The Structure of Leverage

By: Marlee Hargis 

We call a show procedural when a problem is introduced, investigated, and solved all within one episode. Some could call them “monster of the week” or “crime of the week”/ “case of the week” shows. These include shows like House, Grey’s Anatomy, 9-1-1, CSI, SVU; any show that contains the whole adventure in one episode (not counting those dramatic two-part season finales of course). I love these shows; they are great for a relaxing evening where you don’t want to put too much thought into tracking every little easter egg and you can just enjoy it. One of my favorites is Leverage. This is not your typical procedural show. A group of criminals led by an ex-insurance investigator go around taking clients that have been wronged by large corporations and gives them the justice that the legal system has not been able to. Among the crew there is a hitter, a grifter, a thief, a hacker, and a mastermind. Every week they take on a new client and enact a personalized heist to either get back what was stolen, bring the company to the ground, or uncover unjust practices.

According to Mary Klages in "Literary Criticism", Structuralism works to get at the main structure of a story and find the basic elements of how it is made. To get started, we look at some of the binaries involved:

 

Good/bad- The crew are technically 'bad guys' (and they use this in their marketing), but in this case good/bad is really relative. 

Cop/criminal- Usually, in cop shows, the main characters are the police going after the criminals. In this case, it is the criminals, going after even worse criminals. There are frequent chases with cops and federal agents and even a couple episodes taken place in jail. 

Truth/lies- The grifter, Sophie, manipulates marks and weasels her way into the belly of the beast. 

Right/wrong- Who really knows what’s right and wrong? Technically they break the law multiple times, but in the end, the true victim gets retribution.

Rich/poor- The crew goes after CEOs of major corporations or other rich people who believe they can do whatever they want just because they have money.

Violence/peace- The hitter, Eliot, does what's necessary to keep the clients and crew safe. 

Victim/perpetrator- Every cop show has a victim, usually a murder victim. This show really focuses on the victim's experience and them getting what 

Fair/not fair- All the clients the crew take on have an injustice thrust upon them, whether they are being forced off their land or have had their intellectual property taken by their employer. 

Honest man/thief – A big theme in the show is Nate, the mastermind, grappling with being an honest man. He tells himself that he’s better than the thieves he works with, he’s not like them. Until the end of season three, when he realizes that they are the same and he turns himself in, to spare his crew. 

 

Do these binaries sound familiar? They all could correlate with any other procedure cop show. In the beginning of the episode, there’s a victim, they investigate, find the perpetrator, and take that person to justice. All the building blocks are the same. What sets Leverage apart is the outside perspective. Instead of showing off the cops and the law, they reveal how truly corrupt the system is and decide to do something about it. 

This show may have the basic structure of many procedural cop shows on TV, but it is truly something unique and an eye-opening experience.