Early feedback from tonight's episode of Leverage is overwhelmingly positive, which delights me. I'm so happy to hear that so many people liked it.
If you've seen the show already, you may get a kick out of the pictures I took during production and just added to Flickr, but there are spoilers, so don't look if you don't want to see them. (And no fair complaining at me if you don't listen and get spoiled.)
I'm sure John will have a post at his blog in the very near future where you can ask him questions about the spin-off (with robots!) that I'm getting.*
If you have questions or comments for me about the show, feel free to leave them here and I'll do my best to respond in a timely manner. Seriously, I'll really appreciate the distraction.
*I'm not really getting a spin-off. That's my little joke. Ha! Ha! I am using the Internet!
I am so digging you as villains. First you as serial killer in CM, and now as hacker extraordinaire on Leverage. You do evil just WAY too well!
And the fact that you love doing it adds an extra little “twinkle” in your eye that just makes your “bad guy” a little extra creepy. It’s just cool to see!
I love it when bad guys are grooving on the character (even if the psychopathic/sociopathic scumbag is truly evil) – it just adds extra oomph to the character portrayal!
Missed it ‘cos we don’t have that channel….booooo. Is it playing anywhere online?
Also: Can’t wait for PAX! 😀
That looked like PHP code on the first scrolling display. Seems like a throwaway technology at that point, but I wonder why they didn’t use something more like C or C++? Or to be really noisy, Perl!
Oh man me too!!! I love the way they just blankly stared at him. People tend to do that to me (or the sad head shake) as well. I laughed so quickly and loudly I startled my cat.
You are making the announcement here and/or on twitter too after you make it there right???
YAY I wasn’t the only one thinking that!!
LOVED the episode! My mom and dad had a funny reaction when you first came on the screen that I would like to share:
Dad: That’s Wil Wheaton!
Mom: Oh cool, it is!
Dad: He looks good these days! Like he could easily play a leading man in movies.
Mom: Yeah, he does!… Only for this show they are doing a good job of making him look geeky…
Bahaha! Made me think of when you tweeted about the wardrobe person pulling out an outfit that looked like something you already own :p anyway, thanks for the fun episode (and entertaining blog!)
-Cari
Yes, Noa is so incredibly beautiful, it’s like standing too close to the sun.
That’s a great question for John, over at his blog. I know it’s been asked and answered there, but I forget what he said.\
Result! My first year attending PAX and now your HUGE announcement will be gravy. Mmmm I love gravy. Thanks Wil!
I think they rerun it next week, just before the new episode airs. You can also catch it online at TNT’s website and via Netflix on-demand as soon as Friday (I think it’s Friday. Within 7 days, for sure.)
Yeah, I’ll make sure people who are not at my panel will get to hear the news as quickly as possible.
Shifty, eh? Pay no attention to him, Wil, I’ll have my Buseys deal with him. We’ll see who’s really shifty when we gather for a Settlers of Catan night.
*evil laughter*
*thunder*
Blast, I really should avoid the evil laughter bit.
*snort*
Sweet job last night on Leverage, Wil! My fave part? When Chaos proclaimed his control of the lasers. Who wouldn’t love to control lasers?! Hehheh.
Looking forward to your panel at PAX. It’ll be my first year attending. Tickets to PAX fell perfectly in the 1st wedding anniversary paper requirement for me and my husband.
A lot of people have singled out that line as their favorite, which makes me really happy because I made a choice to play that beat like I’m really taunting him and enjoying how I’m in complete control of everything.
I felt like it came across that way in the final cut, which isn’t always the way it happens with television.
Of course you realise that at this very moment on some fanfic site there is somebody beavering away writing Chaos/Hardison slash fiction!!
Rogers and I joked about that the entire time I was in PDX shooting this episode. We had a running joke that I was the primary writer.
You’re playing the bizarro world version of two of my favorite characters on two of my favorite shows. Know that you are loved, Wil Wheaton.
Great performance on Leverage. Haven’t gotten to see Guild Season 3 yet.
wow you were such a fantastic addition to one of my favorite shows. The geek showdown was a definite highlight. You guys were great!
I hope we see more of the two teams interacting sometime in the future. Those were my favorite scenes by far 🙂
I love how everyone seems to have such a great time making this series. It definitely shows through to our side of the screen too.
The Kobayashi Maru bit was beyond hilarious. I backed it up and watched it again to make sure I heard it right. Loved the “netbooks at 20 paces,” loved the snark, loved the episode. Saw many recognizable bits of my beloved city, more than usual.
Now that the show’s been picked up for season 3, I want a Hardison/Chaos rematch! But especially if that brings you back to town, Wil. 🙂
Im in Australia. When do we got to see it?? Next decade probably… 🙁
I think you are right. TNT delays their releases online for a few days. Most shows delivered online typically are next day, must be a deal TNT has with the studios for those shows to hold’em. Plus, TNT tends to replay a lot so that’s probably the reason why. I missed it as well, so will have to catch in then as I watch most shows online.
I can’t remember exactly how that scene went [I don’t have one of those new-fangled DVR or TiVO devices so I couldn’t replay it] but for whatever reason, I just heard Chaos/you in my head saying, “All your laser are belong to us.”
Anywho, I enjoyed your performance, Wil. It made me a little sad to see you, considering the events of the past week, but it was nice to smile on your behalf because I know you had fun filming the show.
I’m just glad for your sake that the airing of the episode fell so that the media junket was done LAST week, instead of being scheduled for THIS week. I think you probably would’ve gone through with all the interviews because you’re a professional, but obviously, your heart wouldn’t have been in it. Small mercies, I suppose, are better than none.
This, too, was my first foray into the world of Leverage, but I knew I had to watch it after seeing you in Criminal Minds. Now that I know you were on CSI: and NUMB3RS (two of my other fave shows), I will have to seek out those episodes, as well!
Everyone has mentioned my favorite bits already (“Kobayashi Maru”, Showdown, etc.), but I will throw a new one out there: The “baby monitor” banter between Chaos and harison was absolutely brilliant! What made it ooze Awesomesauce was how Hardison rolled a 5 on his bluff against your +20 Sense Motive, then you followed by rolling a crit on your Intimidate check 🙂
Again, a GREAT job!
I’m bummed I am nowhere near PAX. You need to show up in OK or NC sometime, dangit!
Settlers of Cahoots, more like.
I thought I’d be at the Tulsa Trek Expo this summer, but that fell through. Hopefully, I’ll be invited next year.
Wil,
Wish I had been able to watch, but since I live in Canada it was’t available to us. I did see a clip with you and another guy have a computer fight, it was hilarious. The entire scene looked like it was fun to shoot.
Maybe it will eventually air for us in Canada, I’ll keep my fingrs crossed
I loved the show! You Rocked. They need to make a perm position for you on the show. I totally got the Trek jokes, I loved the computer dueling scene!
I also meant to ask if you had any plans to make it to Canada soon. I’ve noticed that you travel around the US often, do you ever make it here?
I thought the idea of a “Bizzaro Leverage” team was great, and the thought that some of you already knew each other seems to definitely leave open the chance that some or all of your team will be back. And hopefully now that the show’s been renewed for a third season you’ll get the call.
I thought season 2 has not been as strong as season 1 until this episode. This is the episode that brought back all the twists and antics that made the first season so good. The writing was top notch and performances were excellent. And my hats off to you Wil for your performance. I think you defined your character well and I loved “the showdown” segment. Wonderful work.
Maybe for you next appearance on Leverage you could be shown holding your cat. I know its been done, but I feel YOUR cat would have a fresh take on it.
I liked this episode. It was fun! And you do play the perfect nerd. Especially the Nerd draw-down in the parking lot.
Hi Wil! I’ve been reading your blog for awhile and was sad to hear about the loss of your dog. Anyway, here’s a comment about Leverage to distract you from your grief:
A friend of mine told me she had stumbled across the show a few weeks ago while channel-surfing, and she thought it was really cool. I shrugged it off (mostly because my husband and I don’t have cable…or a TV, actually) until I saw that you were in an episode! So I checked out hulu.com to see if they had episodes available, which led me to the TNT website, where I just finished watching this season’s premier episode. And um…wow. This show is great. I’m probably (scratch that — DEFINITELY) going to go home tonight and watch the rest of the episodes online, and I can’t wait until yours is available to watch, too. Way to promote! 🙂
Oh, and a question: Can you tell Christian Kane that I loved his character in Angel, but his character in Leverage TOTALLY wins? Thanks!
OO… scientist of the week on Eureka would be excellent. Can we lobby for these sorts of things? 🙂
I had been looking forward to this episode all summer! Great job and I agree with others that it would cool to have another show down between the Leverage team and the bizarro Leverage team again. It seemed like there was to much good interplay between the characters to just simply leave it be.
Ah, the magic of TiVo. Well done, man… well done.
This season just keeps getting better and better. I love the way it’s going, bringing out the more humorous side while still developing the characters and keeping the basic principle going.
What I particularly loved in this episodes were the various crew members facing off with their counterparts and the Star Trek references around Chaos. (I, too, would have thought it was spelt Kaos, a lot more hax0r ;o)
Excellent stuff!
I thought Sophie explained the reason for it being that she wanted to shed all her false identities and expose the real person underneath, I had assumed that the death of “Sophie” was the first step in that process. I may be completely mis-reading it, though.
Great episode Wil and your acting and character suited the series perfectly (just the right amount of cheese). I only started watching Leverage due to you posting about being in an episode but it now ranks as one of my favourites, thanks for being awesome!
Got it watched — with a bit of selective rewinding and rewatching for choice moments, I might add. Couldn’t get enough of the last scene you had, the stammering was priceless! I actually have watched the show from the first airing of the pilot episode, but this one is by and large my favorite to date! And hey, spin-off may not be in the cards, but I can definitely get behind a “Wrath of Chaos” ep next season!
Wil, if you end up heading to Tulsa, I’ll make sure to be out there that weekend! 🙂
I started watching “Leverage” after your posts about filming this episode, so I was all caught up in time for this season to start. Cleverness and nerdy in-jokes make my heart go pitter-pat, and this episode was delightful. So thank you for introducing me to the show.
I know you said in an earlier comment that just being cast is awesome, but if you had a choice, which would you rather do: more roles like this one, in which you get to geek out, or something completely different?
I’ve watched Leverage from the beginning, because it reminded me of the old Mission Impossible show crossed with The A-Team… with the hip new flair that’s sweeping the nation. Anyway, the second season seemed to be suffering from the sophomore slump… that is, until your episode. Just awesome, it was like the whole team was once again in top form. Watching each member pair off against their counterpart was hilarious.
You are making quite a career playing douche bag baddies. Leverage, Numbers, Criminal Minds, The Guild, and hell, even Mushy Shorts on GTCMS. I look forward to your next Grade-A Jerkass role with great anticipation.
I DID enjoy your part in Leverage..however, I am NOT a fan of the show in general..
Not to ask a lame question – because I may be guilty of that being that it’s one in the morning (and I have no life) – but would you consider writing for the show? You obviously have writing talent as well as acting, and I know sometimes various actors from a series either guest direct or write for it. I think you’d do an awesome job…I’ll be your script writing cheerleader! Once again, I apologize, it’s late.
I don’t think so. The writing staff on the show is fantastic already, and they play at a level that I’m still dreaming about reaching one day.
Well judging by your writing right now, I think you’ll easily hit that level with no problem. You have talent! I’m sure it’s in the cards for you if you ever wish to explore that.
Just saw the episode tonight (no cable, but yay Netflix! and 360 so I can watch The Guild, more yay). You were hawesome! I particularly liked your acting choices in the van scene where Chaos realizes he’s been caught out. The petulance really helped sell it, as he realized he’d accounted for everything but that damn human factor.
2 questions – what did he mean by Sophie is scary (your interpretation)?
and please settle something for my husband and me – did Jeph Jacques draw your little clown shirt icon?
My lasers – let me show you them!