(S02E13) "He who sells miracles will have the devil knocking at his door."/"What's that? A proverb?"/"A fortune cookie." - Alec to Parker

Probably the most interesting aspect of 'Leverage', other than Parker's wonderful taste in form fitting dresses, is the way it manages to top itself in small areas.

Not every episode is a home run in every category on the checklist, but it does find new ways to heighten the action, increase the twists and broaden their stories give or take an episode.

This week, the show managed to top something that I didn't think was possible back on 'The Bottle Job' episode: make the mark the biggest, most evil prick of all time. Luke Perry steps into the villain role as a conniving faux-psychic who bilks money out of the grief stricken by not just taking their money, but also by taking "what's still left on the table." He tops off this tower of evil with his nice, cool demeanor that fits the character well and completes it with an evil twin goatee.

It makes him extra evil because he doesn't even have a clean cut twin to counterbalance his evil. I never thought John Edward would have a serious contender to break his winning streak for "The Biggest Douche in the Universe Award."

Things turned a little more dramatic than usual for the team this time. Parker gets emotional when the psychic cold reads a traumatic childhood event from her life and gives her the fuel she needs to take this guy down. Jeri Ryan really stepped up to the plate as a fake clairvoyant pretending to know everyone's future in order to reel Perry's character in and keep him dangling from the hook long enough for the rest of the team to set him up. It's nice to know she's got the chance to play more than hot blonde babes who seduces guys out of their pants for a crack at their wallet.

The twist moment, which comes every episodes but you don't see because you're too busy focusing on imaging the number of horrific ways the evil mark will get what's coming to him, did feel a little weak. Perry's kidnapping at the hands of a bank robber who needs a medium to find his old partner's money stash is something no one could have seen coming. That's because it was so far out there.

But it did set up the mark nicely by forcing him to admit that he's a fraud before the very same people he deceived that not only discredits him and erases any chance he has of going pro, but also gets him arrested before he can do any more harm. Screen fades, credits roll. The end.

Isn't something missing? There was really no subplot exploration about the new team member, the latest on Sophie's whereabouts or how either are affecting the team. Maybe that was so it wouldn't take any focus away from the huge guest star and the rather clever ways the team takes out their mark. Then again, with this show, maybe they are just trying to get your guard down so they can spring a new surprise on you next week. Let's hope so.