‘Leverage: Redemption’ Recap – ‘The Paranormal Hacktivity Job’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode Five of ‘Leverage: Redemption’.
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It is definitely safe to say, that Leverage: Redemption, has been quite the satisfying series. Because not only has it reunited the team in a dynamic and compelling manner, but it is definitely giving a frustrated audience what it wants. For week in and week out, fans everywhere are being treated to satisfying justice. The kind where unjust jerkfaces in positions of power, are getting exactly what they deserve, courtesy of the team’s wonderful skill set. But while it has been nice to see a real estate mogul and a seedy former congressman and a rich fat cat obtain their just desserts, sticking with just that would be too easy for Dean Devlin and his crack writing staff. For they enjoy challenging themselves and the viewers and covering all the bases of the story they’re telling and that’s top of mind today, simply because the next episode in this magnificent saga offers up a different kind of story that accomplishes those very goals.
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Because Dean and his team are keen to the fact that there are other jerkwads in the world taking advantage of the innocent. The kind of twerps that enjoy preying upon folks that aren’t technologically adept or are easy to scare… or for the sake of today’s recap, are emotionally vulnerable and hurting. For ‘The Paranormal Hacktivity Job’ wastes zero time in introducing us to a woman named Tina, who is indeed in a tough place emotionally. For Tina’s beloved aunt has passed, and the only memory she has left of her is the house that’s been gifted to Tina and well… unfortunately for her… others want the property as well. In fact, they want it so badly, they’re willing to make the place look haunted to clear her out. An act that leads to fiery disaster.

But thankfully, Tina had a run in with Parker after this spooky scam went sideways and well, it didn’t take long for Parker and Sophie and Breanna to put together that some low-life wannabe real estate barons wanted to seize the property for their own nefarious purposes and well, this trio wasn’t going to let that slide. Which in turn motivated them to set up a delightful trap for these guys, one that would teach them a valuable lesson in preying upon the innocent and the broken. Which uh, of course went sideways. Since these dudes were actually working with an elite assassin, who needed an empty house to properly operate, and that in turn allowed for all kinds of wild shenanigans to take place before the team brought the right guys to justice, giving Tina and her new property a fresh start in the process. 

But all of that aside, what makes this episode of note, is that writers Chris Downey and Jill Weinberger, do a wonderful job of encapsulating the smaller scams that we honestly don’t give enough thought or attention to. Because what Tina went through here… is happening around us at any given moment. It just comes in the form of a phone call, one either laden with grave concern for the lack of an extended warranty on a car or one filled with worry revolving around a potential virus upon your laptop. And the point of spotlighting everyday scams that we brush off or lament, is to remind us to not brush them off and take whatever steps necessary to flag these guys or expose them. Because scumbags like that, don’t do well under pressure or in being exposed and tend to fade away when that happens and well… that’s just the show’s way of saying, we can do more, we can be proactive, and we can make a difference.

Who knows, if perhaps enough of us take that message to heart, shows like this will become more fantasy than reflective fiction since scammers will be thinking twice about going for it and that message is just… wonderful to see present within the framework of this episode. In fact, it made it quite uplifting, as did Parker and Breanna and Sophie’s actions. Because you can never go wrong with heroes dropping everything to watch out for the everyday folks of the world and well, this episode just goes to show without a doubt, that Leverage: Redemption is going to surprise us at every turn. By way of thoughtful stories that challenge the viewer while pleasing them and this reviewer cannot wait to see what other storytelling surprises await us, as season one chugs along. Until next time.

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