TVSquad

(S03E06) This was another great episode, but I was kind of disappointed finale-wise. The characters didn't develop any further, the story's complications weren't much more intricate than those of the previous episodes, and the sexual tension was still virtually untouched (hasn't really been talked about since Season One). I guess this is because each and every episode wraps up really nicely so that, even if you watch them out of order, everything still makes sense. I want Hustle to do something extreme for once. Have the gang royally screw something up! Have a con go horribly wrong, resulting in the death of a member's loved one and the eventual crippling depression of the aforementioned member. Something.

Anyway, this episode started off with Stacie and Mickey wrapping up a con. Just as they got the money, Danny stormed in and pretended to steal it, even "shooting" Mickey in the process. The high-class mark panicked and fled the scene, but not before quickly thanking Mickey for everything and vowing to hunt down Danny. Stacie, Danny, and a totally intact Mickey returned to their flat with their spoils. As soon as they arrived, they found policemen inside, gripping a search warrant and their huge suitcase full of cash. When the main cop, York, opened the suitcase, he revealed several bricks of cocaine. Ah. Another crooked cop. York forced the gang to cooperate with him in the capture of The Ghost, aka Adam Rice, an infamously elusive burglar. The gang complied after York threatened drug charges and held Albert as collateral. We learned that York was just in it for the fame... He liked having his face in the papers every time he caught a high-profile crook.

Mickey and Danny found out that Adam was a keen skydiving enthusiast so they sought him out that way. Danny was scared shitless and was only doing it for Albert. Ah, it was adorable. Eventually, they revealed to Adam that they were con artists and were looking to help Adam out with his next theft. They offered to help enhance his profits by duplicating his stolen item and selling the copies to multiple buyers, claiming authenticity. Adam initially refused but, after unexpectedly popping up in the gang's flat (like, really IN the flat... 'cause he had to check them out), he agreed.

We kept cutting back to York in his office, listening to the gang's conversations through headphones. We weren't told that the gang knew they were being bugged, but these guys are always on the ball. And Albert was clearly up to something, because during one of Stacie's visits, she asked him if he needed anything and the camera cut away before he could really answer specifically. Duh. Something was in the works.

Adam informed the gang of his upcoming plans to steal an old Hans Christian Anderson manuscript. They went through the plans and put everything in order. To Danny's dismay, the only way they could get past the electric fence was to skydive and parachute onto the actual property. Nice. Stacie came along to distract the guards (playing the sexy angle... again) and Ash cut off the alarms. When the failsafe kicked in, the show went all "24 real-time" for a moment. It was kind of cool. Adam, Mickey, and Danny managed to get the manuscript and, just as he was out of earshot, Mickey called up York to tell him to come by. Of course, by the time York swung by, another set of local police had come (they had heard that the alarm was disabled). The gang made it out just in time to sneak back into their cells. York ended up looking like a complete idiot when he tried accusing the gang of burglary, only to come back and find them in their cells. He looked like an even bigger fool when he showed the local police the gang's briefcase of cocaine, only to find out that it was only vanilla sherbet. What. The. Fuck.

Aaaaand flashback to all the twists and turns. Albert had befriended his guard in jail by pretending to be really bad at cards. So, after the guard started taking a liking to him, he wasn't strict at all and even let Albert play cards with him in the storeroom. Albert had Stacie turn in a giant teddy bear filled with several kilos of vanilla sherbet to the police's Lost and Found, which he found in the storeroom and exchanged with the briefcase's cocaine. While Stacie was turning in the teddy bear (she was in disguise, of course), she overheard York walking through the station, talking about things that he would only have known if he was eavesdropping on the gang's conversations. When she got back to the flat, she handed around a note reading "We're bugged". So, they knew exactly what they were doing all along, with no intention of screwing over Adam, who was actually a pretty nice guy.

And at the very end, they were with Adam, waiting for one of his buyers. Adam had to leave early, leaving the gang to deal with the situation. The buyer ended up being the guy from the con at the beginning of the episode, so everyone made a run for it. Roll credits.

Ohh, c'mon. Couldn't that guy have shot all of them or something? Now that would have been a cliff-hanger ending to the episode. I really do like watching the program, but I never feel like I'm eagerly anticipating every new episode because there's nothing that needs to be resolved from the previous week. If they make a fourth season, I think they should make a few changes and start focusing a little more on the characters, make a few changes.