Okay, another random White Collar post

[sholio]

I am about 25 minutes into White Collar 2x15 and Neal and Peter switching places is the best thing in the history of EVER. XDDDDD

The constant one-upsmanship! "You caught me. Twice." Neal having Peter get his coffee! The other agents' utter glee at the whole mess. Mozzie's running commentary while he trains Peter. ("... while you fumble through the house.") XD

SHOW.

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Comments

[sophia-sol.livejournal.com]

YESSS that is an episode that I really definitely for reals need to actually watch.

[sholio]

NEW FAVORITE EPISODE OMG. If you only watch one from season two, watch this one! There were some bits that were hard to swallow in terms of plausibility, but this episode totally brought the cute and funny in a MAJOR WAY. I grinned so much my face hurts.

[sophia-sol.livejournal.com]

It is SO on my list of Things To Watch; it has been on my list since I first heard of its existence! Because it sounds magnificent. (and plausibility? Pssssh, whatever, I'm cool without it. :D)

[sholio]

Yeah, plausibility, FEH. This is too much fun for words. Whoever wrote this episode gets TWO THUMBS UP! And needs to write more of them soon.

[sophia-sol.livejournal.com]

Who needs plausibility when you've got that kind of awesome premise going on? MANY THUMBS UP.

[aelfgyfu_mead]

I was willing to let plausibility go on this one, because it was just so much FUN!

[sholio]

I loved that episode SO MUCH. :DDD I do think that Peter shouldn't have been able to pick up his mad thief skillz so quickly, but WHO CARES, TOO MUCH FUN. I will be very disappointed if they conveniently forget about it and he never gets to use his new pickpocketing or lockpicking skills again on the show, though!

[anniehow.livejournal.com]

Oh, YES. When do we ever get "proper" body-switch in canon, right? So very obliging, WC. After I got over the fact that the girl hadn't noticed Neal lurking around at the beginning before he strides purposefully up to El claiming to be Peter (sorry Neal, but you didn't exactly bland in the background there honey) I sort of flapped my hands at every plot hole and squeed all the way to Peter picking Neal's pocket at the end pretty much without pause for breath XD

[sholio]

That episode ROCKED SO MUCH, and Peter picking Neal's pocket at the end was the cherry topping of awesome (though I'm halfway convinced that Neal had to have let him get away with it). Like I said in one of the comments above, I really hope we get to see Peter's pickpocketing or lockpicking skills again sometime -- I really hope the show doesn't just forget about it!

[anniehow.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure there was another episode where he had his own set of lockpicks and used them... but I'm not 100% sure. The trouble with these Id-stroking shows is that after a while you're never sure what has actually happened and what you only wished happened, because it's all plausible!

[pat-t.livejournal.com]

Hmm, I just took a Zanaflex and a Lunesta. Wonder if I can still make sense? I loved this episode so much. The chemistry between all the chacters just clicks. They make it look easy and very fun although I know they were working hard. I agree, we need to see Peter showing off his skills agoam;

[sholio]

It was a lovely episode; so much delightful banter! (I am a total sucker for banter.)

[kriadydragon.livejournal.com]

Hee! :D I love it when Neal gives some random agent teh double finger point and the poor agent starts heading up the stairs.

[kriadydragon.livejournal.com]

Oh! And when Neal starts mimicking all of Peter's motions.

[sholio]

Oh, that whole scene was completely AWESOME. It took me a moment to notice that Neal was copying him, so I had to go back and rewatch it to get everything. :D And the way everyone else is totally amused at seeing their boss get the tables turned on him. (Jones: "Don't you hate it when Peter makes you get coffee?")

I do think they tipped right over into utter implausibility with Peter turning into a master pickpocket in like A DAY, but the episode overall was so hilarious and fun that I was willing to forgive the unbelievability.

[ivy03.livejournal.com]

Do you have the DVDs? Cause there's a deleted scene from that ep that is relevant to my interests.

[sholio]

No, I don't have the DVDs! Tell me! :D

[ivy03.livejournal.com]

There was shirtless, pretending-to-step-out-of-the-shower Tim DeKay in that episode and they cut it for time.

[sholio]

aaaaaa! *runs off to Youtube to look for clips* XD

[schneefink.livejournal.com]

You! *shakes fist* *looks at watch*
Because I cannot resist squee (well, sometimes I can, but not today) I watched 2x15 - so much fun! I love Elizabeth. And everyone else, too. "Who tells Peter?", Peter and Elizabeth on the phone, "don't you hate it when Peter makes you get coffee?", talking about "themselves", and the cute ending, awww. I didn't know who 2/3 of these people were, but I'm looking forward to finding out.

[sholio]

heeee~! Oh, dear, I am a terrible influence - but I'm really glad you enjoyed it! Yeah, Elizabeth is total LOVE, and everyone else is great too. If you'd rather cherry-pick episodes than watch it sequentially, I could suggest a few more that really bring the cute. ^_^ (Okay, just to toss a few out there - 1x10 is full of adorableness, and 2x14 has one of my favorite Peter & Elizabeth subplots ever. *runs away*)

[schneefink.livejournal.com]

PETER AND ELIZABETH ARE SO CUTE ♥ ♥ ♥

A list of episodes especially worth watching would be very welcome :D

[sholio]

OH WHERE TO BEGIN.

One thing that's kind of striking me about the series as I get deeper into it is that I haven't really hit a bad episode yet -- there are some that are better than others, and some that drag a bit, but so far all the ones I've seen have had enough fun character moments to get me past the slow stuff.

There *is* an ongoing meta-plot each season, which means that cherry-picking episodes, you'll get random bits and pieces of it. This hasn't really been bothering me - I'm mostly in it for the character dynamics, and each episode also has its main plot with bits of the meta plot in the background - but just so you're aware of that.

The other thing to be aware of is that some viewers (including me) find this season's meta plot kind of skeevy/discomfort-inducing (I can go into more detail if you want) ... very frustrating to me, because generally the show has been pretty good at not making me do the "ignoring the ick to get to the good bits" thing, like I did with SGA and, er, quite a few other shows. And now this. But you might not react the same way; I know some people on my flist haven't been.

... ANYWAY. My top picks for your next episodes to watch (i.e. my favorites *g*) - and I haven't seen most of season one and early season 2 yet, so with those caveats:

1x10 - this episode is just a whole barrel of squee for so many reasons
2x14 - which I already recommended for the awesome Peter/Elizabeth scenes, but otherwise, the plot in general concerns one of Neal's old enemies abducting Peter for revenge purposes, which is the sort of plot that will always peg my squee-o-meter.
3x02 - Peter and Neal (and the rest of the ensemble) on a treasure hunt in Manhattan. Really good episode.
3x04 - Peter and Neal do "The Sting". SWEET.

And some more good ones:

1x01 - probably worth watching just to see how the characters all entered each others' orbits. And it's a pretty good episode anyway, though I enjoyed it more after seeing later episodes so that I knew the characters better.
1x04 - This is not really the greatest episode all by itself, but it has some neat turning points in various characters' relationships
2x08 - has one of my favorite Peter and Neal scenes in the whole show
2x09/2x10 - this is a 2-parter; the first part is mostly meta-plot, the second is a rather fabulous episode about (among other things) Peter's friends going to bat for him after he's suspended from his FBI job
2x11 - this is all character backstory: basically a bottle episode with Peter and Neal getting drunk together and talking about old times, including how they met and how Neal developed his con artist persona. Probably needs some familiarity with the characters before you'll enjoy it.
2x16/3x01 (another 2-parter) is all meta-plot and unfortunately it's the plot that I find discomfort-making in the extreme, but as far as the actual episodes themselves, they're really good and full of neat character bits. SO CONFLICTED, AARGH.
3x03 - this one is a really fabulous Diana episode (Peter's right-hand woman in the FBI). You get a lot of ensemble and some really cute bits with Diana and her girlfriend double-dating with Neal and his girlfriend.

Enjoy! :)

[swanpride.livejournal.com]

That's interesting...apart from the season premieres and finales (which are always good or mindblowing) and the last episode, you picked exactly the episodes on the bottom of my list...well, shows that the show has something for different tastes, right?

[schneefink.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Yeah, fun character moments are definitely the show's strength. And cuteness :)

I didn't like 1x10 very much (I'm too uncomfortable with what they did to the bad guy), but 3x2 and especially 2x14 were fun. Peter and Elizabeth are so adorable, awww.
I still have to do some ignore-the-details, but at least the characters are competent! Such a relief, after SGA. ^^
(But no space ships. When I'm finished I'll go look for the space ship AUs.)

Fortunately the holidays have begun \o/ Good timing.

[sholio]

Yeah, I agree about the uncomfortableness of what they did to the bad guy in 1x10 (I'd actually forgotten about that; maybe I blocked it out).

But yeah, in general the show is really good about not just telling you that the characters are good at their jobs while having them act like morons, but actually showing you. The plots, er, yes -- a bit of handwaving is necessary -- but even there, they have some pretty good twists from time to time. Jumping around like I've been doing, I'm also starting to notice a lot of little callbacks to earlier episodes in throwaway snatches of dialogue. And Peter and Elizabeth's "fight" in 2x14 is the BEST. :D

Anyway, I'm awfully glad you're having fun! *pets new shiny*

(Space ship AUs! eeeeee! Though I'm not sure if they exist -- this fandom doesn't seem to go for AUs very much ... but if it doesn't exist, someone needs to write it!)

[schneefink.livejournal.com]

Lots of fun! And I love your squee posts. :)

(Even more than the space ship AU I want the one where Elizabeth is a sorceress.)

[sholio]

... okay, just watched 2x04 and gotta add that to the must-watch list too. ♥