{"id":4588,"date":"2015-04-08T08:00:55","date_gmt":"2015-04-08T15:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=4588"},"modified":"2015-03-31T13:43:03","modified_gmt":"2015-03-31T20:43:03","slug":"mark-watches-leverage-s04e11-the-experimental-job","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2015\/04\/mark-watches-leverage-s04e11-the-experimental-job\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Leverage’: S04E11 – The Experimental Job"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the eleventh episode of the fourth season of\u00c2\u00a0Leverage<\/i>, the team go after a secret society at a university. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch\u00c2\u00a0Leverage<\/i>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Trigger Warning: For consent, nonconsensual medical procedures, medical experimentation, torture, PTSD, homelessness, stigma around homelessness, and hazing.<\/b><\/p>\n

That was such a fucked up episode.<\/p>\n

So, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a lot here that is, unfortunately, based utterly on reality. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Experimental Job\u00e2\u20ac\u009d tackles a number of oppressive structures and detrimental aspects of our society and combines them into a surreal and hellish nightmare, one that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a sign of how power and privilege can intersect to cause grievous harm. LET\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S DISCUSS STUFF.<\/p>\n

The 206<\/b><\/p>\n

I think that this episode largely references the Skull and Bones Society that was formed at Yale, since it aims to portray the 206 not just as a secret society, but one with a lot of power. These organizations \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and the Skull and Bones was not the only one \u00e2\u20ac\u201c are historically the playgrounds of straight white men who are usually Protestant. While there\u00c2\u00a0are<\/i> a lot of similarities between them and fraternities, they ultimately aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t really the same, and I was glad that the show made that distinction very clear. But you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve still got a lot of the privilege that comes from such institutions, at least the ones that are historically acceptable in United States society. (I think it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s important to note that there are plenty of fraternities here that\u00c2\u00a0don<\/i>\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t<\/i> earn the same sort of standing in American society, such as those that are historically black or gay.) Not only that, but the 206 are big fans of public humiliation during their rush week, and it was just as horrifying to watch as I imagined.<\/p>\n

But what fucked me up so much about this episode was the disconnect you could see on everyone\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s faces throughout it. One of the challenges that Hardison faces\u00c2\u00a0during this\u00c2\u00a0con is that he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s got to assimilate into a culture he finds repulsive and disgusting. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hard enough that he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s got to appear to be cool. (Though I personally thought he had no problem with that; erasing people\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s tickets was cool all on it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s own to these students.) There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s that scene during the first bit of hazing where you can see Hardison struggle to keep his grift together. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s annoyed and infuriated by Travis Zilgram\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s behavior, but he can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t betray how he really feels. Sometimes, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s easier than others, such as when he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s asked to take the lead in the Black Ops<\/i> tournament. However, it was so disturbing to me to see how willing all of these men were to turn an eye away from the horrors around them. Actually, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not quite correct. Sure, some of these men allowed bullshit to happen, but most of them\u00c2\u00a0gleefully participated in it<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Which brings me to Eliot.<\/p>\n

Eliot\u00c2\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t talk about the 206\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s horrible behavior without addressing how they used homeless veterans as LITERAL PUNCHING BAGS. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just part of the horrific nightmare that these assholes perpetrate on people who are desperate for a meal and a place to sleep. Like the basis for the 206, there is a very real and disturbing history of nonconsensual medical procedures and experimentation connected to this country. From the Standford Prison Experiment (which we get glimpses of when we learn that the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153guards\u00e2\u20ac\u009d in the basement are beating the test subjects) to the Tuskegee\u00c2\u00a0and<\/i> Guatemalan syphilis experiments, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s truth to what we see on the screen. In this specific case, the members of the 206 used the most vulnerable people available to them \u00e2\u20ac\u201c homeless veterans \u00e2\u20ac\u201c to help out people like Mr. Conrad.<\/p>\n

I mean, this was already extremely fucked up, and then we find out that the point of these experiments was to\u00c2\u00a0cause<\/i> PTSD, all so that the U.S. government would have a new method of mentally torturing people. THIS SHOW GOT TOO REAL FOR A MOMENT, Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ALL. But it needs to in order to demonstrate how these people view the homeless: as inhuman. They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not even\u00c2\u00a0worthy<\/i> of basic respect to the members of 206. That kind of behavior may seem shocking to you, but as someone who has spent time being homeless, I can assure you that this is precisely how plenty of people in this world view homeless people.\u00c2\u00a0Today<\/i>. Just come to San Francisco and ask a random person on the street how they feel about the homeless here, and I guarantee it won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be long before you find someone who says nothing but hateful, violent garbage about them. Hell, while you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re at it, just ask the San Francisco Archdiocese what they think of homeless people<\/a>. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m sure you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll get some lovely answers.<\/p>\n

I know that a lot of the villains and antagonists of this show have made me angry, but\u00c2\u00a0fuck all of these people<\/i>. I wanted them destroyed. I was utterly pleased to see Travis Zilgram be humiliated and embarrassed, and I admit I even wanted to see\u00c2\u00a0more<\/i>. HE\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S SO AWFUL. I wonder, then, if Mr. Conrad\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s threat at the end of the episode will hold any weight. At the very least, Travis Zilgram is going to jail. But what about those that assisted him in disposing of David\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s body at the beginning of the episode? What about Mr. Conrad? What of the 206? I got the sense that while Rachel got some justice, there wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t a way to obliterate The 206 completely. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s upsetting, isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t it? Oh god, is Mr. Conrad going to come back???<\/p>\n

This was a super upsetting episode of the show, but I was surprisingly entertained throughout it. Aldis Hodge and Christian Kane are incredible here, honestly, and the camera work was phenomenal! All those juxtaposition shots for Hardison and Eliot? YES.\u00c2\u00a0YES<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Experimental 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":"