S02.E08: The Turkish Prisoner Job

[AnimeMania]

The team uses the true story of a World War I P.O.W. escape to free an innocent man framed by a pair of dirty cops.

Premiere Date: December 21, 2022

[Maelstrom]

Another good episode. Beth did a great job directing, and I especially liked the atmospheric darkness during the big scene at the former alligator park/mythical stash house. (And I can't be the only one who got Jurassic Park vibes during the 'alligator attack' sequence, lol).

So Harry gets to lead his first job! I like the more egalitarian feel the crew has this time around - fun as it was watching Nate do what he did best and call the shots, it's refreshing to see other characters get their chance, too.

Sophie was absolutely terrifying as the drug kingpin (queenpin?). As McShane succinctly put it, "She's so scary!" 😆

Speaking of McShane (and even though he's a dirty cop I did feel kinda bad for him with how badly his partner treated him), how interesting that they set up a possible connection between him and Eliot. I'm super curious to find out what that might be... 🤔 And to learn more about Sophie's mentor, who got a passing mention for the first time that I can remember in either series.

Sarah the idealistic baby lawyer! Nice to see her again. I was hoping she'd turn up this season. And I loved that she knew enough not to ask too many questions, lol. She's learning so quickly.

That CI's face when Parker made off with his frequent smoothie card 😢"Aw, I want my free smoothie." 😆

[Lugal]

It's always interesting when the mark is smart, and they have to be at their best.  And I liked the return of Sarah the Newbie Lawyer. She's gained a little confidence in her time since she and Harry last crossed paths.  And I love they managed to figure out the mythical stash house and gave it to Romero in the end.  And the image above reminds me of Elliot protecting Romero, a la:  "This isn't the guy we're looking for!  He's just a line cook, but that's a very challenging job and should be respected."

I am also curious what Elliot and McShane's connection is.  Did they cross paths on a previous Leverage job? (He never appeared in a previous episode however)  And I also got Jurassic Park vibes as well when Eliot and Romero were "eaten" by gators.  Also credit to Gina, she was terrifying (and clearly having fun with the automatic weapons).

Also they mentioned one of the Leverage Intl. crews is run by a clockmaker.  I would totally watch that show!  (I did enjoy Korean Leverage when I managed to track it down).

[DearEvette]

I thought this was going to be more on the serious side, and it was... but just a little.

So far this season is killing it.  I love that this was Harry's first foray into running a job and he is kinda like when Hardison ran the team the first time, mucked it up a bit. Except in Hardison's case he over thought his con and made it too complicated.  Harry just missed some basic stuff and started out too simple.  But I liked Sophie mentoring him along.  The overall con was really fun.

Breanna was also having too much fun with her alligators and her hot sauce shenanigans.

1 hour ago, Lugal said:

It's always interesting when the mark is smart, and they have to be at their best.

I loved that what was a strength for her -- her smarts and her love of puzzles -- was what they turned against her as a weakness. 

And yeah, Sophie was excellent as a South American drug Queen.  She did look scary when she was counting down and shooting that gun.

Harry was playing with a fake severed arm, did I miss them showing the severed arm during the alligator attack?

[Maelstrom]

I believe the severed arm floated up to the surface of the water after the “gator attack” on Eliot.

[blueray]

Sophie was having way to much fun with the gun ;).

Was the park a legit place? It must of been as they didn't show them set it up and it seemed like it was. I like how they found the money. I figured if there was going to be any truth that they already found it but that works too.

[Mirabelle]

On 12/21/2022 at 4:40 PM, Lugal said:

 

Also they mentioned one of the Leverage Intl. crews is run by a clockmaker.  I would totally watch that show!  (I did enjoy Korean Leverage when I managed to track it down).

I'm pretty sure the clockmaker is a shout out to Aldis. He's really into watches - collects and designs them - and is on the Board of Trustees for the Horological Society of New York. 

[DoctorAtomic]

On 12/21/2022 at 7:01 PM, DearEvette said:

I loved that what was a strength for her -- her smarts and her love of puzzles -- was what they turned against her as a weakness.

I'd say her greed and hubris were the weaknesses. She thought she was the smartest person in the room. And she treated her partner like garbage, which cost her more in the end. 

I liked that Harry screwed up, but legitimately worried because the cook's life was really in danger being in jail. 

Harry studying the trunk was exactly what I would have done. It wouldn't have been earned if he figured out a solution on his own. I thought it was a little too easy how Harry has fit into new roles on cons. 

The young lawyer is also smart enough to knew what's up. I hope they bring her in sometime. 

[Sarah 103]

3 hours ago, DoctorAtomic said:

It wouldn't have been earned if he figured out a solution on his own. I thought it was a little too easy how Harry has fit into new roles on cons.

He needed help in terms of being pointed in the right direction, but I would still say he figured it out on his own. He successfully pulled off "The Turkish Prisoner" con, even though he had help from the rest of the team. I liked that he made mistakes, but with a small push from Sophie was able to save the day.

Is there anyone left who hasn't taken the lead on running a con?

3 hours ago, DoctorAtomic said:

The young lawyer is also smart enough to knew what's up. I hope they bring her in sometime. 

I'm pretty sure of it. She clearly has some vague idea of what Harry is involved with in term of that it helps the little guy, but is also illegal or at least in a legal gray area. I can picture her sending more clients his way, especially if she ever lost a case. I can hear her telling the client "While we're waiting for the appeal process, I told a friend who might be able to help."

Edited December 25, 2022 by Sarah 103

[Maelstrom]

On 12/22/2022 at 7:13 PM, blueray said:

Was the park a legit place? It must of been as they didn't show them set it up and it seemed like it was.

IIRC Breanna mentioned that the park got damaged enough during one of the recent hurricanes that it never reopened, so a real place no longer in operation.

[ML89]

I don’t know how to set up a new ep topic but the latest ep, The Pyramid Job, is available right now. 
 

[DoctorAtomic]

On 12/25/2022 at 1:11 PM, Sarah 103 said:

He needed help in terms of being pointed in the right direction, but I would still say he figured it out on his own. He successfully pulled off "The Turkish Prisoner" con, even though he had help from the rest of the team.

No, I meant he needed to do some research in order to work out a solution. As opposed to just coming up with it on his own like a revelation. He doesn't have the years of personal experience of Sophie, who would have thought out a solution. 

 

[Johannah]

I think McShane recognizing Eliot from a previous job was just a fun little off-remark for the audience.  He had had a lot of concussions, so anything he said was dismissed by his partner anyway.

What was the hot sauce protest?  They just didn't want anyone to have hot sauce?  Weird.  I don't like hot sauce, but I certainly wouldn't protest anyone else using it.

I wish they would have gotten the hidden money themselves and distributed it among all the people who lost their houses.  At least elicit a promise from the guy that he would share.  When he found the money, he said, "I'm rich!"  I didn't get the impression he was going to help the others.  Not that anyone would shout, "Money!  I can help everyone now!", but I don't remember anything about him that would make me think he'd track down the other swindled people and share.

[Mirabelle]

Breanna had laid groundwork on presumably Next Door and other social media that the hot sauce factory was going to be dumping chemicals into their water and producing chem trails and clogging up traffic so the people in the neighborhood the fake factory was going to be built was protesting all of that. 

[Chaos Theory]

It’s not like it’s the first time any of these guys have impersonated cops before not to mention Eliot has been “the sports guy” a couple times so McShane the guy with a ton of head injuries recognizing Eliot from “somewhere”  is a fun gag.    
 

Watching someone being the master planner for the first time is always fun and Sophie is right Harry is a lawyer and as much fun as he is currently having being a criminal he is a lawyer first and he might not go back to the guy he was before they met but  the law will always be his first great love.

I love references to the fact that there are other teams and the main group does have access to other people if they need them.   Sophie was having fun playing with guns and looked really good doing it. 
 

 

[MissLucas]

Late to the party so I'll just add two things. Seeing Harry getting into that grifter library and studying all night felt like a nice (maybe involuntary) shout-out to the Librarians. And while McShane kept wondering where he knew Eliot from I was wondering where I'd seen the actor before - all I remembered was that he had also been playing a somewhat dumb hunk. IMDB to the rescue: Baby Daddy! Since I don't believe in random lines of dialogue on this show I'm sure we'll see him again.

[andromeda331]

I loved the getting eaten by gators scene. That was really good.

Harry's first time running a con. I liked that he messed up which made sense. It was his first time. 

It was great seeing Sarah again. 

Eliot telling the prison guys that he was just a line cook but adding it was respectful position. 

[aradia22]

Strong episode. Loved having Sarah come back. They've been really good about recurring characters. 

I do feel like the bad guys in the original show had a bit more finesse. Maybe they feel like they have to make the crimes obvious for the audience. The female cop was obvious in planting the evidence but through the rest of the episode she seemed a little smarter and more grounded. 

Yeah, I continue to be uncomfortable by them insisting on Sophie's "ethnic ambiguity." They don't do this with the other characters.

They made some smart choices this episode with the limited budget. Lots of nighttime sequences, keeping to a simple con in terms of the characters, etc. 

Breanna finding the real stash house for Romero was a nice twist.

[aradia22]

Quote

I think McShane recognizing Eliot from a previous job was just a fun little off-remark for the audience.  He had had a lot of concussions, so anything he said was dismissed by his partner anyway.

What was the hot sauce protest?  They just didn't want anyone to have hot sauce?  Weird.  I don't like hot sauce, but I certainly wouldn't protest anyone else using it.

Assuming McShane is new to the show, I think this is just a hint that they're tackling other cases around New Orleans that don't get covered in one of the episodes. Honestly, the Leverage crew should be more recognizable around town but they are traveling around a bit. 

I feel like Redemption does "ripped from the headlines" a lot. I'm assuming the hot sauce thing is a reference to sriracha factory from 10 years ago.

[Llywela]

2 hours ago, aradia22 said:

I feel like Redemption does "ripped from the headlines" a lot.

Again, they always did. Back in the day when John Rogers blogged about each new episode, he always made a point of explaining that every plot they did was based on some real life example that was even worse.