Common Sense Media Review
By Monique Jones
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Retread of Fyre Fest debacle, other schemes has language.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 15+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
The Con
What's the Story?
THE CON highlights how some of the biggest cons in American pop culture were pulled off and the aftermath. In the episode "The Fyre Festival Con," Billy McFarland is the mastermind behind the doomed Fyre Festival, which was meant to be an exclusive music and lifestyle festival for social media influencers and others willing to pay for an elite lifestyle. The results of the festival led to festival-goers and vendors collectively losing millions of dollars, with McFarland getting charged and convicted of wire fraud. The Con aims to answer what led up to the festival's demise.
Is It Any Good?
The Con feels a little dated as it attempts to tell the full stories of cons that felt big in recent years but are somewhat forgotten in the quick news cycles of today. The Fyre Festival, which went viral in 2018 for its horrible conditions and lack of funding, has already been the subject of two documentaries in 2019, Fyre and Fyre Fraud. These two documentaries do great jobs to break down the behind-the-scenes process that created the festival and its ultimate demise.
The public is saturated with information on many of the other cons already, so the show can feel like a retread. However, the series does boast a new interview with McFarland that it tries to tease out for maximum viewing suspense. Even still, not much aside from McFarland's own admission of guilt is revealed.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about what defines a con. How can you protect yourself from a con or "get rich quick" scheme?
Why is Billy McFarland considered a con artist by festival-goers and vendors?
Why do you think people create cons? What needs do they fill for people besides money?
How did the Fyre Festival appeal to social media? What is dangerous about the relationship between the Fyre Festival and the hope to access an "Instagram-perfect" life?
TV Details
- Premiere date : March 3, 2021
- Cast : Whoopi Goldberg
- Network : ABC
- Genre : Educational
- TV rating :
- Last updated : December 10, 2025
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