Rating: ★★★★★

Airdate: July 31, 2011, 9/8c on TNT

Sophie, Nate and Hardison set up the mark

“The Carnival Job” has lots of twists and turns to keep everyone guessing and on their toes – both on the team and in the audience. Like last week, this episode begins with a legal issue, which may be the perfect hook for me! This week the writers do a better job getting the legal issues correct. A company can claim anything you work on while at work belongs to them (in this case a computer chip) if you are employed under a work-for-hire contract. But the writers, M. Scott Veach and Paul Guyot, quickly shift our expectations from how the issue is going to play out when Connell (Erik Jensen), this week’s mark, steals the computer chip at issue for himself.

Eliot (Christian Kane) ends up guarding Molly (Lea Zawada), Connell’s daughter, as his cover. She turns out to be wise beyond her years, but also bitter and lonely because of her father’s withdrawal after her mother’s death. Kane turns in a wonderful performance, as Eliot is not quite sure what to make of her but quickly forms a bond with her – no doubt seeing himself in her prickly exterior. For her part, Zawada does a terrific job hitting all the marks as hurt daughter, smart kid, and scared hostage.

As with every episode, there is a lot of humor in the “The Carnival Job.” Sophie (Gina Bellman) and Nate (Timothy Hutton) as over the top house designers/architects are hysterical. I love it when they play off each other, goading one another into increasingly outrageous behavior.

The team switches gears

The plot gets a little predictable when Molly gets kidnapped – at the carnival – and the team suddenly switches cons to help Connell get his daughter back – and so it becomes “The Carnival Job.” I pretty much pegged Daria (Anna Lieberman), the Eastern European nanny, as being up to no good the second she suddenly appears from nowhere.

What really saves this episode from a predictable ending, however, is the masterful direction of Frank Oz. I’ve long been a fan of his directing, so I was excited from the moment I saw his credit. The scene that focuses on Eliot talking to Molly, and trying to get an idea of where she is, is fantastic as Oz just keeps the camera circling Eliot at high speed. It reflects Molly’s terror and disorients us and reflects Eliot’s desperate attempts to be looking everywhere at once for her.

Oz's direction and Kane's fight scenes make this a memorable episode

I’m always happiest when we have a spectacular Eliot fight scene and the one in the hall of mirrors may be the best one yet. Again, hats off to Oz for this beautifully shot sequence – with mirrors everywhere! And hats off to Kane for doing a good portion of the scene with his eyes closed! Maybe he was cheating, but they sure looked closed to me! It’s a beautifully choreographed and executed fight. I’m also pretty sure Kane doesn’t cheat during the shot in which he bursts a balloon with his back turned by tossing a dart over his shoulder. But I would like to know how many takes it took to get that shot!

We have a week’s hiatus and then Leverage returns with two new episodes.

Tune in to Leverage Sundays at 9/8c on TNT.

All photos © 2011 Turner Broadcasting/TNT