Leverage (American TV series)

*Leverage*
Leverage
	Leverage's intertitle
Genre	Drama
Created by	John Rogers; Chris Downey;
Directed by	Dean Devlin
Starring	Timothy Hutton; Gina Bellman; Aldis Hodge; Christian Kane; Beth Riesgraf;
Composer	Joseph LoDuca
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	3
No. of episodes	41 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Dean Devlin; John Rogers;
Production locations	Chicago (pilot); Los Angeles (Season 1); Portland, OR as Boston (Season 2–3);
Running time	42 minutes
Original release
Network	TNT
Release	December 7, 2008 –; present

Leverage is an American television drama series on TNT that premiered in December 2008.^[1] The series is produced by director/executive producer Dean Devlin's production company Electric Television. Leverage follows a five-person team of professional thieves, computer experts and con artists, headed up by former insurance investigator, Nathan Ford, who use their skills to right corporate and governmental injustices inflicted on common citizens.

The first season of Leverage consists of 13 episodes, which writers John Rogers and Chris Downey and producer Dean Devlin intended to be a complete story should the series not be renewed. The second season, for which production moved from Los Angeles to Portland, Oregon,^[2] ran in two parts: a nine-episode summer season which premiered on July 15, 2009, followed by a further six episodes the following winter. Leverage moved to Sunday for its third season, which began June 20, 2010.^[3]

On July 30, 2010, it was announced that Leverage has been renewed for a fourth season.^[4]

Overview

Former insurance investigator Nathan Ford and his team act as modern-day Robin Hoods, pulling elaborate cons targeting the greedy and the corrupt who have deceived their working class clients. At the beginning of season one, the team is brought together to pull a heist, but upon being betrayed by the man who hired them get revenge by sinking his company and amassing a personal fortune in the process. The team decides to stay together due to the thrill they got working together and moves to their Los Angeles headquarters, using their unique skills to assist helpless victims of the rich and powerful. At the end of the season, the team must disband, but reform in Boston at the beginning of season two. Season two ends with the team still intact, but physically separate from Ford, who is in FBI custody. Season three opens with Ford in prison, while the team attempts to find a way to get him out -- until fate intervenes in the form of a mysterious Italian woman, who aids in Nate's escape but blackmails the team into taking down infamous and untouchable criminal figure Damien Moreau.

Cast and characters

Main cast

Timothy Hutton as Nathan "Nate" Ford – former insurance fraud investigator for IYS Insurance and the team's mastermind. The son of South Boston numbers runner Jimmy Ford,^[5] Nate originally intended to become a Catholic priest, prior to becoming an insurance investigator. While Nate was working for IYS, his young son Sam became fatally ill and IYS refused to pay for an experimental procedure, resulting in his death. The aftermath leads to Nate's divorce from his wife Maggie, his subsequent dismissal from the company and his descent into alcoholism. After meeting the team for the first time and running a con against their first mark, instead of disbanding as intended, Nate is asked to continue working with them and is given the privilege of selecting what clients the team will help. A skilled planner, Nate draws on his experience as an insurance investigator to anticipate the moves of his team's marks. Nate is at first very affable, but is unwilling to discuss his own problems with friends or others. His tendency to change objectives in the middle of a job, his alcoholism, and his often-tenuous relationship with his team has on occasion put the client and the team at risk.
Gina Bellman as Sophie Devereaux – A British actress and accomplished grifter with a taste for art theft. Multi-lingual and particularly adept at the use of accents, Sophie is seen to portray many characters in various cons, usually making direct contact with a mark to draw them into the con. Sophie has a collection of aliases, which includes "Sophie Deveraux". She has revealed her real name to all members of the team but Nate, who "hasn't earned it yet". Comically, her attempts to make a career as an actress lead to nothing but failure, as she proves woefully untalented and over-the-top onstage. It is only during a con when she can disappear effortlessly into a character, where ironically she can actually act well if she is pretending to be an actress. She has a long history with Nate, dating back at least ten years to when he pursued her with IYS as an art thief. At some point, they recognized an attraction to one another, but they have never acted on it, leaving Sophie alternately frustrated, angry and disappointed. Nate has on occasion tried to further the relationship, but for various reasons Sophie has resisted.
Aldis Hodge as Alec Hardison – computer/Internet specialist and hacker. He is a self-proclaimed geek and science fiction fan, with an easy going manner and dry, unusual wit. Hardison was raised by a foster parent, an older woman he refers to as "Nana". Hardison can hack into most forms of electronics and is rarely caught. Hardison designed and assembled the computer and television systems in the team's headquarters, and is responsible for the two-way earpieces used by the team on each episode. He is also very attached to his electronics (and in particular his van) and shown to become very depressed when the con takes a turn for the worse and requires they destroy his electronics to make their escape. Hardison and Parker have a developing relationship, but much like Ford and Devereaux, is fraught with personal complications.
Christian Kane as Eliot Spencer – highly skilled martial artist, weapons expert and self-described "retrieval expert". His role in cons is often to play small roles while protecting the team, often leading him into hand-to-hand combat that draws on his martial arts skills. Eliot has a long history as a soldier-of-fortune, and has seen violence much of his life. Eliot has proficiency with firearms, but dislikes guns because of their "limited range of effectiveness". While merely presumed as the muscleman, he demonstrates a subtle intelligence in conversation, often taking advantage of the underestimations of others and later in the series performs as a grifter along with Sophie. In contrast to the other characters Eliot prefers to keep his romantic life private, as well as much of his background.
Beth Riesgraf as Parker – expert thief, cat-burglar, pickpocket and safe-cracker. The product of an abusive childhood spent in several foster homes, Parker is socially awkward and relates poorly to most people. Sophie has attempted to improve gaps in her social skills on numerous occasions with limited success. Parker also has affection for Hardison, but finds it hard to convey what she feels when confronted by others. While emotionally impulsive, she can demonstrate great physical self-control in her work using acrobatics, strength and concentration to her advantage. Her obsessive focus on theft is to the point that her safehouse is filled with gear and rappelling equipment to help her in various jobs, and during one con, she was put through a rehab to address it. Parker was trained at a young age by expert thief Archie Leech who found her proficient with the physical demands of burglary as well as safe and lockcracking, both skills she uses in many of the cons.

Recurring cast

Mark A. Sheppard as James Sterling: Originally Nate's colleague and rival at IYS, now an Interpol agent. Sterling learns of Nate's new life and begins to follow him, first thinking that Nate wants his job at IYS and later to bring the team to justice. Nate soon realizes Sterling is on his trail, but foils his efforts to dismantle the team's cons. In time, a theft leads Sterling to work with the team on a con, the outcome of which leads to his being offered a position with Interpol. This allows Sterling to pursue the team even more actively, eventually leading him to seemingly capture Nate.
Jeri Ryan as Tara Cole: A self-assured grifter sent by Sophie to temporarily replace her while she is in Europe taking some personal time. Easily able to adapt to the team's method, she is nonetheless slow to be accepted by the team. Tara is a con for profit who seeks a cut of most of their jobs, but over time, learns to understand their not-for-profit motives.
Kari Matchett as Maggie Collins: Nate's ex-wife, an art expert who re-enters his life while working with IYS Chair Ian Blackpoole. Although no longer in love with him, Maggie still cares for Nate, but cannot live with his drinking, which led her to divorce him. She is unaware of IYS's role in her son's death, but learns the whole story as she's drawn into one of Nate's cons, allowing them to come to terms with his death and begin to rebuild their relationship. She demonstrates a flair for Nate's new work, and ends up helping the team complete a con; later the team comes to her rescue when she is falsely accused of theft.
Rick Overton and Gerald Downey as FBI Special Agents Taggert and McSweeten: Taggert and McSweeten have (unwittingly) worked with Leverage Consulting & Associates on at least four occasions, believing Hardison and Parker to be fellow FBI agents. Credited with catching the bad guys following two of the team's cons, they have now earned a more prestigious assignment in Boston. McSweeten also has a crush on Parker, which makes Hardison (and Taggert) jealous.
Robert Blanche as Detective Captain Patrick Bonanno: A Massachusetts State Police detective the team tips off when they want a mark to be arrested. An honest cop, Bonanno is seemingly aware of the team's work, and has their respect, but has never attempted to pursue them. Bonanno is a lieutenant in season two, but is promoted to captain as season three opens.
Goran Visnjic as Damien Moreau: Moreau is an as yet unseen international crime financier and illegal goods trader who has thusfar been untouchable by international law enforcement. Moreau hides behind a network of people who do his bidding, while living on an isolated island. The team must use the clues and connections they find during their cases to take down his network and bring him to justice while under the watchful eye of a woman known only as "The Italian".
Elisabetta Canalis as The Italian: An unnamed Italian woman who blackmails the team into taking down Moreau within six months. If the team fails, she promises to have Nate imprisoned and the rest of the team killed.

Episodes

Thirteen episodes were commissioned for the first season.^[6] The series began airing on December 7, 2008.

In the pilot, Victor Dubenich persuades Ford, a retired insurance investigator with intricate knowledge of scams, to lead a team of talented criminals to steal back aeronautical plans allegedly stolen from him by a competitor. After a successful heist, Dubenich double-crosses them, withdrawing their payment and attempting to blow them up in an abandoned warehouse. In retaliation, the group decides to run a con on Victor, eventually exposing his corruption and implicating him in a bribery attempt, and having him arrested by the FBI. At the end of the episode it is revealed that by short-selling stock in Dubenich's company each team member made over $32.7 million; however, rather than retire, they decide to keep working for the thrill each gets doing the work they are best at, and the added bonus of how effective they are as part of an elite team. Ford's condition for continuing is that he is allowed to select their jobs, steering them from crimes engaged in for pure profit to jobs undertaken to benefit those with a genuine need who cannot use the legal system or other "legitimate" methods to redress their grievances. As later episodes play out, their typical client is someone victimized by an individual or corporation with the wealth and influence to avoid reprisal within the legal system. Initially the only motivation for keeping the team together was the thrill, not money, and the team more or less agreed to Nate's terms.

In the first regular episode, "The Homecoming Job", the team (now operating as Leverage Consulting & Associates) runs a scam on the head of a military contracting firm responsible for critically injuring their client, a US Army reservist. Ford's old insurance company is mentioned in this episode. They learn that the company has stolen taxpayer money from the government, and Nathan insists they arrange to return it to the government (although they do keep a portion for the hospital treating the injured veteran). During this episode, the team members realize they enjoy their work not just for the thrill of excelling at their criminal craft, but because they are actually doing good things and helping people who deserve to be helped.

Each episode follows a set story structure: After meeting the client, the Leverage team researches the villains to find a weakness to exploit as part of their con. Each con, either as originally planned or as complications develop, typically requires the specialized skills of all the members of the group. Towards the end of each episode, the villains seem to get the upper hand, only to be outwitted by the Leverage team. Because most of the narrative has seemed to follow the Leverage team's point of view, the audience is momentarily uninformed as to exactly how the Leverage team has succeeded in their con. A flashback then reveals how a seeming complication was either anticipated by the Leverage team, or utilized in a clever improvisation. These flashbacks, which feature in every episode, sometimes reveal only in retrospect that an earlier scene was actually a clue to the Leverage team's plan. More often, however, the flashbacks reveal new information the viewer has not been privy to. This formula is followed by every episode in seasons one and two, with the exception of the two-part season two finale, which forgoes the usual flashback in favor of a cliffhanger ending.

Ratings

In Live + 7 data, Leverage averaged 4.0 million viewers per episode in the first season and 4.5 million viewers per episode in the second season.^[7] The third season is currently underway.

First season

The series ranks as ad-supported cable’s #1 entertainment program in the Tuesday 10 p.m. (ET/PT) time slot among viewers, households and adults 25-54. The December 7, 2008 premiere was watched by 5.6 million viewers and scored TNT’s best original series telecast ever in delivery of adults 18-49 during the regular broadcast season. Through its first nine episodes, Leverage averaged 3.2 million viewers and 1.4 million adults 18-49 in Live + Same Day viewing. The first six episodes scored strong growth when comparing Live to Live + 7 numbers, with total viewership rising 33% to 4.1 million and adults 18-49 rising 42% to 1.9 million.

Second season

Data from TNT indicate that a large percentage of viewers recorded the second season finale of Leverage for later viewing. The Live + 7 viewership of 4.2 million viewers was 70 percent greater than the Live data for the same episode. In addition, for the season, Live +7 viewership was 58 percent greater than Live viewership.^[7]

Third season

The premiere of Leverage on June 20, 2010 averaged approximately 3.0 million viewers the two episodes, and maintained a 1.0 rating for Adults 18-49.^[8]

DVD releases

CBS DVD (distributed by Paramount) has released the first two seasons of Leverage on DVD in Region 1 (US only). Season 2 was released on May 25, 2010.^[9]

DVD Name	Ep#	Release Date
The 1st Season	13	July 14, 2009
The 2nd Season	15	May 25, 2010

Technical

Leverage is shot using Red One video cameras. Extensive use of Steadicam helps the audience participate in the scene. Shooting, editing, and all post-production work is done digitally, with no actual film or videotape being used at any point in the process. Apple's Final Cut Studio Pro 7 is used for editing and post-production.^[10]

Shooting is in 4096 x 2304 at 24 fps, though resolution is reduced in post production to 1080p.^{[citation needed]}

International broadcasters

Country	Broadcaster	Series Premiere
Australia	FOX8	January 7, 2009
Brazil	Space	March 17, 2009
Portugal	AXN	March 19, 2009
Netherlands	RTL 5 (Stopped Broadcasting Leverage)	April 2, 2009
South Africa	SET	April 2, 2009
Spain	AXN	April 16, 2009
India	AXN Asia, Animax Asia (re-runs)	2009, 2010 (re-runs)
Sri Lanka	AXN on DialogTV (re-runs)	2009, 2010 (re-runs)
Italy	Joi La7	April 17, 2009 November 5, 2009
Israel	Yes Stars Action	April 18, 2009
Sweden	Viasat Nature/Crime	April 20, 2009
Taiwan	AXN Asia	May 18, 2009
Indonesia	AXN Asia	May 18, 2009
Malaysia	AXN Asia	May 18, 2009
Pakistan	AXN Asia, Animax Asia (re-runs)	2009, 2010 (re-runs)
Philippines	AXN Asia	May 18, 2009
Poland	nScreen	May 18, 2009
Singapore	AXN Asia	May 18, 2009
Thailand	AXN Asia	May 18, 2009
Lithuania	TV3	May 27, 2009
Denmark	TV3 Puls	June 6, 2009
Hungary	Viasat3	June 9, 2009
Bulgaria	Nova Television	July 29, 2009
Poland	Canal+	September 5, 2009
Turkey	CNBC-e	September 6, 2009
Russia	TV3 Russia	September, 2009
France	TPS Star	October 5, 2009
Norway	Viasat 4	October 12, 2009
Slovenia	TV3 Slovenia	October 22, 2009
Belgium	2BE	October 25, 2009
New Zealand	Prime	November 3, 2009
Serbia	Nacionalna	November 15, 2009
United Kingdom	Bravo	January 20, 2010^[11]
Finland	TV Viisi	March 1, 2010
Japan	FOX JAPAN	March 30, 2010^[12]
Canada	Super Channel	June 14, 2010^[13]
Germany	RTL Crime VOX	August 9, 2010 Fall 2010
Uzbekistan	SofTS	September, 2010