Sneaky Pete - General Discussion

[Quilt Fairy]

Well, I've watched all of S3, but somewhat distractedly, so I will definitely be watching again.   I don't know that they'll ever capture the excitement of S1 and the magic of the S1 finale, but I thought this was a good storyline, better than S2.  S2 got a little too gruesome for my taste, with the casual murder of the young grifter in the motel room and the Russian gangster with the acid.  And even though they could easily carry forward into more seasons (and I hope they do), the S3 finale could serve as the series finale. 

13 minutes ago, OoogleEyes said:

In the beginning of season 3, they said it has been two weeks.

Whew! They've been busy!

I was surprised it was that short a time, but thinking back, Marius did have only a week to save his brother in S1.  He's got a really on-the-ball parole officer if the guy's making home visits after only a week. 

[teddysmom]

Is it just me or was the little sister annoying the fuck out of anyone else? 

I just don't get why she would be so over wrought about her parents' marriage. Of course no one told her they weren't always happy. She was five years old. Oh by the way, after the funeral, we need to sit you down and explain how sometimes married people end up hating each other.

And if her mother WAS alive, and basically deserted the family, why were they running around trying to find her? She had been gone what 11-12 years?

And how did the other sister steal her identity? Why couldn't she just be herself? She had run scams for years. 

I did not like the old girlfriend. 

[Quilt Fairy]

3 hours ago, teddysmom said:

Is it just me or was the little sister annoying the fuck out of anyone else? 

I just don't get why she would be so over wrought about her parents' marriage. Of course no one told her they weren't always happy. She was five years old. Oh by the way, after the funeral, we need to sit you down and explain how sometimes married people end up hating each other.

And if her mother WAS alive, and basically deserted the family, why were they running around trying to find her? She had been gone what 11-12 years?

And how did the other sister steal her identity? Why couldn't she just be herself? She had run scams for years. 

I did not like the old girlfriend. 

Yes, yes, and yes to your post.  Those were all issues I had with the season.  Although I think that the only reason that the 2 older children and Grandma got on board was because the youngest sister simply. Would. Not. Let. It. Go.

[qtpye]

9 hours ago, teddysmom said:

Is it just me or was the little sister annoying the fuck out of anyone else? 

I just don't get why she would be so over wrought about her parents' marriage. Of course no one told her they weren't always happy. She was five years old. Oh by the way, after the funeral, we need to sit you down and explain how sometimes married people end up hating each other.

And if her mother WAS alive, and basically deserted the family, why were they running around trying to find her? She had been gone what 11-12 years?

And how did the other sister steal her identity? Why couldn't she just be herself? She had run scams for years. 

I did not like the old girlfriend. 

6 hours ago, Quilt Fairy said:

Yes, yes, and yes to your post.  Those were all issues I had with the season.  Although I think that the only reason that the 2 older children and Grandma got on board was because the youngest sister simply. Would. Not. Let. It. Go.

Couldn’t the whole mix up have been solved in 5 minutes if Audrey just showed Tex a picture of her two daughters?  The real Pete’s mom must be s total psychopath to actually use her sister’s death to con people like that. This season really felt ridiculous even though this is a great cast. I found it gross that Taylor slept with the same woman who had an affair with his grandpa. For such a handsome guy he sure has shit taste in women.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Margo Martindale discusses S3 of Sneaky Pete:

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Libe Barer discusses Sneaky Pete:

[Marius12]

Maybe it was me, but I just didnt feel it this season on Sneaky Pete-thoughts?

[gesundheit]

Just finished last night. I quite preferred this season to Season 2, but I really hope we never see Lizzy again. (Also, seriously? She was going to go diving after a bunch of tiny individual diamonds?)

I wonder if there'll be another season. This one could definitely serve as a series finale (though I'd be delighted to see it back!).

[SoMuchTV]

Just finished season 3, and while I really enjoyed watching it, I felt like there was so much I didn't get.  Going into the season, I felt like I was keeping up with 75% of the twists and turns, but by the end, I was closer to 25%.  That's mostly on me - it took a few viewings of "The Sting" and "Ocean's Eleven" before I caught all the details.  But I'm much more likely to rewatch a 2 hour movie than a 10-episode season, so  I'm just going to go with, the good bad guys outsmarted the bad bad guys. 

I listened to a multi-episode podcast about the Gardner Museum heist a while ago, so that part was familiar.  So was Vignetti a good bad guy at the end?

Liked Carly's high-waisted jean style.  I think I saw at least a couple different pairs.  Is that style coming back, or is that just what she finds in her local thrift shop, next to the overalls?

And the ages - I really had to suspend disbelief there.  They had four generations within 42 years of actual actors' ages - great grandpa down to oldest grandson Taylor.  I guess they could have been 90/70/50/30.  I know, not the main point!

I'm sure I'll be back if there's another season.

[iMonrey]

I found the third season easier to follow than the second, and overall I liked it better, but it wasn't without its issues. I really hated Lizzie, and I didn't like the first couple of episodes because Marius was off somewhere with Lizzie planning another con while Pete's family was back in Bridgeport doing their own thing. It felt like two separate stories. It wasn't until they tied in together I started enjoying it. And in fact it was a smart way to involve the whole family. They are really the most interesting part of the show. 

I enjoyed the search for Lila and that kept me guessing, but yeah . . . why didn't anyone have a picture of her? They said she'd been there as recently as two years ago, nobody snapped a pic with their cell phone? Audrey didn't think to show Tex or anyone Lila's picture to see if they recognized her? That sort of stuck out.

The twists and turns are sometimes needlessly complicated, by the end I wasn't sure where they were going with the various heists. I almost felt sorry for that guy that got conned twice even though he was kind of an asshole. 

I do think they are moving toward Marius+Julia but I guess we'll have to see if there are further seasons. 

[Just Here]

Variety is reporting that the show has been "canceled."  The article does not mention the source of this news (no "according to" or "confirmed by").

[topanga]

There were many things I enjoyed about this season. The con-within-a-con-within-a-con involved far too many contrivances and required a lot of suspension of disbelief, but the performances were so great that I stop thinking about it and just went with it. 

Giovanni was great once again, and I’m glad Marin Ireland (Julia) had more to do this season compared to S2.

Lizzie, however, was a low point. And I’m convinced it was the actress. Her acting choices made Lizzie a 100% awful person. I can imagine that Marius might be seduced by another con artist, but Lizzie, while beautiful, had no other redeeming qualities besides being a con artist. I can’t imagine Marius even liking her, let alone falling in love with her. 

On 5/28/2019 at 11:09 AM, iMonrey said:

I do think they are moving toward Marius+Julia but I guess we'll have to see if there are further seasons. 

I thought we’d see that this season, but it would have been way too cliched. Julia just happens to fall in love with the con artist who has lied to her family for three years and introduced numerous criminals and endless danger into all of their lives?

On 5/17/2019 at 11:50 PM, qtpye said:

The real Pete’s mom must be s total psychopath to actually use her sister’s death to con people like that

I still don’t understand why she presented herself to people in California as Lila and not herself. How did that benefit her? And does that mean she wrote the letters from ‘Lila’ and gave them to Carly? Why on earth would she do that?

And people described Lila as beautiful and charming and special. She charmed Chuck FFS and broke his heart. No offense to the actress playing Maggie, but she wasn’t especially beautiful or charming or even likable. 

What happened to the real Pete? Is he off in Sedona looking for his mother, who’s really in California?

ETA: Marius walking away at the end. I suppose that means he’s leaving for good. I wonder if Julia will ever tell her family the truth? Although I suspect Audrey and Otto already know deep down inside. Audrey was suspicious from the beginning. 

Edited June 9, 2019 by topanga

[qtpye]

41 minutes ago, topanga said:

There were many things I enjoyed about this season. The con-within-a-con-within-a-con involved far too many contrivances and required a lot of suspension of disbelief, but the performances were so great that I stop thinking about it and just went with it. 

Giovanni was great once again, and I’m glad Marin Ireland (Julia) had more to do this season compared to S2.

Lizzie, however, was a low point. And I’m convinced it was the actress. Her acting choices made Lizzie a 100% awful person. I can imagine that Marius might be seduced by another con artist, but Lizzie, while beautiful, had no other redeeming qualities besides being a con artist. I can’t imagine Marius even liking her, let alone falling in love with her. 

I thought we’d see that this season, but it would have been way too cliched. Julia just happens to fall in love with the con artist who has lied to her family for three years and introduced numerous criminals and endless danger into all of their lives?

I still don’t understand why she presented herself to people in California as Lila and not herself. How did that benefit her? And does that mean she wrote the letters from ‘Lila’ and gave them to Carly? Why on earth would she do that?

And people described Lila as beautiful and charming and special. She charmed Chuck FFS and broke his heart. No offense to the actress playing Maggie, but she wasn’t especially beautiful or charming or even likable. 

What happened to the real Pete? Is he off in Sedona looking for his mother, who’s really in California?

ETA: Marius walking away at the end. I suppose that means he’s leaving for good. I wonder if Julia will ever tell her family the truth? Although I suspect Audrey and Otto already know deep down inside. Audrey was suspicious from the beginning. 

I think at this point the family will accept Marius as family even after they hear the truth. Taylor and Carly will be pissed at first but they will accept him. Otto and Audrey will also rush to welcome back the real Pete. 

Maggie really does not live up to the hype. I do not understand how  everyone is so enamored of her. Real Pete is staying away from the family he desperately loves and needs because of her and I am really not sure why.

Lizzie was more of a plot device than a real character. She only existed to prove how much Marius has grown.

I am sad that the show has been cancelled. I don’t know if she the last episode was strong enough to be a series finale. 

[DonnaMae]

I'm sorry to learn that it's been canceled, but I think the ending of this season was very good.  I guess Otto and Audrey will just think that 'not'Pete is busy with his life and will visit them from time to time.  

[Miles]

I'm on episode 3 of season 3... is Marius really so blind that he deosn't notice when somebody is running the most obvious con in the history of humanity on him? "Oh that plan I told you I had doesn't work for for some reason, can you get me $400000 for the new plan? K, thanks!" I mean really. Really? That's not even in the least bit subtle.

I'm really not impressed with the writing here. Marius schould have sniffed that out in under 2 seconds.

Episode 4... yeah, I'm not buying that a police officer faces serious consequences for these minor offences, in a country, where police officers brought Jeffrey Dhamer back one of his victims, whom he later raped, killed and ate, while those police officers not only got thheir jobs back, but one of them went on to become head of the police officers union.

Plus, this would have been easily spun: "I saw him dealing drugs and tried to arreest him. He tried to get away and grabed my badge in the struggle." Dude had a bunch of drugs on him. Who's going to believe a known drug dealer?

Edited June 14, 2019 by Miles

[topanga]

14 hours ago, Miles said:

I'm on episode 3 of season 3... is Marius really so blind that he deosn't notice when somebody is running the most obvious con in the history of humanity on him? "Oh that plan I told you I had doesn't work for for some reason, can you get me $400000 for the new plan? K, thanks!" I mean really. Really? That's not even in the least bit subtle.

I'm really not impressed with the writing here. Marius schould have sniffed that out in under 2 seconds.

Episode 4... yeah, I'm not buying that a police officer faces serious consequences for these minor offences, in a country, where police officers brought Jeffrey Dhamer back one of his victims, whom he later raped, killed and ate, while those police officers not only got thheir jobs back, but one of them went on to become head of the police officers union.

Plus, this would have been easily spun: "I saw him dealing drugs and tried to arreest him. He tried to get away and grabed my badge in the struggle." Dude had a bunch of drugs on him. Who's going to believe a known drug dealer?

Thanks for posting this. One thing I hated about all of the episodes being released at once is that it's difficult to discuss individual episodes.

Ep 3: Marius is supposed to be so blinded by his love? lust? for Lizzie that he easily fell for all of her cons on him. I cant remember which exact con you're referencing--I won't guess which one so I don't spoil it for you. 

Ep 4: I suppose Taylor didn't want to continue heaping one lie on top of another. And at his core, Taylor is a decent and honest guy. It was already tormenting him that he'd broken into the other guy's home to get the daughter, and now he'd just broken into Naz's house and assaulted him to get his badge back. 

[Christina]

16 hours ago, Miles said:

I'm really not impressed with the writing here. Marius schould have sniffed that out in under 2 seconds.

I think there were a few glaring issues with the writing in season three, but chalk it up to them having to rewrite the series on the fly after Ricky James' death during filming. I may be giving them credit they don't deserve, though. 

After the cancellation notice, there were several comments suggesting that the length of time between seasons were part of the problem and I agree. Having to go back to the beginning and rewatch to get back up to speed as opposed to wanting to rewatch before the next season is an annoyance to the viewers. If they want to release the entire show at once, there probably isn't any way around it, though. 

[Miles]

5 hours ago, topanga said:

Ep 3: Marius is supposed to be so blinded by his love? lust? for Lizzie that he easily fell for all of her cons on him. I cant remember which exact con you're referencing--I won't guess which one so I don't spoil it for you.  

It's the one where her supposed plan is to sell bottles of wine and gradually build up how many she sells. But the "buyer" is like "no, 300 cases!" and she is like "Mariuuuus, now I need $400000 to make this work, buhu!" and Marius is like "well okay, I'll get you $400000, because I'm a dumbass all of a sudden and can't see the oldest and most obvious con in the books."

4 hours ago, Christina said:

I think there were a few glaring issues with the writing in season three, but chalk it up to them having to rewrite the series on the fly after Ricky James' death during filming. I may be giving them credit they don't deserve, though. 

I googled "Ricky James sneaky pete", got no hits. Who is he?

Also the writing didn't make any sense in season 2 already, so I don't think somebody dying made any difference.

Edited June 14, 2019 by Miles

[lambertman]

Ricky Jay/Vignetti.

[Bryce Lynch]

On 5/17/2019 at 2:16 PM, teddysmom said:

Is it just me or was the little sister annoying the fuck out of anyone else? 

I just don't get why she would be so over wrought about her parents' marriage. Of course no one told her they weren't always happy. She was five years old. Oh by the way, after the funeral, we need to sit you down and explain how sometimes married people end up hating each other.

And if her mother WAS alive, and basically deserted the family, why were they running around trying to find her? She had been gone what 11-12 years?

And how did the other sister steal her identity? Why couldn't she just be herself? She had run scams for years. 

I did not like the old girlfriend. 

I didn't really buy her being so obsessed about whether her parents had been happily married.  But, once she discovered evidence that her mother might still be alive, I totally bought her need to try to find her.   Even if it meant her mother had abandoned her, I don't see how a person, especially an orphan, could just live without knowing whether or not the mother she believed to be dead for years was still alive. 

[Bryce Lynch]

Season 3 (and the show in general) was OK.  But it could have been much better if the plots and scams weren't so convoluted and there weren't so many side plots.  

At least in the second half of Season 3, everyone was together and basically working on the same problems (finding Lila and saving Julia) while Pete and Lizzie had their 2 scams going.

I honestly missed how the $4 million turned into diamonds.  I also didn't get what the truth about Vignetti was and whether he got any money (he said he wanted $2 million to scam Kiblane) or just the satisfaction of returning the painting to the museum.  Also, did he return the real one of Hickey's fake?

I also didn't really get why Doug would get into burglarizing  Kilbane's wine cellar and how they could get away with it,  

There were also a lot of dropped plot lines, though they were weak ones, so I didn't mind that much.

*The relationship between Taylor and the woman who had banged his grand dad.

*The cocaine use by Juila.

*The really random cocaine use by Taylor.

* Taylor and Shannon

There were also loose ends.

What happens to the bail bond business with Lizzie skipping on the $250K bond?  Were there enough diamonds to pay that, along with Carly's college tuition and Julia's lawyer who can miraculously make charges go away?

Did Sean survive? (Not that I care about that prick).

[rejnel]

Just discovered this show, and I'm thrilled with it so far. Smart writing and a solid main cast, with a bench of terrific recurring actors. Lots of tension in the main plot, and promising hints of other intriguing stories around the edges.  I'm four episodes in and looking forward to the rest of the run. 

The only thing I find jarring is the make-up of the cousins' family. Julia and Carly are 30 years apart, and they're supposed to be full siblings. Not to mention that they look nothing alike.

Is this a show where the series finale was planned as such, or a show that just kind of ends? (I'd like to be prepared!)

[Quilt Fairy]

9 hours ago, rejnel said:

Is this a show where the series finale was planned as such, or a show that just kind of ends? (I'd like to be prepared!)

IIRC, this show did not get renewed in advance from season to season, so each season has it's own storyline and is complete within itself with a teeny bit of a cliff-hanger just in case the show got renewed.

Season 1 is by far the best, with a spectacular finale.  I'm not sure the producers expected to have more than one season, and the intricate plotlines require a good deal of work to create and write.  Seasons 2 and 3 are good, but don't have the flare of season 1. 

10 hours ago, rejnel said:

Julia and Carly are 30 years apart, and they're supposed to be full siblings.

You're being kind of hard on the actress who plays Julia.  I don't think she and Carly are supposed to be more than 10-12 years apart at most.

[rejnel]

Thanks for replying, Quilt Fairy!

Quote

You're being kind of hard on the actress who plays Julia.  I don't think she and Carly are supposed to be more than 10-12 years apart at most.

I guess I should have said 20 years, not 30. Marin Ireland is 41, and Carly is 16 according to the show. But subtracting a few years from Julia's age since the show started almost 5 years ago, that would put them fully 20 years apart. That's unusual but not impossible, assuming Lily started having kids pretty young. 
In any case, I don't think recognizing that an actress is over 30 counts as being hard on her!

[Ottis]

On 5/21/2019 at 12:25 PM, Marius12 said:

Maybe it was me, but I just didnt feel it this season on Sneaky Pete-thoughts?

I am 7 eps in, and the problem is it is too much about the family and not enough about the con. I don’t care if Lila is alive, or how that fact is affecting the family members. That could be a C plot but it is damn near 80% of the season. 

[topanga]

On 3/23/2021 at 8:43 AM, Ottis said:

I am 7 eps in, and the problem is it is too much about the family and not enough about the con. I don’t care if Lila is alive, or how that fact is affecting the family members. That could be a C plot but it is damn near 80% of the season. 

Yes. I enjoyed this season but didn’t love it as much as the first two.  The heist was a bit too convoluted, IMO. But I liked learning more about the family. 

[Paloma]

On 6/18/2020 at 3:10 PM, rejnel said:

Marin Ireland is 41, and Carly is 16 according to the show. But subtracting a few years from Julia's age since the show started almost 5 years ago, that would put them fully 20 years apart.

The age thing bothered me too, but I don't think they were supposed to be 20 years apart. Remember that the three seasons took place over only a few weeks, not the number of years since the show started. Also, in light of the episode(s) that referred to Pete's 11th birthday party (which apparently took place not long before his mother left with him, though I could be wrong about that) and the fact that the family had not seen him in 20 years, I think Pete was supposed to be in his early 30s, Taylor was supposed to be about the same, and Julia was at least a couple of years younger. If that's right, then Julia would be late 20s or about 30 in all three seasons, while Carly was 16--so that would be a 12-14 year age difference. Still unusual, but possible. 

The problem with this calculation, of course, is that Julia, Taylor, and the real Pete all look older than early 30s--to me they looked late 30s (Taylor even had gray in his hair). That made it harder to suspend disbelief about age differences.

[Shriekingeel]

Just binged this and I loved it. Season 3 has more than a few missteps (noted by Bryce above—I blame the departure of Graham Yost after S2) but I cared about the characters and I’m sad that I won’t see them anymore. I had to handwave a lot of the con plotholes and the age problems noted above, but I loved the cast and the performances; the scenes with Ribisi and Jane Adams in S2 were terrific acting. 

[topanga]

On 10/23/2022 at 11:54 AM, Shriekingeel said:

Just binged this and I loved it. Season 3 has more than a few missteps (noted by Bryce above—I blame the departure of Graham Yost after S2) but I cared about the characters and I’m sad that I won’t see them anymore. I had to handwave a lot of the con plotholes and the age problems noted above, but I loved the cast and the performances; the scenes with Ribisi and Jane Adams in S2 were terrific acting. 

Agreed. This was a very good show. It still pops into my mind from time to time. And for me, that's the sign of an impactful show. I watch so many TV shows that I end up forgetting a lot of them.