{"id":4602,"date":"2015-04-13T08:01:00","date_gmt":"2015-04-13T15:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=4602"},"modified":"2015-04-13T08:05:38","modified_gmt":"2015-04-13T15:05:38","slug":"mark-watches-leverage-s04e14-the-boys-night-out-job","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2015\/04\/mark-watches-leverage-s04e14-the-boys-night-out-job\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Leverage’: S04E14 – The Boys’ Night Out Job"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the fourteenth episode of the fourth season of Leverage<\/i>, the boys have a night out. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch Leverage<\/i>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

This show is an endless gift. <\/span><\/p>\n

Parallels<\/b><\/p>\n

The very idea of this episode is clever all by itself, but the way the writers tie them together makes this a rewarding experience. Both episodes follow a character from a past episode coming back to interact with the main cast, and in both cases, those characters grow<\/i>. Peggy and Jack matter<\/i> to these stories! We get to see how they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve changed since their first time on the show! That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not something episodic television does all that often, and I love that it happens here.<\/p>\n

But the most compelling parallel between \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Boys\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Night Out Job\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and the previous episode is how John Rogers and company find a way to have Parker and Hardison consider the difficulties of their relationship. In Hardison\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s case, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s left feeling insecure once he sees the attractive thief that Parker is hanging out with. (I mean, you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t need to worry, Hardison. You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re a billion times more attractive than that dude.) It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not easy dating someone who has such disparate interests when compared to your own, especially if they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not passionate about what you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re passionate about. But I think that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s something we deal with in both a romantic and platonic sense, too. We navigate our relationships based on interests, sure, but I think the best friendships are between people who know how to support another\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s love without necessarily having to share it.<\/p>\n

Of course, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s complicated for Hardison because he knows that his relationship with Parker is challenging aside<\/i> from that. In one of the most adorable scenes EVER, Eliot does an absolutely terrible job trying to give advice to Hardison about what he needs to do with Parker. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so adorable because you can tell that he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s trying<\/i> to do right by his friend, even if he does so awkwardly. The advice he gives is similar to what Parker eventually learns: that Hardison is exciting and interesting to her on his own. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s different, and she knows that. And then Hardison takes Eliot\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s guidance about his assertiveness and gives us A BEAUTIFUL PERFORMANCE in that pub. He made Eliot smile, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all! Don<\/i>\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t notice that beautiful moment.<\/i><\/p>\n

Growth<\/b><\/p>\n

So, while Hardison and Eliot are off having their little moment of bonding, Nate is stuck with Jack Hurley, who also tries so very hard<\/i> to do good. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s tricked into smuggling drugs \u00e2\u20ac\u201c twice, technically \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and gains the ire of a faux nun, the Mexican cartel, and<\/i> the Callahans. The con that comes from this is complex and a lot of fun, but I was definitely more interested in the way the show built off of Jack\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s last appearance in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The 12-Step Job.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fitting, then, that Jack and Nate end up in a substance abuse meeting in the basement of a church. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a neat reference to Jack\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s last episode, but it also allows the writers to examine how much Nate <\/i>has changed, too.<\/p>\n

Jack is clearly trying to do his best, and like his role in his last episode, he kind of fumbles that along the way, na\u00c3\u00afvely believing that Sister Lupe is a nun. I think you could see that na\u00c3\u00afvet\u00c3\u00a9 in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The 12-Step Job\u00e2\u20ac\u009d as well, but Jack doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t feel the same here. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s much more eager to assign blame to himself and take accountability for his actions once he knows he has fucked up, and to me, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a sign of progress. His affinity for Nate is fantastic, too, and I think you could read that as part of his growth, too. He was far more willing to view people as a means to and end the last time around.<\/p>\n

But where does Nate stand after all this time? He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s started to drink again, and we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve seen how that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s become a problem a few times over the years. However, I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t feel like Nate was as cynical as he used to be, you know? His disinterest in the meeting was played as humorous, but by the end of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Boys\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Night Out Job,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not shying away from Hardison or Jack. He accepts that the work he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s done truly helps people. It helped Jack become a better man, didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t it? That means something!<\/p>\n

I suppose that as a whole, Leverage<\/i> really isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t a cynical kind of show. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a joy to this pair of episodes, one that celebrates the chemistry of the cast and also aims to please its audience. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s nothing wrong with writing that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s meant to entertain, and I certainly find the writers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 work on this show to be endlessly amusing. Leverage<\/i> has always been able to have fun, and episodes like this two-parter are evidence of that. At the same time, we can get character development. We can get stories that resonate with our own experiences. The two aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t mutually exclusive here, and I love that.<\/p>\n

The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Boys\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Night Out 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

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"