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scott-marlowe
Reviews
Hustle: The Con Is On (2004)
The sexiest and most stylish show about the con in a long time!
The premiere episode of Hustle is a great introduction to the crew. In the beginning, it's Albert, the older, gentleman, con-man, Mickey Bricks, the young genius master planner, fresh out of prison, Ashe, the expert, who's been reduced to doing the flop, and Stacy, the femme fatale. Mickey tells them all he's getting them together for one last big score.
The con is crashed by Danny, a young up and comer who seems to always be a heart beat away from being caught. To pay him back for crashing his con, Mickey insists on referring to him as "Mr. Redford" during the con.
This episode has a nice "behind the scenes" feel to it, both from the perspective of the con men and the police inspectors, switching back and forth from one view to the other, letting us become familiar with each side of the con coin, so to speak. For example, near the beginning of the episode, we get to see both the police and the con crew doing a briefing on the upcoming job.
This is one of the slicker and more intricate plots in the series, and it serves well to establish the feel of the show. As usual, there are enough hints for someone who's paying very close attention to figure it out. Barely. Most folks will have to watch it two or three times to see all the hints.
Hustle: The Henderson Challenge (2006)
A battle of wits for the position of leader.
While the team waits a day for a mark to deliver their money, they start looking for something to do, and Danny, as usual, is claiming that he's the better conman than Mickey. Albert puts it to the two of them that they should settle it once and for all with a contest. They'll both be dropped off in the middle of London, naked, with nothing but their wits. Whoever gets back to the apartment with the most money wins.
Sounds simple, right? Of course, as usual, it's never that simple. This is one of the more enjoyable episodes, due in large part to the great chemistry of Danny and Mickey. There aren't a lot of surprises in this episode, but even so, it works, and it works well.