(Season 1, Episode 2 – “The Homecoming Job”)
As I said in my CliqueClack preview of Leverage earlier this month, I love this show, and the second episode played out so nicely. It may have not had the big bang of the premiere (although it was close!), but we learned more about the characters, and got to see the team reassemble, banter and play their scams.
It still had all the fun and games, cleverness and humor of the premiere, and an intriguing story to boot. I could literally have paused the DVR every 30 seconds to write down a new quote, Leverage is so well-written. After the break, I’ll analyze the hell out of this second — and awesome — episode.
Learning a little more about Sophie was such good fun. How can she be such a good con actress and such an amazingly horrible actress actress? Such an interesting dichotomy; she’s almost too creative to be penned in by a laundry soap ad.
I love the way they portray Eliot, the little man with the big … violent streak. Don’t be fooled, though; this guy’s got a heart, a code and honor, and he’s not two-dimensional. Some of the best quotes come from Eliot:
Or maybe the best quotes come from Hardison, the computer geek who, I need to point out, takes his blackness very seriously, or in stride, depending on how you look at it. Either way, we get some hilarious quotes about it:
The team needed a home base — and a back story — worthy of their mission, don’t you think? I’m loving the new digs, and the painting of Nate is priceless (Hardison painted it!), and fitting since he spent his share of the last heist setting up the offices. Oh, and buying a Tesla. And Parker, that wasn’t a mid-life crisis, because I’d take one too.
There were two clever missions during this episode: the cocktail party and the container. Both were spectacular. In the cocktail party scene, did you love how they steal the card from Charles, the Castleman guy? Slick. My favorite part, though, was how they got the voice sounds to open the safe:
Now, the container mission — was that the best trick ever? It was totally believable, too; with all the commotion and emotions, no one would notice it was the container next door. They top it off by sending the webcam video of Congressman Jenkins and Charles the Castleman Guy to the press … busted! Oh, and we get another Hardison quote:
Finally, we get some warm fuzzies, to top off the episode that has it all. When the team brings the money to Perry, it is really moving when Eliot shakes Perry’s hand and thanks him. He showed such respect, even reverence. It was a short bit, but so nicely done. And a warm fuzzy quote:
I can’t leave out the this-and-thats:
So are you doing a little happy dance with me, knowing that we get to enjoy at least thirteen episodes of Leverage?
Great review and choice of quotes. Two episodes in and I just LOVE this show.
I don’t know if 13 episodes is enough!
Too bad the networks can’t come up with shows as good as those on cable.
They did. It was called Eyes and it was fantastic. They should have tried to let that show survive.
Agreed, agreed, thoroughly brilliant show so far. I’m a little worried they won’t be able to sustain the current level of cleverness and banterosity for thirteen eps.
I’m in the club. Love this show. Hope they can keep it going strong.
I love it, too. It’s one of the most fun shows on television now.
I’m with CJ in thinking 13 episodes just isn’t enough, but if fewer episodes means better quality then I’ll take less, please.
I love the show too! However, Eliot doesn’t look at the Crocs in horror, the Crocs tipped him off to the Castleman assassins coming to kill Perry. Doctors wear Crocs for comfort as they are on their feet all day. The assassins were wearing shoes that looked like black combat boots.