The first-half of last night's two-hour Leverage season premiere was titled "The Jailhouse Job" and it got the show off to a great start.

It was wonderful to see Nate and each team member doing what they do best.

There were a few new surprises already, the biggest being Sophie’s announcement that she was only going by her real name, and that Nate had not earned the right to know it yet. I see this coming up as a recurring theme for several episodes. Another was the mysterious and sexy Italian woman who offered Nate and his team a job, or should I say blackmailed Nate and his team into a job. I really do like that we will have an over-arching plot for the season.

What I find most enjoyable about Leverage are the small flashbacks where we see how something that was done earlier played into the overall success of the mission. It’s like a fast-moving game of “where’s Waldo” where you watch and episode to see if you can spot the items that are going to come into play during the reveal. I really enjoy that almost all the items in the “reveal” at the end have been shown previously, you just didn’t know it.

When I tried to describe the show to my mother, she didn’t really follow the idea. So I tried another way. I said, “Have you seen Ocean's 11?” Yes, she replied. “Then think of this show as Ocean's 5," I said.

Lastly, one part of the story that worries me is Nate’s drinking. First season he was drunk a lot, second season he got sober. They even made a big deal in the episode “The Bottle Job” about Nate drinking to sell the con as he had not been drinking up to that point.

I truly hope the writers understand the seriousness of a drinking problem and write accordingly. I guess that is the sign of great writing in a show, when you worry about one of the characters.

So what did you think of this episode? How long do you think Sophie will withhold her real name from Nate? Should Nate be getting back on the wagon? Comment away now!

Jim G. is a TV Fanatic Staff Writer. Follow him on Twitter.