The Lesson was the third episode in the second series of the BBC crime drama Hustle, which aired on April 12th 2005.
Synopsis[]
Danny discovers a potential member,Trevor Speed , for the crew and brings him in on their latest con: to swindle Anthony Mgube, a Nigerian collector of rare currency by passing off a fake rare American $1,000 bill.
However, when the con goes wrong, the new member attempts to take the money by conning an innocent woman, little suspecting that he has been played from the beginning...
Full Plot[]
Danny has found a potential new member of the gang, Trevor Speed (played by Lee Ingleby). He's a short con artist, who's very good at what he does, but his marks are not always the greedy; he also targets the elderly and the poor.... However, he's looking for his big break and Danny thinks he can mentor Trevor as Mickey has for him. But the team are not as taken with Trevor as Danny, and Danny threatens to walk if they won't give Trevor a chance.
Danny threatens to walk if the gang won't give Trevor a chance. They reluctantly trust Danny's instincts and get to work on their next mark. The target is Anthony Mgabe - a ruthless and corrupt Nigerian billionaire and avid collector of antique banknotes. He's missing one extremely rare note - and there are only two in the world. One is held by the American bank and the other by a private collector. Posing as insurers, Danny and Trevor pay the collector, an elderly lady, Anne, a visit. With an expert grifter creating the forgery, the gang reel Mgabe in. He is so keen to have the note that he offers Danny and Trevor £500,000. But before they're able to collect the cash, disaster strikes when Trevor loses the note and the gang are furious about the con falling through.
But Trevor can't let it go and pays Anne another visit. Claiming the note is damaged, Trevor convinces her to sell and takes it straight to Mgabe to take all the spoils for himself. Have the gang finally been conned themselves? Unfortunately for Trevor, he soon finds out that being greedy never pays and the team are always one step ahead.
Trivia[]
- The mark of the episode is Anthony Mgube.