Season 5
Leverage is an American television drama series created by John Rogers and Chris Downey and produced by Electric Television which follows a Los Angeles-based team of thieves, computer experts and cons, headed up by former insurance investigator Nate Ford, who use their skills to right corporate and governmental injustices visited on the little person.
The series aired in the USA on TNT from 7 December, 2008 to 25 December, 2012. There are 77 hour-long episodes in five seasons.
Leverage premiered in South Africa on DStv's Sony Entertainment Television (SONY) channel on Thursday 26 March 2009, at 20h30. It later aired on SABC1. See "Seasons" below for seasonal broadcast dates and times.
Season 5 premiered on SONY on Tuesday 21 May 2013, at 20h00. New episodes broadcast weekly. There are 15 episodes in the fifth and final season.
Season 5
For five years, television's coolest gang of con artists have used their unique skills to help level the playing field for people whose lives have been destroyed by the rich and powerful. Now, things are going to get personal as the series returns with the final 15 episodes.
Timothy Hutton stars in this clever and compelling drama, along with Gina Bellman, Christian Kane, Beth Riesgraf and Aldis Hodge.
Leverage focuses on a team of five top-notch specialists out to give everyday people a helping hand against the machinations of corrupt bigwigs.
Leading the crew is mastermind Nate Ford (Hutton), a former insurance investigator whose son died when his employer refused to pay for life-saving surgery.
Sophie Devereaux (Bellman) is the team's resident grifter, a brilliant con artist who shares a long and complicated history with Nate - both professionally and romantically.
Eliot Spencer (Kane) provides muscle as the team's bone-crunching retrieval specialist with a passion for gourmet cooking and a soft spot for the underdog.
Gadget and technology wizard Alec Hardison (Hodge) provides the team with everything from communications and video surveillance to target dossiers and virtual environments, rarely getting the credit he feels he deserves.
And Parker (Riesgraf) is the team's thief, a slightly off-centre charmer who gets giddy at the thought of rappelling off a building or cracking an unbreakable safe.
With the rallying cry, "Let's go steal a...," Nate and his team set out each week to tackle corrupt executives, politicians and other big shots by taking something they hold dear.
The team has since "stolen" everything from an airplane to a baseball stadium. They've even stolen a country. And this season, they're going to steal something they've never gone after before: a man's dreams.
The final season will also pit the Leverage crew against the ruthless manager of a discount store whose tactics threaten not only her employees but also the town itself. They'll target a corrupt winery owner whose workers are collapsing.
And in a special episode, the team will try to steal Christmas in order to prevent an unscrupulous toy company CEO from unleashing a dangerous product into the market.
In addition, the team will once again face their nemesis, insurance-investigator-turned-InterPOL-agent Jim Sterling (guest star Mark Sheppard).
With each and every case they handle, Nate, Sophie, Elliott, Hardison and Parker prove themselves to be more than just a league of extraordinary con artists. They are a family.
But in Leverage's gripping series finale, the bond that holds this family together could be torn apart permanently with an extremely risky case involving the death of Nate's son.
Seasons
Season 1 (13 episodes)
Channel: SONY | Premiere: 26 Mar 2009 | Finale: 18 Jun 2009 | Thursdays, 20h30
Channel: SABC1 | Premiere: 7 Apr 2011 | Finale: 13 June 2011 | Thursdays, 22h00
Season 2 (15 episodes)
Channel: SONY | Premiere: 18 Mar 2010 | Finale: 24 Jun 2010 | Thursdays, 20h30
Channel: SABC1 | Premiere: 13 Aug 2012 | Finale: 19 Nov 2012 | Mondays, 22h00
Season 3 (16 episodes)
Channel: SONY | Premiere: 3 Mar 2011 | Finale: 16 Jun 2011 | Thursdays, 20h30
Season 4 (18 episodes)
Channel: SONY | Premiere: 17 May 2012 | Finale: 13 Sep 2012 | Thursdays, 21h25
Season 5 (15 episodes)
Channel: SONY | Premiere: 21 May 2013 | Finale: 27 Aug 2013 | Tuesdays, 20h00