In the sixth episode of the fourth season of\u00c2\u00a0Leverage<\/i>, I am utterly overwhelmed by how good this season is. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch\u00c2\u00a0Leverage<\/i>.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Trigger Warning: For talk of kidnapping, grief\/death.<\/b><\/p>\n
This particular stretch of episodes this week are so good, but SO IS THIS WHOLE SEASON. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s like the show found some magical formula to just knock everything out of the park. Actually, now that I think about it, a lot of the episodes this season have been willing to twist our expectations of the characters\u00c2\u00a0and<\/i> the stories themselves. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Carnival Job\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is so shocking and thrilling because of how our perception of the mark changes. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so electrifying to watch because Eliot develops a connection to Molly that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s reminiscent of what we saw in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Order 23 Job,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d only\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 well, so much more intense.<\/p>\n
SO INTENSE.<\/p>\n
Parker 2000<\/b><\/p>\n
Oh my god, I am having a hard time thinking of a better slow-burn romance that I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve seen on television, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. I wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t say that this is similar to Donna\/Josh on\u00c2\u00a0The West Wing<\/i> because Parker\/Hardison is progressing at a quicker pace than on that show. They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not just flirting for a million seasons and never getting anywhere. At the same time, they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re patient, taking things slowly and respectfully. So the argument at the center of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Carnival Job\u00e2\u20ac\u009d between these two characters is rooted in something a lot of people have to deal with. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s jealousy and fear here, since Parker truly worries that Hardison is replacing her.<\/p>\n
Now, that may seem absurd to some people. Why would Parker\u00c2\u00a0seriously<\/i> believe that she was going to be replaced by a robot? Because Parker is new to all of this. Because Parker\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s anxiety would easily lead her to this conclusion. Because Parker has to deal with abandonment issues. It takes Hardison spelling it out \u00e2\u20ac\u201c that Parker 2000 was made\u00c2\u00a0for<\/i> her, not to\u00c2\u00a0replace<\/i> her \u00e2\u20ac\u201c for Parker to appreciate what Hardison has done. He clearly adores her, and he wants her to be the best thief possible. Parker 2000 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c ahem, Hardy is a sign of that. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a sign of his love.<\/p>\n
John Connell<\/b><\/p>\n
Like plenty of\u00c2\u00a0Leverage\u00c2\u00a0<\/i>antagonists, John Connell is extremely easy to hate. His treatment of Geoffrey is deplorable and underhanded, and as we spend more time with him in the first half of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Carnival Job,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s even\u00c2\u00a0easier<\/i> to despise him. He ignores his daughter, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s bossy, and he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s clearly channeling his grief into a debt-building renovation that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s helping absolutely no one. What makes Connell so different from other marks is that he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s one of the rare few who, upon finding out that he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s part of a revenge con, begins to express remorse. Of course, the kidnapping of his daughter plays a huge part of that, so I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to come across as if I missed out on that. When his actions threaten the well-being of someone he loves,\u00c2\u00a0then<\/i> he starts to question his own culpability of events.<\/p>\n
It shouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have to take that much for him to realize what a piece of shit person he is, so even though the mark becomes a sympathetic character,\u00c2\u00a0Leverage<\/i> doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t excuse him for what he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s done. I loved that line at the end of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Carnival Job\u00e2\u20ac\u009d where Sophie countered Geoffrey\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s statement that Connell had \u00e2\u20ac\u0153turned a new leaf.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d He didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t just suddenly become a perfect person; he still has to grow into that. But this traumatic event was a learning opportunity for him, and hopefully, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll re-examine himself because of it.<\/p>\n
Molly \/ Eliot<\/b><\/p>\n
WHO KNEW? WHO KNEW THIS WOULD BE THE EPISODE WHERE ELIOT WOULD RUIN OUR LIVES? Watching him bond with Molly was a lot of fun because she could not just annoy Eliot, she could keep up with him. She wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t quick to accept bullshit; in fact, I think Eliot respected her need for honesty and realness. With a life as traumatic as hers had been up to that point, I think she latched onto Eliot because he treated her like she was her own person. She wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t a burden to him, and his interest in her was genuine, even if it came across as cheesy at times. (OH MY GOD, THE\u00c2\u00a0RUDY<\/i> LINE WAS SO AMAZING.)<\/p>\n
Most importantly, though, she trusted Eliot. So when she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s kidnapped, Eliot\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s goal becomes singular: he has to save her. He knows that she was entrusted into his care, and he let his attention shift momentarily, which was enough time for the kidnappers to nab her. And look, we all know how Eliot gets when he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s determined, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. BUT THIS IS SO MUCH MORE UPSETTING. First of all, have we\u00c2\u00a0ever<\/i> seen him clean knocked out like he is here? No, he always manages to get the upper hand in his fights. Part of me has a headcanon that he was way too distracted by the chaos of this con, and it put him on edge. I think that this only got worse as he knew how much danger Molly was in.<\/p>\n
AND THEN THE HOUSE OF MIRRORS SEQUENCE. Sweet mother of all that is holy, that is one of the most intense scenes in the whole show. Eliot\u00c2\u00a0loses<\/i>, at least for the first few rounds with the man guarding Molly. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so upsetting to watch because we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve never seen Eliot so totally off his game, and I got\u00c2\u00a0really worried<\/i>. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even know what that zen shit is that he did, but who cares? It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s such an incredible spectacle to watch the tides turn on the men holding Molly, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll admit it filled me with EMOTIONS to see Eliot fight so furiously for that little girl. She needed that, particularly after Connell\u00c2\u00a0had stopped fighting for her after her mother had died.<\/p>\n
Bless Eliot\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s heart, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all.<\/p>\n
The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Carnival 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 sixth episode of the fourth season of\u00c2\u00a0Leverage, I am utterly overwhelmed by how good this season is. 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-4575","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\/4575","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=4575"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4575\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4575"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4575"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4575"}],"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":"