Title: The Mastermind
Played by: Timothy Hutton
Traits: Brilliant, damaged, arrogant, a natural leader, stubborn, attractive, a former/current alcoholic, thinks quickly on his feet, cares deeply about his team, loyal, self-sacrificial, honest, and a good man.
Background: Nathan Ford was one of the best insurance fraud investigators in the world until his son got sick. When he asked his company for help with his son's condition, they refused him and he had to watch as Sam died. This led to him losing his job, his wife, and eventually into self-destructive alcoholism. When Nate was offered a chance to get back at his former company by stealing from someone they invested in, he was willing to mastermind a group of thieves in order to get it done. Just for one job. This backfired when their client betrayed them, and they decided to band together one more time to get revenge. Except it worked out so well that the team wanted to try it out for real, and now they basically steal from the rich (powerful corporations or people) to give to the poor (victims of powerful people). Nate struggles with alcoholism, his moral ambiguity since joining the team, the memories of his son and his past, and his complicated relationship with Sophie Devereaux.
Comments from the Podcasters!
Chelsea: Nate is an interesting character, and my feelings on him really shift a lot. I always love him, but there are times I want to smack him right in the face. Especially when he's drinking. I think Hutton plays him brilliantly because he's not afraid to let Nate be a jerk, and yet still keeps him just likable and vulnerable enough that you can't help feeling for him. I love that Nate is so flawed and yet such a great leader. His developing relationship with the team and his turning to 'the dark side' is always great to watch, and I can't wait to see what comes out of next season for him. The one thing I wished he'd do - which is kiss Sophie - he already did, so yay for Nate.
Jachelle: I was super wary of Nate at first. Characters who suffer from alcoholism walk a fine line between tragic and cliche, but the Leverage writers, along with Tim Hutton, finally swayed me. He's just so wonderfully flawed, that I couldn't help but be taken in by him. He has a brilliant mind, but an ego the size of Sophie's expansive shoe collection. He's loyal and has a good heart, but he can take things too far and make ridiculously risky moves. I love watching the relationships that have developed between Nate and the other team members, and after his descent through the last half of the second season, I'm really looking forward to seeing what's next for him. Honestly, I'd like to see him give himself the push he needs to straighten himself out again. It's wonderful that the team is there to support him and back him up, but I think it would do him some good to learn to take care of himself by himself for a change.
Sam: I love watching Nate's transformation from white knight to black king because he's spends most of his time between the two. Nate is a character that lives in the middle of right and wrong, between honest man and crook, and I think that's what makes him so interesting as a character. Nate compromises everything in order to follow his own moral code and it's an awesome process to watch. Timothy Hutton does a fantastic job at portraying Nate dealing with his role as the unexpected leader of a group of thieves, his alcohol addiction and grief over the loss of his son. The best part though is watching Nate enjoy himself being "bad" to be "good". Hutton captures a certain sadistic joy in putting the bad guys in their place that, as a viewer, I can't get enough of.
Name: Eliot Spencer
Title: The Hitter
Played by: Christian Kane
Traits: Grumpy, gruff, powerful, street smart, master chef, hates guns, secretly kind and sweet, highly protective of the team, reliable, strong, hates drugs and alcohol, loves animals, and something of a womanizer. Well come on, look at him!
Background: Like most of the criminals on the team, little is known about Eliot's past and he likes it that way. He's a very private person. He is from the South and did at some time have a serious relationship with Aimee from "The Two-Horse Job." He worked on a ranch and trained horses. He has traveled the world extensively, but many of them are for secret reasons that he'd have to kill you for if you ever knew. Eliot is a very honorable man and always comes through for the team when they need him.
Comments from the Podcasters!
Chelsea: Eliot is one of the reasons I started watching the show, or rather Christian Kane was. I was a fan of his from Angel. I love how much he's developed since the beginning, and how we all know that underneath his strength and stern attitude, he's just something of a mushball. I wish they'd explain his thing about guns someday. That seems very personal. I love how protective he is of the crew and how much he clearly cares about them, even if he doesn't express it directly. His relationship with Hardison never fails to make me laugh out loud, and I pretty much love every scene they ever share. Even ones they don't share but their awkward bromance is mentioned. Eliot's awesome.
Jachelle: To continue an argument that Chelsea and I seem to have almost daily, ELIOT IS NOT A MUSHBALL! But he is definitely my favorite character. Like Chelsea, I was sort of pre-programed to love him because I was such a big Angel fan, but I think I really fell in love with Eliot as a character sometime around The Wedding Job. In the previous episodes we got to see Eliot as the hitter, but this was the episode when they really started to hint at more of his character. There's that great line when Nate finds him in the kitchen and Eliot says "You think the only thing I know how to do is bust heads?" And even later on there's that brief scene with Hardison where he admits to having thought about marriage once. From then on I was hooked like you wouldn't believe. He could have ended up being such a stereotypical "Muscle" character, but the creators really allowed him to become this amazing character that seems very real despite all of his extraordinary talents.
Sam: Coming soon!
Name: Parker
Title: The Thief
Played by: Beth Riesgraf
Traits: Borderline crazy, laughs at inappropriate moments, surprisingly good at grifting when there's no forks around, obsessed with money, loves jumping off of roofs, likes challenging jobs, seemingly apathetic, likes children, wants to be normal but doesn't know how, dislikes being locked up, and has a tragic past.
Background: Parker's background is given in little pieces and flashes. For instance, we know that she blew up a house where she lived because her abusive father (or foster father) challenged her to be a better thief. She was in the foster care system and did not seem to have a good time with it, so she's sympathetic toward other foster children. At a young age her brother tragically died, and she blamed herself for it. Dean Devlin said that Parker might have a touch of Asperger's Syndrome. She has been steadily developing over the course of the show into showing true emotion and caring toward her partners. She's still odd and likes money more than people, but she wouldn't be Parker if she didn't. There may be a potential romance in the works with Hardison, but it's not often brought up.
Comments from the Podcasters!
Chelsea: Parker! Who doesn't love Parker? She's most often the comedy relief along with Hardison, because she's such an oddball. There's something very sweet and childlike in the way that Beth plays Parker. She's very open and honest in her weirdness, and it seems like very little bothers her. In "The Future Job" when the fake psychic brought up her dead brother, however, we saw another side of her and it was heartbreaking. Parker can illicit real emotion and protectiveness in the fans, just like in the team. I hope they don't try to make her too normal, because that'd take the best parts of Parker away, but it is nice to see how in little ways she'd opened up to her friends and learned how to survive better in the real world.
Jachelle: I love getting to see the world through Parker's eyes once a week. She's the character you can count on to never do what you'd expect. Eliot said it best in the pilot. She's "twenty pounds of crazy, in a five pound bag." While I love random, crazy Parker, what draws me in the most about her, is that despite being a thief, she is so honest. She has a way of speaking/acting that is so sincere that you can't help but adore her.
Sam: Coming soon!
Name: Alec Hardison
Title: The Hacker
Played by: Aldis Hodge
Traits: Quick talking, confident, young, dramatic, loves orange soda, a computer genius, cool as a cucumber when working, geeky, sensitive, often gets teased by the others, and loves his van. RIP Lucille.
Background: For someone who talks so much, Hardison does not give away too much of his past. His interests yes, his background no. He was raised by a foster parent that he calls Nana which indicates his parents might not have been in the picture. Hardison had some legit jobs as a computer technician, but it just didn't pay as well as what he could do as an illegal hacker. Hardison is the support unit of the group since he most often than not is behind the scenes making sure they have identities, information, and all the gadgets they could need. He often saves their butts just sitting alone at a computer, so don't question the age of the geek, baby.
Comments from the Podcasters!
Chelsea: Hardison's the sweetheart of the group. The little brother. He gets picked on and teased by everyone, but I think he kind of loves it because it means they care and are giving him attention. I think like Parker he's the one that needs the most protection, emotionally at least, because he cares and he's sensitive. I'd like Hardison to get his own special episode on the show, since almost everyone has suggested a job so far but him. I loooooove his bromance with Eliot, and I'm hoping that his crush on Parker will develop into something.
Jachelle: I love Hardison. Really, how can you not? He is completely charming in his own off-kilter geeky sort of way. He is every guy I ever had a crush on in high school. And Chelsea is right, he really is the little brother of the team. He's playful and eager, and he throws himself into everything that he does. 110% all the way. And despite all his bravado, he does have his moments of self-doubt, and I love watching him overcome those. And Aldis is such a fantastic actor, that one of my favorite things to do when I re-watch episode (which is constantly) is to keep an eye on Hardison when he's in the background of a scene, because he's always doing something. And yes, his friendship with Eliot is EPIC, and is one of my favorite relationships on the show.
Sam: Coming soon!
Name: Sophie Devereaux
Title: The Grifter
Played by: Gina Bellman
Traits: Elegant, facetious, sophisticated, challenging, deluded (about acting), multi-faced, can pull off various accents with ease, calm and cool, believable, maternal, smooth, collects shoes, and not always sincere.
Background: Sophie may be the most private of the group, and she rarely gives away a single thing about her past. She is all about the secrets. She has dozens of aliases and Sophie is one of them, so her real name is still unknown. All of her cons are a part of her, and she has a remarkable memory for each one and the little details of their lives. She was primarily an art thief and Nate Ford started tracking her ten years before the show began. They had a cat and mouse relationship from the beginning. Sophie is the mother of the group and they are all very attached to her. She may be the most trusted person, which is hilarious since she's probably the least trustworthy of them all!
Comments from the Podcasters!
Chelsea: Sophie's my girl. She's my favorite. I always loved Gina, but on Coupling she was only the comic relief. It was amazing to see her in a dramatic role, but she still touches her comedy roots as Sophie. I'll admit her relationship with Nate was one of the things that hooked me from the beginning, and I'm an unapologetic shipper. I enjoy how Sophie is such a mystery and a contradiction in many ways. She's the one most open about her love for everyone. I kind of hope they do not delve too much into her past because I like there being a lot of question marks. I am so so so so glad she is back now, but I wonder if she got out of her break what she really wanted.
Jachelle: It was a shift for me to watch Gina in a dramatic role after Crazy Jane on Coupling, but by the end of the pilot, I had very nearly forgotten that she had ever played another character at all. She just embodies Sophie. Sophie is this sophisticated, enigmatic, powerhouse of a woman, but she pulls it off with a quiet sort of grace and confidence. She's never in your face about it, and I really love that. To borrow a cliche, I honestly believe that Sophie is the heart of the team. Yes, Nate is the one that everyone gravitates toward, but it is Sophie's connections to everyone that keep them working together so well. You could really see the hole that was left when she was gone. I firmly believe that if she hadn't come back, the team would have eventually fallen apart. So, yes, I'm very glad that she's back!
Sam: Coming Soon!
