TVSquad

(S03E01) Ahh, what a way to start off a season. Hustle hasn't lost any of its steam. The stories are just as twisted as ever and the stylistic aspects have gotten even better. It's really a visually stunning program. This episode was very smart and extremely funny (this was mostly due to the fact that several of the British actors attempted to utilize American accents and ebonics... at the same time). The episode started with Mickey, Ash, Danny, and Stacie working a short con, the Jamaican Switch, for some extra cash while Albert attempted to rope in a new mark. The short con worked perfectly, but just as Albert got his mark right where he needed him, the mark had a heart attack and had to go to the hospital.

Albert called for an ambulance and took the mark to the hospital. There was no way they could go on with this man in poor health, but the gang was desperate for some money (especially after they had to go on the run and live in a shabby place, thanks to Danny's screw-up with a case of all their money in Las Vegas). Danny even started slipping Eddie counterfeit money. Lucky for Albert, he overheard a man bitching at a hospital worker for being asked to move his Bentley from the ambulance bay. Albert worked his magic and became friends with the angry man, Benny Frazier.

Albert presented the information to the gang (sans their usual slide projector, poor things): Frazier is a bar-owner but makes most of his money when he allows Eastern Europeans to be smuggled through during his alcohol shipments. His weakness is his 17 year-old son, Joey, whom he absolutely adores. The son happens to be a rap fanatic and wants to become a chart-topping star. So, Albert told Frazier that he knew a music manager (Danny) that might be able to check out Joey's star power.

The first step was completed when Stacie walked into the bathroom during Danny's tub-time. She recorded him singing (off-key) the theme from Rawhide and then mailed out the "demo" to several major record labels. Of course, they all responded with, "Don't call us, we'll call you", but Stacie now had the letterheads for all the major record labels. The next step took place when Albert introduced Danny (now known as Terry) to Benny at one of Joey's performances. Joey's an untalented brat and his father is absolutely vicious when it comes to his son's success, but Danny/Terry and Albert feign interest anyway. Joey was not particularly interested in being signed by some dude in a suit (people from the ghetto don't wear suits, he explained, reminding me very much of Ali G) until Danny/Terry dropped the hint that he could get Joey into the MOBO Awards (he caught a glimpse of Joey looking over a magazine article about it).

Thanks to some quick thinking by Ash, Danny/Terry managed to bring Joey and his parents to the Awards. Danny rocked the red carpet simply by acting like a star with no time for questions. Next, Mickey and Stacie showed up on the carpet, looking like complete rap stars. Mickey looked something like a P. Diddy figure (he had a Diddy-esque hat and puffy jacket), but Stacie looked kind of ridiculous and she did what looked like a "Live Long and Prosper". Nooot quite West Side, darling. Oh well. She's hot so she can do whatever the hell she wants.

Danny/Terry introduced the family to Mickey/Damien, a producer for stars like Beyonce and Jay-Z, and his lady friend, Stacie/Missy (who greeted them with a simple, "Respect"... Good lord, it was ridiculous). Mickey's accent was somewhat decent but Stacie sounded half-Jamaican... I guess the British viewers are more likely to overlook a wonky American accent. Anyway, they hooked Joey into doing a single.

I was pleasantly surprised to see the extremely funny Tim Plester (writer of short films such as Ant Muzak, starring The Office's Mackenzie Crook) as the owner of a recording studio. Stacie pretended to be an investigator and she busted him for pot. After threatening to report him, she had the recording studio at her disposal. Joey bumped out a single (a heavy beat, layered with lyrics that all ended with "generation", "determination", "station", blah blah blah) and the gang managed to make it look like he had broken into the big time with posters and radio time.

Later, the gang pretended that their original financial backing screwed up and they needed some cash immediately to continue Joey's work with Grifter Records (yeah, that's right). Of course, Frazier offered his money at his house. Little did they know, Frazier's father-in-law was in the other room, taking it easy after his heart attack. Ahh! It was the guy from the beginning of the episode. He recognized Albert, but revealed to his daughter that he knew him as a different name. After the group left, the wife told Frazier what had happened. They were on to the con. They called for some back-up to stay at their house, ready to pounce once everyone came back to finish the transaction.

Back at Eddie's Bar, Danny received a phone call from Frazier's wife, inviting everyone to come back and celebrate with a bottle of champagne. Danny politely obliged but couldn't help but feel a little strange after hanging up. The wife was absolutely "cold as a cucumber" through the whole thing, but she was suddenly gushing over Danny. He revealed his suspicions to the rest of the group, but Mickey insisted that there weren't any possible holes in the plan for them to catch on to (I mentally shouted at the television, "Except the freakin' 'Grifter Records' bit!") so they decided to go anyway. Once they got there, everyone was seriously beat down. Ash was the only one not inside (because he was always playing a "behind-the-scenes" role) and, after a few minutes of anxiety, he stepped in... to the police station?

So, the police came in and busted Frazier for smuggling in immigrants. They tracked him with marked bills (they demonstrated by pulling some money from the suitcase and scanning it). The cops took everyone (and the cash) in. Once I saw that the Fraziers got into one car and the gang into another, I knew something was up. Turned out that Mickey wanted them to go in anyway BUT with a back-up plan. Ash pulled a few (okay, several) tricks with the police to get a hold of some uniforms and cars. All the cops were actually grifters (and poor Eddie) in disguise. One car took the gang to safety, while the other car was driven by Ash. The Fraziers bribed him with jewelry to get them out, so Ash pocketed a couple extra thousand in jewelry for letting them free.

And at the end of the episode, the gang decided to rent out a much nicer flat belonging to the boss of one of Eddie's friends. Good ending.