Leverage: Redemption moves to Prime Video for its leanest season yet
Welcome faces like Aldis Hodge and Noah Wyle pop in and out of the procedural's latest run.
Leverage rules. That might not be the most in-depth assessment or critical analysis of the five-season TNT series, but that doesn’t make it any less true or valid. As one of the most sacred “procedurals that fuck,” sometimes there’s really nothing more to add. And, for the record, the continuation series Leverage: Redemption (which, honestly, is just Leverage with a colon in the title) also rules. It really is as simple as that.
In terms of what Leverage and Leverage: Redemption ruling means in a larger sense, though, the return of the latter—which is now, much like Bosch: Legacy, a true-blue Prime Video show and no longer under the defunct Freevee banner—for its third season is as good a place as any to unpack that. Essentially the eighth season of Leverage altogether, Leverage: Redemption benefits from, unfortunately, the world being a pretty terrible place. The series has yet to run out of steam when it comes to the rich and powerful cretins that the OG Leverage crew takes down. And this season, it does so with a number of actors who surprisingly didn’t guest star in the original run of the series (such as Rachael Harris, Sam Witwer, and Cedric Yarbrough, to name a few). From cryonics frauds to Tinder swindlers, Leverage: Redemption still has plenty of terrible people to con and plenty of time to allow the audience to enjoy it.
With Leverage co-creator John Rogers returning to the helm of the franchise as showrunner (having served as consulting producer for the first two seasons of Leverage: Redemption), familiarity continues to be the name of the game here. Leverage faithful always know what they’re going to get when Sophie the grifter (Gina Bellman), Hardison the hacker (Aldis Hodge), Eliot the hitter (Christian Kane), and Parker the thief (Beth Riesgraf) get together. And since the inception of Leverage: Redemption, the same goes for the inclusion of Harry the fixer (Noah Wyle) and Breonna the maker (Aleyse Shannon).
Seemingly for that very reason—and the fact that, at 10 episodes, this is the shortest season so far—this third batch of Leverage: Redemption doesn’t get too into the nitty gritty with the individual characters as much as it did before. It’s more of an all killer, no filler season. (There’s still room for fan-favorite references and returns though.) Eliot reconnecting with his father (played by the great Keith David) is discussed throughout the season but not followed up on directly, and the same goes for Breonna’s consideration of college. The biggest continued character threads this time around, instead, come from Sophie and Parker. On Sophie’s end, there’s her renewed relationship with her INTERPOL agent step-daughter, Astrid (Alexandra Park), as well as her (and Harry’s) attempts to start dating again. As for Parker, as the character who struggles the most with change and emotional stuff, she has to come to terms with the fact that she’s in a romantic relationship with Hardison, who is very much about change.
The big question this season—which has is always the the big one on this show—is how much Hodge is going to have his “Special Appearance By” credit. It’s a query that also paves the way to ask if there’s going to be a version of Leverage: Redemption where Hodge eventually just stops being part of the project altogether. While there’s probably never going to be a version of Leverage: Redemption in which the actor is able to fully commit, when he is onscreen, it’s like he never stopped playing Hardison. It also helps that there aren’t any video calls from space this time. When Hodge is around, he’s actually around, even when it’s just for a scene.
Of course, the show also raises the questions about Noah Wyle’s contributions to the series given his leading role on The Pitt. Wyle is now a “Special Guest Star,” a designation that thankfully feels more contractual than Hodge’s. The actor is only absent from three episodes this season, but Harry’s presence and status as part of the crew remains even in the ones he’s not in. In the case of both Hodge and Wyle, it no doubt helps that working on Leverage: Redemption means collaborating with people they’ve both known for years (from the original Leverage and The Librarians franchise, respectively).
The thing about Leverage: Redemption is that it has the perfect setup for a true spin-off series that works whether or not original cast members pop in. But this season of the show makes the case that there is a lot left in the tank concerning those characters from the first series, be it in a Christmas Carol con or an entertaining follow-up to the 2011 episode “The Girls’ Night Out Job.” Not every big swing, particularly the high-concept finale, connects as well as one would hope here. (They can’t all be “The Rashomon Job,” after all.) But even the weakest installments of Leverage: Redemption still ultimately, yes, rule.
Leverage: Redemption season 3 premieres April 17 on Prime Video
Link to article: https://www.avclub.com/leverage-redemption-season-3-review-tv-prime-video