Leverage Season 2
"Sometimes the Bad Guys Make The Best Good Guys" and a great action drama starring Timothy Hutton who heads a crew of criminals helping those that cannot turn to anyone else for help.
Film making 23/25
Video 21/25
Audio 21/25
Bonus Features 21/25
Total 86/100
After receiving the second season of Leverage and watching a couple episodes I just had to have the first season, this show is that good from the start. Usually a show starts out testing the waters with the actors just getting into their roles and figuring out the show, plot line, fellow actors and the direction the show is heading.
Season one of Leverage jumps right into the action and drama with the actors quickly finding their way and getting that sweet spot of acting. Leverage Season 2 continues the acting trend of the five main characters stealing from the rich and powerful, but only if they deserve it.
Leverage is about three master criminals, a muscle man and the genius mastermind leading them, Nathan Ford played by Timothy Hutton. Gina Bellman plays the con artist Sophie Devereaux with Christian Kane playing Eliot Spencer, an intelligent muscle man.
Beth Riesgraf plays Parkey, just one name, the teams thief and Aldis Hodge plays Alec Hardison the teams tech geek and a great computer hacker. The thief can get into the tightest security controlled building and the hacker can disable or hack any computer, the grifter or con artist knows people and what they will do next.
The muscle man is not only smart but well versed in personal protection and it all falls into place with a mastermind in Nate Ford. Nate knows thieves, crooks and con men from the perspective of an insurance investigator who at one time or another tried to catch the four he now works with.
The second season starts off with Nate witnessing a car crash that turns out to be a hit against the honest banker who works for a mob boss who is also the banks manager. The team reunites after the first season has them splitting up to move on to possibly bigger and better things on their own.
When each cannot find other work as satisfying as a modern day Robin Hood they return to help Nate uncover the scheme behind the bank's bailout and the troubled father and daughter who the mob is trying to get rid of. Nate and his team move on from one job to the next with an occasional return by some old nemesis in Sterling, an old enemy of Nate's.
Sterling ends season 1 by forcing the crew to split up to stay out of trouble but season 2 kicks off with a pretty quiet bang bringing the crew back together. The show may start off a bit mellow but really takes off during the next couple of episodes that are really enjoyable and fun.
Leverage does something with varying episodes where in one they do a behind the scenes double cross to have everything explained near the end of the episode. But they don't always do this so you never expect the same thing in every episode for a good mix of how each episode plays out.
I really enjoy when a series mixes things up so you don't always know what is going to happen and the shows keep things interesting and unpredictable. Leverage also shows its character by the actors and how well they interact and have that often elusive chemistry between the actors and others like the director.
A few times the show does not deliver that magical spark like the relationship between Nate and Sophie but other times it works well like Nate's alcoholism and eventual return to the bottle. During season 2 Sophie leaves the group to only be inserted here and there during the second half of season 2 through phone calls and advice sessions with the crew.
The show introduces a new grifter in Tara played by Jeri Ryan due to Gina Bellman being pregnant so they used head shots during phone calls to hide the inevitable bulge of a baby. Heaven knows having a pregnant con artist would introduce an odd element to the show and Gina also decided to stay at least partially on leave during her pregnancy.
Tara winds up just filling in for Sophie but is not even worth the effort as she never does fill the shoes of a team member really well. The choice of Tara only being in it for the money is just not working for her character so in the end she just fills in and nothing more.
Audio and video are great with good color and well done audio in Dolby 5.1 surround sound that turns out well overall. The show in both audio and video are great but there is the occasional problem that comes with a series and the several hours of video content.
Bonus content includes audio commentary on each episode form a variety of cast and crew, several behind the scenes and making of features and a gag reel. The bonus content is very full and pretty good so you get a great look at the show from a variety of perspectives and even a good gag reel.
The bonus features is really worth viewing and gives great insight into the show and how they film it, this is how extras are supposed to be. Leverage is a great show and trust me it is definitely worth a purchase, I bought the first season just to catch all the action that started the series.