‘Leverage: Redemption’ Recap – ‘The One Man’s Trash Job’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 202 of ‘Leverage: Redemption’. To revisit the previous episode, click here.
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Over the course of the past two years, we’ve talked at length about how the Amazon Freevee series, Leverage: Redemption, does a wonderful job of providing the audience with catharsis. Because this is the only television show out there, tossing out concepts that we would love to see. Which in this instance involves bad people that normally get away with murder in the everyday world, paying the piper for their sins. For that is what we all want in this day and age, and that catharsis is so satisfying that the show hasn’t deviated from it in the slightest nor has it toyed with how the formula for their penance goes. That is, until the next episode came along.
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For ‘The One Man’s Trash Job’ is a story that quite frankly… fooled us for a bit and made us believe that maybe just maybe, the formula was about to be shaken up and the bad guy might win for a change as he does in real life, and it accomplished that deceit…  by introducing us to one of the worst villains the team has faced to date. Because Clyde Hammond just so happened the epitome of scum. Because not only was he an opportunist that opted to drop trash in the open seas to make a quick buck. But he dumped it anywhere he pleased, including local harbors if it meant people would stay out of his supremely shady, other business. Which was basically importing antiques illegally and he was on the team’s radar for trying to cause harm to an innocent whistleblower, and wow… did the gang have trouble dealing with this guy.

Because not only was he paranoid and eager to cause trouble if by chance the situation called for it in his mind. But he had a con man named Arthur Wilde on staff to help him with his schemes and Arthur, of course, knew Sophie from back in the day and that led to all kinds of horrific conflict between the two of them. The kind that left us wondering if the job could be pulled off in the slightest. But thankfully, the team figured out a way to bring Arthur into the fold in a manner that was beneficial to him as well, and with his help… the team was able to pull off an epic finale to the con. One that saw everyone pitch in, in fun ways to really make a mockery of this fool and give us at last what we wanted. All of which made for a brilliant tale for certain, one that definitely went deeper than expected regarding a couple of plot points.

For instance, the fact that the bad guy was resourceful and intelligent in the right and wrong ways, really did add a sense of painful realism to this tale. Because that’s a lot of what we see from the worst in our world and going that route and playing with our emotions made it clear… that Dean Devlin and his fine staff of writers, want to really make the catharsis this season, special and impactful. So that the cases never feel stale or cliché in the slightest and so that we walk away from these cases with a stronger emotional investment and a stronger sense of satisfaction regarding their joyous outcome, and well, it was mission accomplished here for certain. Because that realism created genuine worry and concern, and wow was it amazing to watch Clyde pay the piper in an embarrassing manner, and the wonder and depth in this episode, didn’t end there.

Because this is another episode, that dug deeper into Sophie’s past and what makes her tick and drives her today. Giving rise to what appears to be a secondary theme for the season. Specifically… confronting our past, especially the parts we don’t like. Since that gives us perspective and promotes growth, and it was fascinating to learn how far Sophie has come from her time with Arthur, and it will be interesting to see who else has their past put on display as what is shaping up to be an incredible season rolls along. One that is clearly going to offer all kinds of depth regarding the characters and up the ante regarding how it tells its wondrous stories and that is definitely a fine motivator to continue the journey post-haste... to truly bask in the wonder of everything this series has to offer. Until next time.   

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