‘Leverage: Redemption’: Noah Wyle Joins the Den of Outlaw Do-Gooders
Preview
Nearly nine years after pulling their last job, Leverage’s ethical thieves are back in the Robin Hood business with new disguises, new targets and new team members, including a crafty lawyer (Noah Wyle).
The revival of TNT’s 2008–12 crime drama—now called Leverage: Redemption and streaming on IMDb TV, Prime Video’s free service—reunites grifter Sophie Devereaux (Gina Bellman), one-named thief Parker (Beth Riesgraf), hacker Alec Hardison (Aldis Hodge) and team protector Eliot Spencer (Christian Kane) as they pull off scams that offer amends to people harmed by powerful corporate and government entities. Only mastermind Nate Ford is missing, having died a year earlier. (Timothy Hutton, who played Ford, won’t return.)
“Since the series ended, these kinds of crimes have gotten more brazen [in real life],” showrunner Kate Rorick says of the malfeasance that harms regular folks. “It seems like a good time to bring our characters back to give people somebody to root for in taking down the bad guys.”
The new game is afoot when Sophie’s old pals visit the retired con artist on the anniversary of husband Nate’s death and convince the reluctant widow to join them for a job. They zero in on helping the victims of opioid-pushing pharmaceutical billionaire Fletcher Maxwell (Reed Diamond) by targeting his art collection. While casing a museum, they run into Maxwell’s attorney, Harry Wilson (ER’s Wyle), who’s turning over a new leaf.
He’s “a high-priced fixer-type who has been working for a list of shady clients. He wants to make a change,” says Wyle. So when he crosses paths with this crew, joining forces seems like a good fit: “Now he can use his inside knowledge to help and do good.” Bellman adds that Harry’s “journey of redemption motivates [the group] through the season.”
Alfonso Bresciani/Amazon Studios
The scheme against Maxwell carries over to a second episode, which introduces another addition to the squad: Breanna Casey (Aleyse Shannon), Hardison’s foster sister. (Hodge recurs this season due to filming conflicts.) Not only a hacking whiz like her bro, Breanna builds drones and other tech, earning her the nickname the Maker. “She’s a slightly rebellious, smartass hipster,” says Bellman.
Wyle hopes the show, with its humor and heists (the third of eight episodes, which all drop July 9, features a casino robbery), can be a “palate cleanser” for the edgy stuff on TV. It’s “kind of like a hug,” says Bellman. The type of hug where no one can slyly swipe your wallet!
Leverage: Redemption, Series Premiere, Friday, July 9, IMDb TV
