Sep 242013
 

“Leverage” might not be remembered that well but I sure enjoyed the series despite some less than stellar episodes. Still, the cast shares wonderful chemistry and some of the season-long storylines were at least compelling. This final season, granted only 15 episodes, have some solid episodes and the series finale gives nice closure for the fans. The DVD doesn’t have a whole lot regarding features though having a commentary with each episode does provide insight from the creators and others.

 


“Leverage”: The Final Season (2012-13)


REVIEW NAVIGATION

The Movie
| Special Features | Video Quality | Audio Quality | Overall

 

Genre(s): Crime, Drama, Comedy
Fox | NR – 635 min. – $39.98 | September 17, 2013

MOVIE INFO:
Directed by:
Various
Writer(s): Chris Downey & John Rogers (created by)
Cast: Timothy Hutton, Gina Bellman, Christian Kane, Beth Riesgraf, Aldis Hodge

DISC INFO:
Features:
Episode Commentaries, Deleted Scenes, Gag Reel
Number of Discs: 1

Audio: English (Dolby Digital 5.1)
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.78
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish
Region(s): 1

THE MOVIE – 4.0/5

After five seasons, TNT’s “Leverage” sees the end with this final season which, ironically, takes place in Portland, a city and area which had stood in for multiple locales since the second season when production moved to the Rose City.

Nate Ford (TIMOTHY HUTTON) and his team of Robin Hood of con artists – actress Sophie Devereaux (GINAL BELLMAN), muscleman Eliot Spencer (CHRISTIAN KANE), contortionist Parker (BETH RIESGRAF) and computer specialist Alec Hardison (ALDIS HODGE) – run more cons to gain leverage on those who have done wrong and bring closure to their victims.

This fifth, and final, season finds Nate and the gang tackling different and oft difficult jobs from a corrupt CEO (CARY ELWES) attempting to cover-up a plane crash; a scientist who stole a colleague’s valuable work; a fun 1970s flashback episode surrounding the D.B. Cooper heist; a big box store trying to run a mom-and-pop store out of business; and, for the series finale, Nate and crew breaking into a high security building to steal invaluable information.

As with the previous four seasons, some of these episodes don’t quite work and yet thanks to this cast, which has mostly been together since the beginning (Gina Bellman did miss three episodes back in the second season) and their friendship shows up on screen. This season also has some decent guest stars including the aforementioned Cary Elwes, Fred Ward, Matthew Lillard, Adam Baldwin, Willa Ford (yeah, “star” is stretching it with her) and Gregg Henry.

“Leverage”: The Final Season might not be the most polished season but I can’t say there’s a stinker episode this year either (unlike season 4 where ‘The Office Job’ really was tough to get through) and at the very least there was a proper series finale which was more than satisfying.

Episodes:
1. The (Very) Big Bird Job
2. The Blue Line Job
3. The First Contact Job
4. The French Connection Job
5. The Gimme a K Street Job
6. The D.B. Cooper Job
7. The Real Fake Car Job
8. The Broken Wing Job
9. The Rundown Job
10. The Frame-Up Job
11. The Low Low Price Job
12. The White Rabbit Job
13. The Corkscrew Job
14. The Toy Job
15. The Long Good-Bye Job

SPECIAL FEATURES – 3.0/5

The 4-disc comes in a standard DVD keep case.

Episode Commentaries
‘The (Very) Big Bird Job’: John Rogers (co-creator/exec. producer/episode writer) and Chris Downey (co-creator/exec. producer)
‘The Blue Line Job’: Rogers, Downey and Marc Roskin (episode director)
‘The First Contact Job’: Rogers, Downey, Aaron Denius Garcia (episode writer) and Aldis Hodge (actor)
‘The French Connection Job’: Rogers, Downey, Tawnia McKiernan (episode director) and Hodge
‘The Gimme a K Street Job’: Rogers, Downey and Jeremy Bernstein (episode writer)
‘The D.B. Cooper Job’: Rogers, Downey, Roskin
‘The Real Fake Car Job’: Rogers, Downey, John Harrison (episode director) and Hodge
‘The Broken Wing Job’: Rogers, Downey, Harrison
‘The Rundown Job’: Dean Devlin (episode director/exec. producer), Rogers, Downey, Christian Kane (actor) and Hodge
‘The Low Low Price Job’: Rogers, Downey, McKiernan and Hodge
‘The White Rabbit Job’: Rogers, Downey, P.J. Pesce (episode director) and Geoffrey Thorne (episode writer)
‘The Corkscrew Job’: Rogers, Downey, Jenn Kao (episode writer) and Roskin
‘The Toy Job’: Rogers, Downey and Pesce
‘The Long Goodbye Job’: Devlin, Rogers, Downey, Kane and Hodge

Deleted Scenes (5:04) – Obviously due to time constraints and pacing, some scenes were cut or trimmed. There are scenes cut from 4 episodes on discs 1 and 3.

Gag Reel (7:48) contains the usual line flubs.

VIDEO – 4.0/5

Fox releases “Leverage”: The Final Season on DVD with a beautiful looking 16×9 enhanced transfer showcasing strong colors and decent detail levels for standard definition.

AUDIO – 3.75/5

The Dolby Digital 5.1 track is fine albeit does come across a bit heavy in some instances where the subwoofer would kick on numerous times. Aside from that, though, the dialogue is crisp and when we do get action, there’s some OK depth where the front and rear channels do get used.


OVERALL – 3.75/5

Overall, “Leverage” might not be remembered that well but I sure enjoyed the series despite some less than stellar episodes. Still, the cast shares wonderful chemistry and some of the season-long storylines were at least compelling. This final season, granted only 15 episodes, have some solid episodes and the series finale gives nice closure for the fans. The DVD doesn’t have a whole lot regarding features though having a commentary with each episode does provide insight from the creators and others.

 

Published: 09/24/2013

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