In the fourteenth episode of the third season of\u00c2\u00a0Leverage<\/i>, this is just magical. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch\u00c2\u00a0Leverage<\/i>.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s too beautiful. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m stoked by how cheesy and exuberantly joyous \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Ho Ho Ho Job\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is because it fits perfectly within\u00c2\u00a0<\/span>Leverage<\/i>\u00e2\u20ac\u2122<\/i>s oeuvre. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s about the powerless getting help; it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s about this team coming to depend on one another; it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s about injecting fun and silliness into an action genre that often takes itself too seriously.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n All of that is here in this glorious Christmas episode. LET\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S DISCUSS.<\/p>\n Parker<\/b><\/p>\n I have to talk about her first because no one steals the show more than she does. I adore that she loves Christmas without shame. You often see stories involving people who spent time in non-traditional families (those who were adopted or in foster care or orphans) despising Christmas and the holiday season. Those stories certainly have their place, and I count myself as someone who, for many years, hated any and everything to do with Christmas. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve warmed up to it over the years. In 2013, I bought these two tiny pine trees to decorate, and I strung up these adorable little light sets from IKEA to get into the mood. I drank a lot of (non-alcoholic) nog. I baked cookies for the first time in my studio apartment. And that was also the first year I did Holiday Fic cards, which got me\u00c2\u00a0extra<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0ready for the season. BECAUSE WHAT SAYS HAPPY HOLIDAYS QUITE LIKE WRITING SMUT AND ABSURD FANFICTION FOR TOTAL STRANGERS???<\/p>\n Nothing, I say.<\/p>\n So I like that the show completely avoids this with Parker. Instead, they choose to make her the arbiter of holiday cheer. Yes, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s adorable and blisteringly funny. (HER ELF VOICE!!! Her reindeer ears!!! EVERY SECOND SHE IS ON SCREEN!!!) But because I have an endless amount of emotional attachment to Parker, I couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t help but read something else into her behavior here. Parker is\u00c2\u00a0comfortable<\/i> being the source of Christmas cheer with these people. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know that the Parker in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Nigerian Job\u00e2\u20ac\u009d would be fine with acting this way with the rest of the team. I know that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not something that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s spelled out by the script, so I accept this might just be my own headcanon. But she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so forthcoming with Nate at the opening of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Ho Ho Ho Job,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d eager to get help for Frank\/Santa, and I think that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a sign of her growth over this show. She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s knows that a wrong has been done here, and she has no problem attaching that to her love of Christmas, either.<\/p>\n I just have a great deal of feelings about Parker, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m always so happy when we get episodes like this that put her front and center, you know? I AM NOT SORRY.<\/p>\n The Con<\/b><\/p>\n While I did figure out that Chaos was behind the\u00c2\u00a0actual<\/i> con taking place here, it took me awhile to do so. I love when this show can keep me guessing, and part of the excitement in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Ho Ho Ho Job\u00e2\u20ac\u009d came from how willingly the writers were to have the team undoubtedly\u00c2\u00a0lose<\/i>. Not once, but TWICE. Twice, Chaos bests them. First, he tricks them into falling for Dooley as the ringleader of the fraud, and then he tricks them into basically opening up the federal depository for him and his men. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a brutal thing to watch, not only because Hardison and Eliot are quick to blame each other, but because ultimately, they actually have to admit that Chaos won.<\/p>\n At least for the moment, of course. After the death of Lucille 2 (CAN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T HARDISON JUST KEEP A VAN FOR MORE THAN A COUPLE YEARS? WHY YOU GOTTA DO HIM LIKE THAT, CHAOS???) and the potential risk that Chaos\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s scheme has to ruin thousands of people\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s lives and finances, the team re-groups. They stop blaming each other (well, after Nate takes responsibility for not seeing the big picture), and they figure out a way to utterly finish Chaos. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s such an absurd villain, one that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s written so that Wil Wheaton can be ridiculous. I think his cheeseball persona works so well because Chaos believes he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a lot cooler than he actually is. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s clearly obsessed with action films and sees himself as the mega-cool, pun-dropping hero who gets what he wants at the end of the day. So he spouts out these silly lines because that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s always fantasized about. But it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a persona, one linked to his nerd entitlement and anger. Like, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m pretty sure Chaos would join GamerGate; that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s totally his style, isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t it?<\/p>\n So yeah, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m totally into the team destroying him.<\/p>\n The Gifts<\/b><\/p>\n Well, I was not ready for that wave o\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 feelings at all. NOT AT ALL.<\/p>\n I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll chalk up that final scene as evidence that the Leverage team is at a point where that kind of affection\u00c2\u00a0can<\/i> happen. Eliot tries to shy away from it, BUT HE\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S STOKED, ISN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T HE? I love how thoughtful the gifts are, particularly since Parker\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s calls back to her love of cold, hard cash. BUT SOPHIE AND NATE. Oh my god, the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Your Name Here\u00e2\u20ac\u009d necklace??? DID SHE WRITE HER REAL NAME ON THAT NAPKIN? She did, didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t she? Nope, not okay, EVERYTHING IS BEAUTIFUL.<\/p>\n Bless this show.<\/p>\n The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Ho Ho Ho 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 fourteenth episode of the third season of\u00c2\u00a0Leverage, this is just magical. 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-4543","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\/4543","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=4543"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4543\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4543"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4543"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4543"}],"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":"