Nathan Ford is a former insurance investigator who has recently lost his son and become a full-fledged alcoholic. After an aerospace executive gets in contact with Ford, he persuades Ford to help him steal back a set of plans that were allegedly stolen from him by his competitor. Working with some of the most notorious cons, Ford leads his team to a successful heist. However, the aerospace executive holds their payments and attempts to kill them. Seeking revenge, Ford and his team implicate him in an attempt of bribery, leading to his arrest by the FBI.
This first job leads to the creation of “Leverage Consulting & Associates,” in which the action, crime-drama and comedy “Leverage” was born on TNT in 2008, airing until 2012. Following typical crime fighting conventions, “Leverage” follows Ford and his four man team of cons: a hacker, a retrieval specialist, a thief and a grifter as they use their talents as a means of fighting against corporate, political and governmental injustices.
Subplots within the show include Ford’s battle against alcoholism as well as his romantic struggles with grifter Sophie Devereaux, a romance between hacker Alec Hardison and thief Parker, the gruesome life story of retrieval specialist Eliot and the evolving rivalries between the team and powerful figures within the show.
Most episodes are easy to follow and have a story-like structure to them. Ford usually meets with clients and takes the information back to the team, where they then conduct research on the client’s enemy and then work to exploit their weakness. Each episode is usually tailored towards a specific team member’s ability, showcasing their skills. The viewpoint of the show is usually seen through the eyes of the team, so the audience only catches glimpses of how the missions progress. As the episodes come to an end, a flashback ensues, showing the whole con performed and letting the audience in on how the team successfully implemented some sort of clever improvisation into their plan.
The show had mostly positive critical reviews, leading to a creation of five seasons. With each episode running about an hour each and a group of lovable characters that develop so naturally with each other, “Leverage” makes for an easily addictive binge watch to add to your list on Netflix. The show takes on a new form of fighting crime, felons vs. felons. Using their criminal talents for the good of the community and the justice system as a whole, the show holds typical crime fighting conventions with an interesting twist. Finding a fine balance between drama, humor and action, I highly recommend this to anyone looking for a new show to obsess over.
