8 Best Unsung Antiheroes Of TV's Golden Age

6. Marius Josipovic (Giovani Ribisi) - Sneaky Pete

Sneaky Pete
Amazon Studios

The massively underrated Sneaky Pete centers around a con artist, Marius Josipovic (Giovanni Ribisi), who takes protection from a mobster through fooling a family in Connecticut into thinking he’s their long-lost grandson, Pete Murphy, upon his release from prison.

Throughout the course of the series Marius has to continue to con multiple mobsters, his parole officer, his adopted family, the real Pete Murphy (his cell mate in prison), and partners who have turned on him. That’s all while trying to scam people out of money to pay his debts.

Like any heist or con film, the joy of watching Marius play off his marks is immense here because the man is simply a genius. In each dicey situation he finds himself in, Marius never gives up on a way out and exudes supreme confidence in whatever he’s saying whether he thinks his marks will believe it or not.

Unlike some morally tortured anti-heroes, Sneaky Pete’s protagonist simply operates on survivalist instinct and the writing generally stacks him against completely amoral people so there’s not much gray area and philosophical musing over right and wrong with Marius’s actions. Instead of the type of broodiness that pervades anti-hero shows, there’s a dash of sentiment here as Marius the loner gradually comes to see his adopted family as the real deal and adjust his loyalties accordingly.

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Sneaky Pete
 
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Orrin Konheim hasn't written a bio just yet, but if they had... it would appear here.