{"id":4561,"date":"2015-03-27T08:00:59","date_gmt":"2015-03-27T15:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=4561"},"modified":"2015-03-17T16:38:28","modified_gmt":"2015-03-17T23:38:28","slug":"mark-watches-leverage-s04e03-the-15-minutes-job","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2015\/03\/mark-watches-leverage-s04e03-the-15-minutes-job\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Leverage’: S04E03 – The 15 Minutes Job"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the third episode of the fourth season of\u00c2\u00a0Leverage<\/i>, THIS IS UNCOMFORTABLE. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch\u00c2\u00a0Leverage<\/i>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Trigger Warning: For gaslighting<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Well, if I thought that the end of the last episode was awkward, this whole story certainly takes the cake. I got the sense that the end of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Ten Li\u00e2\u20ac\u2122l Grifters Job\u00e2\u20ac\u009d was meant to lead into this specific exploration of Nate as a character, and I definitely think it works if you think of it that way. We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re meant to draw the uncomfortable parallels between Nate and Reed Rockwell, and in order to do so, you have to accept that Nate\u00c2\u00a0does<\/i> skate a thin line between being the good guy and being the ambitious thief.<\/p>\n

We see both aspects of that in this specific con, and Nate\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s tendencies are exaggerated\u00c2\u00a0because<\/i> Reed is so similar to Nate in many respects. This episode is about a battle of the minds and a battle of perception. Reed Rockwell is not an easy mark because he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so painfully hard to manipulate. Why is that? Because he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s spent years manipulating other people\u00c2\u00a0and<\/i> the media as his job. And it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not just manipulating in order to get clients what they want; Reed uses a very specific kind of gaslighting by manipulating evidence to make sure that those he goes after are utterly destroyed by him.<\/p>\n

So it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s unsurprising that he was so unwilling to help others in every day acts of heroism and decency. The man is a human scumbag all the time, so the team misjudged how willing he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d be to intervene in\u00c2\u00a0anything<\/i> that didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t immediately benefit him. He doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t care about muggers, or runaway strollers (SOPHIE STOPPING TO LOOK AT STILETTOS OH MY GOD), or choking victims, or even a robber with a gun. If it wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t for the team\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s use of the very same techniques that Reed used, they wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have even have gotten him with the armed robbery con. HE TRIED TO CONVINCE THE ROBBER TO TAKE SOPHIE HOSTAGE INSTEAD OF HIM BECAUSE SHE WAS PRETTIER. Even after he \u00e2\u20ac\u0153saved\u00e2\u20ac\u009d the day, he still ran off like a goddamn coward.<\/p>\n

I have no qualms about calling him a coward because that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what he is, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. He can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t do anything legitimately, and he hides behind secrecy and illusions. He destroys people\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s lives not because they deserve it but because of a misguided sense of\u00c2\u00a0extreme<\/i> entitlement. Of course, once you start looking at these claims and you twist them a little bit, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not hard to see aspects of Nate\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s personality, too. Doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t he try to keep himself as distant as possible from the cases he works? Doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t he use underhanded methods to achieve his goals? Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t they bother foster an addiction to alcohol? Doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t Reed operate under a fairly strict code to justify his behavior? I mean, yes, Nate and Reed aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t the same person, and Nate has undeniably done wonderful things for other people. I never thought that\u00c2\u00a0Leverage\u00c2\u00a0<\/i>was trying to tell me otherwise.<\/p>\n

But a huge reason we see Nate unravel over the course of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The 15 Minutes Job\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is that in working to undo the damage that Reed has done, Nate can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t ignore these parallels. He can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t ignore the destructive path that Reed gets set on because it reminds him way too much of himself. Like Nate says, this con had to be designed to destroy him, since Nate and Reed were so similar. THAT IS JUST ENDLESSLY UNCOMFORTABLE, Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ALL. The team knows it, and it becomes abundantly obvious to them over the course of the con. And then it just gets unbelievably fucking awful when Nate starts snapping at the people he works with. These people have entrusted their lives and reputations in Nate, and in order for them to work together well, they\u00c2\u00a0have<\/i> to be honest. So when Nate takes that honesty off the table? That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a big damn problem.<\/p>\n

We see how that problem manifests when he tells Eliot to take a break from the rest of the con. And he does so immediately after Eliot rightly criticizes how far Nate takes this! Then he tries to do the same thing to Sophie when\u00c2\u00a0she<\/i> expresses concern, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a hot mess. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll just state what Nate admits at the end of the episode: his behavior here is reckless. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just the alcohol anymore, though that contributes to it. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s in denial about Sophie; he was arrogant throughout this con; and he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s more unwilling than ever to step back and take a hard look at himself.<\/p>\n

It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s becoming an issue, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all.<\/p>\n

Nate\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s plot isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t the sole thing about this episode that deserves my attention, though. Shout out to Hardison\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s perfect assertion that CGI Yoda is the worst! Because that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s absolutely true. (Says the guy who regularly bashes\u00c2\u00a0Star Wars<\/i> for a number of reasons, and yet has an entire sleeve tattooed on his right arm of\u00c2\u00a0Star Wars<\/i> ships.) Shout out to Eliot beating the shit out of someone WITH A SCREEN DOOR. (Which he promptly fixed because he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a goddamn gentleman.) Shout out to Parker getting better and the introduction of No Stabbing Wednesdays. SHOUT OUT TO THIS TEAM DESTROYING REED BY USING HIS OWN TACTICS AGAINST HIM, I FOUND THAT VERY SATISFYING.<\/p>\n

The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The 15 Minutes 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>
\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\u00a0 I’ve put up a detailed post explaining how you can!
\n<\/a>– Please check out the\u00c2\u00a0 MarkDoesStuff.com<\/a>. All Mark Watches videos for past shows\/season are now archived there!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"