I've seen all the episodes aired so far. You might not like where it is going, but he gets back story and goes on missions. Last week he saved a few hundred people and went undercover as a corporate hot shot. Unfortunately, it was an episode in which he also screwed up a job a little because he was late for work as a result of staying up all night play with the new version of war craft. However, unfortunately I see signs of the rut you describe.
The people who put this together did Independence Day and The Librarian. So don't expect much. However, in future episodes, it seems to me that all the players start getting back story and all get to shine. While it's light weight, it does not seem driven by one character with accessory characters. It also seems to have improved since the first episode. Let's hope they do not lock into this predictable character format. -----Original Message----- From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:scifino...@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of ravenadal Sent: Sunday, February 01, 2009 9:21 AM To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com Subject: [scifinoir2] Leverage and the paradigm of the black technology geek I just saw my first episode of Timothy Hutton's new TNT series "Leverage." "Leverage" is what you would get if you artificially inseminated "Mission:Impossible!" with "Oceans Eleven." I like it and have scheduled my DVR to record future episodes but I feel compelled to mention that the lone black regular character, Alec Hardison (Aldis Hodge), like IM's Barney Collier (Gregg Morris)and Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames)- heck, like Hogan Heroe Sgt. James 'Kinch' Kinchloe (the late great Ivan Dixon), both completes and depletes me. On one hand, all are self-contained, obviously well educated, articulate electronics experts. On the other hand, all are given precious little to do. While the other, primarily white cast mates get to cavort about wearing masks and assuming other identities, the lone black technology geek is tethered to his computers and his listening devices. More often than not their electronic wizardry saves the day but they rarely get any of the glory. In short, our hero gets to witness the pageantry but rarely gets to participate in it. While there is plenty of interaction between most of the white characters, our hero is literally a "black hole" into which camera light goes but nothing - no personality, no back story, no nothing - escapes. And, as such, he is the ultimate "Invisible Man." ~rave! ------------------------------------ Post your SciFiNoir Profile at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scifinoir2/app/peoplemap2/entry/add?fmvn=mapYa hoo! Groups Links
