White Collar 3x01
Jun. 14th, 2011 01:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
arduinnaI have got to learn to finish posts when I start them, so they're actually vaguely timely. Instead, here I am trying to get this post up before this week's ep airs in a few hours. *shakes head*
So season three premiered this past week, and I watched, and I was pretty pleased with the way that went. It made a lot of narrative sense to me; I want my fanfic full of happy "of course we trust and love each other" stuff, but for the show to maintain any of its core tension, and for Neal to actually be a con man consulting for the FBI, Neal has to be a con man consulting for the FBI.
When they lose that, when Neal finally becomes one of the good guys for real (which I do think will probably happen at some point), the entire tenor of the show will shift, and it will be just another buddy cop show. (Which will probably still be fun! But it won't be the same, if Neal's not a crook anymore.) But I want the show that went with that initial promo picture, with Neal and Peter connected through handcuffs, in a perfectly relaxed and comfortable way.
(er. I do not actually mean that in a kinky way, unlike the vast majority of the fandom. *g*)
And Neal is a con man, and so is Mozzie. This is what they do; they form relationships, they develop trust, and then they take the loot and run.
But they are changing. Even with that, Neal still wants to make Peter happy, and is willing to give up his chance at a big score to save Jones - and to ask Mozzie to give up his chance at a big score to save Jones, and Mozzie does it. Neal's connections to Peter, El, and June look to be stronger than any he's had before to anyone but Kate (and Mozzie). Neal clearly had no intention of taking that art on his own; he's immersed in his role at the FBI, playing a good guy for all he's worth.
And we get more evidence that Peter is changing as well, with not wanting to risk Neal's freedom by pre-emptively turning evidence over to the FBI; I know he said it was risking his career, too, but that was practically an afterthought, and really, if the FBI ever finds out that he suspected Neal might be guilty of something and didn't say anything, that's going to do a whole lot more damage to his career than immediately coming forward with suspicions. It's going to make him look complicit.
OTOH, despite not wanting to do anything to hurt Neal, despite truly wanting to trust him, Peter really does need to maintain a certain level of distrust of him; that's part of his job, and it's a job he's really really good at. He doesn't want to distrust him; he wants Neal to be one of the good guys, and he believes that Neal can be, and I love how unhappy and angry and disappointed he gets when he thinks Neal's crossed a line. You can see how emotionally invested he really is in Neal. <3 And all of that just pings my competence kink so hard -- yay for Peter the great agent, who loves his CI and copes with the combination of loving him as a person while still knowing he's a criminal.
I love - love, love, love - that it was Mozzie, not Alex, who took the art. ♥ He worked so hard on it, and it was such a great plan! (More competence-kink button-pushing, woo!) And I think in some ways it continues his constant teaching and testing of Neal, even as Neal takes the lead on so much; as far as Mozzie's concerned, Neal's been playing a game with the feds, biding his time till he can get out (which, after all, is exactly how Neal started out doing this, even though he's since thrown himself utterly into the role -- which is what makes him such a good con man, able to convince people he's sincere at every turn). The "you'll thank me" says it all, really - Mozzie thinks Neal's too caught up in this game he's playing, and needs to be brought back to the reality of his life.
And if it means they get to retire with a fortune, hey, all the better. *g* And also, they get to retire together, because they are also partners, which, wow, how much do I love that they're maintaining, and even strengthening, that? It really isn't just a Neal/Peter/Ell triangle; it's also Mozzie/Neal/Peter (and in Mozzie's mind, clearly also Mozzie/Ell/Peter *g*)
The whole thing also ties into the differences between Peter and Neal, how Peter's life is about building a good life that makes him happy, surrounded by people and things he loves, and Neal's is about being an adrenaline junkie always looking for the next big score and shedding his previous lives. That scene where he wanted to say goodbye to June, where both he and Mozzie realized how much they'd miss June's house -- Neal's changing. He doesn't want to leave it all behind.
Eventually he'll realize he doesn't just not want to leave it, he actively wants to keep it. *has faith*
Anyway, I think this is going to be a fun season. I love that everyone continues to be utterly competent at whatever it is they do (yay for remembering El's art background, for that matter! and also for the bit with Cindy, which paints in all kinds of backstory about how June and Byron really weren't ever ashamed of who they were, and didn't try to hide it from their family, even if the younger generations aren't actively in the family business -- they could be, if they wanted, clearly). And I love that the show continues to present relationships as complicated, layered, evolving things.
I'm looking forward to tonight's ep.
So season three premiered this past week, and I watched, and I was pretty pleased with the way that went. It made a lot of narrative sense to me; I want my fanfic full of happy "of course we trust and love each other" stuff, but for the show to maintain any of its core tension, and for Neal to actually be a con man consulting for the FBI, Neal has to be a con man consulting for the FBI.
When they lose that, when Neal finally becomes one of the good guys for real (which I do think will probably happen at some point), the entire tenor of the show will shift, and it will be just another buddy cop show. (Which will probably still be fun! But it won't be the same, if Neal's not a crook anymore.) But I want the show that went with that initial promo picture, with Neal and Peter connected through handcuffs, in a perfectly relaxed and comfortable way.
(er. I do not actually mean that in a kinky way, unlike the vast majority of the fandom. *g*)
And Neal is a con man, and so is Mozzie. This is what they do; they form relationships, they develop trust, and then they take the loot and run.
But they are changing. Even with that, Neal still wants to make Peter happy, and is willing to give up his chance at a big score to save Jones - and to ask Mozzie to give up his chance at a big score to save Jones, and Mozzie does it. Neal's connections to Peter, El, and June look to be stronger than any he's had before to anyone but Kate (and Mozzie). Neal clearly had no intention of taking that art on his own; he's immersed in his role at the FBI, playing a good guy for all he's worth.
And we get more evidence that Peter is changing as well, with not wanting to risk Neal's freedom by pre-emptively turning evidence over to the FBI; I know he said it was risking his career, too, but that was practically an afterthought, and really, if the FBI ever finds out that he suspected Neal might be guilty of something and didn't say anything, that's going to do a whole lot more damage to his career than immediately coming forward with suspicions. It's going to make him look complicit.
OTOH, despite not wanting to do anything to hurt Neal, despite truly wanting to trust him, Peter really does need to maintain a certain level of distrust of him; that's part of his job, and it's a job he's really really good at. He doesn't want to distrust him; he wants Neal to be one of the good guys, and he believes that Neal can be, and I love how unhappy and angry and disappointed he gets when he thinks Neal's crossed a line. You can see how emotionally invested he really is in Neal. <3 And all of that just pings my competence kink so hard -- yay for Peter the great agent, who loves his CI and copes with the combination of loving him as a person while still knowing he's a criminal.
I love - love, love, love - that it was Mozzie, not Alex, who took the art. ♥ He worked so hard on it, and it was such a great plan! (More competence-kink button-pushing, woo!) And I think in some ways it continues his constant teaching and testing of Neal, even as Neal takes the lead on so much; as far as Mozzie's concerned, Neal's been playing a game with the feds, biding his time till he can get out (which, after all, is exactly how Neal started out doing this, even though he's since thrown himself utterly into the role -- which is what makes him such a good con man, able to convince people he's sincere at every turn). The "you'll thank me" says it all, really - Mozzie thinks Neal's too caught up in this game he's playing, and needs to be brought back to the reality of his life.
And if it means they get to retire with a fortune, hey, all the better. *g* And also, they get to retire together, because they are also partners, which, wow, how much do I love that they're maintaining, and even strengthening, that? It really isn't just a Neal/Peter/Ell triangle; it's also Mozzie/Neal/Peter (and in Mozzie's mind, clearly also Mozzie/Ell/Peter *g*)
The whole thing also ties into the differences between Peter and Neal, how Peter's life is about building a good life that makes him happy, surrounded by people and things he loves, and Neal's is about being an adrenaline junkie always looking for the next big score and shedding his previous lives. That scene where he wanted to say goodbye to June, where both he and Mozzie realized how much they'd miss June's house -- Neal's changing. He doesn't want to leave it all behind.
Eventually he'll realize he doesn't just not want to leave it, he actively wants to keep it. *has faith*
Anyway, I think this is going to be a fun season. I love that everyone continues to be utterly competent at whatever it is they do (yay for remembering El's art background, for that matter! and also for the bit with Cindy, which paints in all kinds of backstory about how June and Byron really weren't ever ashamed of who they were, and didn't try to hide it from their family, even if the younger generations aren't actively in the family business -- they could be, if they wanted, clearly). And I love that the show continues to present relationships as complicated, layered, evolving things.
I'm looking forward to tonight's ep.
no subject
Date: 2011-06-14 07:20 pm (UTC)I really enjoyed the episode for a lot of the reasons you talk about in your post.
no subject
Date: 2011-06-14 08:16 pm (UTC)(Icon! <3)