6.6 The Hush Heist

Summary and Spoilers

The gang’s stock market con end abruptly when the mark turns out to be a detective inspector. They’ve been targeted by MI6 operative Jennifer Hughes (who is a mate of Mickey’s foe DCI Lucy Britford) to break into a Syrian bank and steal something of high value to the government, in exchange for their freedom. What’s more, they can keep whatever else they find in the twin bank vaults. Mickey agrees, which frees the gang to begin planning the robbery. But at the same time, Mickey is trying to figure out a way to double-cross Britford’s collaborators. He needs to keep a step ahead of them, because, as he suspected, Hughes plans to re-arrest the gang and charge them with bank robbery.

Comments

About halfway through this episode, I just had a very strange twisted thought: is Mickey orchestrating another con on Britford? Is Jennifer Hughes not who she says she is – is she actually in cahoots with Mickey?

Memorable Moments

• The exciting, well-executed, classic bank heist, with a few Hustle twists

Hustle Quotes

Jennifer: Lucy was right about you being a charmer. You know she wanted to screw you.
Mickey: We don’t always get what we want.

Jennfer: Wait. If you already had this [the blackmail tape], why go ahead with the robbery?
Mickey: That part’s easy. You see, there were six bags, not five. Call it a payment for services rendered.

6.5 Conned Out of Luck

Summary and Spoilers

When Mickey gets conned into buying a useless phone via a website, he falls victim to a well-known con curse – he has lost his mojo, his luck. On the flip side, Eddie almost ordered the same phone from the same website, but didn’t because it looked too good to be true. Eddie’s luck has skyrocketed: business is booming, and he even has a stripper working in the bar with him. The gang (except for the skeptic Emma) is convinced that somehow, Mickey’s mojo has been transferred to Eddie.

The only way to reverse the curse is to con the people who sold Mickey the phone. In this case, it is an up-himself charicature named Mervyn Lloyd. He considers himself a visionary, but he’s just an opportunistic entrepreneur – an extremely obnoxious one. The con will be to convince Lloyd that Albert, the venture capitalist, is about to announce a groundbreaking new invention. Disgruntled former employee Sean will lead Lloyd into the trap and make him invest in this non-existent item.

Comments

Sir Richard Branson makes an appearance, playing himself, as an unwitting part of this elaborate con to establish Albert as someone who knows the big players.

Memorable Moments

• Rosie’s (Lloyd’s undervalued assistant/slave) tiny giggle when she sees Lloyd has been conned

Hustle Quotes

"Well, that makes it official. Mickey’s lost his mojo."
- Ash

"As far as I’m concerned, moving forward, young is the new old."
- Mervyn Lloyd

6.4 The Father of Jewels

Summary and Spoilers

Sean bows out in the middle of a switch con, leaving the mark with 50 thousand dollars of the gang’s money, because of a very good reason: the sudden appearance of his dad. If you recall Sean and Emma’s backstory, this is the same dad who left them when Sean was three and Emma five. The difference is, Sean still carries a major grudge. His plan is to con his dad out of 79 thousand pounds – as long as he can run the con. Emma, on the other hand, says that is in the past and she holds no ill feelings. It’s up to Mickey to release her inhibitions.

The con, as planned by Sean, is over-complicated (and real fun to observe). The team is going to convince Rex Kennedy (Sean and Emma’s dad) that there is buried treasure under the property he is about to sell. But a twist occurs that messes with Sean’s mind. The con is being handled immaculately, with one problem: his dad, instead of hording the treasure for himself, keeps feeding information to Sean to make sure that Sean gets his fair share of the treasure.

Comments

This is by far the best episode in a long time: clever and emotional, with great opportunities for everyone in the cast to show their talents. Even Eddie has a small but pivotal role. And in a wonderful tie-up, Sean’s original mis-step – where he neglects to switch cases – it negated with his father, where the entire gang participates in a major case switch.

Memorable Moments

• Everyone eating cake

Hustle Quotes

Sean: Seriously, all this has brought one thing home to me: you know, I could have spent my entire life thinking about a family I missed out on when the whole time, my real family, the people I care about –
Emma: We got you an X-Box as well.
Mickey: Please give it to him before he finishes that speech.

6.3 Tiger Troubles

Summary and Spoilers

When a mark dies, that’s usually enough bad news, but this time it’s much worse. The mark’s brother, Czech Charlie (a known violent type), wants the results of the convincer – 500 thousand pounds. On the good side, the gang have until the end of the week to get it.

Comments

This is a simpler, well-structured plot and con. It’s also a strong idea to have Albert’s life or death dependent on the team pulling off the theft. The weak point in the plot is of course how easy it was for the gang to switch the real tiger with the fake one. One would imagine that when the tiger was about to be moved, there would be a huge group of guards assigned to stay very close, since obviously this is when the item is at its most vulnerable.

Memorable Moments

• The entire cast has a turn at interacting one on one with the stuffed tiger

Hustle Quotes

Emma: I was just so busy ogling the architecture.
Baincross: Yes. I see what you mean.

6.2 The Thieving Mistake

Summary and Spoilers

‘Liability’ Finch latches on to the gang and tries to get them to rescue him from his teeny predicament. It seems he has partially stolen a valuable van Gogh. He thought he was fetching it for a Russian art lover, but it’s more likely that it is for a Russian mafia lover, seeing as the Russian has threatened to park a truck on him if he does not deliver. Mickey is cold and logical, refusing to help, despite Ash’s ambivilence and Sean’s outright disgust at not coming to the aid of a fellow con man. A gung-ho customs agent, Davis, forces Mickey’s hand, trading Sean’s jail term for a promise from the gang to retrieve the painting and clean out Finch as well.

Comments

Your appreciation of this episode will depend on how much leeway you are willing to grant for the plausibility of the over-convoluted con, and how charming you find guest-star Mark Benton (Finch), who gets heaps of screen time.

Hustle Quotes

"Because we’re professionals; because we don’t like prison; and because we don’t work with anyone who has ‘liability’ in their name."
- Mickey, explaining the reasons why they will not work with Finch