A Heist of a Good Time – Hustle TV Series

I am a big fan of the TV series Leverage, that operates on the premise that a bunch of bad guys can team up and take out even badder guys. (Not sure which series came out first, but I watched Leverage first). I won’t get into the morality of whether two wrongs make a right, but it was entertaining.

In a similar vein, is the TV show Hustle. A rag tag team of grifters and con artists relieve money from the immoral and those who deserve it. Running for eight seasons (each with six episodes), you come through a gamut of folks who will skirt the law to get something they want, only to realize that they have been tricked by the crew.

Led by Mickey Bricks, a long con artist who has never been caught (atleast not for running a con), the team has people playing specific pieces on the grifter chessboard leading to a win for the protagonists.

The team plays by a fixed set of rules and this helps them find “marks” that deserve to have their purse lightened. Each episode introduces us to the character who is either corrupt or commits an heinous act. The team then researches about the mark and finds something that they would pay to obtain (even if they know that the means to get it is illegal). A formula is hatched, executed and before closure, a major spanner is thrown in the works. While you clench your fists and wonder if it has gone south, the team emerge victorious. It is also revealed that they anticipated said obstacle and planned for it.

Well, I must correct that statement. Not all plots result in a victory. There are episodes where the team is left holding an empty bag. There is one where they con a business man operating sweat shops into playing a hero in a Bollywood movie only for him to realize that his amoral ways need to change right away. The crew walk away without taking his money. In another instance, they end up getting conned by another con man and he collects the money instead. This makes the show more authentic. No one has a 100% success rate. You anticipate victory, even if things seam bleak and the reveal is what makes the show interesting. However, there are instances where you wonder how on earth did Mickey and the team anticipate a really obscure possibility. I feel that this is a minor flaw, that comes with the genre.

What seems formulaic in episode execution on paper, didn’t feel that way as I watched through the seasons fairly quickly. The stories are different enough and the execution of the cons vary enough to never seem repetitive. From marks that are behind titles to the mafia running a Vegas casino, it is always different. The team has run ins with cops, some crooked and end up becoming the targets themselves.

On to the cast, the actors play their parts to perfection – whether it is Mickey Bricks (Adrian Lester) being the level headed and calm even when the odds are against the team. Ash Morgan (Robert Glenister) playing the fixer and the only person on the team with a street name has all the right connections and is able to build or source stuff for the team. Albert (Robert Vaughn) plays the roper who finds the marks through his connections in various clubs. Danny and Stacy (in the earlier seasons) who give way to Emma and Sean also do a fantastic job in bringing the team together. They all share a great camaraderie and have an amazing rapport, that leads to humorous scenes. The constant teasing of Eddie (the bar owner where the gang hang out) or the way Danny conducts himself as a know-it-all, are all moments that make the series truly enjoyable.

The cast toss-up from Season 5 brought a brother-sister duo into the fold with the story that Danny and Stacie are running cons in the USA (where season 4 ended). The new cast fit right in, but I liked the original cast just a little better.

If you ask me why you should invest time in watching a show from over 20 years ago (sometimes with technology that has been made obsolete), I just have a simple answer – It is fun. The show doesn’t take itself too seriously. It doesn’t try to preach, the only time it does is in the last episode where the crew get ready to ride into the sunset and leave the audience with sage advice to prevent getting conned.