| Michael Stone | |
|---|---|
| Hustle character | |
| First appearance | The Con is On |
| Portrayed by | Adrian Lester |
| Information | |
| Aliases | Mickey Bricks |
| Occupation | Grifter |
Michael Stone, better known as Mickey Bricks, is a fictional character in the popular BBC TV show Hustle from Series 1 to 3 and 5 to 7. Played by Adrian Lester, he was the show's principal character at the time.
Mickey is a professional grifter who makes money by setting up long cons. He is intelligent, charismatic and quick-witted. Although he works with Albert Stroller who is one of his mentors, Mickey is the leader of his "crew" (team) of grifters. Mickey did not return in the fourth series, instead he led a con off-screen in Australia. He has, however, returned in the fifth.
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Mickey has a strong dislike of being told what to do or having a job. These feelings appear to stem from his childhood. In series one, he revealed that his father was an ordinary, law-abiding citizen whose only dream was to retire at age 60, a dream of which he was robbed when he dropped dead of natural causes three days before his 60th birthday. He watched his father doing exactly what society told him to and then had to watch as that same sense of duty crushed him. This left him with a strong hatred of people who simply use the system to make themselves rich regardless of the cost to anyone else, which is the main reason Mickey always selects marks whom he has reason to dislike; by making it personal when attempting to outwit them, he stops himself from ever making the con about the money. The gang states that their first rule is, "You can't cheat an honest man," not because they should not but because those being conned are greedy and dishonest people, who are thus less likely to over-analyse anything that would make them rich. In that sense, Mickey is not hypocritical because he doesn't steal from "old ladies", with all his marks being people who are either blatantly dishonest or simply coldly dismissive of others- such as when he stole a man's credit card after hearing him attempt to convince his staff over the phone to only pay Eastern Europeans £2.50 an hour to work for them-; indeed, on at least two occasions he has masterminded cons where innocent people gain more from the cons than the gang themselves (Although the gang still made a profit from their actions)
Mickey is considered by most people to be one of the finest grifters alive. His best moments include 'moving' the Star of Africa and averting police capture by recruiting another grifter to head the investigation into his activities. Incidentally he has never been charged with grifting (his only incarceration was for a completely non-related crime- assault on his ex-wife's boyfriend with a baseball bat for which he served three years. He has three weaknesses- loyalty, his extraordinary ego, and his hatred of being told what to do by anyone. He is a unique con artist in that he doesn't think like a normal person. You cannot second guess him. He gives the impression that he is making it all up as he goes along, but everything is planned and precise. He puts together complicated and seemingly unrelated events, impossible to unravel, but all related to the big con. The higher the stakes, the more he likes it. He has attempted several grifts- such as trying to con an amnesic who saw through their first con before he lost his memory by 're-doing' the original scam, or conning four different people with the same con at once- simply because people say that it is impossible. He often removes things from people's pockets and one occasion drives off in a gentleman's car after convincing him he is a valet but despite this he frequently insists he is "not a thief".
In addition to his crew, Mickey is also friends with various other grifters. However, he does not seem to have any non-grifter friends, although he was married once. He has previously stated that as a grifter you should never have "anything in your life that you can't walk away from in a second". His marriage ended after his wife had an affair. Mickey subsequently beat up the man with whom his wife had an affair, and was sent to prison for three years.
Several episodes have suggested a past relationship with fellow team member Stacie Monroe. In the first season episode, "A Touch of Class", Mickey breaks one of his cardinal rules by having an affair with the target of a con, which resulted in the con going awry and the wrong victim being hit when the original mark tricks them into going after an innocent man.
In Series 4, Mickey had left to take part in a con in Australia. Danny Blue took over as leader, with Billy Bond filling the resulting gap. Mickey appeared to call Danny at the end of the Series Four Finale, but the audience never saw Mickey; they heard Danny say "Sorry, bit busy, can I call you back?" and then hang up (Much to the annoyance of the rest of the group, as they were currently stuck on a sinking inflatable raft and thought that Mickey might have been able to suggest something to help them).
Following a brush with the law in Australia, Mickey returns to the UK where he discovers his team has split up and have gone their separate ways. He then manages to bring the remaining members of the team - Ash Morgan and Albert Stroller, although Albert briefly served as an occasional advisor while in prison - back together, aided by new members Emma and Sean, to help him start a new string of cons within the city of London.
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