In the fourth episode of the second season of\u00c2\u00a0Leverage<\/i>, Sophie makes it a personal mission to help the step-son of a mark while the team tries to execute a long con at a private school. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch\u00c2\u00a0Leverage<\/i>.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
This show keeps finding new ways to satisfy me.<\/p>\n
Boarding schools<\/b><\/p>\n
There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so much fun had at the expense of the parents who send their children to boarding school and private school. NAMELY: all of the parents and teachers accepting the presence of the new staff members and their bullshit philosophy. The writers have a lot of fun with the premise here, and not just with the characters who are in the school itself. I mean, seeing Eliot as a gym teacher is a treasure in and of itself, but having Hardison and Parker switch roles? Watching Parker have to hone her improvisational skills in order to walk Hardison through a theft? Nate\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s dead-cat-on-his-head character??? THAT BOOK COVER? Oh my god, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. I love that the Leverage team exists within their cons with a sense of humor, and I get the sense that they have as much fun as possible being<\/i> these characters, you know?<\/p>\n
Taggert and McSweeten<\/b><\/p>\n
Sweet mother of all that is holy, I WAS SO HAPPY THAT THEY RE-APPEARED AGAIN. This time, though, they play a much larger role within the story. Now, obviously they exist almost entirely as comic relief, and they do so beautifully. But the writers of this show truly know how to build tension and suspense with every episode, and a lot of times that involves placing some sort of time bomb within the narrative. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fun watching the team con people, but how can you keep that interesting? How can you go into an episode and not expect the same thing week-to-week? I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve touched on how the show has toyed with their own storytelling patterns; hell, they did it in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Tap-Out Job\u00e2\u20ac\u009d in this very season. But even if the episodes themselves don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t stray too far from a formula, they still have to keep us guessing.<\/p>\n
While the mysterious hitman fills this role, Taggert and McSweeten feel like the biggest thorn in the side of the team. Conning them is easy \u00e2\u20ac\u201c they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re the bumbling cop archetype in the flesh \u00e2\u20ac\u201c but that doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t mean that their presence makes the cases any easier. Plus, McSweeten\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s attraction to Parker isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t always something the team can leverage in their favor, particularly since Parker is still learning how to communicate with people. So I spent a good deal of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Fairy Godparents Job\u00e2\u20ac\u009d wondering if\u00c2\u00a0these guys would ruin plans or distract from the case. SPOILER ALERT: THEY DID. CONSTANTLY.<\/p>\n
And it was so beautiful.<\/p>\n
Sophie \/ Widmark<\/b><\/p>\n
SURPRISE, THE BEST PART OF THIS EPISODE IS SOPHIE. Like\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 how rude,\u00c2\u00a0Leverage!<\/i> I have feelings! Emotions! Why are you toying with them? Why must you make me experience this kind of heartbreak and love? I never even once thought this show would take Sophie\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s bad acting\u00c2\u00a0and make it something to crush me with.\u00c2\u00a0<\/i>It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s clear, then, that Sophie is aware that she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s rarely that good at acting when she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s trying to be herself because she rarely\u00c2\u00a0can<\/i> be herself. The appearance of her boyfriend \u00e2\u20ac\u201c briefly, in a scene where he dumps her and admits that Sophie isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even her real name \u00e2\u20ac\u201c makes us rethink who Sophie actually is.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, after years and years of lying and hiding within identities, even Sophie doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know who she is anymore. And it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a problem! It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s one that she sees within Widmark because the kid is a victim of how he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s perceived. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s suffocating for Widmark because he can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t escape the gaze of his peers. They think he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a loser. They blame him for what his step-father did. And it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s killing his self-esteem, so much so that he can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even do what he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s good at. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s understandable that Sophie of all people would take Widmark under her wing because she gets this struggle. She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s used to being on the receiving end of misguided perception because\u00c2\u00a0that<\/i>\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s her job<\/i>. When is she ever \u00e2\u20ac\u0153real\u00e2\u20ac\u009d? When is she ever herself? Is there ever a moment in her life where she gets to shed her work and be whoever it is that she actually is?<\/p>\n
I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know the answer to that. I suspect that there are elements of the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153real\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Sophie spread throughout this show, moments that reveal what she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s like under the manufactured exterior. But I also think she\u00c2\u00a0relies<\/i> on that mask most of the time, so it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hard for her to take it off. Goddamn it, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, I just have a lot of feelings about Sophie Devereaux after this episode??? I was so ready to go into this season with her and Nate pursuing something with one another, but I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m actually more interested in this development. How can Sophie be happy with herself while still being a grifter? My guess is that she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll get to do so with her friends. Unsurprisingly, I was utterly pleased to hear her refer to her Leverage teammates as \u00e2\u20ac\u0153friends,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d but come on! That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a big deal, and I think that the genuine Sophie comes out when she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s spending time with them.<\/p>\n
I also wanted to say that I appreciate this show for giving us Widmark\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s full song because it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a beacon of hope and beauty. It was a delight to get to see his talent on display for everyone, and ALSO IT WAS A REALLY GOOD SONG. How are musical science fairs not an actual thing??? I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d like them to become standard in this country, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. SCIENCE.<\/p>\n
The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Fairy Godparents Job\u00e2\u20ac\u009d can be downloaded here for $0.99<\/a>.<\/p>\n Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n – Mark Does Stuff is now on Facebook<\/a>! Feel free to Like the page, which I’m running myself, for updates and SILLINESS. In the fourth episode of the second season of\u00c2\u00a0Leverage, Sophie makes it a personal mission to help the step-son of a mark while the team tries to execute a long con at a private school. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for … Continue reading
\n– If you would like to support this website and keep Mark Does Stuff running, I’ve put up a detailed post explaining how you can!<\/a>
\n– Please check out the MarkDoesStuff.com<\/a>. All Mark Watches videos for past shows\/season are now archived there!
\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 will be\u00c2\u00a0The Legend of Korra<\/i>, seasons 2 – 4, series 8 of\u00c2\u00a0Doctor Who<\/i>, and Kings<\/i>.<\/b>
\n– The 2015 Mark Does Stuff tour is being announced!!! Check my Tour Dates \/ Appearances page<\/a> often to see if I’m coming to your city!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"