Under Nathan Ford's leadership, the Leverage crew helped numerous clients fight back against the rich and powerful. While this brought its team members personal growth and moral satisfaction, it did little to heal Nate's ongoing pain over the loss of his son. Though he prided himself on being a functioning alcoholic, Nate's drinking at times created problems in the middle of cases (most notably in "The 12 Step Job"), jeopardizing the con and worse. With Nate's personal issues putting the team's safety at risk, the others decide that something needed to be done.
Instead of rehab, however, the team offers Ford a chance to revenge himself against the man who denied his son the treatment that could have saved his life. That man was Ian Blackpoole, the president and C. E. O. Of Ford's former employer, I. Y. S. Taking advantage of Blackpoole's interest in art, the team sets up a con involving two bronze models of Michaelangelo's famous sculpture David made by the artist himself. The plan is to sell him a copy of one of the models (stolen from the Vatican a decade before) to compliment the one Blackpoole owns and plans on displaying at a new wing he financed at a local art museum. When Blackpool insists on having his own art expert, Maggie Collins - Nate's ex-wife - authenticate the model, the team is forced to improvise a theft of the one Blackpoole owns - and this soon proves not to be the only complication facing the team.
The decision to wrap up Leverage's first season with a multi-part climactic story established a pattern that would become a hallmark for the show. This one was arguably the best of the five, in part because the elements within it are so personal for Ford. Nor does it hurt that fan-favorite nemesis Jim Stirling makes an appearance, or that there's an additional twist late in the episode that increases the level of personal drama involved. It also helps, though, that the climactic story did not involve the elaborate season-long set-up that the show would resort to in later seasons, which had the effect of burdening many of the episodes with more exposition than the best episodes deserved. Here it's built upon more subtle developments, and with a level of emotional entanglement that is far more effective than the more overt threats resorted to later in the series' run.
Instead of rehab, however, the team offers Ford a chance to revenge himself against the man who denied his son the treatment that could have saved his life. That man was Ian Blackpoole, the president and C. E. O. Of Ford's former employer, I. Y. S. Taking advantage of Blackpoole's interest in art, the team sets up a con involving two bronze models of Michaelangelo's famous sculpture David made by the artist himself. The plan is to sell him a copy of one of the models (stolen from the Vatican a decade before) to compliment the one Blackpoole owns and plans on displaying at a new wing he financed at a local art museum. When Blackpool insists on having his own art expert, Maggie Collins - Nate's ex-wife - authenticate the model, the team is forced to improvise a theft of the one Blackpoole owns - and this soon proves not to be the only complication facing the team.
The decision to wrap up Leverage's first season with a multi-part climactic story established a pattern that would become a hallmark for the show. This one was arguably the best of the five, in part because the elements within it are so personal for Ford. Nor does it hurt that fan-favorite nemesis Jim Stirling makes an appearance, or that there's an additional twist late in the episode that increases the level of personal drama involved. It also helps, though, that the climactic story did not involve the elaborate season-long set-up that the show would resort to in later seasons, which had the effect of burdening many of the episodes with more exposition than the best episodes deserved. Here it's built upon more subtle developments, and with a level of emotional entanglement that is far more effective than the more overt threats resorted to later in the series' run.
