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

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode Four of ‘Leverage: Redemption’.
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Often times in storytelling, tales that revolve around redemption… follow some fairly specific formulas. Wherein a good soul either makes a devastating, life-changing mistake or is brought to their knees by the cruelty of their fellow man. Which in turn motivates them to find redemption by righting their wrong or by proving to those that caused them harm, that they are indeed worthy and better than the slimeball that made a negative impact upon their life and well… these are formulas that stick around because they are genuinely impactful. For they help to remind us to be better than we were yesterday and to never let others push us around. But while these plot lines definitely make audiences feel good on a consistent basis, their lack of diversity is in fact, problematic.

Because redemption extends beyond folks that we can consider to be a victim of circumstance or their shortsightedness. For there are people out there, specifically the ones that cause circumstance on their own… that sometimes realize they are on the wrong side of history and need to redeem themselves and their actions in order to sleep better at night and those are stories we should hear and celebrate and that is precisely why the next episode of Leverage: Redemption is of note. For ‘The Tower Job’ revolves around a ‘villain’s’ quest for redemption in a surprising manner. By initially making it seem as though, we were going to be treated to just another revenge job by the Leverage team. Because Harry Wilson stumbles upon a small protest in the opening moments of this tale, one revolving around the death of construction workers thanks to the negligence of a developer named Jason Crawley and well… that’s a solid reason to get the team involved. But it didn’t take long for us to realize, that this case really resonated with Harry for reasons beyond simply righting a wrong.

Mainly because, when that negligence came to light a few years ago, Harry was the lawyer that got Jason off scot-free and being reminded of that fact and coming to learn that Jason was once again building in the Big Easy, elicited quite the fire in Harry’s belly. One that motivated him to convince the team to take on this case and make Jason pay and well, that in turn led to quite the redemption story. One that genuinely made it clear that Harry isn’t right mentally or emotionally over what he did back in the day and that he is desperate to redeem himself and his actions, and he will go to any length to obtain that sense of peace and well, that quest brought about some incredible challenges for Mister Wilson. Because unfortunately, Harry’s desire to find peace, meant he often made some serious mistakes on this con, the kind that almost jeopardized the mission. 

Which meant that he had to learn on the fly, that redemption doesn’t come overnight and that if he wants to do it right, he needs to exercise patience with himself and the situation. So that he can remain objective in obtaining it and once he did, oh boy did Jason pay. But while that alone was quite fascinating to watch, the other lessons this episode offered up in regard to redemption, is what really allowed for it to shine. Simply because the story also took the time to point out that redemption goes beyond simply doing good for others and righting wrongs. It also involves making peace with one’s actions and mistakes and learning that you can grow and change and be a genuinely better person in the long term, and this was handled in a beautiful and intimate manner and that makes this quite the brilliant tale when all is said and done.

Simply because that’s the kind of depth you find in dramas, not a kickass crime thriller filled to the brim with dynamic characters. But as if often the case with Dean Devlin shows, this is another one that is eager to buck the norms and leave tropes behind and boy did it accomplish that in spades. Plus, we were treated to some wonderful character growth and some supremely moving moments, since Eliot’s brief lesson to Harry really was quite powerful in nature, since it gave us so much insight into Mister Spencer and what drives him. But most important of all, this episode was a ton of fun. Because the final fight sequence where Brianna was able to watch Eliot do his thing was ridiculously hilarious, and you can never go wrong with a show that finds a way to inject Klingon into its storylines and well, in the end, it will be quite interesting to see how Harry Wilson applies the lessons he learned here in the weeks to come, as the Leverage team continues their good fight to make things right in the world. Until next time.

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