Nathan "Nate" Ford
Mastermind
Real Name	Nathan Ford
Known Aliases	Tom Baker Peter Davison Sylvester McCoy Jimmy Papadokalis Bob Gibson
Family	Maggie (Ex-Wife) Sam Ford (Son, deceased) Jimmy Ford (Father) Mother (deceased)
Adversaries	James Sterling Ian Blackpoole
Portrayed by	Timothy Hutton

“	Incredibly, chance does seem to bend itself to his bizarre machinations.	”
— Sophie Devereaux, The Second David Job

Nate Ford is an insurance investigator and the leader of the Leverage team. Good-looking and still sharp, despite the layers of insomnia and hangover damage he's accumulating as fast as he can. Nate was an expert at recovering stolen items...until the insurance company he worked for, I.Y.S. Insurance refused to pay for his 8-year-old son Sam's "experimental" treatment. When his son died a couple of years ago, Nate went on the skids. In the pilot, Victor Dubenich hires him as the one honest man to keep a group of thieves in check. Now, Nate leads the team to right injustices, funded by their unique take on "alternate revenue stream". He has a long catch-and release history with Sophie, who is the only team member he selected himself. He is immature in the respect that he cannot bring himself to discuss their relationship. Even when Sophie threatens to leave the Leverage team, he is unwilling to admit his feelings.

He grew up in Boston, Massachusetts.

Contents 1 Skills 1.1 Languages 2 Weaknesses 3 Accomplishments 4 Relationships with Other Characters 4.1 Sophie Devereaux 4.2 Alec Hardison 4.3 Parker 4.4 Eliot Spencer 4.5 Other Characters 4.5.1 Jim Sterling 4.5.2 Maggie Collins 4.5.3 Jimmy Ford 5 Trivia 5.1 Vehicles 5.2 Books Seen in Nate's Apartment 6 Links 7 Comments

Skills Edit

• Vast knowledge in a variety of areas, thanks to his experience as an insurance investigator:
  • Can read complicated sheet music (e.g. Scheherazade)
  • Hypnotism
• Roping (identifying a mark) and in turn identifying potential clients.
• Can play "The Inside Man", in a long con, often as himself; but occasionally uses an alias. Most often he plays the "Mastermind".
• Planning and Coordination (Nathan is very familiar with the strengths and weaknesses of each of the members of the Leverage Team and manages them to success.)
• Minimum pickpocket ability

LanguagesEdit

• Spanish
• Serbian
• Russian
• Italian
• Hebrew

Weaknesses Edit

• Addictive personality
  • Alcoholism
  • Control issues
• Inability to emote personal feelings

AccomplishmentsEdit

• Successfully recovered a stolen Monet painting, in Florence, saving I.Y.S. 25 million dollars
• Successfully spoiled a huge Identity Fraud scam, saving I.Y.S. 15 million dollars
• Caught Sophie Devereaux in Damascus
• Successfully brought down Mr. Gutman, a notorious black market dealer, in 2005.
• At one point in time chased everyone who now works on his team.

Relationships with Other Characters Edit

Nate serves as a father figure to the rest of the team, with exception of Sophie. He has sometimes called them "children". Most of all, they look to him to make the major decisions.

Sophie DevereauxEdit

If Nathan is the father of the team, Sophie is the mother. Often the two of them disagree, but usually because of the personal issues between them. There is obviously a subtext in their relationship before Season 1. Though Sophie admitted that Nathan never cheated on his wife; while he said he was tempted.

In "The Maltese Falcon Job", Nate admits, even if it is just to himself, that Sophie is his compass.

In "The San Lorenzo Job", Nate and Sophie wake up in bed together after the job, hinting they slept together.

Alec HardisonEdit

As Hardison is the most immature member of the team, he gets a lot of attention from Nathan. Nathan and Hardison often work side by side when he is not in the field with Eliot or Parker. Nathan does have a knack for keeping Hardison focused, usually by giving him new and interesting challenges.

ParkerEdit

Like Hardison, Parker is very child-like on the team. But Nathan leaves the discipline of Parker to Sophie. However, Nathan uses Parker like a well tuned machine. He tells her to do something and she delivers with perfect execution; sometimes at elevated risk, which worries Sophie.
In "The Inside Job", Nathan finds himself at odds with Archie Leach, as both of them are trying to be a protective father figure to Parker, simultaneously, when she is trapped on the job. When the choice of fight (Nate) or flight (Archie) is presented to Parker, she sides with Nate, thus justifying their relationship. Nate usually sees Parker as a playful child. He is like a strict father to her but rewards her now and then.

Eliot SpencerEdit

Eliot is like the oldest son. He questions Nathan the most, not out of defiance but out of concern (either because Nathan may be impaired, or the mission may be compromised.) Nathan trusts Eliot to work independently, and trusts Eliot's skills and street smarts on the con.

Other CharactersEdit

Jim SterlingEdit

If Nathan had a rival, it is Sterling. Parker considers Sterling the "Evil Nate". Even in I.Y.S., the two were rivals. In "The Zanzibar Marketplace Job", the two work together again, and we see an interesting pairing. Nate is still the mastermind, but Sterling is willing to take measures that Nate will avoid.

Maggie CollinsEdit

Even after their divorce, Maggie and Nathan are still in touch. She informed him that Father Paul was attacked and injured. It is clear that Nathan still cares for her, probably because she left him, and he did not leave her. She does like the man that Nate has become, but she has a hard time trusting him.

Later, Nate brings her into the Leverage Consulting & Associates team, as an ally, to take down Ian Blackpoole, their former boss.
Later, in Kiev, Nate comes to her rescue when she is set up in the theft of a Faberge Egg.

Jimmy FordEdit

The relationship between father and son is frayed at best. In his youth, Nathan learned what it was like to be a bad guy from his father. He then tried to be a good guy, and ended up being a Gray guy (A good guy who behaves like a bad guy). In "The Three-Card Monte Job", Nate moves between nostalgia and vengeful feelings when dealing with his father. But in the end, as he runs his father out of town, his father expresses his pride in his son, who beat him at his own game.

Trivia Edit

• Has been in Jail and can mess with people's minds.
• Nathan has been shot at least four times, once by Sophie Devereaux, once by Judge Roy, once by Tony Kadjic and another by Victor Debenich.
• According to his browsing history, Nathan enjoys online poker, chess, Sudoku and crossword puzzles.
• Attended Catholic Seminary with Father Paul before becoming an insurance investigator.
• On more than one occasion, Nathan's working alias is Tom Baker which is a reference to the television show Doctor Who.
• When he was eight years old, he had a crush on a classmate named Emily.
• According to his Netflix queue, Nate is a fan of The Rockford Files, Sex in the City, and Psych.
• In "The Zanzibar Marketplace Job", Nates cell phone number is (617) 555-0156. (617 is a Boston Metro Area area code).
• His deceased mother's maiden name is Logue.

VehiclesEdit

• His personal vehicle is a silver Hyundai Genesis, in Season 1. In Season 2 he drives a black one. These were provided by Hyundai as product placement. In Seasons 3 and 4, he drives a black Mercedes.
• In "The Homecoming Job", Nate is seen driving a Tesla Motors Roadster.

Books Seen in Nate's ApartmentEdit

• "Naval Operations of the Revolutionary War"
• "The Died In Vain: The Battle of White Plains"
• "The Collected Correspondence of Thomas Jefferson and John Adams"

Links Edit

• TNT Profile