The gang was really off to the races this week as they helped a horse trainer acquire a horse who barely escaped a fire. This episode looked to be wrapped up in the first ten minutes but thanks to some clever writing, Leverage proved to be an excellent new drama.
We’re now getting into some of the backstories of some of our characters and it stars with Eliot Spencer. He runs into a girl he almost married some time back, but she ended up marrying another guy and predictably Spencer takes off, never to return, until now, when her father’s horse stable burned to the ground in an insurance scam. The true owner was fed up with the losing and burned the stable to the ground, hoping to at least make some money from the insurance claim. One horse managed to escape and the owner, Alan Hoss, has it, but the trainer wants him for himself since Hoss just wanted him killed.
It’s hard to buy Nate Ford as the tycoon here. I understand why one would want to see him more involved than the guy who stands to the side and orders everyone around, but I don’t think the tycoon persona was all that strong or believable. I don’t think I could have possibly got taken like Hoss did, but maybe that’s just me.
Timothy Hutton as Nate Ford
Spencer wasn’t alone in the backstory revelations. It was very convenient that Nate’s old company was the insurance company with which Hoss had the claim. It did give us a good rival for Nate though. I really liked Mark Sheppard as Sterling. He’s very intelligent and as the adorable Parker said, “he’s like evil Nate.” I couldn’t have put it better myself. I would love to see Sterling return a few more times. It wouldn’t make sense for him to reappear every other week or anything like that, but a few times a season would make sense.
In my reviews I’ve likened this series to Oceans Eleven or The Italian Job and that comparison still holds true. There’s a lot of deception going on. The gang is always running a game on someone. The characters fit the mold of those found in the films quite nicely.
The last scene was very good with Nate letting Sterling know that he’s not a common criminal and that he doesn’t see him as being above the law, but rather he just picks up where the law leaves off.
My complaints remain few and far between, but I would have to mention that the amount of “hacking” is a bit ridiculous. Also, I didn’t care for Nate’s tycoon persona; it just didn’t work. Nate should remain the guy who oversees the operations. There’s absolutely no need for him to get so personally involved in some of them. It doesn’t always make for a believable, or for that matter, entertaining con job.
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