In the eleventh episode of the third season of\u00c2\u00a0Leverage<\/i>, p e r f e c t i o n. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch\u00c2\u00a0Leverage<\/i>.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m so happy that this show is willing to do an episode. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m happy that\u00c2\u00a0<\/span>Leverage<\/i> has a wonderful sense of humor about itself. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m happy that the people writing this show are willing to give us stories that are complex and FULL OF EMOTIONS. Because seriously, as downright fun as \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Rashomon Job\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also a sign of how close these people have grown to one another.<\/span><\/p>\n CIRCLE OF FRIENDSHIP, ACTIVATE!<\/p>\n The Con(s)<\/b><\/p>\n Oh god, FIVE CONS IN ONE EPISODE. Not just five cons, but\u00c2\u00a0each member of the team tried to steal the same item<\/i>. So, just off the bat, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a lot of fun in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Rashomon Job\u00e2\u20ac\u009d that comes from watching each of these people use their own skills. But that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s actually a vital part of the power of this episode. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s funny, sure, to see how each person doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t account for some other variable that ultimately caused them to lose the Dagger of Aqu\u00e2\u20ac\u2122abi. But why is that? Because when each of the four \u00e2\u20ac\u0153criminals\u00e2\u20ac\u009d was still concerned with their crime, they couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t\u00c2\u00a0see<\/i> the other angles. Sophie wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t thinking about who might be able to swap out her shipment. Eliot wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t thinking about who might be able to hack the museum\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s scanner. Hardison hadn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t considered that someone else might be hiding in the vault. And Parker\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 oh, Parker, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re just too amazing.<\/p>\n And then there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Nate, which I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll get to.<\/p>\n Perspective<\/b><\/p>\n If you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going to try and do a respectable\u00c2\u00a0Rashomon\u00c2\u00a0<\/i>homage, then it must contain one important concept: perspective. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not quite enough to tell the story from each point of view. The beauty of that film is that the\u00c2\u00a0perception\u00c2\u00a0<\/i>of each event changes, and that each character is convinced that their version of events is correct. And that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s something that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s very real, that all of us experience in our lives!<\/p>\n So how does that show up here? Well, initially, Sophie\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s version of the con is very flattering to her, since she believes she pulled off a dual identity con on the same person. Of course, once we see Nate\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s view, we get insight into how that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s even possible: Coswell was deeply infatuated with Sophie\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Dr. Ipcress identity, which clouded his judgment. Still, we don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know that at the time, and it isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t until each story is told that the show slowly fills in the blanks. That may actually be my favorite aspect of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Rashomon Job,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. I loved that as each person gave their account, the show would add details and the main cast to each other\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s memory. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a brilliant move because I imagine that these stories caused these people to remember this theft a lot more accurately. Minister Bioko\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s appearances changes to Hardison once people are aware that that was his identity during the theft. Sophie\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s accent changes because none of these people can tell her accent apart from other British accents. (Which\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 oh god, I know SO MANY PEOPLE who think the accent is all the same. IT\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S REALLY NOT.)<\/p>\n It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s done so well.\u00c2\u00a0So<\/i> well. John Rogers script is so absurdly beautiful, and I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t deal with it. WHAT A FEAT.<\/p>\n Teamwork<\/b><\/p>\n As I mentioned before, part of the fun is watching each character\u00c2\u00a0be<\/i> their role. Sophie grifts, Eliot uses brute force. Hardison hacks his way into and out of the museum, and Parker escapes pretty much\u00c2\u00a0everyone<\/i>\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s<\/i> suspicion while she drifts from room to room. But they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got weak spots; they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re single minded. On top of that, Rogers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 script brilliantly sets this five years prior to the present time. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a snapshot of who these characters used to me, back when they used to have a lot more in common with their characterization in the pilot episode. They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re each in their own world, one where profit and greed matters a lot more than anything else.<\/p>\n That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what Nate\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s story provides. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not just context for the whole con. It\u00c2\u00a0was<\/i> nice to see Coswell\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s true personality. (Which made a lot more sense to me; that\u00c2\u00a0has<\/i> to be why Sophie perceived him as being kind of hostile. She was probably grossed out by him hitting on her, so her mind turned him into an asshole.) It was also great to see what ultimately happened to the Dagger, which was never truly stolen in the first place. In the end, Nate\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s story brings everything together in a way that highlights the beauty of what the Leverage does\u00c2\u00a0now<\/i>. Before, they stole things because they could and because they wanted to. It was a singular motivation.<\/p>\n But now? Well, Nate\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s story revealed that Edgar Gladstone was committing fraud against his insurance company, as well as looping Eliot into the theft in the first place. Nate\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s big picture changes the context of the Dagger for everyone. Now, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s\u00c2\u00a0good<\/i> that no one stole it. It doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t represent quite the frustrating tale as it started out as. And as unabashedly cheesy as the oil baron is in the final scene of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Rashomon Job,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d it is a manifestation of the team\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s companionship with each other. They have bonded over helping those who are hurt by the rich and the powerful.\u00c2\u00a0That\u00c2\u00a0<\/i>is their motivation, and they work together so much better than they ever worked on their own.<\/p>\n The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Rashomon 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 eleventh episode of the third season of\u00c2\u00a0Leverage, p e r f e c t i o n. 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-4540","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\/4540","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=4540"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4540\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4540"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4540"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4540"}],"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!
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\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":"