Why Aren't You Watching?: Leverage pt. 1

News from the file "Why Aren't You Watching?", Leverage, 10pm Tuesday nights on TNT. (Pt. 1)

Network television is awash in a sea of crime procedurals (no, really, have you checked recently? NCIS, various CSI's and Law & Orders. Bones manages to put a nice little spin on it, mostly thanks to the snappy dialogue, but they are all procedurals.) and prime-time soaps dressed up in scrubs. Look, Grey's, just because you've got Jeffrey Dean Morgan that doesn't mean I'm going to watch. Well, maybe. He's a point in your favor, except that the character is dead, which makes no sense. And then there's the CW which is a whole 'nother issue, given Gossip Girl (ugh) and the fact that they are still beating that Smallville horse after eight years on the air. Now with less Michael Rosenbaum, which is a tragedy. Oh, Lex, I miss season one. 

My tangential whining aside, what I'm saying here is that if you're looking for really good television, since Joss Whedon doesn't currently have anything airing, turn to TNT. On Tuesday nights, at ten o'clock. 

Leverage is fairly easily defined. It's a heist show, with all the fun and the troubles that go with that. This one has a twist, however. In the very first episode, our crack team of nearly supernaturally talented ne'er-do-wells scores enough cash to set them up for life. And then they keep working together anyway. But not for gain, they're helping people who can't help themselves. Christian Kane (Eliot Spencer) has described the team as 'Robin Hoodlums' and that's about as concise a summary as you'll get. Check it out.
I promise you won't be disappointed. Still not convinced? Here we go.

1. The Con
Tight plots. This is a heist show of the first order and half the fun every week is watching the various cons unfold. The Leverage team uses everything from slight-of-hand, classic confidence games and state-of-the-art hacking to old-fashioned pick-pocketing to pull the wool over the eyes of their marks and usually the audience. So far the talented team of writers has given us a rip-off that turns into a bank heist/kidnapping rescue, a 'submarine' episode on a commercial jetliner, a mafia wedding and a game of Follow The Lady with thoroughbred race horses, among others. Pay attention and keep up, because when the big reveal comes along, you're gonna want to be the guy going "Oh, that's what that was about!", not the one looking puzzled. 

2. The Team
A cat-burgler with a little mental trouble, a retrieval specialist (read: ass-kicker) who is constantly pissed off, but whips up lovely stuffed mushrooms, a happy-go-lucky hacker and a beautiful grifter team up under the leadership of an honest former insurance cop in order to circumvent the system and help those in need. Even money there's going to be some friction along the way. Each character is extraordinarily well-crafted, and every single actor brings their A-game every episode. No, I am not exaggerating. 

Nathan Ford, the team's leader and father-figure played by Academy Award Winner Timothy Hutton, manages to be charming and slightly intoxicated, skeevy maybe, but upright, and likeable as hell. Sophie Devereaux, the worst actress you've ever seen onstage, but the consummate 'inside man' when she's breaking the law, is played by Gina Bellman. She's sophisticated but vulnerable, always in control…except when she isn't. Christian Kane gives us Eliot Spencer, the team muscle, who rides horses, drinks tea and cooks like a champ, and also maybe killed a guy with an appetizer but doesn't like guns. My favorite thing about Eliot is the constant low-level rage he seems to run on like other people run on caffeine. And the hair. Gotta love that hair. Beth Riesgraf plays Parker (no last name…or is THAT her last name, and she has no first name?) the thief, with a touch of insanity that's as endearing as it is disturbing. Alec Hardison, played by the alliterative and adorable Aldis Hodge is always happy as pie to be playing with his high-tech toys, even when he complains about missing out on a WOW quest. 

Not to mention each week's crop of marks and vics, a cornucopia of awesome guest stars who have included Danny Strong (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Nicole Sullivan (oh, come ON. MadTV?! She's awesome.), and my personal favorite, Sam Anderson, who played Holland Manners on Angel: the Series. The crowning achievement of the guest cast? That's right. Mark Sheppard. Uh-huh, Badger, from Firefly. I'm just going to take a moment to fangirl him like crazy. He plays Jim Sterling, the slightly tarnished insurance investigator who has taken over for Nate since he lost his job. We'll certainly be seeing more of him, and I couldn't be more pleased about it. Oh, look at that! It's like a reunion of "People Who Have Worked for The Joss". Awesome.

(Numbers 3, 4 & 5 next time!)