Action Archives - Page 2 of 2

Leverage – Modern Robin Hoods

This show arrived at the perfect time. I was looking for something new to watch in December 2008, and most shows were on hiatus. While other networks filled the month with repeats and Christmas specials, TNT made the bold move of debuting Leverage.

The pilot, “The Nigerian Job,” sets up the premise for the show (spoilers for the episode follow). Nathan Ford, a former insurance investigator whose life is in shambles, is hired to oversee three crooks while they retrieve stolen property. Alec Hardison (a gifted hacker), Eliot Spencer (an expert fighter), and Parker (a master thief) have one MO – they always work alone. But since the money’s good, they agree to do this one job. Nate is able to combine their skills and keep them on track to complete the mission.

When the man who hired them double-crosses them, they decide to work together and take him down. To do so, they’ll need a fresh face, so Nate brings in Sophie Devereaux, a grifter he pursued as an investigator for years. They manage to take down the bad guy, and even though the payoff is huge none of them want to retire. They work exceptionally well as a team, so the four crooks ask Nate to lead them.

Sophie: You pick the jobs.
Nate: My job is helping people. I help find bad guys.
Sophie: Then go find some bad guys. Bad guys have money.

The rest is history.

What really makes this show work is the chemistry between the team members. Despite all their differences, they work so well together that I was rooting for them to stay together from the start. The show doesn’t sugarcoat the rough patches as the criminals begin to focus on helping people instead the money and Nate grows more comfortable with coloring outside the lines. All of them are dysfunctional in some way (except possibly for Hardison, who seems to be the most normal of the bunch) and they all have secrets. They bicker and fight but always come through for each other.

The only main cast member I was familiar with was Christian Kane (Eliot), who played Lindsey McDonald on Angel (I’d watched the first season that fall), but I don’t remember that as being something that pushed me toward watching Leverage. I read something online about it, thought it sounded intriguing, and watched the pilot. From then on, I was hooked. I even bought the first season through Amazon Video on Demand so I could share the show with my family.

If you like con artist/caper movies like Ocean’s 11 and The Italian Job, you’ll love this show. While it’s a little more altruistic than, say, Burn Notice, the sentimental moments don’t overpower the smart dialogue and fun cons.

What is one of your favorite cons from this show (or another caper show/movie)?

Share this post:

Burn Notice – Explosive Summer Fun

I think somehow it’s hard-wired into the American brain that summer=explosions. (Personally, I blame Fourth of July fireworks.) Most of the summer movie blockbusters have explosive elements, and that reverberates on the small screen as well.

Summer is also for relaxing and escape, and summer TV shows reflect this. While there’s still some drama and serious moments, summer shows tend to lean more heavily on comedy and action than their regular season counterparts.

Burn Notice fits right in. With an average of more than one explosion per episode, car chases, and flying bullets, the show seems made for the season.

Jeffrey Donovan stars as Michael Westen, a burned spy who makes a living as a Robin-Hood-for-hire in Miami. Along with a brain full of MacGyver-like spy tricks (who knew basic supplies from a hardware store could be so useful – and deadly?), a close posse of friends and family, and incredible luck surviving near-fatal attacks, Michael hits bad guys hard while trying to figure out why he was burned.

In the season five premiere (spoilers ahead), Michael is working as a consultant for the CIA and tracking down everyone in the organization that burned him. As the episode starts, he’s down to the last two. Joining him on this quest is his new partner Max and his old boss, Reese (played by Dylan Baker, who I know best as William Cross on sadly-canceled Kings).

To catch the head of the organization, Michael brings in Sam and Fiona. It was fun to see the trio in action again, but as all three of them felt the constraints of working for the CIA, it puts the whole transition of burned spy to regular spy into doubt.

Even Jesse quit the CIA to get into private security. His brief appearance on this episode left his role this season rather vague. I’m guessing he may help out when needed, like Barry has in the past. I’ll be glad if his role is kept small, as I much preferred the original trio.

But most of where the show is going this season wasn’t revealed in the first episode, which felt like it belonged with the rest of season four despite the 6-month time gap. With most of the major plot threads of the show wrapped up, I’m excited to see where Burn Notice will go next.

Share this post:

Covert Affairs – Unrealistic But Fun

Few people would claim that the TV show Covert Affairs gives an accurate picture of CIA. Rookie operative Annie Walker sees far too much action for that to be possible. Yet, much like summer blockbusters tend to take viewers on adventures of suspended belief, Covert Affairs turns on the charm and offers a fun ride if you promise not to nitpick.

The fact that season two begins mere days after the season one finale does establish the events in a more reasonable time frame (spacing 11 action-packed episodes over a full year instead of a few months makes things more plausible). But enough of analyzing the realism. Is Covert Affairs worth watching? Yes!

This is a USA Network show, so as you’d expect, it’s the characters that make this show worth watching. Piper Perabo does a decent job as Annie, but it’s Christopher Gorham’s role as Auggie Anderson that really makes the show shine. Auggie used to be a field operative, but after an explosion left him blind he was moved to an analyst position (complete with a bunch of cool toys). He helps Annie through her first rough weeks at the Agency and becomes a close friend and confidant. It’s Auggie she turns to when she decides to ignore protocol to protect an asset or catch a bad guy, and he jumps at the opportunity to do a little field work.

Their boss and their boss’s boss are a married couple, which makes things interesting. Sometimes their disagreements and mistrust just seem to fill time on an episode, but Peter Gallagher and Kari Matchett are such excellent actors you don’t really mind.

Caution – spoilers for season 2, episode 1 beyond this point!

The promos for the season premiere did a good job of not letting you know the outcome of the season one cliffhanger. I was a little surprised they decided to keep Ben Mercer alive. I was kind of hoping he would be gone this season. Both Jai and Auggie make far superior romantic interests for Annie (though I foresee – and prefer – Auggie staying just a friend for the next season or two). I don’t understand why Ben wasn’t able to say goodbye to Annie – they were together for all those days, and it’s not like the CIA couldn’t orchestrate a simple secret meeting. But at least it seems like Ben won’t be getting much screen time for the next while.

One of my biggest disappointments about the premiere was how little we saw of Jai (Sendhil Ramamurthy). Though since he’s now in the credits (and Ben isn’t – yay!), I imagine that will change in future episodes.

The new credits are a nice mix of old and new. I love the theme song (though it seems spliced a bit awkwardly this time). I’m glad the rest of the main cast gets to show their faces. I hope Anne Dudek (who plays Annie’s sister Danielle) has more to do this season, and rumors about her growing suspicions indicate that will happen.

Share this post:

Chuck – Versus the Cliffhanger

Spoiler alert: If you have not yet seen the season 4 finale of Chuck, you’ll want to do that before you read any further.

The penultimate episode of this season would have been far more traumatic if they hadn’t played a promo that showed Sarah alive and, not exactly well, but hanging on. Even worse of a spoiler was the clip of the wedding. The device seemed to kill instantly when it was used previously, but it could have simply knocked them unconscious (they were referred to as dead, though).

The quest for the antidote kept the finale moving at a brisk pace, and Chuck doing everything he could to save Sarah made this a nice counterpart to episode 9 of this season (Chuck Versus Phase Three), when Sarah did everything she could to save Chuck. I loved seeing Volkoff return to his former self, and I hope he will show up in at least a few episodes of season 5.

And Chuck lost the Intersect again, which I think was a good move by the writers. Chuck is a great spy without it. He’s picked up some combat and undercover skills, he’s great at planning missions, and his interpersonal skills have saved the day countless times. He can easily lead the group.

Morgan having the Intersect should make season 5 a hoot. Many comments on Hulu seemed to hate the idea, but I think it allows the show to explore new paths while also paying homage to season 1. I’m curious how Alex will take the news, and how the team will change with Morgan going from sidekick to both muscle and research.

Season 5 will be the final one for Chuck, and it feels a bit sad but right (though I’m hopeful they’ll extend the 13-episode order to a full season). The show has had a great run, but the original core elements are coming full circle. Chuck and Sarah are happily married, and I don’t want their relationship to mess up just to create conflict for future episodes. The fish-out-of-water aspect of an ordinary guy being thrust in the spy life doesn’t exist for Chuck anymore – he is comfortable with who he is and what he does (but that aspect will get a fun twist with Morgan next season).

The hints at next season’s mission make it seem like one that will tie the entire show together – fitting for a final season. And the mention of Steve Bartowski makes me think I may be right about him still being alive.

Share this post:

Nikita – Intense Intrigue

I think it was a Hulu ad that first alerted me to the show Nikita. I wasn’t familiar with any of the previous renderings of the characters and storyline – in fact, I was several episodes in before I realized this wasn’t a brand new show.

The premise of the show intrigued me. A rogue agent taking down a corrupt agency and an undercover agent helping her from the inside. It alone was enough to get me to watch the first episode. I didn’t recognize the actors (the only one I might have noticed in the ad was Shane West), and I generally don’t watch CW shows.

The pilot episode blew me away. Great acting, great plot. Intense action sequences and deep back stories. Intrigue, manipulation, and hidden agendas. And more than that, it filled the missing place I’d had since another show I loved was canceled. That show? Dollhouse.

Before all the Whedonites jump down my throat, let me say that it’s not exactly like Dollhouse or even as good as Dollhouse. There is one Whedon-verse connection on the show, however – Amanda (who channels Adelle from the early episodes of Dollhouse) is played by Melinda Clarke, who also plays Nandi from the Firefly episode Heart of Gold.

Every episode of Nikita delves deeper into the characters. That plus the twisting plotlines makes me feel like I’ve watched the show for two seasons when I’m only 16 episodes (of 22) into the first season.

My favorite character on the show is Michael, played by Shane West. I’d only seen him before on A Walk to Remember, which I’d enjoyed, but not to the point where I looked for him in other movies and shows. After Nikita, however, he moved to my top 20 (if not my top 10) favorite actors. He plays the brooding, conflicted hero so well. And it’s surprising, because he doesn’t seem to have too much that typical “brooding look” many actors do (hint – they’re often cast as vampires). He has to show that brooding in a more subtle and difficult way through his acting.

Maggie Q as Nikita seems a bit cold, but she’s a trained assassin on a mission, so anything else would seem out of place. And that makes her emotional moments all the more poignant.

I only knew Lyndsy Fonseca (who plays Alex, the young undercover agent-in-training) as the daughter in the opening sequences of How I Met Your Mother. Her acting seems slightly overplayed (more dramatic), which works well against Maggie’s underplayed acting.

To round out the cast, you have the power-hungry and manipulative Percy, the poised but lethal Amanda, and the spineless computer genius Birkhoff, plus other recruits, agents, guards, and allies.

To up the show’s pull, episodes end with a final cliffhanging scene that makes you beg for the next episode. This past week’s episode’s was a doozy! And only after watching it did I realize that the show is off the air for 5 whole weeks. I’m going to go crazy! (And yes, that’s why I’m blogging about it now, to keep myself sane as I anticipate the wait!)

Share this post:

Chuck – Is He or Isn’t He?

Warning: This post may contain spoilers, up to Chuck season 4, episode 10.

Okay, I don’t know about you all, but I’m not sure that Chuck’s dad is dead. I mean, they killed him in the same building that was used to bring Daniel Shaw back after being shot. And it makes sense that the Ring would want him alive, with all of his knowledge and abilities. The only reason he was killed was to disable Chuck.

I’m curious where the show’s going to go now that Chuck has the intersect working again. Was it just me, or was the line, “I know kung fu . . . again!” extremely cheesy? I think they could have gone a few more episodes before bringing Chuck’s abilities back. I’m interested in knowing what Chuck would have been doing for the CIA without the intersect, as Beckman mentioned.

Share this post: