How a beloved show about avenging those wronged by the rich got a second chance on a free streaming service.<\/b>
\nWhen Leverage first premiered back in 2008, its simple premise of five thieves who use their skills to help regular people fight the injustices inflicted on them by the rich and powerful made for charming and addictive TV. That formula was only enriched by fun character dynamics that evolved over the course of five seasons as the team became a family. It\u2019s no wonder it inspired such a fervent fan base, so much so that when the original run was cancelled in December 2012, it still went on to be nominated and ultimately win a People\u2019s Choice Award the following year. Fans\u2019 love of the show hasn\u2019t abated in the years since Leverage went off the air, and now almost a decade later they\u2019ve been rewarded with a revival series featuring many of the original characters we came to know and love \u2013 this time on IMDb TV, the ad-supported US streaming service. \u201cThere had been a couple of false starts of excitement. At one point, we heard something about a movie,\u201d says Beth Riesgraf, who returns as Parker \u2013 the world\u2019s greatest thief \u2013 in the new series. \u201cI think enough time had passed that part of me just thought you know what, this was a moment captured in time that will always be really special to me, but it doesn’t seem like it’s coming back. Then when the tides turned and we got the call, I’m pretty sure I started screaming with excitement and disbelief at the same time.\u201d The one member of the original ensemble who had an inkling as to what was in the works is Christian Kane, who is back once again as the team\u2019s formidable hitter, Elliot Spencer. Having worked with series\u2019 creator Dean Devlin on multiple projects post-Leverage \u2013 including The Librarians and Almost Paradise \u2013 he was always aware of the reboot\u2019s status. \u201cDean would give me little snippets here and there,\u201d Kane recalls. \u201cIt was almost to the point where I wish he\u2019d stop talking about it because I\u2019d get my hopes up so bad! We were out in the Philippines doing Almost Paradise and I had a lot shorter hair. Dean came out to direct the last episode, and he looked at me and said ‘stop cutting your hair.’ I knew exactly what that meant, and I just got so excited. That’s how I found out that Leverage is coming back.\u201d While many aspects of Leverage: Redemption will be familiar to fans, there\u2019s a lot about the revival that\u2019s different too. The biggest change? For circumstances that are quickly explained in the first episode, the team will be without their former leader and mastermind Nathan Ford, who was played by Timothy Hutton in the original five season run. It\u2019s a ballsy move that will doubtless generate much discussion among fans as the series premieres. \u201cThere was definitely a thought of how are people gonna react to this?\u201d says Riesgraf. \u201cBut I think knowing what a special run we all had on that first series, and knowing that wasn’t going anywhere, and that would stay in everybody’s hearts, and that those experiences would last a lifetime, meant everything to me.\u201d For Gina Bellman \u2013 whose grifter, Sophie Devereaux, got engaged to Ford in the final moments of the original series \u2013 it was a chance to evolve her character, who is cajoled back into the con early on after being out of the game for years. \u201cIt’s established that Sophie and Nate have had an amazing, fulfilling, committed relationship,\u201d says Bellman. \u201cSo I feel that this loss that she has at the beginning of the season is really a springboard to her being in a much better place as a woman. She\u2019s more mature and she\u2019s not so highly strung.\u201d Ford\u2019s absence means there\u2019s room for some new blood on the team. One such character is Aleyse Shannon\u2019s Breanna, foster sister to Alec Hardison (a returning Aldis Hodge, who is only in the first two episodes). Like her brother, she\u2019s a hacker extraordinaire, but her inexperience on the con occasionally lands her in hot water. Luckily, Breanna has the world\u2019s greatest thief for a mentor. Parker and Hardison are still together in Redemption, and the idea of the couple having kids was discussed. However, rather than go down that path \u2013 given the lives they lead, the child would constantly be at risk \u2013 Breanna becoming a part of the Leverage family still gives the show a fresh dynamic to play with. \u201cWith the way Breanna came in and the way we take care of one another, that is their family unit,\u201d says Riesgraf. The other new member of the team stirring things up is Noah Wyle\u2019s Harry Wilson, a former high-powered lawyer who is trying to turn over a new leaf. It\u2019s this character whom the Redemption of the title refers to most, as he comes to terms with some of the bad things he did for worse people as the show develops. Wyle is another Devlin favorite \u2013 he played the lead role in The Librarians, which ran for four seasons \u2013 and he relished the opportunity to get stuck into Wilson\u2019s arc. \u201cHe meets a whole bunch of bad guys to teach him how to be a good guy, and I love that arc to it,\u201d says Wyle. \u201cBecause, you know, people are really flawed and make mistakes. And right now we’re living in a world where we’re responsible to look at those mistakes and those flaws and act accordingly and change our behavior in the face of it. So this is a season about a guy being made aware of how responsible he really is, how blind he really has been, and how responsible he is to move forward in his life by both rectifying the wrongs but also changing his entire way of life.\u201d Though Wyle had to endure some hazing (\u201cit was rather extensive and slightly illegal in some states\u201d, he jokes), it didn\u2019t take long for him to be get comfortable with the team, both on and off screen. It also didn\u2019t take long for the OG team to get back to business as normal. One of the many smart decisions of Redemption\u2019s premiere is to have all the fan favorite characters on screen at the same time within the opening minutes, in a sequence complete with the in-jokes and lovable back and forth that came to define the show. \u201cThat was the first scene we shot,\u201d says Kane. \u201cIt was a long scene, so we all got to play. Dean was very smart about that. Two minutes into it, it was like we never left, you know? And that was the best feeling in the world. We didn\u2019t have to find the characters again. We could just have fun with it.\u201d The cons are also just as fun and varied as we came to expect all those years ago, with targets that are wholly deserving of some comeuppance. One standout, \u2018The Paranormal Hacktivity Job\u2019, sees all the women team up to scare the bad guys straight with a mixture of tech and guile. \u201cShannon, Riesgraf and I got to riff together on that episode, and it was really fun,\u201d says Bellman. \u201cAleyse is a bundle of energy. She’s got great comic skills, and she’s a very good comedic actor. We did a lot of little improvisations together in that episode, and I think it really helped to elevate it.\u201d For Riesgraf, there was also the added challenge of being behind the camera for an episode. Having previously directed two short films in addition to shadowing other filmmakers, she jumped at the chance to finally call the shots on Redemption. \u201cI knew that I felt comfortable with all these people in a way that I wouldn\u2019t necessarily be going into a new set. I also felt confident in my scene partners. We help each other along the way so I can always tell if we don’t feel a take is right or whatever. It was a wild ride.\u201d It\u2019s not a ride Riesgraf and co would have gotten to go on without the immense fan support that has ensured Leverage hasn\u2019t been forgotten in the nine years it\u2019s been off the air. Case in point: Elliot and Hardison\u2019s impromptu \u2018Two Good Ol\u2019 Boys\u2019 duet in season 5\u2019s \u2018The First Contact Job\u2019 has since become a ringtone, taking on a new life of its own. \u201cAll of that was improvisation,\u201d says Kane. \u201cJonathan Frakes was directing that episode and he says he\u2019s Star Trek: The Next Generation\u2019s number one fan. And Jonathan was like, this is kind of weird. And I remember saying what if I sang it along with Hardison? And he loved it. So we just started in private, and now it’s a ringtone on your phone, which I absolutely love.\u201d More than just ringtones, however, it\u2019s clear that Leverage\u2019s mix of eclectic but harmonious characters and personalities resonated in a big way. \u201cFinding out that someone’s named their baby Parker is incredibly touching,\u201d says Riesgraf. \u201cI’ve had teens reach out over the years who have said that they felt incredibly isolated and alone, and that seeing Parker made them realise there’s other people out there like them and they don’t feel so alone. Interactions like that really mean a lot. That’s why we want to do what we do.\u201d And now, almost a decade after the book looked to have been closed for good, team Leverage get to do it all over again. The first eight episodes of Leverage: Redemption are available now on IMDb TV.<\/p>\n