Cast: · Timothy Hutton · Christian Kane · Beth Riesgraf · Aldis Hodge · Jeri Ryan · Richard Kind Related Sites: · Official TNT Webpage: Leverage · IMDb: Leverage Grade: A-

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If you've been following the exploits of the Leverage team thus far, I probably don't have to tell you that tonight's episode starts the two-part second season finale. However, I'm going to reiterate anyway that this is not an episode you want to miss, for reasons that I cannot disclose in this review. Which, in all likelihood, will have you thinking that it marks a return of some sort, one that has been expected since season two began. And that's not the reason at all.

In "The Tree Strikes Job," a police officer is gunned down in a parking lot. But this particular cop is a friend of Nathan Ford (Timothy Hutton), who has recently fallen off the wagon. Thus, the job is personal for Nathan, who drags his team in to discover the reason for the shooting. What gets turned up is a corrupt mayor (played by Richard Kind), illegal riverfront real estate deals, and a little bit of gun-running on the side.

Fortunately, Mr. Mayor is something of a baseball fan, which gives Nate the idea to convince the mayor that he's shopping around for a new site for a baseball stadium -- which, of course, requires that they steal a baseball team. This is all done with the usual Leverage aplomb, but the highlight of the con involves Elliot (Christian Kane), who hates baseball, learning to love the game when he infiltrates the team and puts his hitting skills to a more public display, becoming the team's home run king in relatively short order.

But there are still clues about the shooting that don't add up in Elliot's mind, and these get a brief pondering while Nathan overconfidently begins to take on more than the team can handle. The explosive confrontation that comes will force Nathan to confront his past in a cliffhanger that's going to have all Leverage fans talking at the watercooler the next morning.

Leverage, "The Three Strikes Job," premieres February 10, 2010, 10pm (ET|PT) on TNT.