In the last season of Leverage we found Nate being squeezed by Interpol officer Jim Sterling, played by Mark Sheppard (Firefly, Doctor Who), who offered Nate his own freedom in return for the rest of his crew. In the end Nate used himself as leverage to allow his crew to escape Sterling and went to prison for it. Despite sort of running a con on his own crew while doing all this will they come together to bust Nate out of prison? Of course they would, and its here where season three kicks off.

When I covered season two of Leverage I loved the show so much I personally went out and grabbed the first season to get caught up on the show. Sure its got it’s little quirks that ruin some episodes credibility but the show is funny, has a bit of action, and its smart. Season three unfortunately goes off in a direction that seems a bit shaky. All those little things that I disliked about the show, but could forgive, are back but bigger then ever and more annoying then ever. Plus some of the team has their street cred totally ruined by an overzealous writing department.

Okay, how about these little things. Well for starters I always hated how the team used Com’s to keep in contact with one another and even though their in a crowded room or mere feet from their mark they speak to one another, sometimes offering up details of their plan. This happens far to often. For example, while infiltrating a corrupt CEO of a drug company in The Double Blind Job, the team stand scattered around a crowded room talking to one another on their com’s and no one seems to notice. Not even security. In The Underground Job where the team tries to take down a corrupt mine owner Nate walks into the guys office and lays down the con then leaves and is shouting, literally, to the rest of the crew that the con is set. I can understand it’s a mine and there is construction equipment being run and its loud but still.

Editing seemed to be an issue here as well. Around the 17:25 mark in The Boost Job Gina Bellman (Coupling) and guest star Bill Engvall (Blue Collar Comedy Tour) are seen conversing at a used car lot and a man in glasses and a white jacket is seen coming out. As the camera moves from Bellman to Engvall and back the same man is seen coming out of the shop a second time. Later around the twenty minute mark Hardison and Parker (Aldis Hodge and Beth Riesgraf) are tested by lifting a car and then sent back to a chop shop with Josie (Malese Jow), a young girl who wants to learn to lift cars and is employed by the bad guys. As Hardison and Parker reach the chop shop Josie goes missing from the car and later pops up in the garage. Okay, so editing may have been just bad on this one episode but if this was able to slide who knows how many mistakes I missed that weren’t as obvious.

At the beginning of the season Nate and the team find out that their little prison break escapade was being manipulated by a third party. Said third party puts the team under their thumb, threatening death if Nate and the crew refuse to take down the ultimate bad guy, Damien Moreau. The second to last episode in season three we find out some interesting facts about the mysterious tough guy Eliot Spencer. In the grand scheme of things he’s listed as The Hitter in the show and its hinted at that he used to be a solider of fortune type but what’s his real back story? Well in The Big Bang Job we discover just how bad Spencer really is, or more so, how bad the writing is in this season. I don’t want to give anything away but this episode has one of the cheesiest gun fights scenes I’ve ever seen on television. Talk about ruining a characters credibility, or the shows for that matter. Its like a combination of Mel Gibson’s roll and shoot technique from Lethal Weapon and the last shoot out from Equilibrium. John Woo fans might like it though.

There’s just a mix of so many bad idea’s thrown into this season it was extremely hard for me to give my usual shrug and pass on just how bad it was. Why would it have been so bad? Bonus features point to fresh blood in the writing department. That could be the cause because the show was never this over the top, but like always there will be people who just want to be entertained and in the long run the show does hold that fun carefree attitude that made it so endearing to fans from the get go. Weather or not all these other issues will come into play is a question each individual will have to confront. As always final judgment is yours. Enjoy.

BONUS FEATURES:
~Audio Commentary with Cast & Crew
~Deleted Scene: The Scheherazade Job
~Deleted Scene: The Big Bang Job
~Leverage: What Does a Producer Do?
~Gag Reel
~On Set with Colton & Aboud: The New Writers of Leverage
~Inside the Leverage Writers' Room
~Behind the Scenes