Mommy Brain

(Leverage as provided to me by Click Communications for the purpose of review.)

Leverage is a slick and crafty drama folowing a team of expert thieves who take down corrupt corporations in elaborate high-tech schemes.

Insurance investigator Nate Ford (Academy Award winner Timothy Hutton) exposed scams and recovered stolen items worth millions. But his life hit the skids when his insurance company allowed his ailing 8-year-old son to die. Years later, Nate gets even as the leader of a specialized team of thieves, computer experts and con artists who right corporate and governmental injustices against honest citizens. To expose corruption, Nate will do wrong for all the right reasons – he will provide Leverage.

Between TNT and USA, we may never need to watch network television again! (Just kidding – I couldn’t live without House and Bones and Lost.) But here is yet another cable channel series that is seriously entertaining. The team of con artists and thieves that make up Leverage is full of eccentric characters and loners that have never played nicely with others, but that enjoy the idea of working together to stick it to the man.

Each character is perfectly cast for an ensemble that has chemistry that reminds me of <Burn Notice and NCIS – two of my other favorite series. Their escapades are sometimes dangerous, sometimes hilarious – but they always involve helping people who have been exploited and cheated. It’s fun to watch a show in which the corrupt rich and powerful don’t always get away with the garbage they pull.

I only wish we got TNT in our basic cable package – because I hate that we have to wait till next year to watch season 2. Sigh.

Leverage: The First Season will be available on DVD on July 14th. It comes in a 4-disc set, with special features that include several behind-the-scenes featurettes and deleted scenes.