Watching – Hustle (2004 – 2012)

If there’s anything I’m a sucker for as much as cozy murder mysteries, it’s a classic heist. I originally stumbled onto Hustle on late night CBC and it was a marvelous surprise. It’s British, snappy, and a great ensemble cast of grifters – the con artist, the old pro, the actress, the fixer, and the mastermind. Honestly, it sounds like a Blades in the Dark party or an Ocean’s Eleven set up.

• Mickey Bricks – The master of the long con, a living legend, and a chameleon of a thousand backstories and always ready with a plan B.
• Ashley Morgan – He’s got the technical know how to get the team what they need, be it fake credentials, a stretch limo, a fully kitted out office space, a hacked security system, you name it and Ash gets it.
• Albert Stroller – The gentleman artist who’s been in the game long enough to see it all, a mentor and a living encyclopedia of any grift worth knowing.
• Stacie Munroe – she’s got charm, savvy, and sex appeal enough to make the mark forget the cunning behind that smile.
• Danny Blue – brash and daring, he’s the young talent who’s mastered the short con and ready for bigger scores.

Each week is a score, a plot unto itself, occasionally with an overarching element for the season like the cop determined to see Mickey put back behind bars. Their guiding principle is to never cheat an honest man, not only as a grifter code of honor but simply because the honest man is that much harder to tempt into the big grift and the con plays right too the mark’s greed. Typically there is an upset or two in the lead up, and just when things look their worst, a flashback sets things up for the crew to walk away triumphantly. There’s enough shown that the viewer gets to play at figuring out what hidden ace will be revealed to save the day and it’s extra gratifying when you see it drop.

I’ll admit I’ve only watched the first couple of seasons but I’m working my way through as many as I can on Prime right now. It’s one of the few shows that I don’t mind the occasional breaking of the fourth wall, as the characters let the audience in on the inner plan. And even when I watch reruns as background noise, the musical score has got a jazzy energy appropriate for any heist movie.

The crew for the first three seasons is consistent, with the occasional extra grifter brought in to play a one and done part. Season 4 there’s a change in cast as one of the actors takes a leave. From the look of it, there’s a few others that change out later on but considering it went on for 8 seasons I’ve got faith that there’s some decent episodes still to come.