DVD Review: Leverage (Season 5)

DVD Reviews, Reviews

If there ever was a show that outlast its usefulness after a season it would be Leverage. Starting out as a quirky heist show that hinged on a twist ending every week, the opportunity for the show to do something different than its formula seemed to be there, waiting for them. Unfortunately the show decided otherwise, progressing a long term story while following the same formula each week.

I wrote this about season four and it’s still the same:

“As Nate (Timothy Hutton) says, they provide leverage for those who need it. Hutton stars as Nathan Ford, an insurance adjustor who has been wronged. When his child dies because of malfeasance by an insurance company, he takes it upon himself to wreck vengeance upon those who have wronged him in the name of justice. A “Robin Hood” of sorts, he’s in charge of a team of crooks he busted and has a drinking problem that surfaces from time to time. Eliot (Christian Kane) is the muscle, a master of hand to hand combat. He’s originally from the South and eschews firearms. Sophie (Gina Bellman) is the con artist of the group, the one who makes the introductions and is usually the face of the operation. There’s a running gag in the show where her ventures into professional acting are laughably bad and her acting during a con is masterful. Parker (Beth Riesgraf) is the burglar of the group, a cat burglar of the highest order in love with money. She’s also a bit of an adrenaline junkie. Hardison (Aldis Hodge) is the computer specialist and the team’s resident techie. He’s also into some very nerdy hobbies like “World of Warcraft.”

The show is still the same for its fifth season, presenting us with a client who needs to be helped. Nate and his team find leverage on those who’ve wronged the client, there’s a twist ending that can only happen from Deus Ex Machina, and presto chang-o we’ve got a happy ending. This season, the final one, is the same formula on auto-pilot at this point. There’s nothing new, or surprising, up until the final couple of episode of the series. And even then it hinges on the same DEM formula, surprising us in the end with a send off a couple years in the making.

Leverage suffered from the same thing that Dexter did towards the end: it started out being interesting and unique with a new take on something but managed to dig itself into a rut it couldn’t dig itself out of. Thus it managed to tread water and be entertaining, if formulaic and forgettable, until finally running its course. And that’s what the final season feels like: a show that knows it’s wrapping up but powerless to stop it.

A gag reel, commentaries on each episode and some deleted scenes are included.

20th Century Fox presents Leverage: Season 5. Created by John Rogers and Chris Downey. Starring Timothy Hutton, Gina Bellman, Christian Kane, Beth Riesgraf, Aldis Hodge. Running time: 635 minutes. Not Rated. Released: September 17, 2013.