The scammers keep scamming. And so the hackers, cat burglars and con artists of the Leverage crew have saddled up once again to balance the scales. Back for a second season on Amazon’s Freevee, the team on “Leverage: Redemption” stares corruption jauntily in the eye and says: Make my day.
I’ve always admired this thematic approach, in part because it’s such a rarity. Networks tend to prefer wealth-aganda, swamping us with TV series that poke fun at the rich but are fundamentally about centering their angst and woes while delicately sidestepping how those fortunes were amassed and the unscrupulous systems that make them possible. The status quo could use a shake-up and I consider it a much-needed antidote that the new episodes of “Leverage: Redemption” are coming out amid new seasons of “The White Lotus” and “The Crown.”
The show is built around a delicious premise: Heists with a wink — and a heart. Has someone been wronged by a rich person who is plundering and destroying people’s lives in order to pad out their net worth? Then the Leverage team will swoop in with an elaborate caper while cracking wise. The goal? Karmic justice. The schemes are implausible but that’s embedded in the show’s lighthearted approach.
