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A few White Collar thoughts
I'm not really systematically rewatching "White Collar", so much as watching an occasional episode in the background while I do other things.
- I still can't rewatch the last ten minutes of "Vital Signs". I know the antagonist was an awful person who paid off people and stole their organs, but convincing him he was dying was definitely a step too far for me. Peter never should've signed off on that, and there definitely should have been an ethics investigation.
- Speaking of "Vital Signs", I keep noticing new things every time I rewatch it. Last time I noticed you can see Neal start to slip off the restraints while his captors are still in the room. (Watch him!) This time I noticed some amusing byplay with the security guard and receptionist in the background at the Howser Clinic. The first time, the receptionist lets Neal & Mozzie in. The second time she does it, when Peter goes past her and up the stairs, it's the same security guard at the bottom of the stairs, and the guard gets all huffy and storms over to her desk. When Melissa Calloway is on the phone, you can see in some of the shots behind her (at the bottom of the stairs) that the guard is chewing out the receptionist (presumably some version of "CHECK THEIR CREDENTIALS FOR GOD'S SAKE WHY ARE WE PAYING YOU").
- Also on the topic of "Vital Signs", I think my favorite moment in the episode is Neal's "I could slip you off. That wouldn't be picking. That'd be slipping." Because he could totally get away, and he knows it, and Peter knows it. But he doesn't, because Peter told him not to ... unless he can think up a convincing technical loophole in Peter's instructions. That's so totally their relationship in a nutshell right there. :D
- The season one plot still makes no sense.
- But, awww, "Free Fall." :D The thing that gets me about this episode is that, even though Peter's the one who put him in prison, and Neal KNOWS from talking to him that Peter thinks he did it ... Peter is still the one that he goes to after he escapes, because he trusts Peter to hear him out and examine his new evidence fairly, rather than just calling a cop car and packing him back to prison. (Shades of 2x07, too, when the escaped FBI guy went to Peter for basically the same reason.)
- I still love Neal's longer hair in the pilot. And all the different, more casual outfits he wore in the first season, before they settled into the suits all the time. Can we get the black sweaters back? And Peter's long coats? PLEASE FILM IN THE WINTER AGAIN, WHITE COLLAR. I'LL BE A GOOD GIRL ALL YEAR!
- Peter is such a sassmaster in season one. And I love that thing he does where you can see him thinking (like, for example, when Neal jumps out the window in "Free Fall" -- love how everyone else is running around and Peter's just standing there, a little island of stillness in the midst of the activity because he's 100% focused on what Neal is doing and why; you can see the gears turning). It seems like there's less of that in later seasons.
- I still can't rewatch the last ten minutes of "Vital Signs". I know the antagonist was an awful person who paid off people and stole their organs, but convincing him he was dying was definitely a step too far for me. Peter never should've signed off on that, and there definitely should have been an ethics investigation.
- Speaking of "Vital Signs", I keep noticing new things every time I rewatch it. Last time I noticed you can see Neal start to slip off the restraints while his captors are still in the room. (Watch him!) This time I noticed some amusing byplay with the security guard and receptionist in the background at the Howser Clinic. The first time, the receptionist lets Neal & Mozzie in. The second time she does it, when Peter goes past her and up the stairs, it's the same security guard at the bottom of the stairs, and the guard gets all huffy and storms over to her desk. When Melissa Calloway is on the phone, you can see in some of the shots behind her (at the bottom of the stairs) that the guard is chewing out the receptionist (presumably some version of "CHECK THEIR CREDENTIALS FOR GOD'S SAKE WHY ARE WE PAYING YOU").
- Also on the topic of "Vital Signs", I think my favorite moment in the episode is Neal's "I could slip you off. That wouldn't be picking. That'd be slipping." Because he could totally get away, and he knows it, and Peter knows it. But he doesn't, because Peter told him not to ... unless he can think up a convincing technical loophole in Peter's instructions. That's so totally their relationship in a nutshell right there. :D
- The season one plot still makes no sense.
- But, awww, "Free Fall." :D The thing that gets me about this episode is that, even though Peter's the one who put him in prison, and Neal KNOWS from talking to him that Peter thinks he did it ... Peter is still the one that he goes to after he escapes, because he trusts Peter to hear him out and examine his new evidence fairly, rather than just calling a cop car and packing him back to prison. (Shades of 2x07, too, when the escaped FBI guy went to Peter for basically the same reason.)
- I still love Neal's longer hair in the pilot. And all the different, more casual outfits he wore in the first season, before they settled into the suits all the time. Can we get the black sweaters back? And Peter's long coats? PLEASE FILM IN THE WINTER AGAIN, WHITE COLLAR. I'LL BE A GOOD GIRL ALL YEAR!
- Peter is such a sassmaster in season one. And I love that thing he does where you can see him thinking (like, for example, when Neal jumps out the window in "Free Fall" -- love how everyone else is running around and Peter's just standing there, a little island of stillness in the midst of the activity because he's 100% focused on what Neal is doing and why; you can see the gears turning). It seems like there's less of that in later seasons.
no subject
OMG do not even get me started LOL.
Not that the S3-4 plots make any more sense, really, but I have vivid memories of trying to wrestle the S1-2 plot arc into something that made sense while writing the Kate fic.
Still, I miss the S1-2 dynamic between Neal and Peter. I think their disagreements and conflicts felt more real, and justified, because they really did want different things back then, as much as they already cared about each other. (Which in turn made their moments of connection and teamwork more significant, I felt.)
I also want them to film in the winter! I want seasons, dammit. And a coherent timeline! I can never tell what time of year it is, which makes it difficult to add flowery purple-prose descriptions of weather (of which I am very fond) to my fics!
And Neal in the black turtleneck is ADORABLE.
Also, it never fails to amuse me that the lack of air conditioning and resulting heat is a plot point in "Free Fall", while that whole episode everyone's running around outside wearing coats.
no subject
Also, it never fails to amuse me that the lack of air conditioning and resulting heat is a plot point in "Free Fall", while that whole episode everyone's running around outside wearing coats.
.... hahahaha, I never thought about that! EXCELLENT POINT.
It does seem -- and I know fandom talks about this quite a bit -- that the writers have increasingly had to stretch and warp the characterizations to maintain the tension that they've (somewhat arbitrarily) decided has to be at the center of the show. This is one of the reasons why I kind of hope the show doesn't go more than 5 or 6 seasons, because I'm worried that it'll get to the point where the character development has completely stalled out and it becomes more frustrating than fun.
And awww, man, I would give ... well, not my left arm *g*, but maybe my season three DVDs for a more year-round filming schedule! I want weather, too! The odd seasonal shifts (from full summer at the end of S2 to early spring at the beginning of S3 A DAY LATER) aren't really jarring when you're watching it -- at least, I don't find them so -- but they are a royal pain to write around. (And I want a Christmas episode, though I know we'll never get one.)
no subject
Oops, I got started anyway.
On a more positive note, that moment in "Free Fall" right after Neal jumps is amazing. There's what you pointed out, and I also love that just as all of Peter's attention is on Neal, Neal's focus is on Peter. He needs to make a getaway, but he uses a few precious seconds to communicate with Peter, even if it's just a shrug. (But it was a very eloquent shrug.) And of course, there's way that Peter is impressed. Peter takes such delight in what Neal can do, and even here where Neal is working counter to him, Peter still likes watching Neal do his thing.
no subject
ANYWAY. "Free Fall" - yes! That little exchange where they look at each other after Neal jumps off the awning is so delightful, because Neal should be running, but he has to take that moment to share what he just did with Peter. And Peter gets that obvious little frisson of delight from Neal being Neal. (His reaction to Neal jumping between the trams at the end of season three is similar, I think -- first "Oh God you're going to kill yourself STOP", and then just "... wow, that was awesome.")