Leverage: Redemption Season 3’s Major Returning Character & Potential Future Explained By Star: “Like A Family Reunion”

The return of a major character in Leverage: Redemption gets a detailed explanation. It is in Leverage: Redemption season 3, episode 5, “The Grand Complication Job”, that Star Trek alum Jeri Ryan makes her return as the grifter Tara Cole. She’s with Sophie Devereaux (Gina Bellman) when she gets abducted by Alexandra Bligh (Lucy Taylor), which is what helps Sophie get rescued in the end. But there remains a question of whether Bligh is neutralized for good, even though she’s arrested.

In an interview with ScreenRant‘s Grant Hermanns, Ryan spoke about her return to the world of Leverage. Well-known for her role as Seven of Nine in the Star Trek franchise, the veteran performer noted that her time on Leverage as Tara Cole is among her favorite roles. In the quote below, Ryan talks about what makes the grifter so fun to play and Tara’s overall dynamic with Sophie:

Oh, I was so excited. To this day, when people ask me what are my favorite jobs that I’ve ever done in my career, Leverage is one of the absolute top, for sure, because I love the show. I love the people, I love the character, just everything about it was so much fun and such a wonderful experience. So, I was thrilled when they said, “Come back and play”, and it was such a treat to go down to New Orleans, because we shot in Portland for the original version of Leverage. To go walk on the set in New Orleans, and my friends are all there, and so many of my friends from the crew on the original show were still with it, it was so fun. It’s just like a family reunion. She’s just so much fun. She’s so ballsy, and I love her snark. You know that she’s a grifter, so you never know who you’re going to be this time. You always play at something different, and she’s just a treat. She’s a bada–, and it’s fun to get to play that part of myself. [We didn’t discuss her pre-Redemption adventures] even a little bit, no. [Laughs] She’s just been out doing her thing and having her adventures. Obviously, she and Sophie are always in each other’s lives, and get together whenever they can, which is great. She’s been in touch with all of these guys, because I think there was a real mutual respect and love that they had developed years ago when she was with the crew for a while.

Ryan also touched on whether viewers should expect to see more of Tara in Leverage: Redemption, underlining that she’d be happy to return and noting the fact that she’d be happy to work with the cast and crew again. Still, she jokes that she hasn’t pestered executive producer Dean Devlin about making more appearances:

No, I didn’t [pester Dean Devlin for more], but maybe I should have, that’s probably a missed opportunity. [Laughs] I love this character, I love this show, I love, love, love these people so much. As I said, it’s an absolute treat to be there every time I get to see them, so I’d be happy to go back anytime. Everybody always asks me [what I’d like from her in the future], and I never have an answer. I don’t know. I’m not a writer, and I just enjoy going along for the ride and seeing what brilliant things they’ve come up with for her to do, and for me to play, because they’re so beautifully written, and so beautifully developed. So yeah, I would just be ready to see whatever her next adventure that they come up with is.

What Tara’s Return Means For Leverage: Redemption

It’s A Connection To The Past

Ryan recurred in the original Leverage, appearing in eight episodes spread between the second and fourth seasons. She’s a friend of Sophie’s, going back some time, which comes in handy when Sophie temporarily leaves the team. She asks Tara to fill in for her, which Sophie obliges. But unlike some of her cohorts, Sophie’s goal with drifting is money. This causes tension. But in time, the team learns to trust her.

Tara’s return pays off her relationship with Sophie, coming through and offering support at a difficult time. But it also leans into what viewers hope to see in revivals, which is the return of fan-favorite characters. Ryan doesn’t confirm whether she’d be back for Leverage: Redemption season 4, if the crime drama is renewed, but she does make it clear that she’d be up to playing Tara again if the chance presented itself.

Our Take On Jeri Ryan’s Return To Leverage

The Show Has A Great List Of Guest Stars

With appearances from Robert Blanche, Dave Foley, Richard Kind, Rick Hoffman, and Giancarlo Esposito, the original Leverage has several one-off or minor guest actors that could potentially find their way back for Leverage: Redemption. Knowing when and how to weave in those familiar faces is part of the challenge. But as Ryan’s return proves, it’s very entertaining when done right.

Leverage: Redemption

Release Date

July 8, 2021

Network

Prime Video, IMDb TV, Amazon Freevee

Writers

Marque Franklin-Williams, Mel Cowan, Chuck Maa, Alayna Heim, John Timothy, Christine Boylan

• 
• 

  Gina Bellman

  Sophie Devereaux