Leverage: Redemption is here! This is a long awaited comeback for both the fans and the entire cast and crew. After our exclusive interviews with the entire cast and our advanced reviews, it’s time to review Leverage: Redemption 1×08 “The Mastermind Job.” In this episode the case of the week casts salt on still open wounds while the show manages to parody itself without losing any of its essence and emotion. Ready?
Here we go!
In Leverage: Redemption 1×08 “The Mastermind Job”, the show manages to parody itself, introducing a con within another con. From this story, the episode may appear to be funny, and it is, but it is so much more. This case reopens the wounds that are still draining, especially for Sophie.
This is not just a case, not only does someone pretend to talk about the team as if they were only part of a story, a story to entertain thousands of people around the world, as if they were not real people, but also to impersonate Nate. Nate… whose death still affects every member of the team, whose death still hurts like hell… especially Sophie.
She can’t help but touch her ring, play with it, as a way to feel Nate, as a way to share with him everything that is happening, to remember … and having an asshole impersonating Nate, somehow staining his memory doesn’t help her at all.
She has to finish this guy, all of this. And the team too. I want to hug Sophie really tight and comfort her, tell her that everything is going to be okay because you can really feel how much she hurts what is happening as much as it hurts us.
I like that Leverage: Redemption 1×08 “The Mastermind Job” doesn’t forget its roots and pays homage to them but, at the same time, marks a new path, showing that the show is not just a continuation of the original, but that it goes to follow a different, new path without losing its essence.
Because the essence is always there. Even in this episode where the show parodies itself and it’s all too easy to fall for the easy laugh, the show keeps the essence and emotion to the max. So much so that the way the whole team comes together to vindicate Nate once again, to prevent a guy from staining his memory and the way Sophie deals with this makes us emotional and brings tears to our eyes.
There is no better way to honor Nate, to honor the man who brought them together and made them the family they are today, the man Sophie will always love and miss. Even Breanna and Harry, who didn’t know Nate, are affected by this, respecting a man they were not lucky enough to know but who know he must have been extraordinary when this strange group of vigilantes admired and loved him so much. When he was so important to them.
And they help them in everything, not just at the job, but beyond it.
Leverage: Redemption 1×08 “The Mastermind Job” doesn’t forget where it came from but also where it’s going. And it was not easy to connect two new characters to an episode as intimate as this, since the two of them don’t have that special connection with Nate. But they succeeded. The past and the present collide … to create a future.
I love it.
That said, does Leverage: Redemption 1×08 “The Mastermind Job” meet the expectations of a season finale? Not exactly … because it really isn’t.
Season 1 of the show has 16 episodes and these 8 episodes are only a first part. It is for that reason that this episode is emotional, it breaks your heart, it honors the roots of the show but … but, at the same time, it could be any episode of the season and it doesn’t have something that distinguishes it as a season finale.
We haven’t really got there yet. Probably, after the decision to part the season, we expected something more … explosive and spectacular for the last episode of Leverage: Redemption that we will see in a while but Leverage: Redemption 1×08 “The Mastermind Job” is good as it is: a mid season finale.
Looking forward to season 1B which will be as good or even better than 1A.
Here ends our Leverage: Redemption 1×08 “The Mastermind Job” review. And this is goodbye of our Leverage: Redemption reviews!
Can’t wait for the premiere of season 1B because let’s remember that this season has 16 episodes and if the first half has been so good, I’m looking forward to seeing what they have in store for us.
It has been a pleasure to discuss this show with you in these weeks and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.
See you soon!
Agree? Disagree? Feel free to share with us in the comments below!
Leverage: Redemption is available to watch on IMDbTV.
