Leverage (TV series)

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Television series
German title Leverage
Original title Leverage
Leverage logo.svg
Country of production United States
original language English
Year (s) 2008–2012
length 42 minutes
Episodes 77 in 5 seasons ( List )
genre Heist , Dramedy
production Dean Devlin
John Rogers
music Joseph LoDuca
camera David Connell
First broadcast December 7, 2008 (USA) on TNT
German-language
first broadcast		 August 9, 2010 on RTL Crime
occupation
synchronization

Leverage (English. "Influence, pressure medium") is an American television series that was broadcast from 2008 to 2012 on the television station TNT in five seasons with 77 episodes.

On April 23, 2020, a reboot of the series was announced on the IMDb TV streaming service from Amazon . With the exception of Timothy Hutton , the original cast is slated to return, according to producer Dean Devlin . Noah Wyle is to join the cast as the main actor.

action

The series is about a former insurance detective who has made it his business to help people who have been brought into existential difficulties by apparently overpowering people or institutions through no fault of their own. To do this, he goes into business for himself and allies himself with four criminals, each of whom are outstanding specialists in a certain area. The group initially operates under the umbrella company " Leverage Consulting & Associates " and has a reputable office in the city center. After this office is destroyed at the end of season 1, the team operates from the back room of a bar and in later seasons in Nate's apartment above the bar.

characters

  • Timothy Hutton

  • Christian Kane

  • Beth Riesgraf

  • Aldis Hodge

main characters

Nathan Ford

Nathan, called Nate, is from Boston and is the son of bookmaker Jimmy Ford, who did business with the local mafia. Before becoming an insurance detective, Nate wanted to be a Catholic priest. He worked for IYS and saved his employer from millions in insurance payments. However, the board of directors refused to pay expensive treatment for his son, who died as a result. His marriage to his wife, Maggie, fell apart, he was fired, and he fell into alcohol. His alcohol problem is taken up in many episodes. After he has completed the first job with the team, the team asks him to continue. He is given the privilege of being able to select the cases. Nate is the head behind the actions and has a talent for organization. He uses his experience as an insurance detective to predict the actions and reactions of the target persons. While he often takes on a more passive part in the background at the beginning of the series, he often comes into contact with the goals himself later. Mostly he plays a businessman who has something to offer.

Alec Hardison

Computer expert and hacker. He is a data gatherer, science fiction fan and has a dry sense of humor. He also hates it when Nate's plan seems too risky. He says he can hack any electronic device. He is rarely caught doing it. He designed the team's electronic equipment (surveillance equipment, 2-way earplugs, etc.). Alec is very proud of his Van Lucile and hates the fact that it has to be destroyed from time to time to allow the team to retreat. He has some kind of relationship with Parker, but it has developed very slowly due to personal difficulties.

Eliot Spencer

Excellent martial arts fighter and weapons expert, although he hates firearms. Eliot has a dark past in which he has killed many innocent people, including women and children, for money. This is also the reason why he does not use firearms. He describes himself as a retrieval expert who gets the team out of unforeseen situations. Even if he is often only portrayed as the bat, it becomes clear as the series progresses that he is also a good cheater. In addition to his obvious talents, it always turns out that there is more to Eliot Spencer than meets the eye. He is both a very good cook and an excellent singer. His father owned a hardware store.

Parker

Parker is the team's thief. She had an abusive father. When he took away her plush bunny, she blew it up along with the house. Her brother died in a car accident. It is later revealed that as a teenager she came into the care of a master thief who taught her everything. Since she was an orphan herself, she feels the need to help other orphans, even if she or the team is in danger. Parker loves to jump off skyscrapers or rappel down elevator shafts and the like. She designed and manufactured the necessary equipment herself. She is very poor in contact with other people, especially when they get too close to her.

Sophie Devereaux

Actress and cheater. While she is unsuccessful as an actress in theater and film, she is one of the best as a cheater. She has a penchant for art and has stolen some valuable artifacts before meeting the team. Some of them were insured with IYS. There is a connection between her and Nate that is at least 10 years old. Sophie is fluent in several languages ​​and is able to mimic accents for specific regions. Her repertoire of aliases - which Sophie Deveraux also belongs to - seems limitless. However, as the series progresses, she reveals her real name to all team members. There are feelings between Sophie and Nate that neither admit to the other (Nate's only attempt fails due to the loud noise of a helicopter). In the last episode, Nathan proposes to her and calls her Laura, but she says that this is not her real name either.

Minor characters

Tara Cole

Is a good friend of Sophie's and also a cheater. She owes Sophie a favor and replaces her while she takes time off in Europe. It is later revealed that she was used as a kind of informant to take care of Nate, as Sophie had foreseen that Nate would gradually lose control due to his alcohol problem. Tara initially insists on being paid for the jobs. Over time, however, she begins to understand why the team doesn't ask for money for the jobs. Unlike Sophie, Tara uses her feminine charms in a targeted manner to establish contact with a target. Little is known of Tara's personal life, but she is trained in cryptography and likely worked for an intelligence agency. She speaks several languages, including fluent German.

Jim Sterling

At the beginning of the series Insurance Detective at IYS and former colleague of Nate. Later he works for Interpol. Jim is Nate's arch rival and gets his job after Nate is fired. When he learns of Nate's new life, he sticks on his heels, believing that Nathan wants his old job back. He later realizes he's wrong, but continues to try to put the team down. Nevertheless, he tips Nate that his ex-wife Maggie is in trouble. In order to get them out of there and to acquit them of having stolen the Fabergé egg , the team needs his help. Sterling agrees on the condition that he gets the replacement credit and receives a job offer from Interpol. His new position allows him to keep track of the team and put Nate in jail in the season 2 finale. He has a daughter who is very good at chess. With the help of Nate and the team, he brings her back to him after she lived with her stepfather after her mother's death.

Maggie Collins

Nate's ex-wife and mother of his late son. The marriage breaks up because of Nate's social decline after the death of his son. Maggie is an art expert and comes back into Nate's life working for IYS CEO Ian Blackpol, unaware that he has refused to pay her son's medical expenses. Despite her divorce, she still worries about Nate, but cannot cope with his alcoholic illness .

FBI Special Agents Taggert & McSweeten

Partner at the FBI. Two unsuccessful FBI agents who are easily manipulated by the Leverage team, believing that Hardison and Parker are FBI colleagues. For their involuntary assistance, Nate arranges that Taggert and McSweeten get credit for the arrests of the criminals. As a result, they both get better jobs in the FBI office in Boston.

Detective Captain Patrick Bonanno

First lieutenant, later captain with the Massachusetts State Police. The team gives him a tip if the police need it or if a suspect needs to be arrested. He knows about the work of the team and respects it. However, as an honest policeman, he would have no problem arresting the team for illegal activities. Nate and the others also respect Bonanno and therefore clear up the brutal attack on him.

Colin "Chaos" Mason

Unscrupulous hackers and arch-rivals of Hardison. Unlike the latter, however, Chaos uses his talent for illegal activities. He sees Sophie as a serious threat and tries to kill her.

Jimmy Ford

Jimmy Ford is Nathan Ford's father. He is an Irish petty criminal and former loan shark. He was in jail for a crime he did not commit. Nate is ashamed of his father and sees him as a violent and unpleasant person. Jimmy is chased out of town by Nate, but later shows up again. He dies from a bomb. This serves as Victor Dubenich's act of revenge against Nate.

The Italian

Her name is not known. She blackmails Nate to stop Damien Moreau and gives him six months to do it. Otherwise, he would spend the rest of his life in prison while the team was killed. She seems to work for a very powerful organization as she has no problem providing the team with real false identities.

Damien Moreau

Is a powerful international banker who makes his money financing crime. However, he does this so thoroughly that nothing has been proven to him so far. The team succeeds in manipulating his bank account details on him to commit crimes that he did not commit. He then flees to San Lorenzo, a country he controls. The team follows him and uses rigged elections to bring down the government that Moreau had bought. He was sent to prison for life.

Jack Latimer

Is an investor who bets against companies before they are punished by Nathan and his team. As a result, he made a small fortune without their knowledge. He is an ally of Victor Dubenich. After a scuffle with Dubenich, they both fall from a dam together. He's probably dead.

Victor Dubenich

Victor Dubenich is the team's first client. He hires Eliot, Parker, and Alec. He later asks Nate to act as the leader of this group to keep an eye on them. He betrays the team in the first episode and tries to kill them with a bomb. The group then gets the con artist Sophie on board and punishes Dubenich by destroying his company, his reputation and his possessions and adding a criminal offense to him. Dubenich then has to go to prison for a long time. In season four he allies himself with Latimer and hires Nathan's father Jimmy Ford for a theft. However, this is just a trap that Jimmy dies, and Nate swears revenge on him. After a scuffle with Latimer, they both fall off a dam together. He's probably dead.

production

The series first aired on December 7, 2008 on TNT . The first season consisted of thirteen episodes. After the first season had good ratings, TNT ordered a second season. The second season was broadcast in two parts: the first part in the fall and the second part in the spring of the following year. TNT extended the series for a third season after good ratings.

On July 30, 2010, TNT Leverage extended by a 15-part fourth season, which was later increased to 18 episodes. On August 12, 2011, the extension for a fifth season, which in turn comprises 15 episodes. The series finale, The Long Good-bye Job, ran in the US on December 25, 2012, and no further seasons should follow.

Cast and dubbing

role actor Dubbing voice Main role
(episodes) 		Supporting role
(episodes)
Nathan Ford Timothy Hutton Charles Rettinghaus 1.01-5.15
Sophie Devereaux Gina Bellman Claudia Urbschat-Mingues 1.01-5.15
Eliot Spencer Christian Kane Viktor Neumann 1.01-5.15
Parker Beth Riesgraf Katrin Zimmermann 1.01-5.15
Alec Hardison Aldis Hodge Dennis Schmidt-Foss 1.01-5.15
Tara Cole Jeri Ryan Anke Reitzenstein 2.09-2.15, 4.13
Victor Dubenich Saul Rubinek Michael Pan 1.01, 4.17-4.18
Jim Sterling Mark Sheppard Lutz Schnell 1.03, 1.10, 1.12-1.13, 2.12, 2.14-2.15, 4.10, 5.10, 5.15
Maggie Collins Kari Matchett Andrea Aust 1.12-1.13, 2.12, 4.18
FBI Special Agent Taggert Rick Overton Hans Hohlbein 1.05, 1.07, 2.04, 4.08
FBI Special Agent McSweeten Gerald Downey Klaus-Peter Grap 1.05, 1.07, 2.04, 3.13, 4.08, 5.06
Captain Patrick Bonanno Robert Blanche Reinhard Scheunemann 2.01, 2.08, 2.14, 3.01, 3.15, 4.14
Colin "Chaos" Mason Wil Wheaton Sascha Rotermund / Nico Sablik 2.07, 3.14, 4.18
The Italian Elisabetta Canalis Ranja Bonalana 3.01, 3.04, 3.13, 3.15-3.16
Archie Leach Richard Chamberlain Norbert Langer 3.03, 4.18
Damien Moreau Goran Višnjić 3.15-3.16
Jimmy Ford Tom Skerritt Bodo Wolf 3.09, 4.17
Jack Latimer Leon Rippy Kaspar Eichel 4.03, 4.08, 4.15, 4.17, 4.18

Charisma

United States

In the United States, the series started on December 7, 2008 and was broadcast until February 24, 2009 without a break. The second season was split so that the first nine episodes aired from July 15 to September 9, 2009 and the other six from January 13 to February 17, 2010. The third season was also split, so the first thirteen episodes aired from June 20 to September 5, 2010. The remaining three episodes were shown just before Christmas on December 12th and 19th, 2010. On June 26, 2011, the first ten episodes of the fourth season began broadcasting, which comprises a total of 18 episodes. The other episodes were broadcast in November 2011 after a short break in late summer. TNT has aired its fifth season since July 15, 2012.

Since no further season has been ordered until December 2012, the fifth season finale is designed as a possible series finale. On December 21, 2012, the American broadcaster TNT announced that the episode broadcast for Christmas 2012 would mark the end of the series.

Germany

Although the free TV transmitter VOX had secured the rights as the first German station that beamed Pay TV transmitter RTL Crime series from first. The first season ran between August 9 and November 1, 2010. VOX followed suit and aired it from October 6 to December 22, 2010. The second season has been running since November 7, 2011. The third season was broadcast on VOX from February 13, 2012, and the fourth season was broadcast on this channel from September 10, 2012. From June 27, 2014 to August 9, 2014, Vox showed the fifth and final season of Leverage.

Switzerland

In Switzerland, the station 3+ aired the first season of the series from November 21, 2010 to January 23, 2011.

Austria

In Austria, ATV aired the first season of Leverage from December 16, 2010 to March 10, 2011. The second season started on October 4, 2012. The third season ran from January 24, 2013. The fourth season aired from May 23, 2013.

DVD release

United States

  • Season 1 was released on July 14, 2009
  • Season 2 was released on May 25, 2010
  • Season 3 was released on June 7, 2011
  • Season 4 was released on July 17, 2012
  • Season 5 was released on September 17, 2013

Great Britain

  • Season 1 was released on September 6, 2010
  • Season 2 was released on January 31, 2011
  • Season 3 was released on May 28, 2012
  • Season 4 was released on November 18, 2013
  • Season 5 was released on April 14, 2014

Germany

  • Season 1 was released on December 17, 2010
  • Season 2 was released on October 26, 2012
  • Season 3 was released on December 7, 2012
  • Season 4 was released on May 10, 2013
  • Season 5 was released on August 15, 2014

Awards

Further information

  • The English original title of each episode corresponds to the pattern "The ... Job". Reference is made in each case to the circumstances or directly to the type of fraud.
  • Victor Dubenich (played by Saul Rubinek) is CEO of Bering Aerospace in the first episode of the first season. He is also in contact with Jack Latimer (played by Leon Rippy). Saul Rubinek plays Artie Nielsen, boss of Agent Myka Bering and Agent Pete Latimer in the TV series Warehouse 13 .
  • In the eighth episode of the first season, Nate lists his false names: " Peter Davison ", " Sylvester McCoy " and " Tom Baker ". All three are the names of actors who played " the doctor ". Sophie uses the name "Sarah J.", " Sarah Jane Smith " was the most famous companion of the doctor.
  • In season 3, episode 9, Eliot Spencer introduces himself and Alec Hardison as "Detective Moffat" and "Detective Davis". These are the names of the authors of the newer seasons of Doctor Who.
  • In season 5, episode 10, Sophie Devereaux introduces herself and Jim Sterling as "Agent Tennant" and "Agent Smith". These are also actors from the newer season of Doctor Who.
  • In the 3rd episode of the 3rd season, "Solo for Parker", Hardison and Sophie pose as " John Steed " and " Emma Peel ", a reference to the series Mit Schirm, Charme und Melone .
  • In the 11th episode of season 4, the student who is the team's target is called Zilgram. This is a nod to Stanley Milgram , who conducted experiments on how far people go (by having Milgram give test subjects alleged electric shocks to another person). In fact, this experiment also occurs in the episode, Parker is asked as a test subject by a student to give an unknown man electric shocks if he answers Parker's questions incorrectly. However, Parker misunderstood the experiment and gave the man shocks from the start.
  • In the 18th episode of the 4th season, the team has to get reinforcements. Each team member engages his or her greatest hero or enemy, or a friend. So there's a reunion with Chaos, Archie Leech, Maggie Collins and more.
  • In the 8th episode of season 1, Hardison says at the end of the episode: "I love it when a plan works!". This is an allusion to Das A-Team , since Hannibal always said this sentence at the end of every episode.
  • In the 3rd episode of the 5th season, Eliot gives the name "Willy Riker". This is an allusion to the figure of Cdr. William T. Riker from Starship Enterprise: The Next Century , played by Jonathan Frakes , who directed this episode
  • In the 14th episode of season 3 Spencer gets to Christmas a " Hanzo -Sword". This is a reference to Quentin Tarantino's " Kill Bill " films.
  • The character Archie Leach, played by Richard Chamberlain , appears in two episodes . Archibald Alec Leach was the maiden name of the British-American actor Cary Grant .

literature

  • Andreas Arimont: Leverage - The unofficial guide to the TV series season 1 and 2. Andreas Arimont, 2012, ISBN 978-1-4800-4759-4 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ serienjunkies.de - Leverage: IMDb orders new edition with Noah Wyle , accessed on April 23, 2020
  2. ↑ Bernd Krannich: "The Closer", "Rizzoli & Isles" and "Leverage" extended . Serienjunkies.de . July 30, 2010. Retrieved July 30, 2010.
  3. ↑ TNT Announces Fall / Winter Schedule . news.turner.com. August 23, 2011. Retrieved August 24, 2011.
  4. ^ Christian Junklewitz: Leverage: TNT ordered 5th season . Serienjunkies.de . August 12, 2011. Retrieved August 12, 2011.
  5. ↑ TNT Publicity: TNT's “Leverage” coming to an end . TNT Newsroom . December 21, 2012. Archived from the original on March 6, 2013. Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved February 19, 2013. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / tntnewsroom.com
  6. ^ Dubbing actor in the German dubbing index
  7. ↑ Ralf Döbele: Fifth season for "Leverage" . Wishlist.de. August 14, 2011. Retrieved August 16, 2011.
  8. ↑ Amanda Kondolojy: TNT Announces Premiere Dates for 'The Closer', 'Falling Skies', 'Leverage', 'Rizzoli & Isles' 'Franklin & Bash' + Four Brand New Series . TV by the Numbers. March 15, 2012. Retrieved March 15, 2012.
  9. ^ Christian Junklewitz: Leverage: season finale designed as series finale . In: TV by the Numbers . December 7, 2012. Retrieved December 12, 2012.
  10. ↑ Elmar Rissmayer: TNT's “Leverage” coming to an end . TV by the Numbers. December 21, 2012. Archived from the original on February 4, 2013. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved December 21, 2012. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / tntnewsroom.com
  11. ↑ VOX has found a slot for "Leverage" . Wishlist.de. August 31, 2010. Retrieved January 9, 2011.
  12. ↑ Bernd Michael Krannich: Leverage: The 2nd season starts in November at VOX . Serienjunkies.de . September 28, 2011. Accessed on September 28, 2011.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.serienjunkies.de  
  13. ↑ Michael Brandes: "Leverage": VOX shows third season . Wishlist.de . January 5, 2012. Retrieved January 11, 2012.
  14. ↑ People's Choice Award 2013 . peopleschoice . Retrieved June 19, 2015.
  15. ↑ Trivia at imdb