I’ve been watching a show called “Hustle” lately.  It’s a BBC show (figures) and I actually quite like it.  If you’ve ever watched TNT’s “Leverage”, it’s basically like that except they’re British, it’s a bit more humorous, and there is no fourth wall at all.  If you like thieves and have nothing to watch, check it out.  It has 8 seasons, but there are only 6 episodes per season.  Not that bad.  I’m on season 6 right now.

The show follows a group of con artists, headed by Mickey Stone in all the seasons except for one.  It’s quite interesting, actually.  The main cast changes up around season 3 and usually, that ruins a show.  However, “Hustle” manages to pull it with a flourish, keeping its playful, light-hearted tone with its new characters.  I mean some people might disagree and Stacey and Danny will always have a special place in my heart, but Emma and Sean aren’t that bad.  I do kind of wish they would bring up Stacey and Danny a little more.  I wouldn’t mind some comparisons between Danny and Sean since they are training up Sean like they did with Danny and look at how he succeeded!

The real gems of the show, though, those are Albert Stroller and Ash Morgan hands down.  I love them so much.  Albert is so adorable and always has something up his sleeve.  Never doubt him because you will always be wrong.  He charms greedy businessmen and prison guards alike and what he wants, he gets.  How can you not love him?  He would be the best Grandpa ever!  As for Ash, he would be that Uncle that got you everything.  And I mean everything.  “Oh!  The Mona Lisa?  No Problem!”  Alright, maybe not exactly, but he is genius with the way he figures out the details of the con.

My absolute favorite thing about this show is the lack of a 4th wall.  The characters literally pause in the middle of the show to turn to us and explain things.  They tell us the rules and point out facts that we might have missed.  And when they do something particularly clever, they wink at us.  Love it.

I suppose the only problem is that I’m starting to find the cons a bit obvious.  Of course, that might be because I love thieves.  I mean I watched “Leverage” and “White Collar”.  I’ve even read books on cons.  I guess in a way I’ve seen it all which is why I can call some of their shenanigans before they pull it off.  There was one episode with a painting what couldn’t be moved.  I spotted that one a mile away.  Well, maybe not a mile, but half an hour before the episode ended.

Still, give it a shot.  It’s actually a pretty funny show.  And the characters are absolutely charming.