TAGGED AS: Amazon, Amazon Prime, Drama
When we last left Sneaky Pete, it seemed like Julia Bowman (Marin Ireland) had figured out her “cousin” Pete Murphy’s true identity.
Or did she?
Series star Giovanni Ribisi, who plays con artist Marius Jasipovic who poses as Pete, spoke to Rotten Tomatoes about the third season of his streaming series, which debuts on Friday. The actor remained tight-lipped about his character’s big reveal, but assuming parole officer James Bagwell (Malcolm-Jamal Warner) answers Julia’s question about what her ex’s name is, she’ll get confirmation that it’s “Marius.” Officer Bagwell has no reason to maintain Marius’s cover as Pete, after all.
Marius has been living with the Bernhardt family as their cousin Pete, a.k.a. his former cellmate, embroiling them in his con games. But that can only last so long, especially when more marks from Marius’s past come looking for him. This season introduces Lizzie (Efrat Dor) in the season premiere, and also features Ricky Jay in his final onscreen role. (The magician and actor died in November 2018 at 72 years old.)
Ribisi, whose lengthy movie and TV credits include roles in major feature films like Saving Private Ran and Avatar, dodged spoilers to tell us what to expect in season 3 of Sneaky Pete and revealed what he’s been watching on TV, both live and streaming.
I used to have appointment television and that was the first season of True Detective. [That] was a show that I couldn’t wait for the next episode. There’s [also] sports.
I don’t have a DVR!
The show Street Food looks incredible, and then also the Planet Earth series on Netflix just because of the cinematography. I’m a sucker for good cinematography.
(Photo by Netflix)
I would say Mindhunter season 2. I love that show.
(Photo by Amazon Prime Video)
Fred Topel for Rotten Tomatoes: If Marius’s secret is out, is the family in too deep now to even do anything about it?
I don’t know what we want to give away at this point. It depends who knows about it, obviously, and how Marius further manipulates that — if that is, indeed, the case. I think that’s all I’m allowed to say. It was a cliffhanger. We left it up in the air.
Are there a lot more twists and turns pretty early in the season?
Yeah, that’s the nature of the show. That’s part of what Sneaky Pete is. It’s walking that line between something that is total chaos, this very fine string of logic of plot, juxtaposed to who are these people, the humanity and the characters and Marius’ relationship to the family. I think that speaks to the fact that the strength of the show is really in the cast members, Margo Martindale, Peter Gerety, Marin Ireland, and what they bring to the table and who they are. I think that’s the foundation, obviously.
(Photo by Amazon Prime Video)
We’re going to meet some new characters this season, and we get a taste of Lizzie in the season premiere. Is she a match for Marius?
Yes, she definitely is a match for Marius. Again, going back to that scene where he’s torn between who he has been in his life and a family, that relationship, that [co-creator/executive producer] Bryan [Cranston] said to me early on before we started filming the first season, is, “The show is Breaking Good.” There’s that dynamic there, but Lizzie’s definitely someone who is coming back to haunt him. She’s an amazing actress, Efrat Dor.
Will we see Ricky Jay’s final scenes?
Yes. It’s still an open wound, the tragedy that happened with Ricky Jay. He was just such an extraordinary talent on so many levels and his commitment to mastery of what he did in his life was just extraordinary. We were all fortunate to work with him. He’s very heavy in the season, actually.
Are we going to see how his real-life skills might apply to Pete?
Yeah, he does work with cards in this season. It’s just incredible what he did. What he could do is just mind-boggling.
(Photo by Amazon Prime Video)
Will we see some more fun cons this season?
Yes, without a doubt. I think there’s a lot of that, a lot of card sharking, spinning that web, I guess, that feels like he has to. It’s just who he is. It’s the fabric of his being. He’s playing this chess game and thinking five moves ahead, structuring this thing where somebody is going to behave a certain way and take that left turn he needs them to take. That’s just his nature so yes, there’s a lot of that this season.
Has the balance shifted to how much he’s still Marius and how much he’s trying to be Pete?
I don’t know if it’s necessarily something where he’s changing to step on a moral pulpit there and say “this is what’s good, and this is what’s bad.” I think that his loyalty is shifting.
Sneaky Pete season 3 premieres Friday, May 10 on Amazon Prime Video.
