In Review: Leverage: Redemption (S3 – EP8) The Cooling Off The Mark Job

Synopsis: In The Cooling Off The Mark Job, Old friend Hurley stumbles into the path of a Mark out for vengeance on the crew. He must take point on one of the most delicate parts of the con — the Cool Off. Despite the crew’s help, the situation spins out of control into a brand new con, with a brand new victim.

The Story

In the aftermath of their latest con, which involved real estate, Hurley—a friend of the Leverage team—finds himself in the unenviable position of cooling down a mark who’s out for revenge. As the story unfolds, we learn that the mark was running his own scheme to help a friend who was about to be let go from his firm after a real estate deal went sideways. Once Hurley learns the truth about the mark’s motives, he—along with the Leverage team—sets up an entirely new con to help the mark get his friend reinstated and serve up a bit of justice in the process.

The Acting

Drew Powell delivers a fantastic performance as Jack Hurley, a member of one of Leverage’s international teams. In this story, Hurley has the tough job of cooling down the mark, who is ready to kill Sophie and her team in a desperate attempt to get his money back. In a nutshell, Hurley’s job is to persuade the mark to back down and simply walk away. Alex Boniello also gives a solid performance as the mark, Clay, who only got involved in the con to help his late friend Denise. As always, the main cast turn in strong performances, though in this episode they step back a little and take on more supporting roles. Beth Riesgraf’s Parker gets a bit of character growth as we see her becoming more emotionally supportive toward her friend Hurley. Meanwhile, Christian Kane’s Eliot Spencer takes on something of a utility role—serving both as the team’s hitter and a cake maker.

Overall

The Cooling Off the Mark Job is a rare episode in which the principal team takes on a supporting role, running their con mostly from the background. This time, the story focuses entirely on Hurley as he tries to cool down Clay and convince him to walk away instead of going after the team. Hurley is a lovable character whose straightforward nature and moral compass aren’t quite as complicated as those of the core Leverage crew, which makes for an engaging and refreshing story. What adds to the charm is that Hurley has never had to cool off a mark before, leading to a number of genuinely funny and awkward moments.