Leverage Starter Kit
This list was originally for my flist because I want all of them to watch this show but they all watch a billion things and don't have time (and that other thing, oh yeah, life). SOOOOOOO. I chose what I believe are the five best episodes to represent the series while still skipping entire seasons. EVEN THOUGH YOU SHOULDN'T BECAUSE LEVERAGE IS AWESOME. And I want everyone, not just my flist, to give it a shot. Each of these has been tumblrred :)
One . The Nigerian Job (1X01)
Season ones are introductory. A lot of time is spent setting up arcs and characters. Figuring out what works and what doesn’t. It’s why most shows don’t find their fitting a couple of episodes in. Some don’t even find it until the end of the season.
Leverage wastes no time. In the pilot a niche is already found. The set up works (thieves band together and help the helpless by screwing over big bads) and the characters (five unique and fully realized individuals who bring something to the team) mesh. Everything fits in a way that is perfectly telling of the rest of the series. You can watch this episode and catch one of season three and while the show has evolved (as most do by this time, you can’t expect everything to be the same), the feel and tone of everything is exact. These people know what they’re doing, they know their characters, trust them with the story, and it just fucking flows.
It’s a fun ride that if you enjoy will most definitely mean you’ll enjoy the rest of the series.
Two. The Mile High Job (1X05)
This is one of my favorite of the whole series. It uses my favorite claustrophobic plot device: AIRPLANES. There’s nowhere to go. Forced communication. Time limit. Only sky above and ocean below. Most every series has a plane episode and if they don’t, they should. That and a bank episode as well, which Leverage has also. A show with a villain-a-week format has to remain fresh and unique in its approach to obvious tropes such as this one and Leverage does a wonderful job of twisting the usuals so it works for their characters. This episode is loads of fun and a great representation of the shows structure.
Three. The First David Job/The Second David Job (1X12 + 1X13)
This is cheating. Two episodes but w/e. They need to be seen back to back. The Nigerian Job is where the emotional arc starts (for the anchor of the team, Nate), this is where the arc ends. The stakes are raised, the recurring villain (who you’re missing out on by not watching season one) returns and everything works/doesn’t work/goes haywire/gets insane and then some. What really amazes me about this show is how complete this first season is. If they hadn’t been picked up, the way it wraps up is fitting and satisfactory. But thank God it didn’t end there because trust me, by the time you finish these episodes you will want about a hundred more hours with these wonderful people.
Also. The Second David Job has my favorite scene in the whole series. First cap, bottom row. Parker smelling Maggie. WILL. NEVER. NOT. BE. THE. GREATEST.
Four. The Two Live Crew Job (2X05)
You’re only as good as your adversaries and yo. What fucking kickass adversaries they are. The team goes head to head with an even nastier crew and wonderful chaos ensues as they try to out do each other in the same job. This could’ve been bad because at this point in the series we know the team is really good at what they do. The only way to make them better is by pitting them against people who are just as smart. IMO, season two’s most clever and fun episode.
Five. The Roshomon Job (3X09)
This is the last and MOST WONDERFUL THING TO HAPPEN IN MAYBE EVER. No. Really. I am a huge fan of Akira Kurosawa and normally I’m a spoiler hound but I’ve never read spoilers for Leverage. I just knew of the title and when I read Roshomon in one of them I did about a hundred FUCK YEAHS. Because for fucking real, Roshomon style is amazing. It’s a way to get into a characters point of view without taking a whole episode. So this episode is twice awesome because a) ROSHOMON STYLE (FOR THE FUCKING WIN) and b) FLASHBACKKKKKK. I watched Lost, okay. I am a graduate of the School of Backstory Fuckery. Here we get The Team (or OT5, whichever) before they were a Team being a Team without them knowing they were a Team. Can the Leverage writers get a standing ovation?
I love each character so fucking much. They’re valuable to the team and taking one out negates everyone/everything about this show. That’s why this episode is one of my absolute favorites. Every episode uses them effectively but the way this episode does it, in ROSHOMON style, which I will never shut up about, is so fucking badass.