If you've already watched all 10 episodes of Sneaky Pete: Season 1 then you can read on for my thoughts about how everything ended, with full spoilers. If you haven't started, or finished, Season 1, then you can read the non-spoilery Season 1 review here.
The ending of Sneaky Pete's first season didn't disappoint, though you did feel the series strain, right in the final moments, to set us up for a Season 2. It's not a surprising move, of course, but there were elements to the show that felt like a one-and-done story. Sure, there are loose ends with regards to Taylor's love life and the deal Julia set up (when she thought she had not other options) to launder money for crooks, but all of that really snuck up on us, almost after the buzzer.
In my Season 1 revew, I sort of likened this series to Amazon's Mad Dogs, in the sense that both series involve desperate scrambles to stay ahead of the curve and outsmart killers, and never quite coming out on top. Both employ a "running in quicksand" style that can grow frustrating. The major difference with Sneaky Pete is that, the entire time, there's a quiet promise of a big payoff. Also, as mentioned in the review, most of the time we're dealing with very smart characters, not very dumb ones.
The endgame here involved a very fun con on Vince. One that was basically the same con as the scheme Marius and his team failed to get right the first time ("The Sting" ripoff) with the added twist of knowing (now) that Vince will spot it. Like he did the previously. Marius banked heavily on Vince's superior intuition and, while very risky, it paid off for everyone. The whole season had been promising us "The Turk," but even that was a lie. It was the Big Store, with a curve. And with Vince's own parlor as the store.
Another reason this ending worked was because you felt sorry for Vince. Cranston's performance throughout, and particularly right in the end when he confronted Karolina about her betrayal, was superb. The chip on Vince shoulder, from having grown up with nothing, was so big that it had blinded him to very crucial things. For one, he allowed Mukherjee to get under his skin so much that it was exploited as a weakness. The second part involved falling for Karolina who anyone, who wasn't Vince, would instantly know she was only with him to save her own skin.
Of course, Vince isn't dead, so Season 2 has that going for it, but...as for the rest? Well, let's hope there's more material to mine. Granted, the Bernhardts still think Marius is Pete, so that could all get unraveled. But at this point, would it matter? Marius is no longer trying to steal from them to save his brother. The only reason we'd care now is because Marius might care. But he had no real problems leaving them in the end. Sure, there was a twinge of sentiment, but other than that, he was gone.
Things got a touch messy toward the end of the season when Chaske Spencer's Chayton sort of popped up as this new "big bad" and then Audrey killed Winslow, but for the most part Sneaky Pete was smooth scheme-y sailing. It was very busy, but not hard to wrangle. Everyone had clear reasons for their actions and were justified in their reactions. There were rarely elements that didn't track. Only a few times did some of the "close calls" feel cheap. The big one that springs to mind was early on when Winslow almost showed Taylor a picture of Pete as Marius in the precinct. That's the scene that evoked a hint of an eye roll.
So what did you guys think of Sneaky Pete? Were you satisfied with Season 1?
Matt Fowler is a writer for IGN and a member of the Television Critics Association (TCA). Follow him on Twitter at @TheMattFowler and Facebook at http://ift.tt/2aJ67FB.
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