Hustle: The Complete Fourth Season

The loveable rogues of BBC show Hustle are back for a fourth season, tricking more marks out of their money in a series of elaborate cons while managing to not pique the viewer's moral outrage at their criminal behaviour. For those unfamiliar with the series (which airs in Canada on CBC), Hustle follows the criminal exploits of a group of con artists. Each week, the gang create an intricate plan to swindle people out their not so hard-earned cash. The grifters maintain a code of honour in order to come across as sympathetic, making sure the audience knows that you "can’t con an honest person,” choosing their targets based on a moral grey-scale that punishes bad guys. The Hustle crew act as a sort of modern day Robin Hood and his Merry Men, stealing from the rich to give to the poor, or at the very least robbing from criminals and keeping the cash themselves. The premise of Hustle can quickly wear thin, and the cons in season four are comically complex, verging on silly, but the BBC’s short format six-episode season doesn’t allow the gag to grow stale. The recognisable cast, including well-known character actor Robert Vaughn, Jaime Murray (Dexter) and Marc Warren (Band of Brothers, various BBC productions), manage to walk the thin line between evil criminal geniuses and bumbling thieves, keeping the crime light-hearted and their characters sympathetic despite their illegal behaviour. The special features are lacking for these discs, with only a two-part "making of” overview of the series, which is interesting but nothing out of the ordinary. It’s unlikely that anyone who hasn’t already purchased the first three seasons of Hustle will be running out to buy season four, but for fans of the show who missed its television run, this season won’t disappoint.