Leverage: The Pimp Post
What Is It?
Leverage is a new show that premiered in December 2008 on TNT. It stars Timothy Hutton, Gina Bellman, Christian Kane, Aldis Hodge, and Beth Riesgraf. The basic plot of the show is four thieves led by a former insurance cop all work together as a team to right wrongs perpetrated by corrupt corporate executives. It's been compared to UK's Hustle, the O11 movies, Burn Notice, and Mission: Impossible. Probably the most accurate, and the one that the show creators and actors seem to agree on, is The A-Team.
My Love, Let Me Show You It
If you've been paying attention to my journal, you may have noticed that I love this show. Looooooooooooooooove. LOVELOVELOVE. ♥♥♥♥♥ For me, the appeal of the show is Team Dynamic + Wacky Hijinks + Humor, with bonus HOT PEOPLE and SHINY ACTION and EXPLOSIONS. Every member of the team is elite at what they do. Nom nom competence. But together, they form a greater whole. Doesn't that make you warm inside?
Timothy Hutton was the one who caught my eye when I first became aware of Leverage, but I wasn't tipped over into actually watching until I saw a couple of comments from Christian Kane fans talking about how awesome the show is. Literally less than one minute into the show, I was in love. Timothy Hutton's very first line had me hook, line, and sinker. The pilot ended up being one of the most gleeful, hand-clapping, HEE things I've ever watched. I loved every single second, and I loved every single character. And that's what Leverage is. FUN. It's hot people doing ridiculous things in an entertaining fashion.
C'mon, that's enough to hook you, right?
The Players:
most pictures have been resized, click on them for bigger versions!
Nathan "Nate" Ford (played by Timothy Hutton)
Nate is a former insurance investigator. Former because he got screwed over by the company he worked for. :( He has manpain, if you're into that (I am!). If not, it's okay! As darkeyedwolf says, Nate gets about 15 seconds of manpain in, and then FIGHT SCENE breaks out. We all win.
Anyway, Nate is the leader. He comes up with wacky plans, plans that almost invariably get derailed by something or another, and then he comes up with MORE wacky plans. Oh, Nate, too smart for his own good sometimes.
This is Timothy Hutton. You may remember him from such TV series as Kidnapped and A Nero Wolfe Mystery, and films such as Beautiful Girls, The Dark Half, and Ordinary People, for which he won an Oscar at the tender age of 20 years old. Though, honestly, that doesn't really mean much to me. What will mean a lot to you is that he's awesome. I didn't really plan to write up an actor section, to be honest, but I just wanted to put up this picture of Hutton. God, he's gorgeous.
Sophie Devereaux (played by Gina Bellman)
Sophie is a grifter. She's the actress of the bunch, the one who talks to the marks and lures them in. The hilarity is that she wants to be a legitimate actress, but she's REALLY REALLY bad at it. On the plus side, she's HOT. Also: accents! Sophie has History with Nate, but let's gloss over that. The important thing is that Sophie can swindle you with a wink and a smile.
This is Gina Bellman. You may remember her as Jane from the UK TV series, Coupling. I am unfortunately not familiar with her before Leverage, so there's not much I can say. :/ But she's absolutely wonderful on the show. She keeps a blog on TVGuide.com and writes about the behind-the-scenes aspect of each episode, and you learn how awesome the cast is.
Eliot Spencer (played by Christian Kane)
Retrieval specialist, which is just a fancy term for thief. A really kickass thief. Literally. He will kick your ass. Eliot is a ninja. He's the muscle of the group. He also tends to be cranky and likes to punch things. But he has a softer side. Like, he's always checking up on Nate and making sure he's okay and sometimes touches him on the-- Oh, look, sorry, my Nate/Eliot bias is coming out. Ahem. Anyway, Eliot likes to solve things by kicking them in the face. This is why we love him.
This is Christian Kane. You may remember him from his role as Lindsey McDonald on Angel, and his brief appearance in the movie, The Broken Hearts Club (lololol Idaho Guy). He also sings and has a band named Kane. Assholes such as myself like to make fun of him for being short, which he really isn't. But he tends to co-star with really tall guys like David Boreanaz and Marc Blucas, so he ends up looking really short. We mock only because we love. We make fun of his hair, too. :D
Alec Hardison (played by Aldis Hodge)
Hardison is the resident computer genius/hacker/master of knowledge. Like Chloe on 24, except with less Asperger's. He's a geek, and he's proud of it, baby! He and Eliot have a lovely rivalry of sorts going. Bickerfest FTW. Alec and Parker are also much bonded, kinda sibling-ish, in a vaguely incestuous way. Really, Alec, Eliot, and Parker are kinda the kids while Nate and Sophie are dad and mom. It's a messed up family, haha. But anyway, Hardison is made of pure geeky enthusiasm. ♥
This is Aldis Hodge. You may remember him as Jake on Supernatural where he did a Really Bad Thing to Sam Winchester. He has an impressive list of guest-star credits, including CSI, Bones, Friday Night Lights, and ER. He's well on his way toward becoming "Hey, it's That Guy!" Aldis Hodge is something like 23 years old. Which is impressive. Because he's DAMN good, especially if you contrast Jake with Hardison and see how different he is in each role.
Parker (played by Beth Riesgraf)
Parker only has one name. And she's a thief. No fancy alternative labels. She's a thief, period. She loooooooooooves money. Parker + $$$ = OTP. She's been called "insane," or to be more descriptive, "20 pounds of crazy in a 5 pound bag." But really, she's a cutie. She's probably the most unpredictable of the bunch, especially with her awkward social skills, but you get to watch her slowly grow into the team dynamic.
This is Beth Riesgraf. You may remember her as the woman who named her kid Pilot Inspektor. Okay, okay, sorry, that's totally unfair, but c'mon, that's what you'd remember her for. Her filmography is really short. She's done a few guest spots in a couple of shows and what appears to be very minor roles in some films. So. I'm surprised by this, because she's really good at Parker. But I have no comparison. I'll give her the benefit of the doubt though. She sounds adorable and wacky in interviews.
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Where To Watch:
Leverage airs Tuesday at 10pm on TNT. It is also available on TNT's website. There is iTunes and Amazon as well.
I would never dream of advocating "alternative means." *COFF lookoverhereCOFF*
Places To Go:
Leverage on TNT
Newsletter:
leveragenews
Discussion:
leverage_on_tnt
provideleverage
Fanfiction:
geteven_getfic
Additional Reading:
John Rogers' Blog
Gina Bellman's Blog on TVGuide.com
You are free to link to this post in order to sucker seduce your friends into watching. I more than welcome it. :D