The word 'delightful' can't be used to describe a lot of the shows today, but it works here. Leverage is just so much fun. Leverage is about a team of "thieves" who come to the aid of those being taken advantage of who are not in a position to help themselves. Basically, they steal back what has been stolen, in a bit of a Robin Hood type role.
What they did absolutely wonderfully is character. Each character is wonderfully developed, and all the actors do such a great job bringing the characters to life. They are well enough developed that when things happen you know exactly how each character is going to react and then they do and its hilarious. Their interactions are very well crafted, and a blast to watch.
The issue with Leverage is the occasionally unbelievable plots. Often things happen that do not seem realistic even within the realm of the wacky show. Or the stories work out in ways that keep you from suspending your disbelief.
The thing is, even when the plots seem unbelievable, the characters are so delightful and fun to watch that it almost doesn't matter. People enjoyed the show just based on the characters. However, I think the show would have been more successful if the plots had been dealt with more gracefully.
Lesson to be learned? People will stick around for well-crafted characters. Putting that character in a believable story is the magic formula.
Write on!
Sarah Allen
I LOVE Leverage! Hubby and I are watching White Collar now to fill the Leverage hole, which we also love.
ReplyDeleteYes, I was so sad when Leverage was over :) So good! And I love white collar too! Mozzie is my favorite :)
DeleteYour last statement is very true.
ReplyDeleteHugs and chocolate!
So glad you agree :) Thanks for stopping by!
DeleteSpot-on observation.
ReplyDeleteAnd that show was awesome!!
Thank you so much! And yes, such a good show. I definitely miss it.
DeleteI'll have to check that out. I loved Psych which also has some dumb circumstances offset by wonderfully funny characters. I'm all about Psych, so if you haven't watched it, go for it, and hang in there until season 2 when it gets good.
ReplyDeleteOh I'm a huge Psych fan :) I actually really like Lassie, which my sisters think is weird :)
DeleteI felt the same way about Leverage. I love love love the characters, and some of the plots are okay, but some of them are just so far fetched. Or completely ignore the hundreds of ways that any step in their heist could fail.
ReplyDeleteThere is a theory about action movies that I think applies here. It states that there are thousands of different parallel worlds, and the movie you watch is the one example where the action hero dodged all the bullets and drove a car into a helicopter without dying. Every other world, he totally died when that first bullet hit him, just like would happen in real life.
So when I'm watching a really shaky plot, I just think about that. Failing that, I stare at Christian Kane because yum!
Oh we are so on the same page with Christian Kane!! His hair is so luscious, and his voice is so seductive.
DeleteI think that's a great way to think about it! I like that a lot :) I'll keep that in mind for action movies from now on :)
Likeable actors also help, maybe even cover for poor writing. shame we don't have that advantage in books.
ReplyDeletemood
Moody Writing
It's true. I often find myself watching an actors face and thinking, how in the world could I do something like that in writing?
DeleteI was also a Leverage fan but lost track of it after a couple of years. The characters were great but the plots bored me, they were so contrived. White Collar is filling the gap, but I've also become addicted to House of Cards.
ReplyDeleteYes, there have been shows like that for me. I should think about getting back in to White Collar.
DeleteYes, great characters can haunt a person. I've even dreamed I was in a show once or twice fighting vampires back to back with Buffy. Very scarey stuff.
ReplyDeleteAnna from Shout with Emaginette
Oh wow! Yeah, that would be scary! But its true, great characters like Buffy become part of who we are, both individually and collectively.
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