Hustle
– Danny: …..25’000£!
– Mickey: Hmm, so how is it going, Danny?
– Danny: What?
– Mickey: The score. How do you think it’s going on a scale of say one to ten?
– Danny: Well I thought it’s going ok.
– Mickey: So what? Nine maybe?
– Danny: Nine-ish? … no?
– Mickey: Ask your question!
– Victim: How do you know how much money is in the case?
– Danny: Haven’t been counted yet?
– Mickey: *shakes the head*
– Danny: Shit!
– Mickey and Danny:*running away*
Danny and Mickey are con-artists. Normally nothing goes wrong, an if, Mickey has always a plan-B. Mickey and his crew are specialized in long-cons. First they look for a marked (victim). Then they analyze the weaknesses and the behavior of the victim. Then they create a fake scenario in which the victim feels in control and thinks he or she will make a excellent deal. And finally when the victim has paid lots of money the scammers disappear. To ensure that the victim doesn’t report them to police they always pick people which are involved in illegal deals. So the victim won’t go to the police because he or she has to hide his or her own doings. ‘You can’t cheat a honest man’.
BBC’s Hustle (IMDb, Wikipedia) is like Ocean’s Eleven in serial. It’s all about tricking the victims, having clever plans etc. So Hustle hasn’t a great story and isn’t a touching drama. Its a lightweight show which is just a pleasure to watch. It absolutely doesn’t require any knowledge of previous episodes, so you can jump into any episode and have fun. Like typical crime-shows Hustle is pretty limited in variety, but nevertheless it entertains with each episode.
One of the unusual things is, that the show breaks the fourth wall all the time. Often a actor just blinks into the camera. Sometimes an actor explains something to the audience or the whole scene freezes in matrix-style and the actors walk around in it.
For far five seasons have been aired and a sixth season is announced.
Star-O-Meter:
(4.5/5)
Trailer Season 4:
Time-frozen-scene:
Dog-con: