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Karen Wilson, Script Editor on Hustle series 1, provides the full episode update:
Mickey sees a newspaper article about a recently divorced businesswoman, Katherine Winterborn (played by Tamzin Outhwaite), who's accused of wreaking revenge on her ex-husband. Katherine is perfect bait for the 'Congreve', an old con which targets bitter, rich women. Albert goes off to do his stuff, and rope her at an art class.
"When he was younger, Albert was the doyen of the 'Congreve'. He could sniff out a vengeful woman like a pig with a truffle."
The team's desperate for a lucrative con, particularly Ash. Mickey's shocked to discover that Ash's ex-wife, fellow con artist June, recently suffered brain damage, whilst doing 'the flop' . Ash has been paying for her care bills in a nursing home, but his money is about to run out. Mickey tells Ash they'll all help to pay - after all, "she's family".
It doesn't go well at the art class. Katherine (played by Tamzin Outhwaite) is rude, cold, and refuses to fall for Albert's charms. It's time for plan B - blatant sex appeal. Danny's obviously keen to give it a try(!) but the con requires experience, so it's up to Mickey to reel Katherine in. She's terrified of lifts, so Ash orchestrates the ideal situation: Mickey and Katherine in a lift, when it suddenly breaks down. The lift is out of action long enough for Mickey to break down Katherine's barriers and by the time they reach ground level, she's offering to take him out for dinner.
Over dinner, Mickey tells her the tale: he's setting up a spa business, to rival her ex-husband's. Katherine wants to help - she knows how spas work, what makes them special, and she also wants to impress Mickey. There's a real spark between them.
Meanwhile, the rest of the team go about setting things up - Danny's meeting architecture students, Stacie's arranging business space and Ash is designing a website. Katherine finally agrees to invest 拢100,000 in the new spa business but, when Mickey brings her the contract, she's changed her mind.
In the heat of the moment, when both are feeling vulnerable, Mickey breaks all the rules and makes love to Katherine. When Mickey goes to leave, he tells her he's a con man, there was never any spa for her to invest in. "You were rich, bitter, angry, obsessed. You were ripe to be plucked." Shocked, Katherine offers Mickey 拢250,000 to destroy her ex-husband instead - "a rat to catch a rat".
The team agrees that, if Stephen Winterborn played by Ben Miles) is as bad as Mickey says he is, it's morally OK for them to go ahead. After all, they need the money. But how can they destroy Stephen? An embarrassed Danny has the answer. He's 'discovered' that prostitutes work at the spa. If this information were made public, it would destroy him, his business and his stock market flotation.
Stacie orchestrates a meeting with Stephen, played by Ben Miles), then introduces him to her 'PR associate' - brilliantly played by Ash. Stephen's presentation is consequently doctored and it's just a case of waiting, then watching his very public downfall.
But during the launch party, alarm bells start ringing for the team. Slowly they realise that Katherine has conned Mickey into thinking that Stephen, played by Ben Miles) is the bad person, when it's really her! Katherine, played by Tamzin Outhwaite) has been pulling the strings all along; not Mickey. Could it be that, on this occasion, the con man has been conned...?
