Leverage – Who’s drunk, Nate or the writers?

“If you are a stay-at-home mom, you break out the wine and the Xanax, ’cause we’re having snow days here, people.” — Hardison during his fake blizzard forecast

I thought that might get your attention. Actually, I’m still really liking Leverage, even though I agree with … well, almost everyone, that it’s lost some of the magic this season. I’m also pretty sure the writers aren’t drunk, but perhaps they need to be reminded of what made Leverage near-perfect in its first season. Let’s help them not go farther astray, shall we?

I miss the little nuances between the team members, how they could communicate with each other with barely a word. In this episode, Eliot’s face said it all, and Nate knew how disapproving he was that the drinking started up again. But they’ve just dropped all of the chemistry that was there between Parker and Hardison, and there’s barely any banter between the team members now. If they were to develop these characters organically, there should actually be more banter than in season one since they’ve know each other longer now, but I’m just not feeling the closeness that made them great.

The flashbacks, people. I keep saying how much I miss the flashbacks. Happily, we got a fun one with Nate and his dad tonight (who remained faceless), with the great quote from Nate about his education, as he flashed back to his dad breaking someone’s finger: “… better than prep school.”

Some things they did do right in this episode:

• Hardison, from start to finish. Between the splicing and the fake weather forecast, trashing Nate’s apartment and wearing his clothes, all while working his computer magic, Hardison was in perfect form. More please.
• No Sophie. They set it up with the few episodes and turned it over to Tara, just he way it should be done. Until Gina Bellman’s maternity leave is over and she’s ready to come back, there’s no need for the silly webcam conversations and manufactured reverence for all things Sophie. I have faith that they’ll ease her back in with an important story line in the same graceful way they eased her out.
• Although Eliot really needs to be more untouchable in hand-to-hand combat, like last season, I did love the darts scene. After all, “It’s all in the wrist.”
• Reminded us of Parker’s complete social inappropriateness, when she whacked Liam and his brother on the ass when posing as a waitress. Then they took it one step further than Parker’s usual aberrant behavior, because she only did what men in bars do anyway (Eliot started it). Very funny that she mimicked the inappropriate behavior of stereotypical bar boys everywhere.
• Gave us a little insight to Nate’s past, through “meeting” his dad. Last season, we got to see how Nate’s wife and son and the tragedy shaped him. Taking us farther back and adding a new dimension is a good call. I also felt like they were possibly setting us up to meet Nate’s dad in an upcoming episode.
• Nate drinking again is different than last season: “It’s different than before. Before, I used to think that I was OK when I was drunk. Now, I know I’m not OK.” — Nate to Tara, when she wishes she had been warned that Nate was a drunk. What I hope we don’t end up with is a story line with Nate drunk again and Sophie coming back to save his soul. The argument for Sophie being the strength of the team, as well as Nate’s rock, just hasn’t been made.
• The clever twist with the cops at the poker game. Getting Doyle to confess to the cops was season one perfection.

One last thing … I need a heist; loan sharks are chump change for the Leverage team and Parker needs to show off again soon, with a zip line and a harness. I need more Ocean’s Eleven and less A-Team.

I’m loving the name of the season finale, coming up in just four more episodes: “The Maltese Falcon Job.” Something tells me Leverage will be going out on a high note … wait for it….

Clacked by Debbie McDuffee
on Jan 20, 2010 @ 23:00 EST5EDT