Leverage "The Last Dam Job" Season Finale Review

The season 4 finale of TNT's Leverage had all the necessary components to succeed. Last week's episode gave us a set-up of a revenge storyline, with a classic Leverage villain reprising his role. "The Last Dam Job" was a treat for longtime Leverage fans, but as far as finales go, it was slightly lacking. In comparison to last week's "The Radio Job", the finale was weaker emotionally and offered less excitement. It did make up for it with far more of the humor and the character interaction that we've grown to love. Click onward to read more of my thoughts about the finale of Leverage's fourth season.

Spoilers for Leverage S04E18 - "The Last Dam Job" Follow...

I definitely had high expectations for this week's episode of Leverage. Last week's penultimate episode revealed the original Leverage villain, Victor Dubenich (Saul Rubinek), as the man who had been causing trouble for Nathan Ford's (Timothy Hutton) team all along. The only Leverage villain I'd rather see make returns more often is James Sterling (Mark Sheppard), but he has been established as a character that isn't entirely evil and corrupt. This makes him one of the more interesting baddies to watch on television, but this also means that he isn't quite evil enough to murder Nate's father. In "The Queen's Gambit Job" we saw him manipulate the Leverage team for the reason of reuniting with his daughter. He's a family man, and he isn't as immoral and greedy as the instantly despicable Dubenich. Rubinek does an excellent job in his portrayal of the enemy. Something about his harsh facial features and bulky frame make him undesirable at a first glance. Even those unfamiliar with Leverage would probably loathe him after the opening scene of the finale.

Dubenich's greatest strength in this episode is that he knows Nate's crew inside and out. After all, it was Victor that brought together the team in the first place, albeit against him. The normal tactics of our modern day Robin Hoods can't apply, as they are easily spotted by Dubenich's henchmen and facial recognition software. The solution is one that is both smart and very satisfying for viewers. The entire crew recruits counterparts from previous adventures to assist in taking down Latimer and Dubenich. This is a real treat for fans of the show, as we get to see Chaos (Wil Wheaton), Quinn (Clayne Crawford), and Archie Leach (Richard Chamberlain) kick some serious ass. Even Maggie (Kari Matchett), Nathan's ex-wife makes a brief appearance.

Wil Wheaton headlines a cast of returning guests that's sure to please long time fans of Leverage.

I'm glad that the show clearly embraces what it means to have Wil frakking Wheaton as a guest star. Leverage is a geeky show to begin with, but Chaos' character brings even more geek culture references to the forefront. I'll never again be able to watch Leverage without picturing Parker as Starbuck and Sophie as The Next Generation's Deanna Troi. It's wonderfully meta to have Wil reference a show that he starred in when he's playing a character that isn't himself. The Batman references in this episode were also entertaining. It's a sad reality that they aren't keeping the "bat cave" for next season. An "Eliot Signal" would have been pretty darn cool. Sidebar: if Timothy Hutton was younger and more physical, he could make a perfect TV Batman. He's got the brooding aspect of the role down pat. Additionally, Richard Chamberlain seems like he's meant to play the role of Alfred alongside him.

Even though "The Last Dam Job" lacked the explosive firepower of last week's episode, it wasn't without some very well done action pieces. Eliot and Parker's escape towards the beginning of the episode was exciting, and felt fresh for a show that has done countless escape sequences. The effort put into this episode is shown by a large amount of location work, specifically at the dam. When the majority of Leverage episodes occur in non-descript office spaces, a change of scenery is greatly appreciated.

Ford, Dubenich and Latimer standoff in the thrilling finale to Leverage's fourth season.The final scenes of this episode were probably my favorite. It seemed very apt that a storyline focused on Nathan Ford's revenge would come to its conclusion in a verbal bout. The triangle between Ford, Latimer and Dubenich was both stressful and exciting. I found myself conflicted at how I felt about the entire situation. I wanted both Latimer and Dubenich to pay for their crimes, but I didn't want Nate to murder them outright. The solution brought forth by the Leverage writers was a little cheesy, but also clever. I felt that the conclusion was satisfactory, and I wasn't really expecting much more.

I'm excited to see what Leverage has in store for next season. It is rumored that the crew will be packing up and making the move to the west coast. It makes sense, as the show has been filmed in Portland, Oregon since the second season. I don't see anything wrong with embracing more real life locations. Last night's episode hinted that the relationship between Sophie and Nate will continue to grow more meaningful. I'm not quite sure how to feel about this. Some shows, like NBC's Chuck transitioned the state of relationships very well. The dynamic between Chuck and Sarah has always been fun to watch, from the initial awkward tension between the two, up until their eventual marriage. Some shows like The Office did a poorer job of the same sort of transition. Jim and Pam have become significantly less interesting to watch now that they are a married couple. I can only hope that Leverage doesn't fall prey to the same mistakes.

What's the next step for Nate and Sophie?I'm sad to have season 4 of Leverage come to an end, as I will no longer have a weekly review to write. However, production on season 5 is slated to begin shortly, so hopefully I will be able to provide you with some sneak peaks. If not, I'll definitely be back with more reviews when Leverage returns this summer. In the mean time, be sure to check out the Leverage community on Reddit.com to participate in Leverage discussion and to connect with other fans of the show. Also, be sure to tune in to next week's episode of The Hex19 Geekcast to see if Leverage brings home any hardware from the 2011 Hex19 Awards.

UX8Z9WQTRWVA

Comments

[Cheap Calendar Printing]

I was able to watch this amazing finale episode. As expected it was full of thrill and action. -Sarah-

[Lyn Belzer-Tonnessen]

Another meta moment: having Richard Chamberlain wave around an Asian sword. Granted it was a Chinese artifact rather than Japanese, but still...