LEVERAGE TELEVISION SERIES

Leverage is an American television drama series on TNT that premiered in December 2008. The series is produced by director/executive producer Dean Devlin's production company Electric Entertainment. Leverage follows a five-person team: a thief, a grifter, a hacker and a retrieval specialist, led by former insurance investigator Nathan Ford, who use their skills to right corporate and governmental injustices inflicted on ordinary citizens.

Season 1 to 4
Consists of thirteen episodes, which writers John Rogers and Chris Downey and producer Dean Devlin intended to be a complete story should the series not be renewed. Nathan Ford is a former insurance investigator with an intricate knowledge of scams. He and his team act as modern-day Robin Hoods, staging elaborate cons for clients victimized by an individual or corporation with the wealth and influence to avoid reprisal within the legal system.

The team comes together when Victor Dubenich, a wealthy aerospace executive, persuades Ford to lead a team of talented criminals to steal back aeronautical plans allegedly stolen from him by a competitor. After a successful heist, Dubenich double-crosses them, withdrawing their payment and attempting to blow them up in an abandoned warehouse. In retaliation, the group decides to run a con on Victor, eventually exposing his corruption and implicating him in a bribery attempt, which leads to his being arrested by the FBI.

When the con is complete, rather than retire, they decide to keep working for the thrill each gets doing the work they are best at, and the added bonus of how effective they are as part of an elite team. Ford's condition for continuing is that he is allowed to select their jobs, steering them from crimes engaged in for pure profit to jobs undertaken to benefit those with a genuine need who cannot use the legal system or other "legitimate" methods to redress their grievances. Underpinning the main plot are two relationships: Nate and Sophie, whose complicated romantic relationship dates back to his days as an insurance investigator, and Parker and Hardison, whose nascent romance plays out tentatively, as they learn how to build a relationship.

The team sets up headquarters in Los Angeles, operating as Leverage Consulting & Associates, and for a time operate free of scrutiny until the arrival of Nate's former competitor, James Sterling. With Sterling determined to take them down, they pull their most daring heist by stealing a maquette from Nate's former boss, Ian Blackpoole. Nate's revenge comes at a cost, and the team must disband for six months. It re-forms in Boston, Nate's hometown, where they resume their activities, still followed by Sterling.

Season two ends with the team still intact but physically separated from Ford, who surrenders to Sterling and the FBI rather than allow the team to be arrested. As season three begins, Ford is in prison, while the team attempts to find a way to get him out, until fate intervenes in the form of a mysterious Italian woman who aids in Nate's escape. She blackmails the team into taking down infamous and untouchable criminal figure Damien Moreau. By season's end, the team finally brings down Moreau's empire, and he is left imprisoned in San Lorenzo, a fictional European nation he once controlled until the team ousted the puppet regime leader.

Season four opens only days after their return from San Lorenzo, the team discovering that someone has been bugging their headquarters. They assume one of the many influential people they've brought down is now out for payback. Nate discovers that its really the work of a wealthy businessman named Jack Latimer. Latimer has been tracking the team's movements since their formation in Chicago, and has found a way to profit off their good deeds.

With every major company they bring down, he invests in their competitors and makes a fortune, having built a multibillion-dollar empire in the short span of their operations; now he offers to give the team intel on the evildoings of other major corporations, if they alert him in advance and give him the chance to profit on each company's downfall. Nate, however, does not trust Latimer and refuses to associate himself and his team with Latimer, and his suspicions prove to be justified when it is revealed that Latimer is secretly working with Victor Dubenich (the team's first victim), who is out to not only rebuild his fortune but also destroy the team.

Most episodes follows a set story structure: After meeting the client, the Leverage team researches the villains to find a weakness to exploit as part of their con. Each con, either as originally planned or as complications develop, typically requires the specialized skills of all the members of the group. Towards the end of each episode, the villains seem to get the upper hand, only to be outwitted by the Leverage team. Because most of the narrative has seemed to follow the Leverage team's point of view, the audience is momentarily uninformed as to exactly how the Leverage team has succeeded in their con.

A flashback then reveals how a seeming complication was either anticipated by the Leverage team, or utilized in a clever improvisation. These flashbacks, which feature in every episode, sometimes reveal only in retrospect that an earlier scene was actually a clue to the Leverage team's plan. More often, however, the flashbacks reveal new information the viewer has not been privy to. This formula is followed by every episode in seasons one, two, and three. Each season ends with a two-part season finale which involves a two-part, multi-stage con designed to bring down a major adversary, such as an international crime financier in season three, with an ending that advances the team's story into the new season.

STARS:
Timothy Hutton as Nathan "Nate" Ford ("The Mastermind"): A former insurance fraud investigation  for IYS Insurance and the team's mastermind. The son of South Boston number runner Jimmy Ford, Nate originally intended to become a Catholic Priest prior to becoming an insurance investigator. While Nate was working for IYS, his young son Sam became fatally ill and IYS refused to pay for an experimental procedure, resulting in his death.

The aftermath led to Nate's divorce from his wife Maggie, his subsequent dismissal from the company and his descent into alcoholism. After meeting the team for the first time and running a con against their first mark, instead of disbanding as intended, Nate is asked to continue working with them and is given the privilege of leading the team and selecting what clients the team will help. A skilled planner, Nate draws on his experience as an insurance investigator to anticipate the moves of his team's marks. Nate is at first very affable, but is unwilling to discuss his own problems with friends or others. His tendency to change objectives in the middle of a job, his alcoholism, and his often-tenuous relationship with his team has on occasion put the client and the team at risk.

Gina Bellman as Sophie Devereaux ("The Grifter"): British actress and accomplished grifter with a taste for art theft. Multi-lingual and particularly adept at the use of accents, Sophie is seen to portray many characters in various cons, usually making direct contact with a mark to draw them into the con. Sophie has a collection of aliases, which includes "Sophie Devereaux", but her real name remains unknown.

Comically, her attempts to make a career as an actress lead to nothing but failure, as she proves woefully untalented and over-the-top onstage. It is only during a con when she can disappear effortlessly into a character, where ironically she can actually act well if she is pretending to be an actress. She has a long history with Nate, dating back at least ten years to when he pursued her with IYS as an art thief. At some point, they recognized an attraction to one another, leaving Sophie alternately frustrated, angry and disappointed. They have on occasion tried to further the relationship, but for various reasons one or the other has resisted.

Aldis Hodge as Alec Hardison ("The Hacker"): The team's computer specialist and hacker. He is a self-proclaimed geek and science fiction fan, with an easy going manner and dry, unusual wit. Hardison was raised by a foster parent, an older woman he refers to as "Nana". Hardison can hack into most forms of electronics and is rarely caught. Hardison designed and assembled the computer and television systems in the team's headquarters, and is responsible for the two-way earpieces used by the team on each episode. He is also very attached to his electronics (and in particular his van) and shown to become very depressed when the con takes a turn for the worse and requires they destroy his electronics to make their escape. Hardison and Parker have a developing romantic relationship but it is fraught with personal complications.

Christian Kane as Eliot Spencer ("The Hitter"): The team's highly skilled martial artist, weapons expert and self-described "retrieval expert". A former soldier in the USA Army, his role in cons is often to play small roles while protecting the team, often leading him into hand-to-hand combat that draws on his martial arts skills. Eliot once worked for crime financier Damien Moreau, and has a long history as a hired gun and bodyguard, then a retrieval specialist. Eliot has proficiency with firearms, but dislikes guns. While merely presumed as the muscleman, he demonstrates a subtle intelligence in conversation, often taking advantage of the underestimations of others and later in the series performs as a grifter along with Sophie. In contrast to the other characters Eliot prefers to keep his romantic life private, as well as much of his background.

Beth Riesgraf as Parker ("The Thief"): An expert thief, cat-burglar, pickpocket and safe-cracker. The product of an abusive childhood spent in several foster homes, Parker is socially awkward and relates poorly to most people. Sophie has attempted to improve gaps in her social skills on numerous occasions with limited success. Parker also has affection for Hardison, but finds it hard to convey what she feels when confronted by others. While emotionally impulsive, she can demonstrate great physical self-control in her work using acrobatics, strength and concentration to her advantage. Her obsessive focus on theft is to the point that her safehouse is filled with gear and rappelling equipment to help her in various jobs, and during one con, she was put through a rehab to address it. Parker was trained at a young age by expert thief (and recurring character) Archie Leach, who found her proficient with the physical demands of burglary as well as safe-cracking and lock-picking, skills she uses in many of the cons.

Mark A. Sheppard as James Sterling: Originally Nate's colleague and rival at IYS, now an Interpol agent. Sterling learns of Nate's new life and begins to follow him, first thinking that Nate wants his job at IYS and later to bring the team to justice. Nate soon realizes Sterling is on his trail, but foils his efforts to dismantle the team's cons. In time, a theft leads Sterling to work with the team on a con, the outcome of which leads to his being offered a position with Interpol. The two remain friendly adversaries however and Sterling has on several occasions allowed Nate to continue to remain untouched in exchange for Nate and his group helping him catch bad guys.

Jeri Ryan as Tara Cole: A self-assured grifter sent by Sophie to temporarily replace her while she is in Europe taking some personal time. Easily able to adapt to the team's method, she is nonetheless slow to be accepted by the team. Tara is a con for profit who seeks a cut of most of their jobs, but over time, learns to understand their not-for-profit motives.

Kari Matchett as Maggie Collins: Nate's ex-wife, an art expert who re-enters his life while working with IYS Chair Ian Blackpoole. Although she is no longer in love with him, Maggie still cares for Nate. However, she cannot live with his drinking, which led her to divorce him. She is unaware of IYS's role in her son's death, but learns the whole story as she's drawn into one of Nate's cons, allowing them to come to terms with his death and begin to rebuild their relationship. She demonstrates a flair for Nate's new work, and ends up helping the team complete a con; later the team comes to her rescue when she is falsely accused of theft. She returns to help the team in the fourth season finale, and by then has developed a friendship with Sophie.

Rick Overton and Gerald Downey as FBI Special Agents Taggert and McSweeten: Taggert and McSweeten have (unwittingly) worked with Leverage Consulting & Associates on at least four occasions, believing Hardison and Parker to be fellow FBI agents. Credited with major arrests following four of the team's cons, they have risen through the ranks of the bureau rapidly. McSweeten also has a crush on Parker, which makes Hardison (and Taggert) jealous.

Robert Blanche as Detective Captain Patrick Bonanno: A Massachusetts State Police detective the team tips off when they want a mark to be arrested. An honest cop, Bonanno is seemingly aware of the team's work, and has their respect, but has never attempted to pursue them. Bonanno is a lieutenant in season two, but is promoted to captain as Season Three opens and is a regular at Nate's weekly poker games in Season Four.

Goran Visnjic as Damien Moreau: Moreau is an international crime financier and illegal goods trader who has thus far been untouchable by international law enforcement. Moreau hides behind a network of people who do his bidding, while living on an isolated island. The team must use the clues and connections they find during their cases to take down his network and bring him to justice while under the watchful eye of a woman known only as "The Italian". Moreau is eventually jailed in the small, politically unstable country of San Lorenzo.

Elisabetta Canalis as The Italian: An unnamed Italian woman who blackmails the team into taking down Moreau within six months. If the team fails, she promises to have Nate imprisoned and the rest of the team killed.

Wil Wheaton as Colin "Chaos" Mason: an unscrupulous hacker whose skills rival Hardison's. Chaos and Hardison see each other as nemeses, but Chaos has also attempted to kill Sophie and nearly succeeded. He assists the team (for money) in the fourth season finale.

Leon Rippy as Jack Latimer: a multi-billion dollar professional investor who has been tracking the team since their first job. He profits from the team by way of betting against the companies that the Leverage crew takes down, thus getting ahead of the market. He has twice attempted to make a deal with Nate; he lets them know of companies that have covered their tracks so well they don't show on the team's radar, and while they take down said companies he will make certain investments from which he will profit. As of the Lonely Hearts Job he appears to be working with someone who wants to make war with the Leverage team. In the fourth season finale, he was last seen falling from a very high cliff into a river.

Saul Rubinek as Victor Dubenich: The mark in the pilot episode, he assembled the team for Nate and then double-crossed them, motivating them to unite to destroy his business and get him jailed. At the end of the fourth season, we learn that he is behind Latimer's involvement with the team as part of his plot (from prison) for revenge. He was also last seen falling from a very high cliff into a river, in the fourth season finale.

Tom Skerritt as Jimmy Ford: Nate's father, an Irish-American organized criminal from Boston. Nate, after disrupting one of Jimmy's cons, forced him into retirement in Ireland. He returned at the end of the fourth season and was killed by Latimer and Dubenich.

Richard Chamberlain  as Archie Leach: An expert thief who was a professional mentor and father figure to Parker, he was involved with one of the team's cons and then returned to aid the team in the fourth season finale. ("Archie Leach" was the real name of actor Cary Grant, who played a master second-story thief in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1955 film To Catch a Thief.

Clayne Crawford as Quinn, a professional man of violence who is almost as good as Eliot. He opposes the team in the first season finale and then assists them (for money) in the fourth season finale.