Hustle: Season 2 (Hustle - The Complete Season 2 (DVD))

Member Name: cool_dude

Product:	Hustle - The Complete Season 2 (DVD)
Date:	31/05/09 (37 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Very Creative Show, Incredible Characters

Disadvantages: None

Hustle is a crime drama TV-series started in 2004. This show is aired in UK on BBC one. In 2002 Bharat Nalluri proposed the idea to make this happen and he inscribed Tony Jordan as a script writer. Matthew Graham is co-writer of the show. This show has totaled 5 seasons. Each season consists of 6 episodes of 60 minutes, so we have 30 episodes. Fifth season of this show ended this February and sixth season will come in 2010. This is the story of crew of 5 members who believe in long cons and in each episode they find a mark to play a con. The product I am going to write on is Hustle the complete Season 2. The second season was started in 2005 and has total 6 episodes.

Star Cast:
We have 6 main characters in this season. Five of them are part of the crew and sixth one is friend of them. He is not part of the crew but he owns a bar and this bar is the place where they used to hangout. All five con artists are called grifters and each one has different set of skills.

Adrian Lester portrays Michael Stone. He is the leader of the crew and also known as Mickey Bricks.

Robert Vaughn plays a role of Albert Stroller. He is the oldest member of the crew and work as a roper, which means that he finds a mark. All crew members call him Albie.

Marc Warren portrays Daniel Blue AKA Danny Blue. He is the newest member of the crew. He wants to learn from the great Mickey Bricks and his dream is to lead his own crew.

Robert Glenister plays a role of Ashley Morgan. All crew members call him Ash but he is also known as Three Socks. He works as a fixer. He is an engineer and technically genius person.

Jaime Murray portrays Stacie Monroe. She is the only female member in the crew and all members call him Stace. She has got very pretty face.

Rob Jarvis plays a role of Eddie. He owns a bar called Eddie's Bar. He is very good friend of them. He has got very innocent face.

My Opinion on Theme of the Show:
The story is very similar of all episodes. I think I have described the role of each member. Now in each episode Albert finds a mark. Mark is a person who is rich, greed and crazy about something, who can spend lots of money for the thing he is crazy for. They don't cheat an honest man because according to them the first rule of the con is "You can't cheat an honest man." They find a mark who wants something for nothing and they give them nothing for something. So these are the characteristics of the mark. Now after finding a mark they gather together the place where they live and Mickey describes everything about a mark and ask crew to find the history of the mark. After this discussion Mickey comes up with the plan and finds the hole from where they can dig in. Mickey and Danny plays insider and tries to convince the mark. Stacie fits in any role but most of the time its work is to seduce the mark. As a fixer Ash arranges everything they need like creating fake website, office, magazines, disabling security or alarm system. He is very good at such things. So after getting in all this trouble they finally make fool and make money from the mark. At the end of the episode you can see them at Eddie's bar celebrating and giving toast to each other.

So this is the outline of each episode. Most of the episodes go like this. What I have to say is that the outline seems pretty obvious and common. But this is very different and great from others. I mean the way they finds mark, they way they convince and make fool, I just love them. In most of the episodes they play a con but in some episodes they also steal something. Such kind of episodes makes me feel like oceans eleven or mission impossible. First they find the map of buildings and gather information about security system. They come up with fantastic plan, break the security system, get into the building and finally steal the object. It's pretty much like oceans eleven. I like the plot of the show because there is hardly anything that distracts from the main plot. In first ten minutes they find the mark and gathers information. So first ten minutes you will hardly understand anything. Then after they execute a plan by convincing him and here comes the best part of the show. In last ten minutes they show how they did all things? I like that part most because this part shows what and they did in episode. Actually those are the concealed secrets that we get to know in the end. You start thinking this will happen, that will happen and finally you will see something else that you can't even imagine. All episodes are full of surprises and twists. Sometimes there are some comic scenes in the middle of the episode. Actually they are much related to the con or made for fun. Most of the time Danny is the part of the comic scenes but sometimes they also tricks the innocent man Eddie. Believe me its total fun. Apart from this we see great cooperation and love between all members of the crew. All are ready to help each other. They are cheating but they have their own rules and they are stick to that.

Character and Performances:
Michael Stone
He is also known as Mickey Bricks and Mick. He is the leader of the Crew and always plays an inside man. He is very confident and intelligent man. There is a little bit history why he is running this crew. His father is honest man and his dream is to live life happily after retirement. Mickey saw his father died prior to the retirement and he don't want to live he life struggling like his father. He is married but because of his lifestyle his wife gave him divorce paper to sign. He learned the tricks from Albert Stroller and he believes in long con rather than short con. He is master of long cons. He is precise and patient man. He never loses his patience even if he sees that something may go wrong. He comes with a plan without any holes and that's the best thing about him. He thinks that nothing is impossible and he makes a plan in such a way that they are always one step ahead of the mark. Adrian Lester plays this role perfectly. I think you have seen him in The Day After Tomorrow. In very first episodes it seems that he is new in this field but as show goes on you will see that he is getting better and better. The way he smile and deliver dialogs. I just love his style. He gets his own attitude and class.

Albert Stroller
He is also known as Albie and he is roper. He is the senior most member of the crew. His job is to find a mark that is rich and greedy. Once he was a shoe salesman in America and now he is a grifter. He looks like a gentleman. No one can beat him in card game. He is like a mentor of the crew. When he sees a mark he can't stop himself. They way he finds the mark and convinces him. Again I love his style. His style is very distinguishing and shrilling. So this is something about Albert. Robert Vaughn plays this role and I think he is at his best. He is Oscar nominee and I have seen him in superman 3 as a villain.

Ashley Morgan
He is also known as Ash and Three Socks. He got this name in prison. He spends his life doing short cons. His favorite con is to step down in front of moving car. He is old friend of Mickey Bricks and in very first episode he called him for one big shot. He is now a fixer in the crew and I believe that he can do anything. Honestly speaking anything. He is technical genius. You need a man to disable the alarm system and laser, Ash is there. You need to build a fake website or want a new office, Ash is there. He can do anything from convincing mark to learn foreign language to acquire foreign currency. I like his art of rerouting the CCTV cameras. I can say he got brains and he is the one who soils the wheels. He is expert in everything. In the role of Ashley Morgan we have Robert Glenister. I have never seen him before but again he is incredible as Ash.

Daniel Blue
He is also known as Danny Blue. He is short con artist who believes in picking pockets and wants to learn the art of con from the great Mickey Bricks. He joined crew in very first episode and think that Mickey is the one who can teach him anything. After proving himself he is now a permanent member of the team. Even he is team leader in the fourth season. Actually he thinks that his place is not like any other member in the crew so he challenges Mickey's confidence and gets a chance to lead this crew. Actually sometimes he did not pay attention when con is going on and Mickey doesn't like this. He is unpredictable, brilliant man and he has guts. I love his British accent of speaking. I put subtitles because of him. He adds little bit comic scenes in the show. You can see him flirting with Stacie and other girls. Marc Warren is perfect for this role. I have seen him before in Hooligans and in TV-Series Band of Brothers.

Stacie Monroe
She is only female in the crew and she is also knows as Stace. His work is to seduce the mark by her sex appeal. She usually impresses others as a part of con. If crew is running out of capital then she always play a short con to increase the fund. She got a pretty face and she looks very beautiful. She always wears formals. She is also intelligent and has got everything that need to be a grifter. I can say she is beauty with brains. She is divorced and his husband was a grifter. Danny always tries to flirt and impress her but she is more attracted towards Mickey. Jaime Murray portrays this role. It's her first major role in TV-series and she has to go long way.

Eddie
He is the owner of the bar and this bar is the place to hangout for crew. You always find them in his bar. They always play short cons and make him fool. Sometimes he also takes part in the con. He wants to be a grifter like them and want to learn lesson from Albert. Rob Jarvis plays this role and add some funny scenes to the show. He makes you laugh throughout the show.

This part of review is directly taken from my review Hustle: The Complete Season 1-4. Actually the characters are same so there is no need to write again and again. One more thing I would like to add in this. After watching two three episodes you start liking all characters. If I ask you who the best character among them is, then you will find it very difficult to answer. If same question is for me then I will scratch my head first and start thinking for some time. Finally I will say Mickey, no no Danny, I think Albert, no its Ash or may be Stacie. See I am confused. I love all characters and in my opinion every character is different, important and likeable.

Cons in Season 2:
Episode 1: Gold Mine- an old friend of the crew tries to con one business man and he gets caught because he already knows the trick. This time Danny came up with a plan to sell him a gold mine in London knowing that he already knows the trick.

Episode 2: Confessions- in this episode they con a restaurant owner whose son is missing from long time. Danny portrays his son in the episode.

Episode 3: The Lesson- in this episode Danny finds a new partner and he wants to be a part of the crew. They play a con to sell a green note of $1000 to a person who lives in Switzerland.

Episode 4: Missions- in this episode police arrests them for conning someone. They make a deal with her. The plan is to sell a forge artwork at the auction and after completing the sale she will take half of it. See the episode to know how the crew does that?

Episode 5: Old Acquaintance- this episode is based on revenge of Stacie. Her husband wants to be in relationship again. Her husband is the best poker player in the town. The con is to clean his account by defeating him in poker game.

Episode 6: Eyes of the Beholder- in this episode they plan to steal the diamond of crown jewels which is largest diamond in the world. This is going to be the biggest theft of past 200-300 years.

This season is the best season among all. The reason is simple. All of its episodes are brilliant. I am not saying that all other episodes of the shows are not worth watching. Every episode of the show is worth watching. See if I give 9.5/10 rating to some episodes then I give 8.5/10 to some episodes in other seasons. Those episodes are very few. In season two I will give greater than 9 to each episode. They deserve it because the cons are wonderfully created. All cons are done very cleverly and keep audience in the dark till flashbacks show what was really happened. Good thing about their con is that they take everything in the account and they always have a plan B. they are scamming people and nothing can be done because they plays their cons so cleverly that there is no evidence. The best two episodes in this season are Eyes of the Beholder and The Lesson. Actually they are my all time favorite and best two among all seasons. These are more effective and efficient than others. These are my personal favorite episodes because as usual cons are great in both episodes. The thing that put these episodes on top is that you will see something and get something else. In Eyes of the Beholder they are going to commit a crime of the century. So you can imagine how difficult task it is but the way they completed this task is breathtaking. Count your heart beats I bet it will be more than usual. In episode The Lesson you will hardly find anything that is seems from whose episode. You can't even imagine what is going to happen and you can't take off your eyes from the show.

I want to throw a light on one new technique of freezing frames that they used throughout the show. While convincing the mark if crew feels that something wrong can go on then all characters freezes on the screen except crew. They discuss how to get on him and again it goes like as usual. I like this thing because it's new and I have never seen such kind of thing. Another thing I like is that sometimes actors' smiles and winks in front of camera.

Conclusion:
This season of the show is mind blowing. This is great and thrilling roller coaster ride and I already experienced this ride twice. This show describes the true meaning of Hustle. This show needs lots of creativity and imagination, and season 2 proves that they put lots of efforts in creating this show. Acting by all actors is worth watching and chemistry between them is tremendous. All episode of this season are stylish. The pace of story is fast and cons are written in wise manner. The cast and characters are invoking and likeable. It is not necessary to watch season 1 before watching season 2 but each and every episode is distinct and presents a different con. Don't miss this show. Personally I am recommending this show to all. That's all I can give you. Thanks for reading.

Summary: Mindblowing show