The Big Picture

• Prime Video has made a significant impact with high-profile projects appealing to established fandoms.
• Sneaky Pete offers a grounded and emotional perspective on con artist stories, engaging with characters' morals.
• The star-studded cast and improved narrative structure of Sneaky Pete make it a must-watch for fans of the con artist series White Collar.

Netflix has certainly won the “streaming wars” due to its sheer quantity of output, and Max has certainly earned good will from television fans due to the legacy of the HBO brand. However, Prime Video has managed to have a significant impact on the television landscape thanks to its high-profile projects geared at established fandoms. In recent years, Prime Video’s emphasis on blockbuster properties like Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, Reacher, The Wheel of Time, The Boys, and Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan have shown the extent to which they’re willing to invest in epic storytelling. However, the streamer is also home to many underrated shows that have slipped under the radar, such as the con artist thriller Sneaky Pete, which is one of the best shows on the streamer.

There’s an inherent charm to stories about con artists, as viewers are forced to invest in characters that may have ambiguous morals. The premise of changing one’s identity in order to pull off a perfect crime can lead to many engaging scenarios, and the recent surge in the popularity of White Collar suggests it is a genre that hasn’t gone out of fashion. However, Sneaky Pete offered a grounded perspective on con artist stories that got surprisingly emotional with its character-focused drama.

What Is ‘Sneaky Pete’ About?

Sneaky Pete stars Giovanni Ribisi as the former con artist Marius Josipović, who plans to change his life entirely upon being released from prison. Unfortunately, Marius’ luck takes a nasty turn when he discovers that his brother Eddie (Michael Drayer) owes a serious debt to the ruthless gangster Vince Lonigan (Bryan Cranston). In order to pay off Eddie’s debts and avoid Vince's goons, Marius decides to take the identity of his cellmate Pete (Ethan Embry). Sneaky Pete shows the challenges that con artists face when they’re forced to shed their intrinsic persona entirely. While Marius is keen to benefit from Pete’s reputation, he is forced to interact with his new identity’s family. Pete’s cousin Julia (Marin Ireland) and grandmother Audrey (Margo Martindale) begin to raise concerns about Marius’ behavior. When unable to hide the truth from them, Marius decides to rope Pete’s real family into his schemes.

As entertaining as the premise is, Sneaky Pete engages with the checkered morality of its characters. Pete is deceptive and selfish and often willfully puts others in danger in order to save his own skin. His actions become harder to tolerate when Julia is placed in danger as a result of her involvement with his crimes. That being said, the sincere connection that Marius shares with Eddie does justify some of his most erratic behavior. It’s evident that Marius wanted to put his past behind him, and only returned out of desperation. However, returning to the world of performing high-risk heists does end up being more enjoyable for Pete than he expected. His initial regrets begin to subside when he recognizes that “conning” is the one skill that has kept him alive.

‘Sneaky Pete’ Has a Star-Studded Cast

Ribisi has a long and impressive career as a character actor, having played roles in Saving Private Ryan and Friends among others. However, casting a “character actor” like Ribisi as the protagonist makes Sneaky Pete a subversive series. Ribisi’s experience playing a multitude of different supporting roles ends up making him perfect to play the titular character, as Marius must change his entire persona on a whim. Ribisi gives a nuanced performance that captures the consequences that Marius’ erratic lifestyle has on his psychology. It's so natural for him to pretend to be other people that it becomes more challenging for him to be sincere.

Although they’re initially presented as barriers within Marius’ mission, both Julia and Audrey become essential to the show’s narrative as they become intertwined within the dangerous schemes. Julia is put in a morally compromising position, as she has long been thought of as the most mature and responsible member of her family. While she realizes that helping Marius is essential to her family’s safety, she still feels trepidation about lying to them. Martindale is simply an actress who improves anything she appears in, and Audrey has one of Sneaky Pete’s most surprising character arcs. While initially it's hard not to feel bad for her, Audrey ends up being more ambitious and deceptive than even Marius recognizes.

The dynamic between Marius and Pete’s family is the most critical, but Sneaky Pete had a wealth of exciting guest stars throughout its three-season run. Cranston can always be relied upon to play an intimidating villain, and Vince’s malicious actions serve as the perfect inciting incident that gets Marius out of retirement. However, Sneaky Pete showed that the world of con artistry is dynamic, and introduced characters that didn’t strictly fall into the category of “hero” or “villain.” Performers like Succession’s Justine Lupe and Hacks’ Jane Adams made the most of their guest roles when they appeared in subsequent seasons.

‘Sneaky Pete’ Improved as It Continued

While it initially felt like an elevated version of a network procedural, Sneaky Pete succeeded by embracing a serialized narrative structure. Marius’ individual heists still managed to distinguish each episode, but the second and third seasons paved a more complex conflict when the real Pete returns to reunite with his family. The series succeeded by never letting Marius off the hook for his crimes; any temporary success that his cons yielded ends up introducing him to more villains who are hellbent on revenge.

The freedom of the streaming platform allowed the series to incorporate more graphic violent and sexual content, but Sneaky Pete managed to seamlessly blend comedy and drama. Marius’ eccentric behavior did add some dark humor, but he surprisingly became a character that grew more sincere and heroic as the series continued. White Collar fans entertained by Matt Bomer’s Neal Caffrey owe it to themselves to check out this thoroughly underrated con artist series.

Sneaky Pete is streaming Prime Video in the U.S.

Watch on Prime Video