It's the second season of a reboot. Of course the writers and the production staff are going to try something different. As I noted in a review way back, there's not much else to do with the show. Otherwise it follows a particular formula, and they have to follow it. So they either change the formula for an episode, or it's same-old same-old.
As far as the one-off formula, the episode isn't bad. Emily Hall makes a plucky protagonist, with Julian Silver as her plucky IT sidekick. The appearances from the regulars were usually amusing: I liked Eliot' grin as he took over for the front desk security guard, and Parker is always a hoot whether she's doing her disappearing act at the juncture box (along with her cart), or her fake-video over-the-top acting on how to crack a safe, or just dropping out of the ceiling to lend Jenna a hand when Jenna's back is turned.
The singing bit, just to give Aleyse Shannon a spotlight, was okay. Shouldn't she be covertly helping Keith? Sophie was okay, and the Noah Wyle "lumberduke" bit seemed to exist to a) give Wyle another in his endless opportunities to ham it up, and b) take a few shots at Hallmark.
And... I'm not quite clear from an in-universe point of view why the main crew is so big on keeping their help a secret. I guess they're trying to test how well will the civilians do on their own. But then why help them? That doesn't seem like much of a test. It's not like it's some big secret: if Jenna and Keith do join up with Leverage International, they'll eventually find out who the founders are, and that the founders (well, three of them) helped them out. If that happened to me, I'd be more offended than anything. TV reality, I guess.
That's why Harry and Breanna's roles made a bit more sense. Harry doesn't interact with the Dynamic Duo at all, and Breanna has a walk-on and walk-off bit. The funniest parts were Harry's over-the-top impersonation of a "lumberduke", and Jenna's failed attempt to appeal to Carol's conscience.
So the entire plot seems more there to justify doing a "different story" then because it makes internal sense. And if you think about it hard, it doesn't make much sense ("Why was the main team playing secret?"). But it was entertaining in the moment.
But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong. What do you think?
As far as the one-off formula, the episode isn't bad. Emily Hall makes a plucky protagonist, with Julian Silver as her plucky IT sidekick. The appearances from the regulars were usually amusing: I liked Eliot' grin as he took over for the front desk security guard, and Parker is always a hoot whether she's doing her disappearing act at the juncture box (along with her cart), or her fake-video over-the-top acting on how to crack a safe, or just dropping out of the ceiling to lend Jenna a hand when Jenna's back is turned.
The singing bit, just to give Aleyse Shannon a spotlight, was okay. Shouldn't she be covertly helping Keith? Sophie was okay, and the Noah Wyle "lumberduke" bit seemed to exist to a) give Wyle another in his endless opportunities to ham it up, and b) take a few shots at Hallmark.
And... I'm not quite clear from an in-universe point of view why the main crew is so big on keeping their help a secret. I guess they're trying to test how well will the civilians do on their own. But then why help them? That doesn't seem like much of a test. It's not like it's some big secret: if Jenna and Keith do join up with Leverage International, they'll eventually find out who the founders are, and that the founders (well, three of them) helped them out. If that happened to me, I'd be more offended than anything. TV reality, I guess.
That's why Harry and Breanna's roles made a bit more sense. Harry doesn't interact with the Dynamic Duo at all, and Breanna has a walk-on and walk-off bit. The funniest parts were Harry's over-the-top impersonation of a "lumberduke", and Jenna's failed attempt to appeal to Carol's conscience.
So the entire plot seems more there to justify doing a "different story" then because it makes internal sense. And if you think about it hard, it doesn't make much sense ("Why was the main team playing secret?"). But it was entertaining in the moment.
But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong. What do you think?