I just saw my first episode of Timothy Hutton's new TNT series Leverage. Leverage is what you would get if you artificially inseminated Mission:Impossible! with Oceans Eleven. I like it and have scheduled my DVR to record future episodes but I feel compelled to mention that the lone black regular character, Alec Hardison (Aldis Hodge), like IM's Barney Collier (Gregg Morris)and Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames)- heck, like Hogan Heroe Sgt. James 'Kinch' Kinchloe (the late great Ivan Dixon), both completes and depletes me.On one hand, all are self-contained, obviously well educated, articulate electronics experts. On the other hand, all are given precious little to do. While the other, primarily white cast mates get to cavort about wearing masks and assuming other identities, the lone black technology geek is tethered to his computers and his listening devices. More often than not their electronic wizardry saves the day but they rarely get any of the glory.
In short, our hero gets to witness the pageantry but rarely gets to participate in it. While there is plenty of interaction between most of the white characters, our hero is literally a "black hole" into which camera light goes but nothing - no personality, no back story, no nothing - escapes.
And, as such, he is the ultimate Invisible Man.
2 comments:
I hope by now you have watched more episodes and will update this. Hardison is a major main character, participates in the field usually, if not always, gets most of the best lines, and has the most interesting male/female relationship on the show.
I saw this week's episode "The 12-Step Job" and for the second week in a row there are the earmarks of Barney Collier (Gregg Morris) and Willy Armitage (Peter Lupus). The strongman played by Lupus was the only one who got less to do than Gregg Morris on the original IM television show.
In this episode of "Leverage," Hardison (Hodge) and Spencer (Christian Kane) are outside while Ford (Hutton), Parker (Beth Riesgraf) and Devereaux (Gina Bellman) are inside working the scam.
Hutton and Bellman are clearly the Rollin Hand (Martin Landau) and
Cinnamon Carter (Barbara Bain) of this show.
Now, although I have made this observation, let me state that I am
enjoying this show. I thought this week's episode was less cunning
than last weeks - with the possible exception of the ending - but I
loved the scam artist reprobate with a heart-of-gold played by Drew
Powell (who once played Hoss Cartwright in an early millennium remake of Bonanza).
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