A werewolf, a ghost, and a vampire share a flat together in Bristol, England. My initial reaction to the series’s premise was probably the same as most: really, seriously? How is that not just a joke? But I figured I would give it a shot seeing as how I love British sci-fi. Wow, was I impressed!

Chad catches us up on the first half of Season 2 of Leverage, starting with the second season premiere.

This episode continues right where last week’s ended, with the Leverage team on the run and the FBI, Sterling, and the rest of Interpol right behind them. And it gets pretty crazy, pretty quickly. Once again, the season ends in a satisfying way that could equally have been a series finale (though I’m glad it’s not!).

To seek justice on behalf on their cop friend, Pat Bonnano, the Leverage team tries to catch the corrupt mayor illegally using campaign funds by exploiting his love of baseball. Though not as strong as the last few episodes have been, this sets up the season finale for next week since that will be part two of the story.

The Rookie is a futuristic sci-fi football novel available in hardcover, audiobook, and iPod app formats. If you’re looking for something with plenty of action, plenty of violence, and plenty of emotional investment, The Rookie is a great place to start your addiction to Scott Sigler’s work.

This was a different kind of episode because it wasn’t so much about conning someone as it was exposing a con. Of course, being con artists themselves, the Leverage team certainly did con the con artist, Dalton Rand (played by 90210’s Luke Perry), a small-time TV “psychic.”

This episode sees the return of Jim “Evil Nate” Sterling and Maggie, Nate’s ex-wife. We also get to see Eliot run the show and understand why he’s not just the muscle, but also the “retrieval specialist.”

Nate has to save his local pub, which also happens to be where his apartment / Leverage HQ is located. John McCrory, the owner, has just died, but he owed loan shark Mark Doyle $15,000. McCrory’s daughter Cora doesn’t have the money so Doyle gives her two hours, or he’ll take the bar instead. That’s where the Leverage team gets involved.

I was pleasantly surprised to realize that I recognized more of the music on the Leverage soundtrack than I thought I would, and it definitely evokes the show. The music itself runs the gamut from several types of jazz to pop to techno to orchestral, with a Pogues-inspired ditty thrown in for good measure.

I recently had the chance to conduct an e-mail interview with Joseph LoDuca, the composer of the Leverage soundtrack (among many other soundtracks, including Evil Dead, Hercules, Xena, and Legend of the Seeker) about what it’s like to score the hit TV show.