After five seasons, Leverage comes to a close with a Christmas gifts any fan of the series will be satisfied with.
It was a sudden cancelation announcement for Leverage which came a mere 4 days ago. Fortunately, show runner Dean Devlin had the wonderful forethought to realize that the lack of a sixth season renewal so late in the cycle surely meant that his show was on the chopping block. As such, he wrote this episode to be the series finale as he envisioned it from day one, filming it and assuming it would be the end to do justice to all of the fans of the show.
“The Long Goodbye Job” is a masterful episode, with callbacks headed all the way back to the series pilot, and touching base on all of our favorite concepts over the last five years. The episode touches every finale cliche as well, including killing of characters, a marriage, and a reprise of our favorite frenemy Agent Sterling (Mark Sheppard). The episode is definitive and final, with more than enough conclusion to satisfy all the fans who have stuck with it for 77 episodes.
I will have to say I will greatly miss Leverage. The show is a wonderful collection of social misfits who bond together into a true family, all growing beyond their original individual selves. They are more than just a theif, a grifter, a hacker, an enforcer, and a mastermind. They are a team, a family, and in many respects, heroes to those who can’t fight against the legal powers that be.
Focused around societal underdogs themselves, Leverage was always marked as a show about hope for the underdog.
Other Observations
- Timothy Hutton had a masterful performance lamenting the death of his team
- Thank you to Timothy Hutton (Nate), Aldis Hodge (Hardison), Beth Riesgraf (Parker), Gina Bellman (Sophie) and Christian Kane (Elliot) for 5 years of great television.
