Lovable Little Con: 7 Reasons Why We Can’t Hate Maddie from ‘Imposters’

Imposters - Inbar Lavi
Photo by: Ed Araquel/Bravo
Inbar Lavi as Maddie in Bravo's Imposters

In Bravo’s new hit, Imposters, Maddie (Inbar Lavi) is a beautiful but cold con artist who gets her wealthy targets to fall in love with her, then cleans out their bank accounts. Even worse, she threatens to expose their dark secrets if they dare to go to the police.

Being such a scheming scammer, we’re supposed to hate Maddie, right? We want to, but we just…can’t. Here are 7 reasons we can’t hate the sexy swindler.

1. Girlfriend has style!

As a con artist who’s always moving onto the next target, Maddie has to be a master of disguise, constantly changing her looks, hair, makeup, and clothing. And boy, her sense of style is amazing, depending on who her alter-ego is in each job she’s working. With logical, laid-back Ezra (Rob Heaps), Maddie transforms into sweet, demure Ava, who wears light makeup and prim dresses. With Gary Heller (Aaron Douglas), she’s sexy secretary-looking Saffron, who wears outfits we’re sure aren’t appropriate for a bank setting. It doesn’t matter who she’s playing next, we know Maddie always looks damn good!

Inbar Lavi as Maddie

2. Great taste in men (and women)!

Have you seen her ex-husbands, Richard (Parker Young) and Ezra, as well as ex-wife Jules (Marianne Rendon)??? Not to mention, hellloooooo Patrick (Stephen Bishop). Though her mysterious boss, The Doctor (Ray Proscia), probably picked out her first three targets, Maddie fell for Patrick herself, showing she does indeed have great taste in paramours.

3. The Linguistic Lover

We loved Maddie-as-Ava when she spoke French, but Maddie proved she wasn’t just using a hokey accent—she’s actually fluent in French. When she’s sitting at the diner in episode 5 and staring out the window pensively, Ezra shows up unexpectedly and asks her in French, “you aren’t hungry?” She replies without looking, or thinking, in fluent French, “not right now,” before she stares at her former husband in shock. Who knows what other languages this con artist can speak?

Inbar Lavi as Maddie with Rob Heaps as Ezra

4. Playing the victim?

Far from being the cold-hearted scammer we thought she was, it’s revealed that Maddie has a mysterious boss, known only as The Doctor. When The Doctor feels his employees are getting distracted from their jobs, he calls in the scary Lenny Cohen (Uma Thurman) to steer them right back on track, or else. It seems like Maddie is trapped and has to pull these jobs. We’re just not sure how much she’s being forced and how much is her free will.

5. She’s (ironically) loyal

Now, we know with Maddie leaving a trail of (hot) victims behind, you’re probably thinking “loyal” is the last word to describe Maddie, but she showed loyalty in episode 4, where she discovers Gary Heller’s dead body and fellow scammer,  Sally (Katherine LaNasa) shaking, and holding onto a giant bag of Heller’s stolen cash. She tells Sally to go and never rats on her for killing Gary and stealing his cash to sidekick Max (Brian Benben), or the scary enforcer known as Lenny.

6. The Enigma

She plays all of her alter egos so well, but it leaves the audience wanting to know: Just who is the real Maddie? Are there parts of her in every persona she takes on or is it all made up? Is the real Maddie sweet like Ava, or is she more like sassy and sexy Saffron? Part of the fun is trying to pick out Maddie’s real self in her alter-egos.

Inbar Lavi and Rob Heaps

7. She’s just like us—or is she?

Underneath the sneaky personas, she’s just a young woman wanting to be happy and in love. Who couldn’t relate to that? Take the Patrick situation, for instance. During her Gary Heller target, she unexpectedly falls for hottie Patrick and gets threatened by Lenny to stop seeing him and to do her job with Heller. She’s devastated when she’s told Patrick will become her next mark after Heller is killed before she could complete her job. What’s a girl to do when she’s falling in love and is told her new lover will be her next victim, or else?

Imposters, Tuesdays, 10/9c, Bravo