People like that, corporations like that, they have all the money. They have all the power. And they use it to make people like you go away. Right now, you’re suffering under an enormous weight. We provide…Leverage.

If you’re a certain age, you might have grown up as I did, watching shows like It Takes a Thief and The Saint.¹ You might even have rooted for David Niven in The Pink Panther. The thief with a heart of gold is the oldest and most revered anti-hero in the storyteller’s pantheon and used to be common on our televisions, but he’s been MIA for a long time. The networks have made a few attempts at reviving the genre with little success; however, the recent growth of original drama on basic cable makes this the perfect time and place to bring back the thief.

So on December 7th, TNT expands its repertoire of original dramas by adding the stylish, charming, and amusing Leverage to its lineup.

Leverage is high-class comfort food: mac and cheese made with imported gruyere and homemade penne. Creators John Rogers and Chris Downey, along with Executive Producer and director Dean Devlin, have put together a tight, totally modern revamp of this classic trope, with a soupçon of Mission: Impossible. to round out the flavors. For these are high-tech thieves with hearts of gold rescuing the downtrodden.

You’ll remember a long line of shows about strangers riding into town and helping out those in need. Shows as disparate in style as The Lone Ranger, The Fugitive, The A-Team, and Highway to Heaven followed this format. Time was, you couldn’t turn the dial without landing on a show about a man, a team, or an angel and his sidekick helping people out. But times and tastes change (or so we’re told,) and like the charming thieves, the knights errant have fallen from favor. In their place, procedurals and reality have ruled the waves for some time now, but there are signs the stranglehold is weakening. Leverage is another strike against their position.

Nathan Ford (Timothy Hutton) is a former insurance investigator² who lost his son when his former employers refused to pay for an “experimental” medical procedure. He’s been self-medicating with alcohol for the two years since his son’s death and subsequent divorce from his wife, and is nearing rock bottom. The pilot opens when Nathan is approached to help re-steal plans for an airplane. A team of thieves has been put together – all lone wolves whom Nathan has tracked in the past – for the job and the client needs “one honest man” to lead them.

There are twists. Did I mention there are twists? Expect twists.

Things are not, ever, what they seem on this show, though you can count on several twists at act breaks to keep you from changing the channel. And while each caper is resolved in an hour, there is a serialized aspect as well, in the form of Jim Sterling (Mark Sheppard), a former associate of Nathan’s who makes his first appearance in episode three as a new nemesis. As a big fan of Sheppard’s – like any other self-respecting fan of genre television – I’m looking forward to see how his arc plays out.

Having seen the first four episodes, the one thing that does concern me is that two of them have already been about helping out old friends of the team members. I believe for the show to truly have legs, it will need to avoid that trap.

leverage_pilot_poundsofcrazy

The Team

• Eliot Spencer (Christian Kane) is a “retrieval specialist”. That means that he kicks the crap out of people and retrieves what they drop. He’s a bad ass³ who hates guns. Kane will be instantly recognizable to Whedon-philes as Lindsey from Angel.
• Parker (Beth Riesgraf) is an acrobatic, adrenaline junkie of questionable sanity.⁴ Since I’m not the only one with a weakness for slightly crazy, slightly damaged blonds, I expect many, many men to develop deep, abiding crushes on the former “Works With Carlos Girl”.
• Alec Hardison (Aldis Hodge) is the team’s gadget and computer expert.⁵ This is a breakout performance for Hodge who lights up the screen with his charisma. He’s been performing for years, and really came on my radar for his turn as Ray ‘Voodoo’ Tatum on Friday Night Lights. But here he’s really taking command of the screen.
• Sophie Devereaux (Gina Bellman) is a grifter⁶ who has a bit of history with Nathan. Gina breaks the streak of British and Aussie actors coming to the States and using crappy American accents that dim their performances. She sticks with her native accent – breaking into others only when cons demand it – and keeps every ounce of her charm and presence intact.

The Creators

• Dean Devlin’s name should be familiar to anyone who…well, if you’re reading this, you presumably haven’t been living under a rock, so let’s move on. He’s written and produced some of the biggest movies of all time, including Stargate, Godzilla, and Independence Day.⁷ He added another hyphen to his resume by helming the pilot episode and putting together an extremely elegant hour.
• John Rogers has written for film, TV, and comics. If you want to read a great comic book, go out and grab the first 24 issues of Blue Beetle. On TV, he’s written for Cosby, Eureka, and the great, lamented Global Frequency pilot; he’s got the perfect pedigree for a show like this.
• Chris Downey started out as a defense attorney in New York before changing careers. He spent six seasons as an EP on King of Queens and has written for a variety of sitcoms.

Be sure to come back Thursday to read our interviews with the creators.

Leverage premieres without commercial interruption this Sunday, December 7 at 10pm (ET/PT) on TNT. Then all new episodes begin on its regular day and time beginning Tuesday, December 9 at 10pm (ET/PT).

R.A. Porter is an aspiring television writer who currently toils away in the software mines. He can be found at Sketch War, his personal blog, Tumblr, and stalked on Twitter.

1. In syndication in my case; I’m not *that* old. [↩]
2. Must check with friends who studied actuary to see how often they carry a gun and globetrot. [↩]
3. With a heart of gold, of course. [↩]
4. Ditto the gold heart, thing. [↩]
5. ♥ = Gold. [↩]
6. Avec un coeur d’or. [↩]
7. Two out of three ain’t bad. Sorry, but Godzilla…wow, not very good. [↩]

Tags: electric entertainment, tnt

posted by R.A. Porter in → Reviews