‘Leverage: Redemption’ Recap – ‘The Mastermind Job’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for the midseason finale of ‘Leverage: Redemption’.
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One thing that we can all agree upon, is that we are living in some uncertain times. Because everywhere we turn these days, the world is full of unpleasant surprises, the kind that fill us dread and at times leave us a touch hopeless and lost. And all we want right now, is to see a little light at the end of the tunnel and that’s why we turn to entertainment now more than ever. For within the framework of stories, are people that are eager to stand up and keep hope alive and their brave and fearless actions do indeed give us what we need… if only for a little while. Because sadly, we know deep down these are nothing more than stories and we also come to believe, that the heroes we see on the silver and small screen will never be a part of our everyday world. 

But that is in fact, the wrong way to think about the state and the future of our world. Because the right moment and the right circumstances can in fact, give life to heroes. The kind that are as brave and as fearless as the ones we see in theaters and in shows, and what elevates a genuine everyday person to a hero’s standing is top of mind today, because it served as the focal theme of the midseason finale of Leverage: Redemption. A feat that ‘The Mastermind Job’ accomplishes, in a supremely sneaky manner. For early on in this tale, the story seems focused on exposing a writer that has made Team Leverage quite uncomfortable. For this so-called ‘Mastermind’ has put together a novel of the team’s exploits, complete with frightening details (such as Eliot’s impeccable hair flips) and well, no one should know these stories but the team.

Which motivates them to intercept the author to figure out how exactly he learned of their exploits and to inform him of the dangers of revealing their secrets. But alas, before they can properly interrogate and teach the Mastermind a lesson, he and Harry are whisked away to France by a former despot in the hopes of using the Mastermind’s ‘skills’ to obtain what he needs for a coup. Which in turn motivates the team to help the Mastermind out in this quest… to prevent this jerk from ever completing his coup, and of course… they are successful because they’re Team Leverage. But what matters more here, is the Mastermind’s journey. Because it turns out that said Mastermind, whose real name is Milton, was nothing more than an everyday dude who found his life to be incredibly boring. To the point where the only excitement he ever enjoyed, was hearing about Nate and the team’s exploits in a bar and the thought of living vicariously through them gave him the spark he so desperately needed.

But what made his journey so worthwhile and so important, is that Milton became a hero right before our eyes. Because he did indeed live the life of a Leverage team member and in doing so discovered he could be a hero just like they are and well, therein lies the exploration in question. Since Milton’s wild adventure here makes it clear that each and every one of us… can in fact be heroes. Especially if the circumstances are right and our skill set can be put to use. But the genesis of a real-life hero goes beyond right place and right time. It also takes guts and an active decision to put oneself in harm’s way and if one can do that and utilize the moment, wonderful things can happen and we can be just like Milton and well, it’s wonderful to see this series point out that if we want hope in the world and heroes to rise, sometimes it is up us to make that happen and well… that’s a wonderful way to wrap up the first half of this amazing season.

Because few shows out there are brave enough to challenge the audience to be the change we want in the world, and what is incredible, is that the wonder of this tale doesn’t end there. Because this is also a grand love letter to Nate in many ways, since the events that take place here happen at the same time as the anniversary of Sophie and Nate’s first meeting and the majesty and importance of that is not lost on the central theme of this episode either. Since an everyday insurance adjuster once asked himself if he could be more in the world, and he in turn influenced others to answer that call and without that one question, these heroes wouldn’t be where they are right now and it was just wonderful to have that bookend present here and in the end, all of these wonderful themes, really does leave one to wonder… what other kind of impressive messages await us when the midseason premiere of this brilliant series arrives on IMDBtv on October 8. Until next time.  

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