The whole plan throughout season one was for Mitchell to use her police access to ultimately switch out a fake for a Faberge Egg and leave Ellis looking like a fool. However, she uncovered evidence regarding the murder of Ellis’s brother, so she canceled her getaway. Instead, she delivers the flash-drive recordings to Ellis and swaps back jeweled egg before anyone notices—anyone else than Ellis, that is. Consequently, the detective has serious trust issues during the rest of the season opener, “Con in 60 Seconds.”
Of course, this episode also demonstrates why they are so well-paired. In “60 Seconds,” clearly more inspired by Fast & Furious than Gone in 60 Seconds, Mitchell and Ellis go undercover to bust a gang of street-racing thieves. It turns out she can handle the wheel, having fled her share of crime scenes, while he knows his way around an engine. In most ways, it is an average odd couple undercover procedural, but it sets up several of the continuing storylines for the season. It is also a good example of the grounded credibility Terry Chen brings to the series as eternally patient, but exasperated Chief Li.
The season’s second episode, “Once a Con a Time in the West,” features one of the most notable guest-stars of any show airing this month. Original Brat Pack member Ally Sheedy appears as ranching matriarch Rose Pruett, whose prize stud horse is targeted by an assassin. Evidently, the Pruetts are under pressure to sell the family farm, so if they lose Paul, the professional equine papa, they lose it all.
Sheedy definitely has a nice Big Valley vibe as Pruett, while writers Konyves and Marcus Robison address the rural country elements (apparently right outside Vancouver) without sounding conspicuously phony. This episode also notably features Martin Sheen in the recurring role of Jonathan Ashford, a legendary con artist, whose video memoir Mitchell watches to bone-up on her sharp practices, but might just lead her question her illegal ways even more.
