Drama siri tv, Leverage.

Saya suka menonton tv. Tapi tak semua rancangan tv saya tonton. Tak semua drama saya tonton terutama drama bersiri. Sebab saya tak suka bertangguh untuk tahu kesudahan cerita tersebut. Tapi ada jugalah 1 atau 2 drama bersiri yang saya tonton contohnya drama Nur Kasih, Ustaz Amirul dan yang baru sahaja berakhir siarannya, Gemilang. Keinginan saya untuk menonton drama bersiri ni selalunya dipengaruhi oleh jalan cerita (saya baca sinopsis dahulu), pelakon dan pengarah. Saya tak suka jalan cerita yang berkaitan dengan tipu-helah, perebutan kuasa dalam perniagaan atau kisah yang memaparkan kekayaan sesebuah keluarga tetapi berantakkan. Saya cukup tak suka tema sebegitu, maka sebab itu saya tak pernah menonton slot Samarinda di TV3.

Dalam zaman sekarang kehadiran Astro telah memberi saya banyak pilihan drama untuk ditonton terutama drama berbahasa Inggeris melalui saluran AXN (701) dan DIVA (702). Drama bercorak penyiasatan tetapi ditambah dengan elemen kekeluargaan, kasih-sayang, belas-kasihan dan perikemanusiaan boleh didapati di saluran ini. Walaupun dipanggil siri tv, tetapi drama-drama ini selalunya akan menyelesaikan kes dan masalah mereka dalam episod itu juga. Epison akan datang pula dengan kes dan masalah baru. Kalau adapun kesinambungan tak la sampai tunggu episod terakhir baru kita tahu kisah yang sebenarnya. Contohnya CSI 3 Serangkai (CSI, CSI NY & CSI Miami), Criminal Minds, Hawaii Five-O, Blue bloods, Covert Affairs dan banyak lagi. Begitu juga drama-drama seperti Leverage dan Unexpected. Walaupun terdapat banyak percanggahan dari gaya hidup, pegangan agama dan budaya, tetapi saya suka unsur-unsur kekeluargaan dan kemanusiaan yang diselitkan didalam drama-drama tersebut.

Sebagai contoh Leverage. Sekumpulan 5 orang yang berbeza watak dan kemahiran bergabung untk menjadi Robin Hood moden. Mereka merompak siperompak yang merompak harta dan hak milik rakyat dan hasil rompakan itu dipulangkan kembali kepada yang berhak. Sebelum melakukan kerja “murni” ini mereka sebenarnya terdiri daripada seorang penipu, seorang penggodam, seorang kaki pukul, seorang pencuri dan diketuai oleh seorang bekas pekerja insurans.

Pernah satu ketika dalam kelima-lima watak ni saya sangat suka watak Eliot si kaki pukul. Tapi beberapa saat kemudian, saya rasa Hardison si penggodam paling best, kemudian bila tengok Parker si pencuri saya rasa minat sangat dengan dia, tapi bila muncul pula Sophie si penipu, saya minat dia pula. Muncul pula Nate si ketua, pun saya minat juga. Akhirnya saya buat kesimpulan setiap dari mereka ini punya watak dan perwatakkan yang tersendiri yang mampu menarik minat saya walaupun ketara perbezaannya antara satu sama lain. Boleh dikatakan kumpulan mereka ini sangat meriah, menghiburkan dan mengujakan saya untuk terus mengikuti kisah-kisah perjuangan “murni” mereka.

Sebagai contoh saya petik sikit dari episod malam tadi. Kisah di malam krismas. Setelah selesai tugas mereka. Nate dan Sophie telah menyediakan hadiah krismas untuk Eliot, Hardison dan Parker. Mula-mula hadiah diserahkan kepada Eliot iaitu sebilah pedang samurai. Sesuai dengan minatnya dalam seni mempertahankan diri. Kemudia, hadiah untuk Hardison iaitu sebuah gajet yang terkini dan masih belum ada dipasaran. Saya tak ingat nama alatan tersebut sebab saya bukan tahu tentang gajet-gajet ni. Sesuailah dengan minat dan kemahiran Hardison dalam mengendalikan alatan eletronik dan gajet. Dan untuk Parker pula ialah seikat duit baru. Parker sungguh teruja mendapat hadiah tersebut. Pada pendapat aku Parker berminat dengan duit bukanlah kerana nila duit tersebut. Dia tak kisah langsung berapa nilai duit-duit tersebut. Tetapi, dia menunjukkan kepuasan yang tak terhingga bila memiliki duit baru yang masih tersusun mengikut nombor sirinya.

Kemudian Nate juga ada hadiah untuk Sophie iaitu seutas gelang atau rantai perak yang tertuli “your name here”. Ini kerana nama Sophie itu bukanlah nama sebenar-benarnya nama Sophie. Yang kelakarnya ahli lain dah pun tahu nama sebenar Sophie tapi tidak Nate. Ahli lain pula takde seorang pun yang nak beritahu Nate sebenar Sophie. For me it is so sweet. Tapi sebagai balasan hadiah Nate, Sophie menulis sesuatu di atas kertas (nampak macam tisu). Apakah mungkin Sophie menulis namanya yang sebenar? Masih menjadi misteri sebab tidak ditunjukkan kepada penonton.

Episod malam tadi diakhiri dengan keterujaan Parker yang menikmati salji-salji yang turun ke bumi di malam krismas tersebut. Nate, Sophie dan Hardison tersenyum melihat gelagat Parker yang comel tersebut. Ya, bagi saya ianya amat comel ditambah dengan kecomelan wajah Parker itu sendiri. Kecuali Eliot, mungkin kerana dia yang bersikap macho tu merasakan sikap Parker sangat kebudak-budakkan. Tapi saya suka watak Parker. Comel sangat.

Inilah watak-watak utama dalam Leverage.

Timothy Hutton as Nathan "Nate" Ford ("The Mastermind"): A former insurance fraud investigator for IYS Insurance and the team's mastermind. The son of South Boston numbers runner Jimmy Ford,[6] Nate originally intended to become a Catholic priest, prior to becoming an insurance investigator. While Nate was working for IYS, his young son Sam became fatally ill and IYS refused to pay for an experimental procedure, resulting in his death. The aftermath lead to Nate's divorce from his wife Maggie, his subsequent dismissal from the company and his descent into alcoholism. After meeting the team for the first time and running a con against their first mark, instead of disbanding as intended, Nate is asked to continue working with them and is given the privilege of leading the team and selecting what clients the team will help. A skilled planner, Nate draws on his experience as an insurance investigator to anticipate the moves of his team's marks. Nate is at first very affable, but is unwilling to discuss his own problems with friends or others. His tendency to change objectives in the middle of a job, his alcoholism, and his often-tenuous relationship with his team has on occasion put the client and the team at risk.

Gina Bellman as Sophie Devereaux ("The Grifter"): British actress and accomplished grifter with a taste for art theft. Multi-lingual and particularly adept at the use of accents, Sophie is seen to portray many characters in various cons, usually making direct contact with a mark to draw them into the con. Sophie has a collection of aliases, which includes "Sophie Devereaux". She has revealed her real name to all members of the team but Nate, who "hasn't earned it yet". Comically, her attempts to make a career as an actress lead to nothing but failure, as she proves woefully untalented and over-the-top onstage. It is only during a con when she can disappear effortlessly into a character, where ironically she can actually act well if she is pretending to be an actress. She has a long history with Nate, dating back at least ten years to when he pursued her with IYS as an art thief. At some point, they recognized an attraction to one another, leaving Sophie alternately frustrated, angry and disappointed. Nate has on occasion tried to further the relationship, but for various reasons Sophie has resisted

Christian Kane as Eliot Spencer ("The Hitter"): The team's highly skilled martial artist, weapons expert and self-described "retrieval expert". His role in cons is often to play small roles while protecting the team, often leading him into hand-to-hand combat that draws on his martial arts skills. Eliot once worked for Damien Moreau, and has a long history as a hired gun and bodyguard, then a retrieval specialist. Eliot has proficiency with firearms, but dislikes guns. While merely presumed as the muscleman, he demonstrates a subtle intelligence in conversation, often taking advantage of the underestimations of others and later in the series performs as a grifter along with Sophie. In contrast to the other characters Eliot prefers to keep his romantic life private, as well as much of his background.

Aldis Hodge as Alec Hardison ("The Hacker"): The team's computer specialist and hacker. He is a self-proclaimed geek and science fiction fan, with an easy going manner and dry, unusual wit. Hardison was raised by a foster parent, an older woman he refers to as "Nana". Hardison can hack into most forms of electronics and is rarely caught. Hardison designed and assembled the computer and television systems in the team's headquarters, and is responsible for the two-way earpieces used by the team on each episode. He is also very attached to his electronics (and in particular his van) and shown to become very depressed when the con takes a turn for the worse and requires they destroy his electronics to make their escape. Hardison and Parker have a developing romantic relationship but it is fraught with personal complications.

Beth Riesgraf as Parker ("The Thief"): An expert thief, cat-burglar, pickpocket and safe-cracker. The product of an abusive childhood spent in several foster homes, Parker is socially awkward and relates poorly to most people. Sophie has attempted to improve gaps in her social skills on numerous occasions with limited success. Parker also has affection for Hardison, but finds it hard to convey what she feels when confronted by others. While emotionally impulsive, she can demonstrate great physical self-control in her work using acrobatics, strength and concentration to her advantage. Her obsessive focus on theft is to the point that her safehouse is filled with gear and rappelling equipment to help her in various jobs, and during one con, she was put through a rehab to address it. Parker was trained at a young age by expert thief Archie Leach who found her proficient with the physical demands of burglary as well as safe-cracking and lock-picking, skills she uses in many of the cons.

Info dan gambar diambil dari Wikipedia dan TNT