Sneaky Pete returns March 9th on Amazon Prime Video.
By Matthew Stanford
Sneaky Pete started as a pilot for CBS and they passed on it. Amazon later picked it up and took it to series. The first season started fairly cheesy as it was written for network TV and slowly became gradually darker. If you gave up after the pilot, I definitely recommend giving it another look. I liked the first season of Sneaky Pete. I LOVE the second season.
Season 2 begins right where season 1 left off. There is a great recap prior to the first episode that reminds you of any pertinent information that you will need for your season two viewing. Every character in this show is continually put in new situations where they have to lie, cheat and steal their way out of it. As a fan of con movies and TV shows, I always ask for a lot of fun short cons and a long con that pays off at the end. Sneaky Pete definitely delivers on that desire.
What separates Sneaky Pete from many similar shows is that the characters are likable. Every single one of them. They are layered and all feel like real people that are capable of making decisions. Often in TV shows characters are unintelligent and don’t act in a rational manner just to move along the plot, that is not the case here at all. While not all decisions work out it is believable that someone would act in that way. Given the Graham Yost Justified connection, there is a part of me that is always waiting for Margo Martindale’s character to turn into her extremely evil Justified Season 2 character Mags Bennett. It never goes that route, but Audrey Bernhardt is a complex layered character nonetheless.
Allison Wright’s character Marjorie plays a much bigger role this season. It is great seeing her in a part that is so vastly different from sad Martha on The Americans. Her and Giovanni Ribisi work great together and the cons that they play are fun to watch unfold.
A new major character is introduced this season the details of which I would consider a spoiler, but you’ll know when they arrive. This character fits so well with Giovanni Ribisi’s Marius, they play so well against each other and all of their scenes are fantastic. Both characters are similar in nature, can read a room and lie with ease. Because of this, it is enjoyable speculating who is playing who and how with each interaction they have.
The villain(s) this season are a fairly generic, but that is okay. The world of Sneaky Pete is very lively and it doesn’t need an antagonist with lots of flare as Fake Pete and his non-family provide enough excitement on their own. While I am sure he will be missed by many, I felt that Bryan Cranston’s villain character in the first season was a little too over the top and his absence allows all the other actors to shine.
Is this a show that is groundbreaking and will be remembered years from now? Most likely not. Is it wildly entertaining and highly binge-able? You betcha.
I give Sneaky Pete Season 2 an A-.
TV and City 