TV Jots

Great Guest Stars in the House

I, for one, am really happy that TNT is currently airing back-to-back Season Three episodes of Leverage on Sunday nights. Next up, Team Nate shows off its continually impressive con skills during two brand-new June 27 episodes.

First at 9pm ET is “The Inside Job,” which features Thorn Birds veteran Richard Chamberlain as someone very special in ace thief Parker’s life. The episode revolves around a one-woman job that goes awry, leaving Parker stuck inside a building with no clear means of escape and lots of armed security guards hot on her trail.

Of course, it’s up to Team Nate to come to their colleague’s rescue. The only problems are (1) they have no idea where she actually is and (2) time to save her is swiftly winding down. Yikes.

We all know Team Nate works — and improvises — best under pressure, so there’s little doubt they’ll succeed in coming to Parker’s aid. The fun part is how they finally manage to locate and communicate with her, all while pulling another con that ends with a deserving baddie taken down. Chamberlain is especially effective as Parker’s longtime mentor, although most of his screen time is spent with star Timothy Hutton.

Following at 10pm is “The Scheherazade Job” with guest star Giancarlo Esposito of Homicide: Life on the Street and most recently Breaking Bad. As always, the actor delivers big-time.

His latest role is as an African government official who has a thing for stealing valuable stuff and storing some of it in a vault located in Team Nate’s Boston base. The episode opens with an attempted murder and somehow winds up with computer ace Alec posing as a violinist capable of performing solo during a symphony concert. Really.

While Team Nate uses Alec’s unexpectedly moving public performance to help bring the African official’s thieving to light, recurring Season Three guest star Elisabetta Canalis resurfaces as the demanding thorn in Nate’s side known as The Italian. However, one of the best parts of the episode focuses on Eliot, who meets a rare worthy match while teamed up with Parker. Lots of action-packed entertainment there.

A sneak peek at “The Inside Job,” the first episode of the night, follows, featuring magnificent Chamberlain.