There's just something so universally appealing about heist films. They're slick and fun, and it's always fascinating to watch a Rube Goldberg-esque heist plan come to fruition. And then there's Leverage, an entire show about heists, and it's just as fun as you'd expect.
Leverage has a simple but effective premise. It's about an insurance investigator named Nate Ford, who form a team with four thieves, Parker, Eliot, Sophie, and Hardison, each with their own skillsets. Together, they perform heists and cons on the corrupt, not too dissimilar from Robin Hood. It's a fun premise, one that offers a good reason for the cast to pull off heists episode after episode. Even more, right from the first season, Leverage is already playing around with its premise, with the team faking a wedding, stopping a plane crash, and saving their teammates from a bank robbery. It lends the season a sense of unpredictability that feels incredibly fun to watch, even if not every episode is a slam dunk. But despite this episodic nature, each episode makes a point off introducing hidden depths to most of its characters, especially Nate, all culminating in an excellent two-part finale that brings the whole season full circle. My only major gripe is that the overarching story mostly just focuses on Nate and not much of the other characters, though I'm sure that's what the later seasons are for.
But while the story is enjoyable, it's the excellent cast of characters that really elevates this show. It's genuinely impressive just how strong the chemistry is within the team from the very first episode, and each character has something to enjoy. Eliot is the heart of the group and his refusal to use guns leads to some inventive fights, Parker's insanity makes her easily the funniest character of the bunch, Sophie's disguises are fun to watch and her mysterious nature is compelling, and Hardison's snark is always top-notch. The thieves are so colorful that it actually makes Nate the most boring character of the bunch, probably because he's so serious and heads most of the dramatic stuff. Generally, though, the cast is so much fun, I enjoy watching them regardless of what the episode is about. Leverage is fun to watch just to see these characters interact and pull off heists together, which means it has pretty much accomplished its goal. I also have to give props to the editing, which captures of the slickness of the best heists films, and helps with one of the most effortless pilot episodes I've ever seen from a show, more on that down below.
Disclaimer: Season 1 of Leverage wasn't aired in the intended order, reportedly to maintain a "tonal consistency". I don't really get this, since the character development and continuity works way better in the intended DVD order. For example, I wouldn't buy the heartwarming ending of The Bank Shot Job, and The Stork Job would have left less of an impact. I watched Leverage in its intended order, and I highly recommend you look up the DVD order so you can do the same if you haven't seen the show.
While most of the season's episodes are solid at worst, these are the highlights:
The Nigerian Job: Easily one of the finest pilot episodes ever made, The Nigerian Job's first twenty minutes is pretty much perfect in the way it masterfully introduces the five major players, gives us our first heists and getaways, and establishes the chemistry between the cast right from the get-go. It feels effortless in the way that most pilot episodes rarely do, and serves as a case study on how to start your series.
The Bank Shot Job: At first, this sort of bank robbery storyline isn't super creative (Psych did it too!), but it manages to play around with the show's premise, from splitting up the cast to having the ultimate goal be to pull off a bank robbery inside another bank robbery. It's incredibly intricate while still being tense as things slowly start to fall apart for the cast.
The Stork Job: The core premise of the team faking a movie production is the type of storyline that's right up my alley, resulting in easily one of the season's funniest episodes. Nate playing the angry director, Sophie's acting, the bizarre plot, it's all just so entertaining. And yet, The Stork Job maintains an emotional hook as we learn about Parker's past, helping her become my favorite character in the whole cast.
The First David Job: The excellent final two-parter starts with one of the most fun heists of the season. It brings everything back to the conflict that started the series, while also including some fun Hardison and Parker moments and one of the most inventive laser grid scenes I've ever seen. And not to mention that crazy cliffhanger that blows up the Leverage offices and splits up the team.
The Second David Job: A satisfying finale that resolves the main storyline of revenge with a clever heist that's not actually much of a heist at all. Blackpoole's defeat and Sterling changing sides is a satisfying end to the conflict, and the final scene where the team is a very emotional cliffhanger. The episode might be a bit too neat and tidy for my taste, but it does a good job at tying everything together well enough.
Overall, the first season of Leverage is a strong start to the show with an entertaining premise, well-done overarching story, and a phenomenal cast. However, there's a bit more room for improvement if they focus less on Nate and widen the scope a bit.
4/5 Stars
Side note: Woo! 100th blog post!
