walkingonrainnet

I love this show, but this is the worst episode they've had BY A MILE this season. A Black woman not knowing that the Black prisoner got such severe punishment for being Black, then having to have that and statistics mansplained to her. The whole plot is stupid. No way should should have made it into the building with that bomb. None of the plot is believable. Susan should have rejected pulling the appeal because she would jlhave been disbarred for doing something that would hurt their client. Whole thing was so, so bad. No way that crime would get the death penalty over others since 1997. I'm sure they would have been able to find a more heinous crime to use as an excuse to kill a Black man. My god. Awful. Usually it's just the court room and legal stuff that has me hoping that they get an actual legal consult next season. (I doubt they will.) But the WHOLE episode was awful. I was too desperate for more SHMT since it's been a while that I kept watching despite how poorly done it was. I'm sorry, but they usually do better than this.

The family dynamics are absolutely sad and infuriating, but I don't doc it for that. I can only do nine because of the absolutely horrible courtroom scenes. However, this is another great "helping the little guy through mischievous ways" kind of show. It brings a lot of hope in a world full of sad, dramatic, well, dramas. Something we need more of in the world. It has a lot of vibrancy and life to the filming style, which has become more rare. No sepia in sight, than goodnes. I love it dearly and very much hope it continues for a while...and that it gets writers who know how actual court room scenes should be done.

I get why this show wouldn't be for everyone - not your style of humor for example, - but it IS a good show. It's well written, it's well acted, and it has some very deep moments. Sure it's not non-stop comedy, but the story is very good. And I loved getting to see what indigenous storytelling looks like. What jokes they have. Learning cultural aspects. It really is a very good show. I really hope they get more seasons! I have recommended it to my friends.

(I know this will be a little all over the place, I'm sorry, ADHD and IMDb app issues.)

No idea why some of these reviews are so awful. They clearly are written by people who didn't watch the original show (ex: misspelling character names, repeatedly? Come on), or even know this was filmed in Louisiana. Or maybe they are just pissed Hutton (thankfully) isn't back.

Also, Leverage has always tackled topics that some people are claiming to be "woke". I don't understand how they could think the OG series is any different from this one in what they tackle. I guess it's because they are a bit more blunt this time, and it handles stories you are seeing more prominently in the news.

I will be honest, the writing isn't up to par of the original for me, but it is definitely one of the best things out there right now. And should they get another/more seasons, I'm sure they will improve. New showrunners, new writers - they need a little time to grow. Even though some episodes are rougher around the edges than others, this is still a better first season then many shows these days kick out. They did the best they could given a pandemic, actor availability, and severe weather. I don't think many people could have pulled of what they managed to accomplish under the same conditions.

The characters are very much the characters we know and love, and it's so nice to see them again. And I like having the new cast members, it breaths new life and new perspectives into the show. (Though it seemed to take Wyle a couple episodes to get settled in, so if you see people complain about him, they only watched the first couple episodes.) The show's writing isn't in a carbon copy of what they did in the original, nor is it as tightly written, but it's still fun to watch with great performances. The writing could use some polishing, but the characters absolutely are back, and I do gain so much comfort from seeing them again.

Bottom line, as someone who hates all the stupid reboots and revivals and is very, very picky with what they wath, I'm so happy that this show is back. I'm thrilled Sophie, Eliot, and Parker (and Hardison, when we get him) are back. And I am Iooking forward to them being able to deliver even better stories next season.

Edit: If this comes back for another season, three big things have to change: 1) The Hitter, Hacker, Grifter, and Thief must be able to be as competent as they were in the original series, as that was a halmark of the original show.

2) The basically magical element that has been inserted into this show doesn't belong and also needs to be discontinued. It is also an insult to the original show and feels like easy writing solutions. The writers need to work harder on not taking the quick solves of - for example - someone having the super power of boring someone to sleep, or Parker somehow making it somewhere faster than humanly possible. The stories need to be planned for differently so that they don't use these types of solutions.

3) Part of two - the stories need to be planned better. Some of them didn't make much sense, and, again, quick solutions need to not be used as often.