Tag: tnt

  • Leverage: “The Snow Job”

    the-snow-job-10_timothy-hutton_ph-erik-heinila

    Oh, those nasty, nasty contractors. Having grown up around the world of contracting, this episode wins on the believable bad guy who deserves whatever Team Leverage can do to him front. Taking advantage of the victims of natural disasters? Run of the mill for a GC.

    I do have to admire the simplicity of the scam Retzing & Sons pull, though.

    1. Swoop in on stunned victims of natural disaster.
    2. Convince victims to take out an equity loan to cover repair work.
    3. Dawdle. ((This part comes naturally to most GCs. They must teach it in Contractor 101.))
    4. Do shoddy work. ((Ibid.))
    5. Wait for victim to default on loan payments, and since equity has been sucked out of the house thanks to shoddy, delayed word, they have little choice but to default.
    6. File a contractor’s lien.
    7. Profit.

    See? Better than underwear gnomes. There are more steps, but none are missing.

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  • Preview of Trust Me

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    On Monday, January 26th, TNT expands its stable of original programming with the premiere of the Warner Horizon production, Trust Me. Starring TV vets Tom Cavanagh and Eric McCormack as best friends and creative partners at fictional Chicago ad agency Rothman Greene & Mohr, Trust Me is a light drama ((I won’t call it a “crama”, no matter what DMc says.)) about modern advertising.

    Here’s the thing: I want to like this show and I’m going to give it four or five or even six episodes to grow on me. Creators Hunt Baldwin and John Coveny have a combined 20 years of experience in the Chicago ad world, and they and co-EPs Greer Shephard and Michael M. Robin have proven they know how to put together a tight drama on a cable budget with The Closer. But…

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  • Leverage: “The Mile High Job”

    LEVERAGE

    Forty-four minutes is not enough.

    When you bring the always delightful Sara Rue on as a guest star – freaked out to fly and the target of a Very Bad Man – you need to give her some room to breathe. ((Or hyperventilate.)) Where was the awkward flirting scene with Eliot? Where was the confused three-person conversation with Parker and Hardison where she can’t see or hear Hardison? I wanted more of Sara Rue. Otherwise, this was yet another solid, entertaining episode.

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  • Leverage: “The Wedding Job”

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    Oh hell, you give me Dan Lauria ((Interesting – to me and no one else – sidenote: Dan Lauria went to college and played football with my high school coach. Coach was the class advisor for my girlfriend’s class and got Kevin Arnold’s dad as their graduation speaker. He gave a fantastic speech that managed to incorporate Bruce Willis and Ed O’Neill. Afterwards? The girlfriend told me Lauria was a hottie. That was weird.)) and Nicole Sullivan as comedy standins for James Gandolfini and Edie Falco? Point Leverage. Add to that a script from Chris Downey loaded with subtle character humor and a slick turn behind the camera from Jonathan Frakes ((Number 1 calls the shots on *this* enterprise, bub.)) and you’ve got another solid hour from the gang.

    Considering this episode was the third one shot, I was pretty pleased with the smoothness that ended up on screen.

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  • Leverage: “The Stork Job”

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    One of the complaints some critics have laid on Leverage is its reliance on common settings for a con/scam/mission show: bank robbery, horse track, etc. Personally, I not only find those locales comforting, but believe that specifically avoiding those settings would be unrealistic. These are thieves, after all. But tonight breaks the mold in a big way and goes somewhere I don’t believe any heist show has gone before.

    My knowledge of the strife and suffering in the countries formerly composing Yugoslavia is sketchy, mostly consisting of what I’ve gleaned from features about the region’s basketball tradition. In fact, if not for tall men with names like Vlade and Drazen and Peja, I might not be able to remember the names of all the republics that split off from Yugoslavia. The fighting during the ’90s was intense and the toll is still being felt to this day. I don’t know how common the practice of using orphanages to front for gunrunners is, but there are certainly enough orphans in Belgrade to make it feasible. (more…)

  • Leverage: “The Bank Shot Job”

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    Ai-ight. That’s more like it. At this point, I’m wondering whether Rogers, Downey, and Devlin have a mind probing satellite in geosynchronous orbit. A satellite tuned to my brain waves so they can put a show on the air specifically tailored to my tastes. Because this one? This one was exactly up my alley.

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  • Leverage: “The Miracle Job”

    Episode 107 - "The Miracle Job"

    Look, man! You’re lucky on this deadline I didn’t give you a baking soda volcano.

    Remember in last week’s review, when I expressed my concern that Leverage might wear out its welcome if every episode involved helping out someone from the team’s past? That’s because I’d already seen “The Miracle Job” and knew that two consecutive episodes had done that very thing. It’s a small complaint, but I would really rather see strangers taking advantage of the services of Leverage Consulting & Associates.

    However, if they were all going to be as much fun as this one, I wouldn’t make much of a fuss over it.

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  • Leverage: “The Two-Horse Job”

    LEVERAGE

    Sophie: I don’t know what comes of chasing the past, Eliot.
    Eliot: Well Sophie, sweetie, I don’t think you and Nate get to serve me that particular meal.

    If I had to highlight one concern I have about the legs on Leverage, it would be on display in tonight’s episode. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a finely crafted hour of television with some twisty goodness, but its entire premise is that someone on the team has to help someone from his past. I don’t want to spend every week learning about Eliot’s lost love or Hardison’s old buddies in the AV club, or Parker’s…whatever psychiatric nurse she really liked in her youth. Instead I want strangers tracking down Leverage Consulting & Associates – preferably talking to Nate while he wears kooky disguises – and asking for help.

    Eliot’s got history with Willy and Aimee Martin, a history of a future derailed. He was engaged to be engaged to Aimee, guest star Jaime Ray Newman (Heroes, Veronica Mars,) but hit the road and never returned. Eliot’s chosen profession doesn’t lend itself to domesticated bliss, and he apparently spent some time undergoing “enhanced coercive interrogation techniques” when he should have been back home tending his relationship. Ain’t that always the way? You meet a girl, give her a promise ring, and then get captured and beaten over a monkey.

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  • Leverage: “The Homecoming Job”

    Doc, he’s cool. I found him on the Internet.
    Yes, that never goes badly.

    The second episode, airing in its regular slot on Tuesday nights finds the team scattered around the world. That’s not really a shock as they aren’t a team yet. Sophie’s still “acting”, auditioning for a soap commercial with all the subtlety and nuance she can muster, Parker’s stealing art, and Eliot’s off hurting people. Only Nate and Hardison are back at home setting up the offices of Leverage Consulting & Associates, founded by the very handsome and leonine Harlan Leverage, III.

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  • Leverage: “The Nigerian Job”

    Nathan: My job is helping people. I find bad guys.
    Sophie: Well go find some bad guys. Bad guys have money. Black King. White Knight.

    As Nathan Ford sits in an empty lounge waiting for a flight, self-medicating from his stash of mini bottles, he’s approached by Victor Dubenich (Saul Rubinek) with a job. Victor knows quite a bit about Nathan.

    Victor runs development at Bering Aerospace and claims five years of development on a new short haul domestic airliner have been stolen by his rival at Pierson Aviation. He’s hired three thieves and needs “one honest man” to take charge of them. Nathan only agrees when Victor tells him Pierson is insured by his old company. This job isn’t just about money: it’s about revenge.

    What Nathan doesn’t see is that Victor’s a stone-cold bastard.

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