Sneaky Pete - Season 1 Review
This review of Season 1 of Sneaky Pete is spoiler-free!
Since the dawn of the television era, crime dramas have been something of a mainstay in the minds of viewers across the globe. Whether it be something like the Sopranos or The Wire, or a procedural style show like Law & Order or NCIS (the latter of which I'm convinced is planning a world domination campaign due to how many people have seen an episode and watch in some form or another). So, every time a new show comes out in this general area I get a bit nervous because it sometimes feels like an area that has seen its best days come and go. But, sometimes instead of getting a show that falls flat because it copies off preexisting material, you get something in the vein of Sneaky Pete.
Sneaky Pete is about a con man named Marius, who after being released from prison decides to adopt the identity of his cellmate, Pete. In doing this, he infiltrates the lives of a group of people who haven't seen their blood relative in years and have managed to build up their own twisted lives in one way or another. Along with this, he is faced with the challenge of a returning threat in Vince Lonigan, one of the major reasons why he was originally put into prison. Something this show does really well with its story is build up the quantity and quality of mystery throughout. Sure about halfway through the show manages to get a bit unsurprisingly in its overall delivery and the end goal is set, but the moments along the way make the story that much better. It knows when to pull punches and when to give you a free shot, and for that, I'm grateful for the direction taken by David Shore and Bryan Cranston. Concisely, a good that feels like it shows its hand a bit too quick for my liking.
This show really has two different worlds that it tackles throughout, the first of which is the life of Pete Murphy the young man who reconnects with his family after twenty years of no contact. Here we get to see a variety of characters but the biggest of which is the majority of the Bernhardt family. As a group of main characters, they really fit together and create their own narrative structure that at times feels like it could go on without Pete, but finds ways to fit him in well. For a standout among this group, I have to fo towards Margo Martindale and Peter Gerety portraying Audrey and Otto Bernhardt. Some of the other characters just feel overall a bit heavy-handed in their delivery and a bit wishy-washy with their emotional response.
The major arc that plays the main end goal for Marius is that of his debt to Vince Lonigan. Played by Giovanni Ribisi, Marius/Pete is a great casting. I haven't seen much of Ribisi in recent years, but he brings a cocky confidence to this character that is sometimes hard to find in actors. Rooting for a villain can sometimes feel challenging, but Ribisi makes it easy and actually fun to do. Bryan Cranston's Vince Lonigan is ruthless and brutal, and one of the better roles he has done for television. He actually gets a lot more work than what you would originally anticipate for an overarching villain. There are points where you feel actual humility for him and wonder if perhaps he is right. But, the best moments of Sneaky Pete come as a surprise and are always connected to him in some way, so I can't praise Cranston enough for creating a believable and powerful villain for Marius to face off against.
Sneaky Pete almost feels like a show that could have been handled as a mini-series. If you were to watch this show's first 9 hours and 55 minutes, you would agree with me. Seemingly out of the blue near the end of the show, the story for the second season is brought into play. Up until this point I had not previously thought about where the show could go after this battle between Marius and Lonigan, but with some many story threads left open at the end, and the family storyline still in play is some way or another, it felt like the perfect direction to turn the show. As an overall first season, I'm satisfied by what I got in Sneaky Pete, but I'm not chomping at the bit for more as there was a sense of completion that feels slightly undone by a second season. But we can only hope for the best in this fast growing TV landscape, so check out Sneaky Pete on Amazon Prime!
