{"id":4487,"date":"2015-03-03T08:00:22","date_gmt":"2015-03-03T16:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=4487"},"modified":"2015-02-07T12:20:10","modified_gmt":"2015-02-07T20:20:10","slug":"mark-watches-leverage-s03e02-the-reunion-job","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2015\/03\/mark-watches-leverage-s03e02-the-reunion-job\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Leverage’: S03E02 – The Reunion Job"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the second episode of the third season of\u00c2\u00a0Leverage<\/i>, the team crashes a school reunion in order to take down a CEO who is exploiting the Iranian revolution. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch\u00c2\u00a0Leverage<\/i>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

Trigger Warning: For talk of bullying.<\/b><\/p>\n

Good lord, what an episode.<\/p>\n

Free Iran Movement<\/b><\/p>\n

So, like many\u00c2\u00a0Leverage\u00c2\u00a0<\/i>episodes in the past, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a painful truth within the framing narrative of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Reunion Job.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Cyrus\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s movement has ties to the Freedom Movement within Iran, as well as the Iranian Green Movement during summer of 2009. We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re expected to sympathize with Cyrus and what he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s trying to do, and I appreciate that this is the basis for the episode. With so much of America\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s media focusing on negative and stereotypical display of Muslims or people from Iran, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s nice that this episode casts them as the people who need to be saved, at least in the case of Cyrus. Of course, that means there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not much time spent on Cyrus and his cause; the bulk of this episode focuses on the team\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s attempt to con Larry Duberman. But at least this isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t a case of white\/Western saviors stepping in to do Cyrus\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s work. They help him take down a horrible bit of software that the Iranian government uses to suppress dissidents, and that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a good thing. The bulk of the work left is for the Iranian people to do.<\/p>\n

Nerd Entitlement<\/b><\/p>\n

CAN WE TALK ABOUT HOW BRILLIANTLY THIS EPISODE SKEWERS ENTITLED NERDS? Look, I know intimately how awful bullying is. I would never tell someone that the bullying their experienced was the\u00c2\u00a0wrong<\/i> kind of bullying. No one deserves to be treated that way! There is an unfortunate behavior, however, that can grow out of this experience that manifests within nerdy communities. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve seen it a lot online; I see it at conventions that are primarily made up of white men; I see it in those GamerGate goobers. Being bullied for your interests as a kid or a teenager\u00c2\u00a0does not mean you get to grow up to be an asshole<\/i>. Some of the most bullied people turn into the biggest bullies themselves, and the shifting perception of traditionally nerdy things \u00e2\u20ac\u201c fantasy, science fiction, role playing comic books \u00e2\u20ac\u201c has left some people feeling as if their suffering was for nothing.<\/p>\n

It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an emotionally complicated situation, of course, and it hurts to see something you loved painfully become\u00c2\u00a0easy<\/i> to love. But Larry Duberman took that experience, and got revenge by finding a new group that would allow him to be a bully himself. He was well aware of who was using his Manticore software, and he was well aware of\u00c2\u00a0how<\/i> it was being used. So I lose all sympathy for him in the process. He turned a terrible experience for himself into something terrible for someone else,\u00c2\u00a0and he knows it<\/i>.<\/p>\n

High School Reunion<\/b><\/p>\n

Oh, what a fantastic setting, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a brilliant place to host a con because it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so easy to exploit social awkwardness, particularly when it comes to remembering faces and people from decades prior. The team is a goddamn miracle here, but let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s give it up for Sophie, who uses a very subtle form of manipulation in order to get Larry Duberman to select a password that the team can guess. That is foreshadowed earlier in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Reunion Job\u00e2\u20ac\u009d when she more or less tricks Eliot into serving her tea exactly as she likes it. (I almost thought that the show was revealing that they were seeing each other???? Which wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have been a terrible thing, just quite shocking.) And while I wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t say that \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Reunion Job\u00e2\u20ac\u009d gave us any significant growth for any of these characters, it was satisfying for them to just interact with one another here. Parker was fascinating here because this was the way the team introduced her to how high school politics worked, which ended up being something she was glad to have missed.<\/p>\n

Ah, those glimpses into their past. I UNIVERSALLY LOVE THEM. Hardison!!! With braces!!! IT WASN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T OKAY. And in a beautiful twist of irony, Eliot was the popular, desired one in high school, and yet he was all alone on the night of the con. WHICH\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 OKAY. Look, the scene where Sophie and Nate danced was amazing all by itself. If there\u00c2\u00a0is<\/i> any growth here, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s in these two characters getting accustomed to one another\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s presence again. But then the camera pans out to Hardison, and Parker lowers herself down from the ceiling, and then THEY\u00e2\u20ac\u2122RE DANCING WHILE SHE\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S FLOATING AND\u00c2\u00a0ARGH I AM SO INTO THIS SHIP\u00c2\u00a0IT PHYSICALLY HURTS ME TO THINK ABOUT<\/b><\/i> IT<\/b>. This is the least fair thing this show has done to me. But hey, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m imagining them getting more comfortable, either. From Parker\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s comment about \u00e2\u20ac\u0153pretend\u00e2\u20ac\u009d kissing in the last episode to their slow dance here, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d say this\u00c2\u00a0might<\/i> actually happen by the end of the show.<\/p>\n

By \u00e2\u20ac\u0153might,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I definitely mean \u00e2\u20ac\u0153better.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Reunion 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.
\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":"