IMDb TV’s Leverage: Redemption has a ball with the procedural
The Leverage revival has all the heists, fun, and nerdy repartee of the original, even if it isn't the most necessary viewing
TV Reviews Leverage
The last few years have proven that the era of blue sky TV isn’t completely over—Psych’s been revived (as a series of TV movies) while Monk hosted a reunion of sorts. And the resurgence isn’t limited to USA Network shows, as HBO Max’s The Flight Attendant charted similar sunny-with-a-chance-of-tragedy territory. Now comes the IMDb TV revival of Leverage, John Rogers and Chris Downey’s crime drama that followed a team of reformed criminals with distinct, but complementary sets of skills.
Though it held court on TNT for its five-season run, Leverage was the spiritual companion of shows like Psych and Burn Notice, with its lighthearted tone, stable of great guest stars, and episodic format that occasionally served a larger narrative. Leverage: Redemption retains the zippiness of the original series, even with a revised cast and a truncated season, while leaning into its procedural element. The new version of the show is quite modular, as the team is assembled and reassembled, and heists are expeditiously planned and executed. After watching the first two episodes, which introduce new members Harry Wilson (Noah Wyle) and Breanna Hardison (Aleyse Shannon), you can practically choose your own retribution adventure: to take down a shitty building developer, select episode four, “The Tower Job.” Want to see a Martin Shkreli-like “vulture capitalist” lose everything, all while playing a Magic: The Gathering knockoff created by French Stewart? Enjoy “The Card Game Job.”
The outcomes on Leverage: Redemption are even less in doubt than on the original series, which can make the season, especially in the back half, feel a bit rote. But the real questions and thrills have always been in the meticulous planning, which is once more revealed via Ocean’s 11-like flashbacks, and in watching this cast play off of each other. The team looks quite different at times, as Breanna takes over as hacker for her brother Alec (Aldis Hodge, whose shooting schedule limited his participation in the revival). Nate Ford (Timothy Hutton, the only regular cast member who did not return) is no longer the Mastermind, though his name is frequently invoked. Instead, Sophie Devereaux (Gina Bellman) steps up as Leverage leader, and it’s yet another role that the Grifter fits into seamlessly. But Parker (Beth Riesgraf) the Thief is as sneaky as ever—even as she wrestles with her legendary status—and Eliot Spencer (Christian Kane) remains a soulful Hitter who wants to be seen as more than just the muscle.
There are some notable changes beyond the makeup of the group: The action’s been moved to New Orleans, a city that’s seen more than its share of tribulations, which offers all manner of opportunities for these morally compromised avengers. This is where we first meet Harry, a lawyer and former fixer who fails in his initial attempt to take down a bad guy. Harry’s previous line of work would’ve made him a target for Team Leverage, or at least collateral damage. But when they see how committed he is to making amends, they quickly welcome him into the fold. You don’t spend decades covering up the sins of others without committing some wrongs of your own, a reality that creates sporadic tension throughout the season. Harry may have some trouble fitting in, but Wyle looks right at home in the cast, picking up the rhythm of the banter and showing the same willingness to cut loose when the situation calls for it (as it frequently does). The writers wisely create a unique spot on the team for Harry—he’s more of a wild card than a substitute for Nate. And Wyle has a lot of fun playing someone making the most of his shot at redemption. Halfway through the season, he’s given a chance to do his best Richard Burton in Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? opposite Bellman’s riff on Elizabeth Taylor, which is a spectacular (and intentional) failure.
Hodge’s absence is felt, but Shannon provides a different kind of sparring partner for Riesgraf’s Parker. Breanna struggles to prove herself early on, and Parker somewhat grudgingly plays mentor. Eventually, the Thief realizes there’s a lot she can learn from her mentee, in one of the sweetest developments of the season. The gaps in the cast are surprisingly easy to clear: When Eliot and Harry go on their own side mission, it just gives Sophie, Parker, and Breanna a chance to solidify their bond. No Nate means Sophie gets to lead the team, and Bellman is more than up to the task of holding these rabble rousers together. Each configuration, whether it’s the full lineup or an all-female escapade, has its own appeal, which means IMDb TV could easily get another season out of the revival.
Leverage: Redemption drills down on the familiar, while setting its sights on ever bigger targets—the new episodes include plots on tech overreach and surveillance states. Once again, everyone has a role to play, from Harry, to Sophie, to Eliot (who gets to charm a deposed leader’s ex-wife). Each disguise, exaggerated accent, and gadget serves a purpose. It’s undoubtedly a formula, but one that continues to work, thanks in great part to a spirited cast that acts like a found family, on and offscreen. It’s not the most necessary or exciting revival; then again, where else can you watch a New Orleans-set Halloween episode in the middle of the summer?
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After having watched the whole series: If you enjoyed the original, you’ll probably enjoy this. Just don’t go into it expecting that they’ve tried to make it slicker or grittier or blur the lines between prestige cinema and streaming media – it’s the same show with the same kind of writing and production values, just set now.Which is what I like about it. Not everything has to be artsy or high-brow. Sometimes it’s enough for light entertainment to use charming and lovable and occasionally broad characters as a delivery system for criticising the failings of our justice and economic systems.
That’s fine with me. I’ve started watching S1 again and man, it is Comfort TV at its finest. Exactly what I needed after eighteen months of unrelenting real world bullshit.
That’s what USA Network’s “Blue Skies” initiative promised — comfort food series television. At the time, they did it so well you wondered why these shows were on USA rather than NBC itself, which was floundering with its hour-long dramas not called “LAW & ORDER: SOMETHING OR ANOTHER”. USA’s Blue Skies era ended right about the time THE BLACKLIST brought NBC its first dramatic hit that Dick Wolf hadn’t done in a while — while Wolf himself went to Chicago, dropped “Jack Webb for the Reagan Era” style, and gave NBC a new series of hit procedurals.
I love this show! This revival made my weekend! So much joy!It’s obvious that the writers and the actors are still in touch with the characters and their characterizations. The storylines were relevant. The ins and outs of how the marks originally perpetrated their crimes and get away with them are less detailed than before, which I kind of miss. The humor was full of joyful callbacks. I miss Aldis Hodge but I’m happy his career is so busy. As long as he comes back for more in the future. I’m happy we finally got to meet a member of Hardison’s family! Every other main character had someone from their familial/marital past pop by in the original series except him. Eliot was making the most hilarious faces when he was in character, so much so that I almost fell over from laughing. Parker’s “I teach all children I meet to do crime” was pitch perfect. And Gina Bellman as Sophie Devereaux was just so wonderful and perfect. I appreciate them using the two new people to poke fun at the series and its setup. It was just so good.I can’t wait for the back half of the season to air!
I only saw the image as a little thumbnail and was wondering how they got Glenn Danzig to wear a pink hoodie.
Christian Kane is definitely playing Danzig in the eventual biopic.
So when do we get the inevitable Burn Notice revival?
I could do without the IRA terrorist in the team, but the rest of the show was great.I know an American audience probably didn’t realise it but, seriously imagine Fiona’s role was that of an ex al-qaeda IED maker, and wonder how well it would have sat with an American audience.She literally plants bombs in a club at one point, it was only 9 years after the Good Friday agreement, and it really left a bad taste in the mouth, which is a shame because the rest of the show was really likeable. (If I don’t reply to any subsequent response it’s because Kinja stopped working for me and I can;t see any reply, at all).
Fiona makes more sense when you realize that Burn Notice was originally envisioned as a much darker show.
There’s a very, very jarring tonal shift between the pilot and the next episode that’s almost comical.
Yeah, Fiona’s a straight-up psychopath in the pilot (they soften her in a big damn hurry), and Sam is more an “intervention needed” alcoholic than a “ha-ha” drunk. Plus, it was originally supposed to take place in New Jersey instead of Miami, so you can imagine how the change of setting would drastically alter the tone of the show.
I kinda liked the clash of tones, though. It gave Burn Notice a little more of an edge than the other frothy USA shows of the time (at least for the first couple of seasons.)
It’s very much “What If… The A-Team actually did the crime they were accused of?”The show was fun, I have big reservations over Fiona as a character, but I’m a big Jeffrey Donovan fan.
IRA gets a pass in America, it’s even romanticized. Shit, one of our congressman (Pete King) was a vocal supporter of the IRA for decades and to my knowledge still is. But try to have an objective discussion about the root causes of terrorism originating from the Middle East and you might as well be yelling “Death to America”.
26+6=1, the IRA did nothing wrong, fuck England and fuck thatcher.
Probably wouldn’t happen. They killed off pretty much everyone but Mike, Fiona, Sam, and Jesse
“I could do without the IRA terrorist in the team”Michael Westen was a freelance CIA contractor. You really think he is less dirty than Fiona? At least Irish republicanism is an ethos.
Not at all, but like my original point: the CIA rarely killed children with bombs in the UK.The IRA were terrorists, any sympathy for them should begin and end at Enniskillen.
The CIA killed children in Laos, Afghanistan, etc. I don’t think they get a pass if the children killed weren’t in the UK.
I agree and it furthers my point, it’s out of sight, out of mind.Americans have zero issue with their mythologised Irish freedom fighter just littering a club with bombs, because “hey I’m Irish!”.When the truth is, less than a decade before, this was really happening and it was really killing people.Fiona as a former (unrepentant) al-qaeda IED maker would have caused mass hysteria in the US, but it would have not actually changed the character at all.
Yeah, I was going to say! The CIA’s hands are dirty as you can get — except they always get a pass because they’re a “Government Agency” rather than a “Terrorist Group”.
And lest we forget, Antifa (which isn’t even an organization as such!), Greenpeace, PETA and Juggalos(!) are considered “Terrorist Groups” as well….
I loved Burn Notice. I also loved that Jeffrey Donovan is from Massachusetts and did one of the worst Boston accents I’ve ever heard for one of his covers on that show.
Burn Notice was the best. I’d watch a revival.
Did he ever do a good accent? I thought that was on purpose?
I would say there’s validity to that, except his accent on Fargo was equally bad. I think the dude is just not great with accents.
He played Bobby Kennedy in that J. Edgar movie and it’s hilariously horrible.
To be honest, Burn Notice was the only thing I liked him in. Although, he did play a very convincing total asshole Wall Street type in Hitch. And a very convincing total asshole astronaut on Monk.
I thought he did a pretty good job in Fargo S2 but he wasn’t the highlight of the season by any means. He just doesn’t seem like a really good actor but I did enjoy him in Burn Notice as well.
I know he had a series called Shut Eye for a couple of seasons on Hulu that looked interesting, but I didn’t have a subscription back then. It also stars Isabella Rossillini, so it would definitely be worth checking out. I guess it’s still available.
He’s great in Touching Evil, that show deserved more, it was a good remake.
Along with his generic, more or less Boston “Irish” accent that was supposedly good enough to fool real Irishmen.
I’d rather have a White Collar revival instead. Actually what I really have wanted for a long time is for Neal to just join Team Leverage. Him and Mozzie would fit right in.
I’m not so sure Caffrey would ever actually give up the life. He was addicted to the thrill. However, I think he’d be a great guest—in character—for a few episodes. I can definitely see his skills being a great match, and I can also see the inevitable tension between him and fellow grifter Sophie.As similar thing happened with Jeri Ryan’s character. She and Sophie were old friends but clashed if they worked together too long. They were so alike that instead of complimenting each other’s abilities, they ended up bumping heads.
I always figured a White Collar revival would involve Interpol bringing Burke in to help them solve a series of heists that bear a mysterious resemblance to the work of the late, great Neal Caffrey. Burke would be conflicted, as he and Moz are the only people who know he didn’t die in New York.Burke would be hesitant to track down his old friend, even though he’d be duty bound to help Interpol get their man. Not sure it’s Neal pulling the heists or if he’s even living in Europe, Burke would be motivated to find some other culprit to pin it on. Either way, if he somehow managed to find Caffrey alive he’d have to bring him in. Of course, Moz doesn’t know Burke is aware that Caffrey faked his death. He’d be doing everything he could to throw the “suits” off the scent without getting tossed in jail himself. Just like old times.
Sold. I’d watch this.
Sadly, Mozzie’s no longer with us…
Obligatory https://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/burn-notice-game-show/2751223
Leverage is a show that almost overstayed its welcome (unlike, say, Burn Notice, which went 2 seasons too long). In fact, during its final season, the episode “The Rundown Job” showed that you could still do the show with just Hardison/Parker/Elliot, and that Sophie and Nate weren’t necessary at all.
I never liked Sophie*, and I could take of leave Nate, but those remaining three were the core for me. I’ve only watched the first 10 mins of this continuation and it’s amazing how it feels like putting on an old pair of gloves. Everything just fits. Parker is the same. Elliot and Hardison are back at it again (shame the latter won’t be in it much – him and Parker were my fav characters).
Shame that Nate died, but I’m genuinely excited to see where this new series goes. 🙂
*As a big fan of the infinitely superior British show ‘Hustle’, Sophie always just came across as a poor-man’s Stacie Monroe/Emma Kennedy.
i think i always preferred white collar to leverage. its definitely in that same style of show as burn notice and all.
So, LEVERAGE: REDEMPTION is LEVERAGE meets THE LIBRARIANS?::Looks for a Jonathan Frakes producing credit::
Well, Frakes is directing an episode, though he’s not on the producers’ list…sadly.
Both shows are created by the same person, John Rogers, so 100% yes.
I mean, does mean that Noah Wyle has been in every TNT-owned IP?
Seriously, the ads for TNT should just be a big picture of Noah Wyle’s face.
I think so, Cadye-6’s Unloaded Dice…?If not, I’d sure love to know what the exception is. RIZZOLI & ISLES, maybe?
I just watched the S1 episode where he has a cameo (but did not direct)
Frakes or Wylie?
Frakes – The Snow Job – he’s a patient in a waiting room that keeps freaking out watching Nate apparently talk to himself.
I keep watching the episodes thinking that the vibe is not the same. But still can’t stop watching 🙂 So far, I think I’m enjoying it.Nate’s absence also solves the Sophie/Lara closure from the “Series” finale. They could have adapted the “Rich and Powerful speech” from the intros with (at least) Sophie, Parker and Elliott in turns.
Leverage: Redemption retains the zippiness of the original series, even with a revised cast and a truncated seasonThe season isn’t truncated; there’s another eight episodes coming later in the year. So the same length as most of the original run.I enjoyed the new episodes a lot. I was worried early on that they had switched to a more serialized approach, and was glad that was just the opening two-parter so far.
Aha, thank you for that info; this set of episodes did feel more like an opening salvo than anything else.
While I’ve never actually seen an episode of Leverage in any iteration, its description sounded so familiar to me I was 100% convinced it was based on an excellent British show I actually had seen. But a quick google search reveals that show is not titled “Leverage”. It’s Hustle. And its cast is a murderer’s row of talent, including Adrian Lester, Jaime Murray, Marc Warren, and Robert Fucking Vaughn.
The first run of Hustle ran from 2004 thru 2007. Leverage booted up in 2008. Wonder if someone is running a con, or trying to pass off a forgery.
Leverage and Hustle share a lot of the same DNA, but they’re distinctly different. Hustle is about a bunch of con artists conning assholes who happen to deserve it. Leverage is more like The A-Team with thieves instead of former military.
Both of them are awesome. Hustle is a lot closer to reality than Leverage is, but they both scratch that ‘appallingly shitty rich assholes get what they deserve,” itch.
Appreciate the comparison! Truth-be-told I’m sure I’d watch Leverage if it crossed my path, it just never has. I just remember hearing a brief description of the show when it first aired, and I was like “That’s Hustle”. If people watch and enjoy Leverage that’s cool. But folks out there definitely need to discover and enjoy Hustle because I think its profile is much smaller here in the States, and that’s a damn shame.
Hustle is awesome. They also do a really good job of keeping their con-artists strapped for cash. It has the effect of keeping the show grounded while increasing the degree of difficulty for the cons, since half of the scam is figuring out a way to make themselves appear wealthier than they are.
Leverage, on the other hand, goes for much bigger targets (like a Monsanto stand-in), but our heroes also have seemingly limitless resources (not to mention magical computer hackers.)
What attracted me to Hustle was the clear attention to detail/genuine love for the ‘art of the con’ they clearly had in the writer’s room.
Oh yeah. Hustle could almost be watched as a how-to. They absolutely did their homework and (mostly) play by the rules.
Leverage . . . not so much, since most jobs start with “hack the corporate database” or have the preternaturally gifted thief do some circus-contortionist/olympic gymnast stuff.
Leverage also takes place in the world where every building has navigable ducts.
They do at least explain why the Leverage team has so much money as Hardison shorts the company they take down in the first episode to bankroll them (presumably he could keep doing this). Obviously still ridiculous but whatever.
They do at least explain why the Leverage team has so much moneyOh sure, there’s an in-world explanation. In fact, after a while it gets weird that the Hustle crew is always broke since they take down, like, million dollar marks pretty regularly (though you can chalk it up to the idea that they’re all terrible with money).
(not to mention magical computer hackers.)Oh come on! That Western-style hacker duel (but with Bluetooth keyboards) between Hardison and Wil Wheaton was hilarious.
I mean, even funnier than NCIS’s infamous four-handed keyboard typing scene. Sidenote: My headcannon for that scene was that McGee and Abby had a pre-written script ready to run and just did the “four-handed typing” thing as an inside joke.
One of my favorite “hacker” bits in movies and TV are the custom-made hacking or car-tracking doodads that also all have a lot of really attention-grabbing blinky lights on them.
I was a Leverage fan from the beginning. The first season was magic. The following seasons solid and even great from time to time.I’ve only seen the first two episodes so far of the revival, the first of which was rough. Carter’s Wyle’s Louisiana accent was obnoxious (and thankfully missing in the second episode), The COVID of it all was hilariously apparent, and there was something really weird with how the episode was shot. Like it was done on the cheap.But, hey, you give me Parker, Elliot and Hardison together for hijinks, I’m going to be the…. Oh, wait.
“Wyle’s Louisiana accent was obnoxious…”The same with Scott Bakula’s accent on NCIS: New Orleans. Their respective coaches should be taken out and flogged.
Re Scott Bakula on NCIS: New Orleans – 1) I’ve only ever seen one episode of the show, and 2) I am not from New Orelans – or anywhere in the South. But his accent offends me on general principle.
Really enjoyed the revival personally. It was a good idea to refocus the team on the super rich elite who are manipulating laws for their own means and the overall formula still works. Noah Wyle’s accents sucked but so did Timothy Hutton’s. The difference is Wyle seems to be having a ball while Hutton seemed like someone was pointing a gun to his head to get through some of the later seasons. Also didn’t mind Hardison’s sister – she starts out a bit rough but grew on me by the end. I do hope he returns for more episodes later though.
I get what you’re saying about Hutton. I think part of that was the character—Nate was supposed to be a world-weary, almost used up, more-or-less functional alcoholic. I think another part of that is that Hutton himself was tired of the role.I guessing he wasn’t asked back because of the scandal, but I’m not entirely sure he’d have chosen to return anyway.
Hey I’ll watch anything with Noah Wiley in it.
Want to see a Martin Shkreli-like “vulture capitalist” lose everything, all while playing a Magic: The Gathering knockoff created by French Stewart? Enjoy “The Card Game Job.”Okay… How? Ranked in ascending order of hilarity:
4) French Stewart playing a character who created an MTG knockoff
3) French Stewart playing himself who created an MTG knockoff in the show
2) French Stewart playing himself and created an MTG knockoff in real life
1) Jimmy Fallon reprising his SNL Celebrity Jeopardy impression of French Stewart, using the MTG knockoff that French Steward created in real life
It’s frightening to think that Leverage is “blue sky” tv after reading Jon Rodgers’s blog where he talks about the real villains that the stories were modeled off of and how they had to tone the evil down to make them believable to the audience.
I’ve watched 7 of the first 8 episodes, and I am honestly stunned at how good it is. From Parker waxing poetic about crawling through vents to the first “Dammit, Hardison!” I was immediately drawn back into the world of these characters. Also pleasantly surprised at how seamlessly Noah Wyle and Aleyse Shannon have slotted in.I’ve been mostly meh on revivals, but this one has not missed a beat.
I just watched the first two episodes and I give it the thumbs up.The first episode had a bit more exposition than most Leverage episodes, by necessity, but still managed to keep a up decent pace. The second was back to business as usual. This is definitely worth watching.
Man… I remember when Noah Wyle was ‘A-Lst.’
P.U.
LeVar Burton asking “What’s TNG?” is probably the most charming thing I’ve seen all year.
I also appreciated the shot of Noah Wyle when Sophie talks about making the “Librarian the hero for the day”