LEVERAGE
So, I have found a new love and it's name is LEVERAGE.
We have thieves, snark, and cons. COME JOIN US.
On the surface, Leverage is a story about a band of thieves, con artists, and hackers who join forces to steal from the rich and give to the poor.
Underneath, it is my one true love. Seriously, the show has everything I look for in good television: excitement, excellent story-telling, pretty people (bonus), and most importantly HUMOR (even Mad Men, in its own special way fulfills that requirement. Don Draper stuffing Roger Sterling with oysters and making him walk a billion flights of stairs with the expected intestinal results? GOLD.). If a show doesn't lighten things up at least once in a while then while I may enjoy it and appreciate it, I can never love it. Luckily Leverage has good times in spades.
What it immediately reminded me of was Firefly. You have a ragtag group that comes together and go on wacky adventures. I am so glad I listened to the suggestion of darkeyedwolf when she pushed this on her flist. The promos made it look so dull (just another procedural which didn't interest me at all) and it SO ISN'T.
Man, I'm not doing a very good job of selling this show. Basically it boils down to the fact I love every character and every situation they are in. It's silly and smart and fantastic. There are heists!
Meet the cast!
Nathan Ford
Timothy Hutton was partly the reason for my hesitation to pick this show up. As far as I can remember he has always played the role of "huge bastard" in every movie I've seen him in. Plus, wasn't he pervy for a young Natalie Portman in some movie? I don't know. But it all worked out because Nate is the alcoholic papa bear to all the little thieving cubs of Team Leverage.
Nate was an insurance cop, and a damn fine one, until his kid died. The giant, evil insurance company he worked for denied payment for an experimental treatment that would have saved his son. This leads him into a two year drunken binge before he is made leader of a group of thieves that he used to hunt. Don't worry, he's not all emo (though he does get some of that in), because he has to pull out of that to keep his team in line.
Sophie Devereaux
Sophie is a grifter, art thief, and (aspiring) actress. When she is working a con she is slicker than slick, but the moment she steps onto a stage she tranforms into quite possibly the worst actress in the history of ever. Too bad she doesn't realize it (and no one on the team is going to tell her). The faces of the team when they first see her perform are HILARIOUS.
I was completely prepared to dislike this character because I thought she was going to be the stock "sexy" but BORING character. Luckily it is quite the opposite. She is smart, capable, funny, loving, tough, and did I mention she can't act for BEANS (when not on a job, of course)? You can't help but fall in love with her (which is probably why she's great at cons).
Eliot Spencer
Okay, this is where my prejudice comes out because I love Eliot to the ends of the earth. In real life a violent, sarcastic playboy is far from ideal. But on screen? Only my most favorite thing EVER. The gravelly voice. The kicking of ass. SWOON. XD I partially blame my fascination due to the fact that Christian Kane played Lindsay on "Angel" and once hit the titular character with his truck (I always felt Lindsay got kind of a raw deal on that show... which I keep meaning to rewatch since I've never seen all the episodes).
Eliot is a "retrieval specialist" which means he beats up everyone and thing that gets in his way (often with hilarious flashbacks like to scenes of him fighting a guy holding a butcher knife with the entire background engulfed in flames. OH THE CHEESINESS). Eliot is gruff, but also funny (the key to my heart), and has his team's back even if he'll never admit it.
Alec Hardison
If I had to pick any character that I would want to hang out with every day, it would be Hardison - the coolest geek in the world. The resident hacker Hardison does all the work that sets the teams up for success: doctoring documents, controlling security systems, and creating aliases (sometimes with Doctor Who-related names). And did I mention that he is hilarious? He might be the best person on the planet, it's entirely possible.
He just snarks away being awesome and gets annoyed when his prowess isn't completely appreciated by the rest of the team. He's also got a bit of a soft spot for Parker, which is adorable. Age of the Geek!
Parker
Parker is insane, but it's an adorable type of insane, where she enjoys jumping off buildings (sometimes with other people) and stealing whatever she can get her hands on. She doesn't like things, she likes money. And while she is an expert cat burglar, interacting with people is not her strong suit. She's a little detatched from the rest of her world so she often ends up insulting people when she doesn't mean to and just being a little odd (fortune cookies for breakfast!).
I don't mean to make her sound like this emo introvert, because she is the exact opposite. She's always up for a challenge be it picking a lock or jumping onto a moving truck from a bridge. Serious awesome right there. I love Parker because she is amazing.
I only have one episode left to watch which makes me sad (but it returns this summer!). This show has just gotten better and better over the course of 13 episodes. The actors have really fallen into their roles (especially Parker's actress, because that role walks a fine line) and the writing is a lot more comfortable. I also think it is awesome that Kevin Tighe plays the big bad guy in the season finale as he played Locke's father (and kidney theif) on Lost. So even before I knew who he was I immediately hated him which worked out well.
After I finish the final episode I'll get the watch the first Ashes to Ashes episode of the new season! So excited!
We have thieves, snark, and cons. COME JOIN US.
On the surface, Leverage is a story about a band of thieves, con artists, and hackers who join forces to steal from the rich and give to the poor.
Underneath, it is my one true love. Seriously, the show has everything I look for in good television: excitement, excellent story-telling, pretty people (bonus), and most importantly HUMOR (even Mad Men, in its own special way fulfills that requirement. Don Draper stuffing Roger Sterling with oysters and making him walk a billion flights of stairs with the expected intestinal results? GOLD.). If a show doesn't lighten things up at least once in a while then while I may enjoy it and appreciate it, I can never love it. Luckily Leverage has good times in spades.
What it immediately reminded me of was Firefly. You have a ragtag group that comes together and go on wacky adventures. I am so glad I listened to the suggestion of darkeyedwolf when she pushed this on her flist. The promos made it look so dull (just another procedural which didn't interest me at all) and it SO ISN'T.
Man, I'm not doing a very good job of selling this show. Basically it boils down to the fact I love every character and every situation they are in. It's silly and smart and fantastic. There are heists!
Meet the cast!
Nathan Ford
Timothy Hutton was partly the reason for my hesitation to pick this show up. As far as I can remember he has always played the role of "huge bastard" in every movie I've seen him in. Plus, wasn't he pervy for a young Natalie Portman in some movie? I don't know. But it all worked out because Nate is the alcoholic papa bear to all the little thieving cubs of Team Leverage.
Nate was an insurance cop, and a damn fine one, until his kid died. The giant, evil insurance company he worked for denied payment for an experimental treatment that would have saved his son. This leads him into a two year drunken binge before he is made leader of a group of thieves that he used to hunt. Don't worry, he's not all emo (though he does get some of that in), because he has to pull out of that to keep his team in line.
Sophie Devereaux
Sophie is a grifter, art thief, and (aspiring) actress. When she is working a con she is slicker than slick, but the moment she steps onto a stage she tranforms into quite possibly the worst actress in the history of ever. Too bad she doesn't realize it (and no one on the team is going to tell her). The faces of the team when they first see her perform are HILARIOUS.
I was completely prepared to dislike this character because I thought she was going to be the stock "sexy" but BORING character. Luckily it is quite the opposite. She is smart, capable, funny, loving, tough, and did I mention she can't act for BEANS (when not on a job, of course)? You can't help but fall in love with her (which is probably why she's great at cons).
Eliot Spencer
Okay, this is where my prejudice comes out because I love Eliot to the ends of the earth. In real life a violent, sarcastic playboy is far from ideal. But on screen? Only my most favorite thing EVER. The gravelly voice. The kicking of ass. SWOON. XD I partially blame my fascination due to the fact that Christian Kane played Lindsay on "Angel" and once hit the titular character with his truck (I always felt Lindsay got kind of a raw deal on that show... which I keep meaning to rewatch since I've never seen all the episodes).
Eliot is a "retrieval specialist" which means he beats up everyone and thing that gets in his way (often with hilarious flashbacks like to scenes of him fighting a guy holding a butcher knife with the entire background engulfed in flames. OH THE CHEESINESS). Eliot is gruff, but also funny (the key to my heart), and has his team's back even if he'll never admit it.
Alec Hardison
If I had to pick any character that I would want to hang out with every day, it would be Hardison - the coolest geek in the world. The resident hacker Hardison does all the work that sets the teams up for success: doctoring documents, controlling security systems, and creating aliases (sometimes with Doctor Who-related names). And did I mention that he is hilarious? He might be the best person on the planet, it's entirely possible.
He just snarks away being awesome and gets annoyed when his prowess isn't completely appreciated by the rest of the team. He's also got a bit of a soft spot for Parker, which is adorable. Age of the Geek!
Parker
Parker is insane, but it's an adorable type of insane, where she enjoys jumping off buildings (sometimes with other people) and stealing whatever she can get her hands on. She doesn't like things, she likes money. And while she is an expert cat burglar, interacting with people is not her strong suit. She's a little detatched from the rest of her world so she often ends up insulting people when she doesn't mean to and just being a little odd (fortune cookies for breakfast!).
I don't mean to make her sound like this emo introvert, because she is the exact opposite. She's always up for a challenge be it picking a lock or jumping onto a moving truck from a bridge. Serious awesome right there. I love Parker because she is amazing.
I only have one episode left to watch which makes me sad (but it returns this summer!). This show has just gotten better and better over the course of 13 episodes. The actors have really fallen into their roles (especially Parker's actress, because that role walks a fine line) and the writing is a lot more comfortable. I also think it is awesome that Kevin Tighe plays the big bad guy in the season finale as he played Locke's father (and kidney theif) on Lost. So even before I knew who he was I immediately hated him which worked out well.
After I finish the final episode I'll get the watch the first Ashes to Ashes episode of the new season! So excited!