Leverage – Heists and hijinks defined

(Season 1, Episode 1 – “The Nigerian Job” – Series Premiere)

All I want to say is wow. But since this is a review and all, I suppose I should be slightly more specific than that. It’s not often a pilot captures me like Leverage‘s did. This show has everything I value in good television: heists / missions, clever writing and plot twists, humor, conspiracy, unique characters, actors with chemistry and a fast pace with unexpected moments. In a word … fun.

If you are looking for more details about tonight’s pilot, see my preview of Leverage‘s first two episodes. I’ll be back next week with a full review of the second episode, “The Homecoming Job,” which has everything the pilot had and some warm fuzzies to boot.

After the break, I’ll just revisit some of my favorite moments from tonight’s masterpiece of a pilot … thanks, Leverage!

• Seeing Angel‘s Christian Kane again in a quality, role gives me a reason to smile. I am intrigued by Eliot Spencer and can’t wait for more reveals about his unique and amusing character.
• It excites me that the actors seemed to fall into a natural groove with each other; there’s nothing worse than watching a frightening re-do of Seinfeld’s first season’s interactions: lack of chemistry, complete with a side of awkwardness.
• The main break-in mission was beyond clever. From the ’80s pop culture reference (8675309) to the down-to-the-minute organization of the team — complete with disguises, gadgets, computer prowess and suspense.
• It just made sense that this team of heist junkies had so much fun doing the job together that they just couldn’t part ways. The thrill of the job was magnified for all of them as they worked as a team, and they way they came together again at the end was the perfect set-up.

Again, I’ve got more details about this episode in my preview post, and next week — and subsequent weeks — there will be a full review of the recent episodes.

I hope you enjoyed Leverage as much as I did. I can’t wait to dig in to the regular reviews of this spectacular new show — yay TNT!

Clacked by Debbie McDuffee
on Dec 08, 2008 @ 08:39 EST5EDT