Leverage: The Hidden Gem of Nerd Culture

By: Angela Russo (@NerdGirlForever)

If you’re looking for an unexpectedly nerd-worthy show, Leverage is an optimal candidate. The series follows a team of former criminals led by an honest man. Each episode, Leverage takes on a client with a problem the law can’t fix — often a family or individual in a battle against a powerful executive, company, or criminal organization. In order to restore order, the team plans a custom heist or con that brings the perpetrator to justice. When you think of nerd culture shows, Leverage may not be the first to come to mind. However, the series is chock full of nerd-tastic flavor.

“Age of the Geek, Baby” – Alec Hardison

The rise of Nerdom has only recently started gaining momentum. In 2008, Leverage Hacker Alec Hardison was way ahead of the game. He knew nerds would take the world by storm and proudly struck out on the first wave of the Nerdolution. Hardison championed a variety of nerd cultures from technology and gaming, to iconic science fiction classics like Star Trek, Star Wars, and Ghostbusters. Over the course of the series, the hacker dropped numerous quotes, frequently utilized Doctor Who character names as aliases on con missions, and referenced The Wrath of Khan as a code for danger. Not every member of the Leverage team is a classic nerd, but at heart, they’re all nerds of a feather because of their shared passion for putting their underworld skill sets to work for the common good.

Nerdoms of Team Leverage:

Nathan Ford (Timothy Hutton)
Team Leader: Mastermind and champion of justice. Ford is a jack-of-all-trades, but his true passion is to put away the bad guy whatever the challenge.

Sophie Devereaux (Gina Bellman)
Lead Grifter: This con-woman is known for her passion for all things theatrical. Between missions, she frequently takes on stage roles and “collects” a variety of priceless antiquities.

Alec Hardison (Aldis Hodge)
Resident Hacker and tech specialist: Do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life. Hardison’s role on the team truly embraces this adage. The lovable nerd finds a way to integrate all his sci-fi/gamer passion into every aspect of the job.

Eliot Spencer (Christian Kane)
Combat specialist and former hitman: When he’s not protecting the team, smooth-talking cowboy Spencer enjoys playing the guitar and exercising his skills as a master chef.

Parker (Beth Riesgraf)
High-class thief extraordinaire and talented gymnast: In and out of missions, Parker is a classic adrenaline junkie. There’s not a rooftop on earth that she wouldn’t love to base-jump.

Together this diverse group becomes a special family that supports each other in their personal and professional lives. Leverage is funny, quirky, action-packed, and heartwarming. If you love The Librarians, you may find Leverage bears some striking similarities. This comes as no surprise considering Dean Devlin was one of the executive producers and a top director for both TNT series. Fans of The Librarians will also recognize Riesgraf, Kane, and numerous other familiar faces on Leverage.

Nerd Culture Guest Stars

Leverage further tips its hat to nerd culture through its diverse cast of prominent guest stars.

Mark Sheppard
This actor has been seen on a plethora of fan-favorites like Chuck, Supernatural, Firefly, Doctor Who, Battlestar Galactica, Star Trek Voyager, and so many more. On Leverage, Sheppard plays the recurring role of James Sterling, a nemesis to the Leverage team. He technically works for the good guys at Interpol, but since Leverage works outside the law and has members with less than honorable pasts, he makes it his goal to take them down.

Wil Wheaton
Star Trek The Next Generation fans will recognize Wil Wheaton from his role as Wesley Crusher. On Leverage, he appears multiple times as Colin Mason, a rival hacker known as Chaos. The CIA has nicknamed him “the Kobayashi Maru” of hackers.

Brent Spiner
Also from Star Trek TNG, Spiner guest starred on Leverage as an unethical CEO. Seeing him outside his role as the mild-mannered intellectual android Data is definitely an unusual change of pace. Amusingly enough, Jonathan Frakes, (Commander William T. Riker) was the director of that particular episode.

Jeri Ryan
Known for her role as Seven of Nine on Star Trek Voyager, Jeri Ryan plays an extended guest-starring role as Tara, a con artist who temporarily replaces Sophie Devereaux as the lead grifter.

Adam Baldwin
The Chuck and Firefly alum only appears in two episodes, but his presence simply cannot be overlooked. Baldwin plays a colonel who is friends with Leverage’s in-house combat specialist Eliot Spencer. The two are seen embarking on covert missions that Colonel John Casey would be envious of.

“The world doesn’t work this way…So change the world.” – Nathan Ford

Leverage is an excellent show that has a natural progression for all the characters, and stays firmly to its premise from pilot to finale. The series has a lot of heart, balancing out the inequality of the world by helping the little guy beat Goliath through Robin Hood-style methods. The team itself is quite an unusual mix of talents and personalities, and the writers do a wonderful job of depicting people who learn to embrace every oddity with a passion that truly deserves the title of Nerd. Although it may not be your standard everyday example of nerd culture, it certainly played a role in furthering the rise of Nerdom. If you haven’t had a chance to check it out, it’s definitely worth the watch.

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via The Nerd Machine

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