Post Ep Dish - S4.12 - Brass Tacks

[elrhiarhodan]

Hiya folks and welcome to the 2013 Edition of the White Collar Post Ep Dish.

Due to circumstances beyond my control (and a week-long hospital stay), I wasn’t able to do the Dish for last week’s mid-season premier, Family Business, but I do have to say I loved it. Even the week caper had its undeniable charms. Both jrosemary and rabidchild67 did excellent reviews (First Thoughts and Rabid Squee, respectively). I suggest you head on over to White Collar Fixation and check out their reviews.

I have to admit, I am exhausted, so this Dish this week is a short collection of mostly random thoughts. I have high hopes for the episode, particularly since we’ve got ...



Peter whump on tap!!!! Correct me if I’m wrong, but this is the first possibility of serious injury to Peter since Company Man (I am not counting Payback, since whatshisname couldn’t hit a man standing three feet in front of him with a full magazine).

So, here we go my friends … It’s Brass Tacks!

Well, I find myself rather divided about this episode. It had a lot of potential, but failed to deliver on most of it.

The villain - Terrence Pratt - started out as meh as meh could be. But by the end, he's giving me the sick chills. Maybe it's the name. Anyone called Terrence has to be evil, right?

The Peter!whump was definitely unsatisfying - where was Neal's angst? He seemed way too calm, cool and collected while Peter was in a coma. He should have been glued to Peter's bedside (yeah, and I have ideas on what he'd be doing, too).

This whole thing with El - her ordering Neal to lie to Peter about the key. That just doesn't work after Peter realizes that Neal lied. Why doesn't she come clean? Since El knows that Peter knows that Neal and Moz are working independently, that they have the real key and he and Jones have a copy, then why not tell Peter that she asked Neal to lie?

Am I the only one who caught the Ghostbuster reference?

And the rather obvious Gollum reference?

For the record, I love the Moz and Jones pairing. There's something so deliciously wrong about the two of them working together. Of course, in my head canon, they have another relationship entirely (pimping the fic here - No Good Deed and Unexpectedly Perfect).

Neal as Architect. Not really a lot of thought about that - just another role to play. Fascinating how he built a maquette of a skyscraper within just a few hours. Just read an article about a maquette builder - those things take weeks, if not months. Like Neal and Moz forging whiskey overnight - the writers are really pushing the Marty Stu envelope this season.

Loved Peter playing with the fake arm in a sling - that was really kind of funny - and a particularly Peter thing to do (don't know why, but it just seems that way).

Reese is gone - this really, really upsets me because it's clear that he's not going to be back, ever. He's my favorite minor character and his leaving like this (and not putting Peter in charge) pisses me off (and josses a few hundred thousand words of fic). I understand that Emily Proctor (who played Ainsley Hayes on The West Wing) will be taking over as head of the WC division for most of the back half. NOT HAPPY. I don't particularly like her, but you know what? I'll give her a chance because she's a Woman In Charge and there aren't enough Women in Charge.

I am sure I have other thoughts, but I can't remember them. Still have hospital brain and I'm seriously, seriously tired.

So, in the best tradition of all Post Ep Dishes, let's get the conversation started. You know the drill. Thinky thoughts, not-so-thinky thoughts. Squee and not-squee away. Share your ideas, your concepts, what you think is going to happen, what you liked, loved, hated and wanted more (or less of).

It's White Collar Night...make it a good one.

Comments

Reese may have a secret mission

[(Anonymous)]

Don't give up on Reese yet, the exchange between Neil and Reese outside of the elevator as Reese is leaving foreshadows a deal between those two. Reese calling him a son of a bitch but their best damn son of a bitch and Neil having the familiarity of calling him Reese. These two have worked something out together to defeat T. Pratt.

And yes the arch model would have taken weeks to build and just doing a peer review of the design to check it wouldn't fall down would take more time than Reese allotted but hey this story requires a willful suspension of reality. PS cleanest job site ever that they met on.

[leonie-alastair.livejournal.com]

I'll miss Hughes. I want to know how evil Senator knew Danny Bennett and Neal Caffrey were one and the same. I hope that evil senator isn't the big bad for the season (I still want it to be James Bennett). I understood Elizabeth's reaction, but you are right - once Peter knows the information and its obvious he's going to pursue it, he's safer working with Neal.

The architecture subplot annoyed me. Architectural design and engineering are hard. You don't come up with convincing designs overnight - clients have needs beyond a pretty silhouette and no one stays rich buying designs for billion dollar buildings from complete unknowns on the basis of five minutes conversation and a cardboard model. It felt disrespectful of the viewers to present that scenario as believable.

I loved Mozzie and Clinton and I thought Diana and Neal working together were great.

[elrhiarhodan]

Like I commented on your DW, we're of the exact same mind here - I think that Neal playing Architect annoyed me almost as much as El not explaining what happened.

But yeah, Neal and Diana were awesome and so were Moz and Clinton. Definitely the best parts of the episode.

And I now know why the ep was so meh - this was the S4 equivalent of Pulling Strings - Tim directed the upccoming episode, so he couldn't be on camera as much this week. Less Peter is never a good idea.

[leonie-alastair.livejournal.com]

Well hopefully the writers give Tim better material to work with. Onward to next week!

[surreal-44.livejournal.com]

Peter whump was not satisfying, because we didn't see much, didn't get any real indication of his injuries. I understand the writers didn't want to go too far with anything, but really, I feel a bit like they were being lazy.

"He has a hurt arm" is not helpful in the least. :p :p ALSO, Peter looked dreadful in the hospital. Then the next time we see him, he barely looked scratched. I thought Pratt was only going to be in town for 48 hours? Or did I not understand that?

On the other hand, Peter waking in the hospital was done very nicely. Peter looked happy to see El, and very confused as to where he was. Tim played that very well.

Mozzie/Jones is one of my most favoritist ideas ever. <3

As for El....I don't mind her telling Neal to back off. While I do agree she should have been honest with Peter, I think the fear of losing him was totally over-whelming the guilt she'd be feeling over his hurt, confusion and anger at Neal lying to him. Technically, it's not entirely unexpected, and she may feel that this lie is the lesser of two evils if it protects Peter.

But wooooo for at least a little Peter whump! I still enjoyed it, even if it didn't quite go as far or dramatic as I wanted.

[elrhiarhodan]

Yeah - there were more plot holes and inconsistencies in this ep than I've seen in a WC episode in a long time.

I do agree that Peter in hospital was nicely done - and a creative way to take Tim DeKay off line so he could prep for his work as the next episode's director.

We definitely need episode tags fixing the lack of Neal angst here.

[embroiderama]

The El thing really hurt. I just, I don't know how she could listen to the pain in Peter's voice at knowing that Neal was lying to him and not come clean. My hope is that either she does (soon) or Peter realizes that Neal not trying hard to lie means something. *siiiigh*

And huh, Emily Proctor? Really? She seems young to be in Hughes' position. I'll be happy if it works, but it sounds uncomfortable.

Anyone called Terrence has to be evil, right?

HEEE! I work with a guy named Terrance so that just makes me giggle. I think the evil vibe comes from Titus Welliver who is, I think, incapable of coming off as a good guy. I love him though.

[surreal-44.livejournal.com]

I just, I don't know how she could listen to the pain in Peter's voice at knowing that Neal was lying to him and not come clean.

Tim really kind of broke my heart in that scene. -pets Peter- I understand why El did it...and I wonder if maybe she's hoping in her most secret of hearts that perhaps Peter might get so sick of Neal lying to him that he'll stop getting involved in all Neal's.....- waves hands trying to think of a good phrase - things that happen to him all the time.

[embroiderama]

Yeah, it makes a certain amount of sense, but it's hard to imagine her being able to stick to that. El's an awesome woman, but I don't believe she can be ruthless in the way that would be necessary to ignore the pain she's causing. In that moment in the ER yeah, but later... IDK

[elrhiarhodan]

I know - I know! But I have hopes that she'll tell Peter what she did next week, and then they all get into bed had have hot, sweaty make-up sex.

I agree that Emily Proctor seems a little too young to be in charge, but I did read that the FBI is working to promote agents into more senior levels and is enforcing its 20 year rule when it comes to supervisory agents, so it's not out of the realm of possibility that Proctor, who is in her 40s, could be put in charge. Esp if it's a political appointment.

[doctor-fangeek.livejournal.com]

Ooh...can someone write that first part of your comment? Stat?? I can haz sweaty makeup sex? :-)

[embroiderama]

Oh wow, I didn't know she was in her 40s! I thought she was younger than me, and I have a couple years to go. So, okay, it looks like she's only a few years younger than Tim so I can see it making sense.

[elrhiarhodan]

Yeah, she's 44.

[doctor-fangeek.livejournal.com]

I don't have much in the way of thinky thoughts on this one. It was okay - not one of my favorites, but with some good stuff. And it kind of felt like a...filler is the wrong word...like a bridge of sorts, an episode that was there to get us from here to there (like the middle movie or book in a series). Not sure that will make sense to anyone but me.

There were bits I really liked:
The whole exchange/negotiation between Neal, Peter, Jones and Mozzie.

The bit where Mozzie calls Neal's phone after they've switched out for Pratt's - Mozzie's improv was genuinely, LOL funny.

The return of the Swiss army knife baby! Still creepy, btw.

The scene where Neal calls Pratt out - I can't put my finger on exactly why, but that scene really worked for me.

"Keys don't have existential crises."


The main thing I was not so enthused about was the Elizabeth sub-plot. At first it seemed out of character to me that she would tell Neal to lie to Peter. Then I wondered if I maybe have a too-idealized view of El, and if that might be coloring my reaction to the episode. But honestly, it felt kind of contrived to me. Pratt ended up on Peter's radar because of the situation with Neal and his father, but once there was evidence that Pratt was corrupt, Peter was, well, doing his job to investigate him. And I guess I'm not so convinced that looking into the key was going to put Peter in more danger than just going after Pratt in general. And Elr's point is a good one. Peter knows Neal lied, and he (Peter) is clearly still looking into the key, so why doesn't Elizabeth tell him what happened at that point?

Re: the Peter!whump - I think the way that was played may have had something to do with my problem with the El thing as well. *She* was clearly really upset and worried, and her level of worry is supposed to be the motivation for her essentially ordering Neal to lie to Peter. And okay, her husband's just been in a car crash and it's pretty obvious that it was due to foul play. But the filming of the accident itself, and then everyone else's reactions, seemed to downplay the whole thing. I mean, Peter is unconscious, but the diagnosis is concussion and whatever they said was wrong with his arm, it doesn't seem that either Diana or Neal is extremely worried about his condition, and while his car was t-boned (poor, poor Taurus), the staging/filming of the crash was kind of underwhelming. Maybe if I had felt the danger to Peter more, Elizabeth's concern (and what she does about it) would have felt more real to me? It was kind of like, intellectually, I understood why she would do what she did, but as I was watching I didn't quite believe it. And IDK if *that* makes sense to anyone but me either. :-)


On the other hand, as much as I felt less than convinced about what got us there, the idea that Neal and Peter are both solving the puzzle of the key at the same time (it's a race?) is cool. And I really liked that last sequence where they cut back and forth between the two of them working it out. Oh, boys!

[meeni (from livejournal.com)]

believe it. And IDK if *that* makes sense to anyone but me either. :-)
yes i agree while understanding El's reaction, we are not able to digest it because of the reason you stated..

[pooh-collector.livejournal.com]

I work for architects. There is no way, I mean NO WAY that Neal created that maquette overnight, not to mention the Construction Documents in the tube and the mock-ups on the mini drive.

As to El asking Neal to lie to Peter, I totally got why she did it and I even see her keeping mum in the heat of the moment. But, I'm pretty sure she's going to come clean with Peter about it at some point.

Mozzie and Jones make a great odd couple.

My favorite moment in the ep was definitely Reese and Neal by the elevators. "You are a son of a bitch, Caffrey"

I like that Pratt came off as a bit meh at the beginning of the episode. I think it made him seem even more dastardly when his true colors came to light later.

And, Neal and Peter keeping secrets from each other AGAIN. Will they never learn?

[coffeethyme4me.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry there wasn't more angst from Neal. That is definitely the part of the ep I wanted some good dish on! Well, fix it with fic is what I always say. ;-)

Thanks for what I feel is a quite thorough dish for being still in recovery and so tired. You rule!

<3

[meeni (from livejournal.com)]

First time in a long time we see El being unreasonable while reasonable..and I'm not counting those scenarios when she asked Neal to save previous times.

It hurts real bad..

Okay and we all know Peter and Neal can catch up with each other while working separate if they have to..I dont want to see it again and again..
Neal should realize too that Peter wont be just resting in the hospital..

Maybe an unpopular opinion Peter could have confronted Neal on his lie there but NO..haven't they had enough..I really want to headslap these three..

I'll miss Hughes like anything..

[ladyrose42.livejournal.com]

Like you, really too tired after work to do any thinking justice to this episode. Again, there is way too much going in a condensed time frame. Buddy makes an appearance, and his new parent is weirder than when we first met Mozzie in pilot (outtake for some). Following the riddles a bit convolted. The last exchange between Neal and Hughes kinda of intense. While Hughes is saying goodbye to the FBI crew, I'm reminded of the group shot w/ Neal and wondering where Neal is. Then the elevator scene. I believe this is the first time Neal used Hughes's first name. It was kinda of jarring but probable indicates a more sincere(insert right emotion here) moment. Definitely will miss the crusty but caring bossman! Only know Emily Proctor from CSIMiami, so not sure how she'll be as a boss. If she's evil, it's a second Kramer and spells impending doom for Neal and prison. Only 6 more days till next episode and how sad that is the high point of my life right now!

[damietta.livejournal.com]

It went sour for me when Elizabeth ordered Neal to lie; the only saving grace is Neal didn't even try to hide the lie. I suppose El will eventually come clean.

Moz and Jones were hysterical.

The whole episode kinda felt thrown together and only the good acting kept it together.

I will miss Reese.

[elrhiarhodan]

Late last night, I realized something. This ep was so mostly meh because Peter had very little screen time - just the beginning and the end. Could it be that this was the episode before the episode that Tim directed this season?

And a tweet confirmed it - his ep is up next week. So, instead of being in nearly every scene, Tim was prepping for his work for the next episode. That explains it!

And I will definitely miss Reese. Definitely.

[doctor-fangeek.livejournal.com]

This is a good point - not much Peter time is generally not such a good thing.

On the other hand, I did enjoy seeing Mozzie & Jones working "together," and also Neal & Diana, and I think for me, personally, it was the Elizabeth sub-plot that was my real problem with the episode. I absolutely believe that Neal would lie because Elizabeth told him to. In concept, I can see this as a way to generate friction between Peter and Neal without having Neal (or Peter) look like the bad guy. And given the right circumstances, I could believe that Elizabeth would do what she did. But, as I mentioned in my earlier comment, I just didn't buy the execution (not to mention the part about how after the fact the scenario of using the lie to protect Peter doesn't work anymore).

On the third hand (I am a geneticist after all), having Peter hurt to decrease Tim's screen time gave us even more casual Peter than usual. And casual!Peter is HOT. :-)

[ultracape.livejournal.com]

That's been bothering me too. How would he know that Neal is Caffrey is Neal Bennett. The only way I could think of is that if he really knew James well then he might have known Neal's mother's maiden name and known that Neal and his mother went one way while James went the other. But it's still a bit of a stretch.

Oh, that senator is evil and I bet he's just getting started.

The key thing is totally ridiculous. If Elizabeth has heard one think Peter has said in the past years it's that if Neal is working on something, Peter is working on the same thing and lies, secrets or whatever, Peter will still be working on it and putting a wedge between Peter and Neal is only going to put both in danger.

I think that Elizabeth might actually be biting off more than she can chew with this deception. It's not only Neal that's lying to Peter, she is. Peter is going to be pissed about this when he finds out and I envision something happening because of this deception that is going to have El not only coming clean but feeling really guilty.

Neal as an architect did not upset me as it has others. It's another form of art and we're conditioned to expect that Neal can create anything. It's not as unreasonable for him to create the design for a building overnight as it is say, for him to forge a painting or sculpt a statue.
I'm going to miss Reese so much and well, first time something from one of my stories was in a White Collar episode.

I love Jones and Mozzie.

However, the whole Moses thing threw me because I thought that Moses means "drawn from the water." Pharaoh's daughter drew Moses from the water. And there happens to be very little difference between modern Hebrew and ancient Hebrew especially in the written word, except when they use another language for things that didn't exist 3,000 years ago.

I agree not enough angst on Neal's part for the accident and El's demand of him. Neal's been working very hard to gain Peter's trust and so El is pretty much telling him to destroy whatever trust Peter has in him, basically to give up Peter's friendship.

Actually that's interesting now that I think of it more. If Neal obeys El then if he wants Peter's trust, he himself must give up finding the evidence that would clear his own father or he has to destroy that friendship in order to clear his father. Definitely not enough angst for that knot.

Another thing that bothers me is that how does a U.S. Senator have jurisdiction to order anything about a prisoner. Senators are purely legislative, not judicial or enforcement. A governor can order such a thing but I don't see how even if he is on the crime and terrorism subcommittee. And this was not a pay off or clandestine because Peter had the records for it.

Well, just another hole in the plot.

On the whole I think this was a typical episode, ignore reality and the audience is stupid, but still a very good setup for the next four episodes.

[kerrylang.livejournal.com]

Didn't Mozzie switch the keys BEFORE the accident and El's asking Neal to lie about the case to Peter happened? Why does no one think that Neal and Mozzie already wanted to do the thing with the key alone without Peter or Jones being involved?

This just came to me and now I'm not so sure anymore about Neal wanting to do the thing with the key all by himself (and Mozzie) in the first place.

But well, that's only me getting a strange thought about this ep.

[teaboyfan.livejournal.com]

This was the first time in four seasons that I've been angry with Elizabeth. I hate what she did, and yet it is understandable, given her emotional state at the time. She loves Peter so fiercely that she'd throw Neal under the bus to save him, even though that hurt Peter too. What I'm wondering about is Peter's reaction when he finds out, and they didn't call him "The Archaeologist" for nothing; he's smart and he doesn't stop digging. He is going to be angrier with El than we've ever seen him, for interfering in something so important to him. This won't be a little chilly sniping over laundry. I can see yelling and tears and throwing things.

I hope they'll be able to reinstate Hughes once the bad guys are taken down. His exchange with Neal at the end was a perfect summary of their relationship.

On the happier side, I love watching Mozzie and Jones picking at each other.

[sinfulslasher]

I totally get what El did and why. Not saying I approve of it, but I do understand it. And I do believe that she tells Peter. The look on her face when Peter's heart was breaking because Neal lied to him? I can't imagine that she doesn't come clean. *hopes*

IIRC, Hughes will continue to feature, and rather heavily, the rest of the season. Not as the big wig, but as Peter's friend and mentor, helping him take down Pratt. So, yay for that.

I handwaved a lot of stuff, but hell, I'm used to it. I don't watch WC for the plot, despite what my icon says. *g* I always find the good stuff that makes it worth watching the ep; like, in this case, Mozzie and Jones, the return of creepy baby Barney, pretty Neal looking especially pretty this time around, Peter whump (alas not enough) and Peter angst when Neal lied to him, and Titus as the bad guy (because I just love Titus, period).

Also? The writers must have read fanfiction because I know I read a story about Neal giving Peter a membership to the monthly beer club as a present!

And as a side note--once you get around to reading the get well fic I wrote for you, you'll understand why I cackled hysterically during the scene in the conference room when Neal and Peter discussed wet shaves. Hee!

[digitalwave]

In my heart of hearts El came clean to Peter about what she had done after she saw how upset he was about the lie. Plus, it defeats the purpose of the lie if he isn't fooled at all by it.

[countess-k.livejournal.com]

Hi there Elr, missed you last week. Hope you are feeling better.

I agree with most of what you said. I’m not that much into Peter!Whump. Neal!Whump is more my thing. Have we even had that on the show beside 4x02 when Neal got shot on the leg? And if you took that as an example you’d remember how Neal was running around and climbing trees a few hours after getting injured and no one even mentioned the bullet in his leg, so we shouldn’t be surprised that Peter got the same treatment. If Neal is a superhuman specimen who won’t let a bullet in the leg slow him down why shouldn’t he think the same of Peter?

The thing with El made me clutch my heart and roll my eyes at the same time. I could see it happening and it was a nice way to create tension between the three of them and highlight my OT3. But at the same time it was used as a vehicle to split Peter and Neal on the trust front again and do a rehash of what we already saw on the show many times. In fact, has there been a time when the two of them weren’t working separately on the McGuffin of the season? First it was Kate’s clandestine messages, then it was the music box, then the Nazi treasure, then Sam and now the key. I hope they put this trope eventually to rest because it is becoming quite repetitive.

I also didn’t buy the architecture con one bit. That must have been the fastest turnaround for someone in a highly specialized business who should know better. Had they not thrown in the added urgency of Pratt arriving I may have accepted that Neal and his last minute assembled maquette were that good. But to convince a guy who never met you, didn’t invite you, and is close to throwing you off his premises, to take you on for a multimillion dollar project that he’s not particularly coloring inside the lines is a big leap. I guess the writers were trying to be innovative or something but like you said, as with the whiskey last week, it was a bit much to ask the audience to believe it.

The part where Neal faced Pratt was great. Still I don’t know why I cringe every time someone mentions Neal and “his father.” I guess I still haven’t bought James as Neal’s father and someone who deserves Neal’s and my sympathies. I had the same feeling about Kate so maybe that’s how I roll. The only people I expect Neal to care enough about to make such a move are Peter, El and Mozzie. For that same reason when Neal said, “You messed with my family once, I won’t let you do it again,” I considered the second instance of family to mean Peter and El.

I’m actually happy with the villain this season. It’s a leg up from average Joe Fowler and pretentious yet unscary Adler. I know the actor from my other favorite show Supernatural in which he played the Apocalypse’s White Horseman, War. So I have no problem picturing him as a bad guy. Hopefully he’ll have a lot of interaction with Neal and Peter in which he gets the chance to be real nasty.

Speaking of nasty, I hope Hughes’ replacement is also a pain in the butt and gives our boys and their arrangement a lot of problems. It’ll feed my “another FBI authority takes control and mistreats Neal” kink. I haven’t seen the actress in anything but if she’s not going to play a villain there is no point for her replacing Hughes. Also I’m almost 95% sure Hughes will be back at the end of this arc.

Read you next week.

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry Reese is gone, but a tiny part of me hopes he'll come back (tiny not because I don't want him to come back but tiny because my hope is weak).

The guy playing Pratt gives me the chills because he played the Man in Black on "Lost." I tend to expect evil -- or at least ambiguous morals -- from his characters.

And I'm waiting to see how the results of El's encouraging Neal to lie will play out.

[maiac.livejournal.com]

I'm seriously annoyed that Elizabeth was sacrificed to create another distrust plot. She's smart enough and knows her husband (and his job) well enough to have realized that Neal lying to Peter (a) won't keep Peter safe, he's already in too deep and (b) will actually put Peter in more danger, since he'll go after whatever Neal's up to and won't have the benefit of shared information.

I did love the interactions between Mozzie and Clinton, and Diana getting to put on an act.

I'm relieved that Peter wasn't seriously injured (I'm surprised the script didn't include some praise for the Taurus' side airbags!).

But I'm getting really tired of contrived conflict, and I'm worried that the new boss' role in the show will be to oppose everything Peter does and be hostile about Neal.

[sahiya.livejournal.com]

I will miss Reese, too, but I loved Ainsley on West Wing (one of my favorite minor characters). I don't suppose the actress will play her WC character anything like Ainsley, but that still sort of makes me happy.

Oh El . . . I really hope this doesn't last very long. But I do get where she's coming from. I mean, this is the first time Peter's been physically hurt by something involving Neal (not counting "Company Man," because that was the job), but he's been hurt professionally a lot, and then you have El's own kidnapping not that long ago. I think a lot of people would've lost patience years ago. But I agree that she should have come clean when Peter figured out the lie and got upset about it; I think she thought about it, or at least that's how Thiessen seemed to play it. But she's too desperate to protect Peter right now.

[kanarek13]

I'm a bit late to the party... sorry!

I guess I'm pretty much on the same page with most of peeps. While I understand why El did it, it was still a very cruel thing to do to both Neal AND Peter. And I totally did not expect it! There is still that WTF echoing in my head :D I really hope she will tell Peter the truth because that would be an awesome scene to watch... and pretty much the only thing awesome that can come out of this mess... and YES, then they will all tumble into the bedroom and have hot, sweaty make-up sex :P

The sub-plot was definitely meh, Reese leaving made me scream NOOOOOO (aww, gonna miss him), but the Jones and Moz bits were awesome, so was Diana and Neal. I agree that less screen time for Peter is never a good thing but Tim played hurt!Peter so wonderfully, he totally made up for everything :D

And Neal in blue was just breathtaking ♥

This is one of the things I love about White Collar... plot shit happens from time to time that make me wanna howl to the fool moon... but they never fail to deliver teh pretteh and that is always a WIN :)

Eye-candy for you :D

x

[swanpride.livejournal.com]

While I would have wished for a better execution, I actually like that El finally draws the line and leaves the role of the ever supportive wive.

While I'll miss Hughes, I always wanted to know how Peter's and Neal's partnership would work under a less supportive boss, so I'm looking forward to this. I don't mind Peter and Neal outwitting each other, but I also like to see them together outwitting someone close to them, something we didn't get to see since Fowler messed with them in season one. That was a great dynamic back then.

While Peter being sidelined is not my thing, there was enough in the episode to somewhat make up for it (unlike in eps like pulling strings, which honestly hate - every single minute of it)

So, all in all mixed feelings and the episode felt very much like a set up - but what I really loved about it was the fact that they reversed the usual roles. Normally it's Peter who keeps stuff from Neal for his own good and protects him, now it's the other way around. Look forward to that!

[elainasaunt.livejournal.com]

Titus Welliver is a perfect name for an actor.

Every time the people in charge of this show pull a silly stunt like the one with Elizabeth this week, I roll my eyes. I will roll them again next week when they fall back on yet another Diana-undercover-as-babe plot.

But I felt they made up for it this time with the Clint and Mozzie show, Diana and Neal working so well together, the shaving! and the lovely character of the Keymaster (who was that guy, anyone know? the actor, I mean).

I just noticed the sculpture bust in the conference room. What?

[doctor-fangeek.livejournal.com]

FYI, the Keymaster was played by Peter Scolari, maybe best-known for co-starring with Tom Hanks in the TV sitcom "Bosom Buddies."

[elainasaunt.livejournal.com]

Thanks!