TV Verdict

On paper, Leverage might look like a dark action series about conmen, thieves and hackers. But in reality, it’s a clever mix of action, humor and human drama. The victims on the show are every day, hardworking people who have no one to turn to when they’re being taken advantage of, or worse, put into danger. That’s where Nate and the gang come in. They’ll do what they have to in order to save the day, even if it means getting a little creative.

“One of the other things I think that people enjoy is the Plan B of it all,” says star and team leader, Timothy Hutton.  “I mean, the team often sets out with a very specific way they’re going to go about going after somebody, and they have to change courses in the middle.  And all doing their parts, some by infiltrating, some by sneaking into a building or something or taking on another character, and I think all that becomes a lot of fun for audiences.”

Fun is a huge component in an episode of Leverage. Some of that comes from the unexpected plot twists, but much of it comes from the chemistry between the characters.

Says Tim, “I think it’s something that developed as we went along.  We found that, as a group, we kind of enjoyed riffing off each other and getting a banter going. Some of the humor on the show is improvised and that started with the pilot and found its way through the whole first season and is happening in the second season we’re filming now.  We all like each other enormously and you know, they are interesting, quirky, dysfunctional characters.  And put five of them together and there’s going to be some comedic moments.”

But Leverage isn’t all about the jokes. Nate’s original motivation for starting the team was to get revenge on the insurance company he blamed for the death of his son. Haunted by the boy’s passing, Nate loses everything; his job, his wife, his ability to function as he drowned his sorrows in booze. That backstory is a huge part of what makes Nate tick, but it was a storyline the creators chose to wrap up at the end of the first season.

Says Tim, “You had an indication in the pilot of what happened, and then 12 shows later you really got to see exactly how it impacted his life, what the circumstances were, how much is ex-wife knew, and how that affected their relationship.  And I thought getting to that place was important.  I think everybody did, you know, to kind of tie that part of Nate’s life up and now deal with who is he today instead of living in the past so much and being driven by past circumstance.

“And it was determined that it would be interesting to have him not be drinking anymore and to look at drinking as something that absolutely terrifies him because of loss of control.  Whereas the first season being sober was something that absolutely terrified him because of the exposure to reality.  So those are very different dynamics going on [this coming season].”

That shift in dynamics may also apply to other members of the team as hints of a romance between Parker (Beth Riesgraf) and Hardison (Aldis Hodge) begin to surface.

“I don’t think I’m allowed to say anything about that, other than to say that people that watched the first season and found that, as many people did, to be interesting, I think they won’t be disappointed where that’s headed. It’s not what people would expect, I could say that.”

Hutton was equally as vague in regard to his characters on-screen romances with both his ex-wife, played by Kari Matchett, and the team’s resident conwoman Sophie (Gina Bellman).

“We’re going to see Kari Matchett again.  We’re going to see that character again, it just hasn’t been determined exactly in what way.  But she’s definitely going to be back and we’re going to be happy about that.”

As for Nate and Sophie?

“Well, season two starts out with Nate and Sophie running into each other in kind of an interesting way that’s been orchestrated by one of the five.  And Nate learned something about Sophie’s current life that he wasn’t expecting, as it certainly impacts whether or not they’re going to get together or not.  But by the time you get to the seventh show of the second season, a lot gets determined about Sophie and Nate.  And I hate to sound so vague or cryptic, it’s just I don’t want to let out too much, other than to say it tracks in a rather interesting way.”

Another thing new for this season is the locale of the series. After filming in Los Angeles, producers packed up their tent poles and moved the show to Portland where they’ve been both welcomed and scorned. But for Hutton, the move was a welcome change.

“[I] love filming up here. Just really, really am having a great time being in this city.  I ride my bike to the set everyday.  I have my dog here.  I’ve got a place here for the time that I’m going to be up here, because it’s six months.  And it’s just a great city to be in, to be working in.  And for the series it provides so many different looks. We have, you know, water, ocean, river. It’s a big port town. So you have that. It’s just an incredible place, Portland.  We’re hoping that if there is a third season that we would be back here.”

Third season? Sounds good to me.  But first, don’t miss the SECOND season of Leverage which begins Wednesday, July 15, 9/8 Central on TNT.

Photos: TNT/Erik Heinila