Hustle: Confessions (Season Two, Episode 2)

BBC's Hustle portrays the exploits of a gang of con artists working in London (although in later seasons they branch out to different locales a bit).  There's actually three different shows, as leader Mickey Stone (Adrian Lester) sat out the fourth season. When he returned for season 5, other cast regulars Danny Blue (Marc Warren ) and Stacie Monroe (Jaime Warren) left the shows, forcing the producers to overhaul the show with the addition of two new faces.  It's an indication of how tight the show is that it's managed to survive three distinct incarnations without any drop in quality.

Tonight's episode is from Season Two, a very srong episode from an overall strong season.   Peter Keyes, is a former convict turned celebrity chef racked with guilt over the loss of his infant son to abductors. Enter Danny, pretending to be said son, in a scam that echoes the real life Tichborne Claimant case. We're led to believe that Danny is trying to get Keyes to give him the money to set up his own restaurant, but of course that would be too simple.  Althought there's the usual humour and visual inventiveness, what sets this episode apart is the unexpectedly sensative performance by Marc Warren as Danny Blue. Usually he plays brash, obnoxious chavs, but in "Confessions" he brings a vulnerableness to the fake heir role that really stretches his range.  The conclusion is both satisfying and poignant (for how the con plays out, you'll have to watch for yourself).

The main weakness of the episode, as with most of the early seasons, is the stilted and forced "flirting" between Danny and Stacie, which is taken to embarassing lengths when they are forced to spend the night at Keyes home overnight under the guise of being engaged. Jaime Murrays strident "east end" accent is also fairly annoying throughout--neither she nor Warren's talent for accents ever raises to the level of the other cast members, or their replacements.