unmistakable. It is undeniable. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not to say they didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t in the last episode, nor that Albert Kim set out to write a script to help me realize this. Like I said, this realization was far more subtle than that, and I think it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s partially related to the fact that due to being on tour, I had not seen an episode of\u00c2\u00a0Leverage\u00c2\u00a0<\/i>for nearly a month. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m settling back into a normal schedule again (not quite there yet!), and these characters helped me do that. In the process, it hit me how perfect they are together.<\/p>\n There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s less joking about Hardison\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s gadgetry. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an acceptance of Parker\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s past and the signs that she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s changing for the better. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a camaraderie present that manifests in how concerned they are for the welfare of one another and in the ease they\u00c2\u00a0can<\/i> joke with one another in a manner that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not harmful.<\/p>\n THEY\u00e2\u20ac\u2122VE COME SO FAR, Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ALL.<\/p>\n The Mark \/ The Con<\/b><\/p>\n Like \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Gone Fishin\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Job,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a clear point where it becomes obvious that this job is going to careen off the tracks, but the excitement comes from seeing just how far the show takes this concept. Duke Penzer shares a lot in common with past marks, like those in the pilot episode or the guy in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Tap Out Job,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d since his ego is so easy to use against him. The team traps him into their con by insulting him (the car race), putting him in debt to them (taking his prize car), and then igniting his desperation and jealousy (opening the more successful dealership down the street).<\/p>\n It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s utterly pleasing to watch bad people get tricked by people more clever than they are. Duke\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s arrogance is despicable, and so the team uses it to his disadvantage. I swear, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll never tire of this dynamic, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. I know I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m a broken record now, but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just so\u00c2\u00a0pleasing<\/i> to entertain this kind of fantasy, you know?<\/p>\n So how does the show change up a story that has so much in common with elements of past cons? OH LORD.<\/p>\n Josie<\/b><\/p>\n Josie is the variable, and goddamn, what a shocker. After Parker reveals more of her past, the show puts a version of her on the screen in Josie. What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so fascinating to me about this is that much of Parker\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s backstory\u00c2\u00a0is<\/i> used for humor (like the flashback to her being the getaway driver), but the show doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t forget that this might not have been all that humorous or joyous to her. In Josie, Parker sees a young girl without any real family desperately trying to fit in.<\/p>\n And, unfortunately, she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s failing. One of the biggest roadblocks, of course, is misogyny. The thieves around her don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t believe that a woman should be stealing cars, and they bully her whenever she\u00c2\u00a0tries<\/i> to learn, thereby making it hard for her to gain any new skills, thereby fulfilling their bigoted view in the first place. So it makes sense that Josie would immediately latch on to Parker after Parker proves to all these jackasses that she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s better than them. But is that a good thing? Should Parker be pushing Josie further into this kind of life?<\/p>\n Clearly, Parker is aware of that very question, but she goes with her gut here. She knows that she probably needed someone like herself when she was younger. She knows that Josie has\u00c2\u00a0no one<\/i> that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s got her back, so she steps up to support her. She does so while putting the con at risk! And I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think she was unaware what a risky move this was, but as Sophie points out later, Parker did what she thought was right with Josie. AND THAT IS A HUGE THING FOR PARKER TO DO, Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ALL.<\/p>\n I mean, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve also seen a few of the team\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s cons spectacularly fall apart, but HOLY SHIT, this one fell apart\u00c2\u00a0horribly<\/i>. From Eliot getting hit by a car (GET OVER IT!), to Josie telling Duke and Lefty what Parker told her, to Parker and Hardison getting cornered by Lefty\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s men, to Duke pulling a gun on Sophie\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 good lord, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. This got TOO REAL for a moment. But I appreciate that! I appreciate that this show can challenge my expectations for how an episode will end, particularly when we can see how the actions of these characters affect the outcome.<\/p>\n Of course, it was also great that Nate recognized that while Parker put them all at risk, she was doing something wonderful. And they then returned the favor to Josie, putting her in touch with their client, all so that she\u00c2\u00a0can<\/i> have a better environment to succeed in. WHICH IS WHAT PARKER GOT AND LOOK AT HER, EVERYTHING IS SO GREAT, I LOVE THIS SHOW.<\/p>\n The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Boost Job\u00e2\u20ac\u009d can be downloaded here for $0.99<\/a>.<\/p>\n Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n – The Mark Does Stuff Tour 2015 is now live and includes dates across the U.S., Canada, Europe, the U.K., and Ireland. Check the full list of events on my Tour Dates \/ Appearances page.<\/a> In the eighth episode of the third season of\u00c2\u00a0Leverage, the team goes up against a car salesman who is using stolen cars as stock and EVERYTHING HURTS. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch\u00c2\u00a0Leverage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[625],"tags":[626],"class_list":["post-4528","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-leverage","tag-mark-watches-leverage"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4528","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4528"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4528\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4528"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4528"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4528"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\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 for Mark Watches will be the remainder of\u00c2\u00a0The Legend of Korra<\/i>, series 8 of\u00c2\u00a0Doctor Who<\/i>, and Kings<\/i>. On Mark Reads, Diane Duane’s Young Wizards<\/i> series will replace the Emelan books.
\n<\/b>-\u00c2\u00a0Mark Does Stuff is on Facebook!<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0I’ve got a community page up that I’m running. Guaranteed shenanigans!
\n– If you would like to support this website and keep Mark Does Stuff running,\u00c2\u00a0I’ve put up a detailed post explaining how you can!
\n<\/a>– Please check out the\u00c2\u00a0MarkDoesStuff.com<\/a>. All Mark Watches videos for past shows\/season are now archived there!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"