... and a random, probably pointless White Collar observation

[sholio]

This journal is a Season 4.5 Spoiler Free Zone (TM), by the way! Please don't mention anything from unaired episodes, promos, etc. Thank you! :)

Anyone else notice that Sam/James doesn't drink?

I was rewatching bits of 4x10 and it jumped out at me particularly in the scene where he, Mozzie and Neal are gathered around the table in Neal's apartment -- Neal and Mozzie with glasses of wine, Sam with a glass of water. Which made me realize that the only thing we ever see him drink at all is water.

I have no idea if there's any actual significance to this, plot-wise or as a character detail, or if it's just a coincidence (after all, we haven't seen much of him yet). But it was something I had noticed on the rewatch, and it struck me as interesting.

(Someone -- not me, I don't remember who -- pointed out awhile back that there are two water glasses visible in the scene in which Neal rescues(??) Sam from the thug in the warehouse. A clue??? Or just an accident of the prop department?)

Comments

[veleda_k]

That's quite interesting, especially considering how much the other characters drink. One of those details that could be spun into a interesting backstory fic, even if canon doesn't go anywhere with it. (And with White Collar, I never know what's intentional and what's accidental.)

[sholio]

Yeah, I think that's what made it jump out at me -- there is hardly a relaxed social scene in the entire series that doesn't involve at least one character with a glass of wine, and I found it really interesting that Sam is always drinking water. I'm not sure if it's something that is actually going to be brought up at some point (the obvious conclusion is that he used to be an alcoholic -- that would be an interesting thing for Neal to find out about his family tree!) or if it's a minor character detail that the actor or writers slipped in there, or ... I just don't know! And I know what you mean about not being sure what's intentional and what isn't.

[veleda_k]

Sam James as an alcoholic would be really logical, given what little we know of his past: being disgraced as a cop, losing his family, etc. And addiction rates for law enforcement officers are high in general.

I think that's now my head cannon until proven otherwise.

[sholio]

I know! It fits so well! And it has fascinating implications for Neal -- character-wise, I mean, if this is something he didn't know about his family. Speaking as someone with a family history of alcoholism, it does affect how you look at your own life and behavior, and I am intrigued by the idea of Neal wrapping his head around this thing he didn't know about his dad.

[frith_in_thorns]

I'm just here to whine that someone left me a spoiler as a comment to one of my fics :|

...actually, I'm not just here to whine. That's an excellent catch, and really interesting! (I think it sounds just like the little details the writers would put in on purpose.)

[sholio]

*hugs* And I read that spoiler when they posted it! Because I have this bad habit of perusing comments for stories I like. So yeah, now I am spoiled too, aargh.

... ANYWAY. I think it's a very interesting character detail! I don't know if it will turn out to be significant, but it's intriguing, anyhow.

[frith_in_thorns]

Oh no, I'm sorry you were spoiled too :( Why would they even do that. The spoilers I like are strictly limited to episode titles, which I find interesting to ponder and usually end up meaning something different to what I was thinking anyway. (I like epguides.com for keeping track of shows as it has titles and air dates and nothing else :P)

...also I thought I'd posted this an hour ago.

[frith_in_thorns]

But then I MASSIVELY IRONICALLY got distracted loling at a post with someone getting very upset that they'd read Hobbit fic they knew was explicitly set in the future from the point of view of the first film's ending and it had spoilers for the book.

Followed with: "But is it a massive fandom? I'm not saying the book isn't popular, of course it is, but there aren't that many fics on AO3."


...This is apparently one of the nights where Frith shares every thought in her head with the internet, so should probably now go to bed :P

[sholio]

...This is apparently one of the nights where Frith shares every thought in her head with the internet, so should probably now go to bed :P

I don't mind! I'm procrastinating being rather chatty myself. :D (There is a fairly interesting and non-future-spoilery discussion about James and Neal going on in the LJ comments to this post, when LJ deigns to load.)

[sholio]

Well, in my case at least, I feel like I have no one but myself to blame, because I KNOW that perusing comments can lead to spoileriness. (But you didn't have a choice, because you got the comment notification and have the social obligation to answer! I wish that people would, at the very least, ASK FIRST!)

... and LOL at your poor hobbit fan. I can understand not really grasping the scope of a fandom if you're new to it, but as for the spoiler part, that is so sad on so many levels.

[frith_in_thorns]

There was an enormous and incredibly passionate argument on fandomsecrets the other night around the proposition "Kili doesn't look like a dwarf because he's attractive and dwarves can't be attractive". Unfortunately both sides are hampered by Tolkien's utter lack of descriptions.

(Newbie, bemused: "But the books are really long, and you all say he didn't describe characters or battles? He must describe something!"
About five people, simultaneously: "LANDSCAPES.")

...I have the rather bad character trait of finding this type of argument hilarious. The release of the Hobbit film is providing me with considerable entertainment. Although everything else in the film pales in comparison to Thranduil's magnificent steed.