Leverage Season Finale Review: Send In The Backups

Leverage Season Finale Review: Send In The Backups

Beth Riesgraf on Sunday’s Leverage finale and moving the team to Portland

Published: Sunday, January 15, 2012, 2:12 PM     Updated: Sunday, January 15, 2012, 2:55 PM

By Kristi Turnquist, The Oregonian

On Sunday night’s season 4 finale, the “Leverage” team has a showdown with the mysterious Latimer (Leon Rippy), and a foe from their past.

Portlanders should make a special effort to either watch or DVR Sunday night’s episode, “The Last Dam Job,” because this is the one that sets up the team relocating their base of operations from Boston to Portland.

While this makes sense as a practical matter — the TNT show has filmed in Portland since season 2 — it will require some narrative reason.

Beth Riesgraf, who plays the quirky cat burglar Parker on “Leverage,” says the finale will make it clear why Nate Ford (Timothy Hutton) and the rest of the crew are pulling up stakes and heading to the Northwest.

In a phone interview, Riesgraf says other points of interest in the finale are the return of some familiar characters from previous episodes, including those played by Wil Wheaton and Richard Chamberlain.

“In the season finale, you sense some closure,” says Riesgraf. “And it will make sense to fans why the ‘Leverage’ troupe needs to change home base.”

The “Leverage” gang traveled to Portland in the recent episode, “The Gold Job,” taking down a crooked brother-sister duo running a cash-for-gold scam. Will there be some connection between that episode and the team moving to Portland?

“I think so,” Riesgraf says, teasingly. But she won’t reveal any more details, so as not to spoil the surprise.

Fans of “Leverage,” says Riesgraf, “will be anticipating the next season based on how this one ends.” There will be developments in the characters, and in how they relate to each other. “I’m really interested to see where Nathan Ford goes,” says Riesgraf. “It was such a dramatic finale for him personally. I’m also hoping to see more action for Parker.”

Speaking of relationships, what’s in store in season 5 for Parker and Hardison (Aldis Hodge), whose connection has grown stronger in season 4?

“I think they’ve both come to the understanding that they mean a great deal to one another, and this is a first for them in many ways,” says Riesgraf. “(Parker) has learned to trust that. She was leery at first. But she’s formed a bond with (Hardison) that’s different than the others. They’re secure in knowing that they have something special.”

Fans ask, Riesgraf says, when Parker and Hardison will get together. “I think there’s sort of an unspoken idea that they are together. They’re not like your average, everyday person. They’re not going to go off and get married. In terms of where they are right now, they’ve found what works for them. They sort of teeter-totter. I think it’s nice to see the two of them figure things out.”

The Parker-Hardison connection is different, Riesgraf says, from the way Nate and Sophie (Gina Bellman) are together. “The two of them together are genius,” says Riesgraf. “Their chemistry is so great and they have this mature understanding of what’s happening.”

Read the whole article at Oregon Live

Two Days Until the Season 4 Finale!! Don’t forget….

The Season 4 Finale is Sunday, January 15th. Here is a sneak peak video:

http://www.tnt.tv/video/?cid=211243&oid=248425

Also – get the Leverage Companion App for your Iphone & Android phones before the finale when it goes live for bonus content!

http://www.tnt.tv/series/leverage/display/?contentId=244273

PopMatters Awards Aldis for Best TV Performance as 2011’s Liveliest Unleashed Hacker

Maggie Smith in Downton Abbey

 PopMatters Picks: The Best TV, Film, and DVD of 2011

 The Best TV Performances of 2011 

 By Michael Abernethy 12 January 2012

 

 

 

The past year saw TV expand its reality horizon, featuring pig herders and people addicted to eating toilet paper or detergent. If watching rednecks catch alligators wasn’t your thing, though, reality TV offered up a slew of new talent competitions, insuring that more singers and groups will have 15 minutes of fame before their CDs wind up in the $1.99 discount bin. In 2011, only J. R. Martinez actually became a star, and who can complain about that?

It grew increasingly difficult to be a loyal series fan this year, as more programs saw their seasons hacked into multiple mini-seasons. This created confusion about when favorite shows were on and provided us all with the opportunity to enjoy a new cliffhanger every week.

Aldis Hodge in Leverage

Aldis Hodge wins 2011’s Liveliest Unleashed Hacker on TV Award, for his work on Leverage. Though the show isn’t a comedy, Hodge’s Alec got out from behind his computer more this season, giving him something more to do than spout witticisms through his headpiece.

 

Source of Quotes: PopMatters

Leverage’s fourth season – The good, the bad and the promising

Gallery Updates: Various Events & Leverage Screencaps

Click the gallery below:

Leverage > Season Four > 4-14 The Boy’s Night Out Job > 4-14 Screencaps

Leverage > Season Four > 4-15 The Lonely Hearts Job > 4-15 Screencaps

Leverage > Season Four > 4-16 The Gold Job > 4-16 Screencaps

Events > 2011 > Spotted! Christmas shopping

Events > 2011 > THE OXYGEN NETWORK’S LOVE SCOUTS PREMIER

Events > 2011 > Christmas – Feeding the Homeless @ LA MIssion

Events > 2012 > G4′s Attack of the Show Taping

Aldis Hodge Feeling the Leverage Love Here, and Over There

Aldis Hodge TNT photo

Leverage” costar Aldis Hodge, fresh back from London and the first “Leverage” convention in the U.K., still sounds somewhat awed by the fan interaction there.

“I know it sounds a little weird, but there was this woman who made these really awesome dolls of everyone in the cast — hand-stitched and everything. It shows the kind of time and dedication people devote to this show,” he says.   Did she capture him? “I don’t know if she captured me, but she definitely captured Hardison,” he answers, referring to his character.

There were also funny moments. Hodge relates that he and his mom were in an elevator when a fan told him he had a voice “like dark melted chocolate.” Also, “There was a little four-year-old girl who drew a picture for me. That was pretty cool. That had to be my favorite thing,” he says.

“Leverage” continues to be hugely popular at home, too. With its fifth season already assured, he reports that the team will go back to work in March.

Meanwhile,  Hodge says he likes the occasional departure episodes the series creators have been throwing into the mix this season — including the recent “The Office Job” that borrowed style elements from “The Office” comedy, and the current “Girls Night Out Job”/”Boys Night Out Job” two-parter that ends Sunday (12/18).

“You know, it’s always a risk. I hope the audience loves it, or loves us enough to stay loyal,” he says. “You’ve got to play it year by year. I enjoy taking risks and breaking away now and then.”

Gallery Update: Leverage Screencaps

Click the gallery below:

Leverage > Season Four > 4-12 The Office Job > 4-12 Screencaps

Leverage > Season Four > 4-13 The Girl’s Night Out Job > 4-13 Screencaps

Leverage > Season Four > 4-15 The Lonely Hearts Job > 4-15 Episode Stills

Angels for Aldis Auction – Postponed to January

Due to Aldis’ filming schedule and other delays with getting items for the auction, I’m postponing it to January. More details to follow. But by then I will have lots of awesome things to bid on! Please contact me if you wish to donate an item for the auction. It can be an item or a service!

Aldis Hodge Talks The Office, Guys’ Night Out and More!

Aldis Hodge Talks The Office, Guys’ Night Out and More!

Previews Aldis Hodge, who says he’s a huge fan of the NBC sitcom to which Leverage is paying homage:

“It was fun to mash up our style with theirs… they deal directly with the cameras every week, while our job is to be conspicuous, to be the guys you don’t see. The results end up being terribly funny.”

This week’s installment marks the first in a run of unusual episodes for the TNT hit. Over the next two Sundays, for example, viewers will