Soooo good to have the team back together again! Broke my heart to see Sophie's pain and to know Nate is gone but they did a great job of honoring his memory. You can feel his presence as much as his absence. Parker's just as crazy, Hardison just as much of a geek and Eliot as much heart as hitter as ever. Noah Wyle completes the team and I loved him in The Librarian movies and series but my jury is out on his character here. Some interesting and ironic interaction between him and Christian, given their history, but he has a different style and a lot to prove. Sophie is a good choice as team leader but she needs to grow into the part. She's trying to be the old Sophie, fill Nate's shoes, mourn his loss and be out of practice getting back in the swing of things all at the same time. I get the impression the cast and crew really didn't want to replace Tim Hutton so the effort to do so feels a little half-hearted. I understand Aldis Hodge couldn't be in all the episodes. Not sure how I feel about the girl filling in for his absences in later episodes. But Leverage had a really good ending and it has been a few years so this new series needs to be a little different. And I'm so jazzed to have most of the cast and crew back together that what minor flaws exist I can easily forgive or overlook. Hopefully all the other viewers will too.
On a side note, I love that Christian has long hair again. Missed that when he was in The Librarians. :-)
On a side note, I love that Christian has long hair again. Missed that when he was in The Librarians. :-)