Imposters: Season 1

Oh wow, look, it's original scripted programming from Bravo. That's where we're at, I guess, and why not?

This season aired last year and Imposters is currently halfway through its second season. I caught the first, on Netflix, over the last month or so. I went in with little more than curiosity - I'd heard vague but generally good things - and stuck around beyond the first episode mainly because it's so easy to keep Netflix on in the background while you're gettin' other shit done on the computer.

But I have to say - somewhere around the fourth or fifth episode of the season, I started paying full attention to the show and not to, say, my computer. And by the final few episodes of the ten-episode season, I was completely in on the show. In that sense, Imposters achieved the near-impossible; it gained momentum and interest from this distracted viewer, rather than doing the opposite.

Does that mean it's a good show? Tough to say! It's a well-written show, I think, or at least well-paced and well-plotted with some interesting characters. And it's a show that constantly shifted and changed gears and twisted and turned, almost like The Good Place does on a near-weekly basis. The best way to show this is to explain what the show is, which is something I haven't done yet after four paragraphs.

So, long and short of it, it's a book about a con-woman whose MO is to marry people and then steal all of their money and then disappear without a trace. Yeah, I know - snooze! So the first episode consists of exactly that - some poor schmo gets duped out of all his money and learns that his too-good-to-be-true bride is, in fact, too good to be true! She's not some soft-spoken Belgian woman at all, but a stone cold, calculating, conniving femme fatale. So the second episode starts, and we've split our focus now, following both the woman as she homes in on her next target, and also her jilted "lover" as he tries to track her down, teaming up with another one of her former victims in the process. So here I'm thinking, okay, this show's going to be about this woman pulling cons on men, and then those men teaming up to track her down. Nope! By the third or fourth episode, the woman's target has changed and the team following her has gained a third member and it seems like the show's going to be about the contrast between this absolute professional (the woman) and the group of stooges chasing after her (her previous victims). Nope! By the fifth or sixth episode, not only has the team caught up to her, but they're now working with her to con the next guy. Except - nope! By the seventh episode or so, the guy figures out exactly what's going on, but also wants in on the plan... for other reasons.

Look, I won't spoil anything else. Suffice it to say, the show was constantly shifting, and so were its characters allegiances, but never in an unbelievable or frustrating way. I can't say I liked it nearly as much as the first season of Sneaky Pete, but I think I liked it more than the second season of Sneaky Pete! (Man, con artist shows are having a bit of a moment, aren't they?)

Anyway, I'll catch up on Season 2 soon enough. But consider giving this one a shot. You might surprise yourself by sticking around for more than an episode or two. I certainly did!