elrhiarhodan | Post Ep Dish - S4.03

Well, here we are, three weeks into the season, and we’re back to New York, with some interesting developments. Peter’s being punished, so our boys are still not together. And Mozzie, wherefore art thou?

What I don’t understand is why is Storage Wars winning the timeslot? I mean, I like the show, it’s kind of fun, but WTF? Who the hell would rather watch those bags full of ugly than Peter and Neal. NOT ME!

You know, I never responded to anyone’s comments last week. Wednesday turned out to be kind of nuts, Thursday was almost as bad, and you gals were playing to nice together that I didn’t need to step in. I hope to do better this week. I love you and I love our conversations.

And I hope to finish the comfort side of Six Hours to Freedom this week.

Once again, this mostly going to be incoherent flailing, but there's a time and a place for everything. Later tonight, head over to White Collar Fixation for

jrosemary's incisive First Look at Diminishing Returns, and

rabidchild67's ever brilliant Rabid Squee on Thursday. [/pimpage]

And here we go!

No “Previously On…” (thank goodness), but we have a somewhat somber opening …. Aww...flashbacks. “We’re going home”

Ohh new set - Neal’s bathroom! Very nice, very nice!

And Neal’s happy, limp is about gone.

Aw, Peter the Optimist!

Hughes is back, again. Jones and Berrigan are taking Peter’s caseload - everyone wants Peter back.

The CAVE - how bad could it be? VERY BAD! Apparently.

Patterson - almost as grim and one-note as Collins. At least he doesn’t shoot Peter in the leg.

Catalog those cellphones by SIM card...yoikes!

Poor, poor Peter. HUGS HIM TIGHT.

Neal!!!!!! Well hello, sailor! Boy does Peter look happy!

THE PICNIC AREA!

The Yard - I’m not in prison, I’m reassigned.

Neal - tell him. Tell him.

Ellen arrested his father, her partner - Neal doesn’t know everything. And timing is, as they say, everything. Patterson - you’re a bastard.

And Neal being AWESOME!!!!!!!! His solutions seem like they’re right out of every terrific fanfic written, right?

The guys can’t really freeze him out - they’ll try, but they can’t, can they?

And Neal is still being awesome...every five years for this guy? Smart - statute of limitations

Talk about clock watching...argh!!!!! Had a boss like that.

Neal and Peter doing cases…

And Diana to the rescue!

Neal’s like that little red devil on Peter’s shoulder.

Since when does Neal need keys?

I remember this scene from the publicity stills - and I thought that it was weird for Peter to be wearing an ID card and not a badge.

Love that shot of Neal.

Awwww - Peter and Elizabeth. Love those earrings, Mrs. Burke.

And speak of the devil, he will appear!

I don’t like him - He’s a Mets fan, I’m a diehard Yankees fan (sorry to hear that)

Nobody trades up from baseball. Now I can get on board with that!

El - you are HOT in red. You are very hot.

Peter in workout gear...oh, yum. OH YUM.

And nipples????? When do we get nearly naked Neal? He’s in a health club locker room, for crying out loud!

A grand - or five…? You better win that damn game, Peter! And who cares, you are one hot man when you sweat.

And still no nipples!

Christie and Diana went ring shopping !

MOZZIE! MOZZIE! MOZZIE! MOZZIE! MOZZIE! MOZZIE! MOZZIE!

No man is an island - you’ve retired from retirement.

Neal’s Mozzie’s frontman, awwww

And the treasure’s still hanging around. UGH.

“Who needs the fuzz when you have me?” Mozzie still gets all the best lines.

Confident Peter - is SUPER SEXY Peter. OH. MY. GOD. I NEED THAT CAP NOW. That blue tie, that suit, that SMILE.

Where did Peter go? To work, apparently.

Aw, Mozzie’s the best little elf!

Neal’s mom just checked out. Neal WAS in witsec!!!!!

Dad was a murderer? A cop killer?

Danny Brookes...awe

Mother’s maiden name was Caffrey. Father’s name was James.

And so the mythology for S4 begins. No music boxes, no man behind the curtain, no blood-soaked treasure. Just a boy wanting to know why his father was.

Okay - so you know the drill. Please park your thinky and not-so-thinky thoughts, your raves and squees and bits of utter happiness.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Just a couple of continuity issues for me, otherwise I really loved this episode. Well, maybe just ONE continuity issue.

Last season, Ellen said the reason she told Neal about his father was that he was going to enter the police academy and when he did, he was gonna get an earful about his father. Well, if they were in WitSec, they WEREN'T in the same city where Ellen and James were cops, Neal's name was Danny Brooks, so NO ONE would have known about his dad.

There also HAS to be something more than just a generic cop killing. You don't put people into Witness Protection because someone they knew/were related to turned out to be a murderer, even if they are a cop killer. There has to be some kind of mob connection or international drug cartel or SOMETHING that necessitated Neal, his mom, and James' partner needing to completely disappear.

I will say, that I actually enjoyed the character/story development more than I enjoyed the "case" this week. The case seemed really simplistic to me, but that's ok. Hopefully, the complexity will be in developing and revealing Neal's story/history.

Oh, and I'm keeping track of the # of episodes where we get shirtless shots of Neal. So far, we are 3 for 3 (altho in 402 we only got Neal shirtless in the "previously on" part of the show). This week, we got a 2-fer. Half-naked in the bathroom AND during the flashback. I"m liking the way these writers/directors are thinking and pandering to the fangirls/boys. lol

Edited 2012-07-25 04:33 (UTC)

They need to pander a little harder to the Peter fans who want to see him shirtless, too! Though as I said in my comment, this was a pretty good Peter wardrobe episode. I could stand a little less wardrobe on him. ;)

I also had that same continuity issue. Maybe there's a little bit more to the story than that? Neal wanted to go back to where the father he idolized was a cop? Though the name thing I can't quite figure out under that theory, but I've given it about 60 seconds of thought, lol.

YES - shirtless Peter is definitely required. And sooner than later.

Ellen does say in tonight's ep that she was "on to something big" when James confessed. So I'm pretty sure there is definitely more to the story that precipitated WITSEC.

Also, I don't know this for a fact, but maybe a cop who kills a cop would be infamous in any police department.

There may be other info about James too or the case that we are not yet privy to that will help this make sense later on. Maybe I'm just really optimistic.

Neal had no idea his name was Neal until Ellen TOLD him it was. He was THREE when his name was changed to Danny. I doubt he would have had any coherent memories of his true last name. As far as he was concerned, his father was dead. All of his identifications would have the name Danny Brooks, birth certificate, social security card, ALL his school records . . . this is a pretty big plot hole for me. I HOPE they're able to fill it in a plausible way. Just have to keep fingers crossed.

Actually, I assumed they were going to recognize him by his looks... There's a good chance they're genetic, right? Maybe the case of Neal's dad is discussed on one of the police academy classes? There's actually a bunch of possible explanations. I'm willing to wait this one out and see actually. Have faith in the writers...

I agree - there could be a lot of reasons why Neal would have had problems at the academy because of his father.

This season's mythology is compelling enough that I'm not going to stress over the plotholes.

YET.

Well, we can assume that Neal would have wanted to find out everything there was to know about his hero father, maybe even brag about him a little and so on. He would have started researching and everything could have blown up into his face. Additionally, the case of Neal's father might have been a high profile one, so chances are that someone would have recognized the similarities in looks, etc... and perhaps there is another reason why Ellen didn't think it wise for Neal to pursue a career as a cop, a reason she just didn't tell Neal (which is also quite likely).

Excellent point - we know that teen!Neal was very proud of his "hero cop" father.

I also think a lot of the problems with Neal going into the police academy would have had to do with him being (albeit unknowingly) in WitSec. He would have been fingerprinted and quite possibly the return data would have been flagged.

Or this could just be a huge plothole. Not like WC hasn't had theme before.

Why are you assuming that Ellen didn't tell him his real last name when she told him his real first name?

She would also have had to tell him what his mother's maiden name was. So...

I agree - there has to be a reason why they were in WITSEC - particularly if Neal's father confessed and went to prison.

I got the feeling from the end of Judgment Day, when Neal and Ellen are talking, that she knew that Neal's father was not a good cop anymore.

I am going to trust in Eastin for the moment - it's not like WC isn't filled with plotholes anyway (Keller being Neal's rival for Kate, except that Neal and Keller were together and finished long before he met Kate).

I'm such a dork - I didn't even realize that Neal was shirtless in the opening scene. I was much more focused on his bathroom decor!

Post Ep Dish - S4.03 - Diminishing Returns

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