Leverage
TNT Sundays at 9:00pm
Producers: Dean Devlin
John Rogers
Chris Downey
Starring: Timothy Hutton as Nathan Ford “The Brains”
Gina Bellman as Sophie Devereaux “The Grifter”
Christian Kane as Eliot Spencer “The Hitter”
Beth Riesgraf as Parker “The Thief”
Aldis Hodge as Alec Hardison “The Hacker”
Leverage is an action packed show produced by Dean Devlin. Devlin is know for making some big blockbuster movies. Independence Day, Stargate and The Patriot are just a few. Though Leverage is made for TV it doesn’t lack in blockbuster quality.
The premise of the show is simple. A crack team of thieves and con artists wear the white hats to help people go against big companies. As Nathan Ford would say they “Provide Leverage”.
We learned in season one how the team came together. Nathan worked for a large insurance company that turned it’s back on him when his son got sick. When his son died Nathan fell apart and later got mixed up with a group of people his company had investigated. The first season was used to establish each of the characters and learn more about each of their backgrounds. At the end of season one we are introduced to Sterling, played by Mark Sheppard. He is determined to take down the team. He finally gets his wish at the end of Season two when he arrests Nathan.
Inside Job
Airdate 6/27/10
The episode started out innocently with Nathan and Sophie having breakfast when Nathan gets a call from a mysterious man. As the mysterious man is talking on the phone you don’t get to see his face right away. He tells Nathan that Parker is in danger. Nathan doesn’t believe him right way until he reveals his name. He is Archie Leach, Parker’s mentor. As he says his name he turns to the camera and it’s Richard Chamberlain. Who I must say was look very dashing. He explains to Nathan Parker is trapped by the Sterenko security system. Nathan isn’t happy about the situation and he brings the team in. When Hardison finds out about the Sterenko system he freaks. He tells Nathan the only way he can get Parker out is from the inside and he’s not even sure he can do that. The team goes to the Wakefield Agricultural Corporation. Hardison is in the Van freaking out because the only way into the building is through the front doors. Sophie says that’s not a problem as Nathan goes looking for Archie.
I just love the look Hardison gives Sophie when she says they’ll just walk through the front door. Sophie is the grifter of the team and is adapt at disguises. They walk in an introduce themselves as Emma Peele and John Steed,I get a good chuckle at the Avengers reference. The pair are their to audit the books and see who would be fired. This of course gets Hardison in the door and hacking into the computer. I have to say I just love when Aldis does his British accent. It’s rather sexy.
In the mean time Parker is crawling around the ventilation ducts looking for a way out. She gets a bit pissed off when she finds an infrared security grid in the duct work. She is forced to leave the vents and try to blend in with the workers in the building. Only one problem. Security is doing retinal scans of all employees and checking ID. Parker steals a lab coat and some glasses then gets dragged along to an office going away party. Hardison is able to slip her an earbud through the inter-office mail so she can hear what is going on.
Nathan finds Archie on top of a building but he’s not alone. He is being guarded by two thugs. They are quickly taken out by Eliot. They find out from Archie that he was forced out of retirement because his family was threatened by the one who hired him. He was sent to steal a canister from the Biolab.
Sophie learns that one of the employees, Dr Hannity, developed a strain of wheat that was immune to a blight. All other wheat has no defense against this blight. The team figures out that Dr. Hannity wanted Archie to steal a canister of this wheat blight so she could spread it around the world. Making her wheat the only one that could survive make the Wakefield Agricultural Company billions.
Hardison finally finds Parker a way out. It’s from an executive office on the 38 floor. Only one problem, she has to go through the window. Eliot borrows a window washing platform and is waiting for her outside the window. Except Parker won’t go. She says she can’t let Hannity get away with it. Archie can’t believe what she’s saying. He taught her to just get the job done and never look back. She tells Archie that ‘s not they way she works any more. Parker decides to stay and steal the canister so Hannity can’t have it. With a little help from Eliot she steals the canister but triggers a biohazzard alarm and the building begins to shut down.
Dr. Hannity and her security guard partner Mr. Vorhees think they have Parker trapped and go to kill her. I’m not sure if the security guards name was a coincidence or not but Jason Vorhees was the killer in the Friday the 13th movies. It probably meant nothing but it popped into my head when I heard the name. So they think they have Parker trapped and confront her in the elevator. When the doors open we see Archie standing with the canister with three people in biohazzard suits. Archie tricks Dr. Hannity into revealing her plan to wipe out the wheat crop. One of the people in the biohazzard suit pulls off the hood to reveal a reporter. She got everything Dr. Hannity said on camera. Earlier Nathan got the news crew to dress up in the biohazzard suits to get the drop on the doctor.
I liked this episode because we got more of a background for Parker. We knew very little about her background. I found it interesting that Archie taught Parker how to be a thief. Parker is a favorite of mine and Beth Reisgraf does a great job with this quirky character. In the first two seasons Parker rarely showed emotions. She actually cried when she hugged Archie good bye at the end.
So if you like action and mystery with a bit of comedy thrown in then Leverage is the show for you.
Laura “Winter” Brennan
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