We’re getting a classic Leverage episode with the Thursday, May 15, edition of Redemption, and so it’s fitting that one of the original series stars, Beth Riesgraf, who has continued to play thief Parker, stepped behind the camera to direct it (her fifth of the series).

In “The Shakedown in Clone-Town Job,” Sophie (Gina Bellman‘s grifter), Eliot (Christian Kane‘s hitter), and Parker get caught in a small-town speed trap run by a corrupt mayor who is also the local judge, endeavoring to help the oppressed townspeople wrest power from his hungry clutches.

Below, Beth Riesgraf talks about directing this Leverage: Redemption episode, teases what to expect, and previews Drew Powell‘s upcoming return as former-mark-turned-Leverage International member Hurley.

What do you enjoy specifically about directing this show and these characters?

Beth Riesgraf: I think the overall theme of the show of giving power back to the people is such a strong message and it’s a timeless one. Obviously, we can all relate to that right now, too. So it’s something I really believe in in this show, is the power to tell these stories that inspire people to change or inspire people to give back to people who need it and remind them that justice can be served. So, thematically, I just love what the show is about and that it makes people feel good. We were talking about the fact that the show’s a comfort show, and that used to be something people were like, I don’t know, we want something edgier or whatever. There’s something really great that this gives people comfort and makes them feel like there’s something they can do about it. So I love that personally as an actor and a director.

And then working with the cast and crew… some of these guys I’ve known since 2008. So I feel really fortunate to work with my friends and family in that way. And I love collaborating. I love all the decision-making. I love creating a frame and the camera work, and I just love all of it so much. So I think every aspect of the filmmaking process, from our pre-production meetings all the way through the editing process, it’s really enjoyable.

What excited you about this episode specifically from a directing standpoint? Is there anything you got to do as a director you hadn’t yet?

Yes. There’s a couple of things about this one. One, it’s based off of a true story. Really, this is a story that has happened across America. And so that was inspiring to go, OK, wait a second. We can actually highlight this and show people can take the power back in this type of situation. And working with Cedric Yarbrough was really exciting to me. I had the idea to make an offer to him. I’m a big fan of his, and it was a big last minute, can he do it? Can he not? And the fact that we got him was really exciting to me and I loved working with him.

Then I designed a fight sequence that was really exciting to me. I was inspired by the South Korean film Old Boy, and there’s a really famous scene called the corridor fight scene. And so I thought, hey, what if we did a long fight in the style of a oner where Eliot has to barrel through bicycles and motorcycles, and if I find a stretch of road or something long enough, we actually pull this off. I worked with Lex Damis, our stunt coordinator, and we had a lot of fun, and that was really exciting to me, and we covered it in a couple of angles and gave it our own spin. But that was really exciting because I felt like it was something we hadn’t really done before in the show, and so I’m really proud of that sequence.

Preview the con and how the crew gets involved, because it’s always fun when episodes pick up right after another or in the middle of one.

Yeah, so I had this idea, I was like, what if — so Josh Schaer wrote the most amazing episode, and I was like, this feels like a feature film. This is so cool. Most episodes, we are out on location two, maybe three days, and then we’re on stages for the other five days. This one, we were on location six days and on stage only two. So we had the challenge of a lot of locations and exteriors and we had to make it all work. So we found this little town outside of New Orleans that was just perfect, and we were able to say, OK, this is the town.

What happens is this mayor’s playing both judge and mayor, and he set up a speed trap for these people to go through, and then he charges them huge fines and takes all their money. And I’m like, well, what situation could the team be coming from where they’re tired? How can we make this fun? I was like, what if they’re coming from another [job], like a race derby or something like that, and Elliot’s got his car, it’s a new car, let’s give him a new car, what would he like? And so down to how the mud would spray it on the side of the car, we just wanted it to feel like they’ve been driving all night and they get stuck in this speed trap and kind of happened to fall and stumble into this situation.

And it was a great setup for the tow truck driver to be the one that Sophie ends up having a flirtation with that grows and just all the little steps kind of fed into, and this is where we see and expose some of the villains in the town. These bikers are part of this gang and how are they intertwined and everything? And then you see the team start to slowly do what they do best and piece it together and be like, hold on. We’re not moving on until we help these people.

Prime Video

I love the crew as it is now, but I also love that this episode highlights the OGs and we get quite a bit with Parker, Sophie, and Eliot in it.

Yeah, I do, too. That was really fun. It was fun for us to have some of that. I thought the overall episode really felt like a classic Leverage episode in that way, right?

Yeah, it did. Also, speaking of that bit about Sophie’s love life, talk about getting to explore that and directing Gina for it.

It was really fun. What I’ve learned about the main cast, and I think a lot of directors will say this when you go into a show, if I weren’t on the show, I would come in and approach it like, these guys know these characters better than anyone, and so I’m in their house and I approach the work like that. With those series regulars, nobody knows their characters better than them. And so with Gina, I know that if she wants something from me, she’ll ask and we’ll have those creative conversations before we get to set and really take the time beforehand. So then once we’re in there, she locks in, I lock in, and we both do our thing.

We had a lot of discussions about Jack and who is this guy and what kind of qualities does he possess that Sophie might find exciting and intriguing, and really what catches her off guard about her reaction to him, I thought that that was a really special element to this story. She’s not expecting it. She’s actually in a place at the beginning of the episode where she’s fed up, like, “This isn’t going to work for me. I don’t know what I’m doing. I can’t fit in this dating lifestyle. Maybe it’s not for me.” Then, unexpectedly, this guy’s plopped right in front of her and it’s like a breath of fresh air. Literally, she’s in his truck and the wind’s blowing in her hair and she sees him and they start talking about poetry, and she never expects that a guy from this town would have the same interests as her. And I think the fact that it is totally unexpected is so romantic and exciting for her.

She just took that and ran with it. She has so many beautiful moments. There’s a moment when they’re at the truck, he’s fixing something under the hood of his truck and she’s walking through and it’s the most beautifully nuanced, subtle scene. I think Gina just — it was a home run. She hit all the levels of loss and heartache and pain and how scary it is to think about beginning again. Jack, he also has that history a little bit, too. And so that’s really a bonding moment for them that was really all about the subtext, and I thought they just knocked it out of the park.

It was fun to see Parker in the middle of that in the tow truck.

[Laughs] Yeah, I was like, I think she should be hungry. She’s always hungry. And so I threw that in there. I’m like, “Have any snacks?” And he’s like, “I’m not an Uber, what?”

Then we have Hurley coming back, and it’s always fun to see him. What can you tease about that episode? There’s a great Parker and Hurley conversation in it.

Yeah, what I love about that episode is you don’t quite know what Parker’s role is in that con and the setup and everything. But because of her history with Hurley, she understands him so thoroughly and she’s willing to let him fail. She sets up a situation with him where she’s like, there’s going to be a consequence and he is either going to rise to the occasion or not, but he won’t know who he really is and what side of the fence he wants to be on until he’s faced with that decision and has to be there. So for them, it’s like their kindredship and their friendship comes into play. At the end, he realizes she was behind some of that. There’s just such a kindred spirit between the two of them. They have so much fun together, too. But yeah, I thought it was a really beautiful episode for that friendship and to see growth there and for Parker to be in a position of showing someone else you can grow and change.

And we really see how far that she’s come and why she is leading everything with all these other crews.

Yeah, it’s nice, you get a glimpse into it. I’ve been wanting to show more of that with her, and the writers have been so excited about it, too. It’s a lot of ground to cover when you’re bringing a show back, and I thought it was just done so beautifully. We’re not hitting anyone over the head with it. We’re treating the audience with respect and they know her and they know what she’s up to and letting the imagination kind of play. But I thought this was a really beautiful way to weave that part of her life into, yeah.

Leverage: Redemption, Thursdays, Prime Video