TNT's "Leverage" is the Most Entertaining New Series of the Year
By Ed Martin TV / Video Download Archives
TNT’s fast-paced caper drama Leverage is the most entertaining new series of 2008. Sleek, sexy and sophisticated, it is nothing but fun.
Creatively speaking, Leverage is landing just in time to give a much needed boost to television overall, which has largely failed during the last 12 months to deliver dynamic new scripted programming, in part because of the damage done to the development process by the Writers Guild of America strike. Dozens of veteran series held up nicely as the industry suffered the wrath of its writers, but new offerings seemed to be weaker than ever both in concept and execution. Earlier in 2008, AMC scored with Breaking Bad (though its first season was limited to a mere seven episodes), USA Network came on strong with the under-appreciated In Plain Sight, and ABC wowed critics (if not viewers) with Eli Stone. This fall, CBS hit a home run with The Mentalist, Fox made some noise with Fringe and The CW found success in its circle with 90210. All of these shows were quick to find fan bases, some bigger than others. But none of them have come as close to delivering pure escapist entertainment as does Leverage, which makes its debut Sunday night. It’s the Ocean’s Eleven of the small screen.
Indeed, everything about Leverage is full of life and infectious energy, from the cast – an instantly agreeable ensemble consisting of Christian Kane, Gina Bellman, Timothy Hutton, Beth Riesgraf and Aldis Hodge (pictured left to right above) – to its writing, direction, editing and jaunty background music. Hutton plays Nate Ford, a former insurance claim investigator who assembles a team of slick and savvy thieves and hackers to take down cut-throat corporations and greedy power-abusers that are destroying the lives of everyday hard-working people. (Talk about a timely narrative!) Ford and friends manage to pump up their bank accounts in the process, but not before the victims and survivors for whom they seek justice are properly compensated. Ford’s motivation to target the rich and powerful on behalf of their victims came about after his former employer denied insurance claims for his critically ill son and the boy tragically died. Hutton (in his best role since Ordinary People, way back in 1980) makes clear that Ford’s pain is always burning just below the surface, but Leverage often shrugs off that weight as Ford and his dream team do their thing.
I can totally see a feature-length Leverage on the big screen. In fact, I felt like I was enjoying great popcorn flicks when I previewed each of the first four episodes. At this early stage my only complaint is with the storyline in episode three, which finds the gang going after a ruthless Wall Street broker (again, amazing timing here) who burns nine racehorses to death. The episode never really gets beyond the absolute horror of its opening sequence (as if it could), which is mercifully brief and not at all graphic but nevertheless devastating. It’s hard to enjoy the usual super-duper scheming and cool con-artistry that follows after hearing someone note that horses “scream when they die.” Some viewers will likely be so turned off by this that they may stop watching and never return. Horse burning is simply too dark a crime for this show, which is at its best when it’s at its breeziest. Going forward, executive producers Dean Devlin, John Rogers and Chris Downey must keep that in mind.
Still, I’ll forgive this one misstep, as major as it is, because there is simply too much pleasure to be had here overall. Significantly, none of that pleasure can be classified as guilty, even when Gina Bellman (as seductive grifter Sophie) and Christian Kane (as brainy and brawny Eliot) are heating up the screen. Leverage has something for everybody.
The abundant joys of Leverage serve as a reminder that true escapism is in short supply these days, unless it is decidedly dark and frequently downbeat in the manner of ABC’s Lost, Fox’ 24, NBC’s HeroesandSci Fi Channel’sBattlestar Galactica. NBC went with brighter escapist fare this fall and suffered the embarrassments of My Own Worst Enemy, Crusoe and Knight Rider. Apparently, big fun is very difficult to do. Bravo to TNT for getting it right.
Ed Martin
Ed Martin is the chief television and content critic for MediaVillage. He has written about television and internet programming for several Myers publications since 2000, including The Myers Report, The Myers Programming Report, MediaBizBloggers a…
