Post Ep Dish - S4.13 - Empire City
Feb. 6th, 2013 12:11 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
elrhiarhodanAnd it's time for another episode of the White Collar Post-Ep Dish. This week, we've got Empire City, directed by our very own Tim DeKay, who hit it out of the park with last year's Stealing Home (sorry about the pun).
There's supposed to be a lot to love about this episode, but for the spoiler-phobes out there, you'll have to click through...
Our story this week opens with the discovery that Mozzie's actually got a job. He drives a NYC taxi cab, which he calls (and this is apparently legit cabbie lingo) his "yellow girlfriend." He apparently is "bleeding fares for info." One guesses for future felonious activities. I was ready to take a drink and consign my liver to doom every time "copper pipe" was mentioned.
There was a cute moment - which was spoiled for those who watch the official clips - when Moz takes Neal on a wild ride through Brooklyn (and charges him full fare), to find the right vantage point for the skyline in the key. Moz goes a little crazy when he oh-so-coincidentally sees another yellow cab with the same medallion number and Peter gets called in. To be honest, at first I found it an incredible stretch that the FBI would claim jurisdiction on this, but then I remembered that the Feds (Rudy Guiliani was the US Attorney who did the prosecuting) were the ones who prosecuted all of the corrupt NYC Parking officials during the late Ed Koch's third term (conveniently timed research, I'd say).
To be honest, I found the caper plot for this episode completely incomprehensible. Something with a taxi company selling bogus medallions??? Not sure how they got to the taxi company owner, then to the Cotton Club. But are we really supposed to care?
But rather than focus on what I didn't like about this episode (and there was a lot), let's just take a look at what I loved:
Well, hello casually clothed Agent Clinton Jones. Could you be any yummier? And what's with the incidental touching of Mrs. Burke's boobs? I do like that the writers have given Jones the role of confidante to Peter for this part of the mythology - that's usually Diana's role.
Hal Hoover! Where does Mozzie come up with these names? Apparently he's legitimately the owner of a NYC taxi medallion, and those things aren't cheap. Moz claims to have paid "a rock," which, according to Peter-as-exposition-monkey, means one million dollars. I always suspected that Moz had gelt. Or maybe he used some of the cash he got from selling the Degas to fund the failed hit on Keller (six million, if I recall correctly).
Peter really getting into his undercover roles. It was cute how Neal tried to school him about the limitations of his TLC authority, but he was definitely digging it. Peter clearly needs to get out of the office more!
And even better than his sting at the taxi garage was how well he rolled with Neal at The Cotton Club. They were in good form - perfectly in sync - as record label execs (though I might think that Peter, in his off-the-rack Brooks Brother suit, might raise some eyebrows in the music industry). And as an aside, I wonder how the White Collar production team got the rights to use the iconic Cotton Club name for this story. And the logo is right out of the Martin Scorsese movie… Which is the logo for the current iteration of the club. And let's handwave the fact that the original Cotton Club shut down in the the 1940s (El waxes nostalgic about going there in her early days in New York, and so does the club owner - for when he was a small boy) and its current iteration is more about gospel than jazz.
And the cigar smoking? Come on … it's been almost a decade since Mayor Bloomberg got smoking banned in bars and restaurants. And it's pretty unlikely that a putative jazz club got a "cigar bar" designation. (Tip of the hat to my friend![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
jrosemary for bringing this to my attention). Not to mention that the owner is a recently released felon, which would automatically disqualify him from getting a liquor license, too.
(Sorry - let's just continue with the handwaving).
Anyway, having the caper mostly set in a jazz club gives us the opportunity for some lovely set pieces.
El as Grand Master Event Planner gets to decipher the old-fashioned ledger entries. (Who uses a paper account ledger anymore?)
Which brings me to June. Really, this whole episode was just an excuse to have the utterly wonderful, extraordinarily talented Miss Diahann Carroll sing, and sing and sing some more. You know, for many of her appearances in S3, I wondered if she was unwell. Her brief appearance in the second worst episode of the entire WC canon, Pulling Strings, made me wonder if she was downright ill, she looked so frail. But the actress who all but stole Pilot was back tonight, in full force. She looked magnificent and sounded even better.
An aside about the recording session - will someone confirm that they set up the recording studio in Neal's apartment? Mozzie welds in there, Neal uses a blow torch to char the inside of an oak barrel, and now it's a recording studio? Apparently the fourth floor of the Ellington Mansion is really a Requirements Room.
And then there's Diana as Cigar Girl. Who wouldn't appreciate her in the blonde wig, corset, fishnet stocking and high heels? And she smokes cigars? I did love her scene with the club owner and how they wax rhapsodic over music. It was good enough to quell my minor outrage over Diana once again being put into a sexualized role (she's been a prostitute and a runway model).
I suppose I should count Mozzie's shenanigans as some of the better moments of this ep - like how he just walks right into Chez Burke, his motor-mouth stunt in the taxi garage, the convenient way he gives a ride to the villain of the week. But honestly, he just annoyed me this week, and that's a shame.
A few words about the less-than-stellar moments of Empire City.
Elizabeth failed to come clean about getting Neal to lie to Peter. She sees how hurt her husband is, why isn't she making things right? She's got to know that Peter's not going to give up on this - not now. And Peter, someone needs to hit that man with a clue-by-four. El says she's happy that Neal lied to him - don't you at least ask her why?
And the last scene, where Neal discovers where the key leads to. Mozzie takes him to Queens. Which is miles and miles beyond Neal's two-mile radius. I guess, by this point, the tracker is just to track his movements? And doesn't Neal realize this? Guys - come on - there's so much handwaving going on with this ep that I'm going to need an MRI on both wrists.
Okay, Collars - what are your thoughts on tonight's episode? The thinky ones, the not-so-thinky ones, too. Do you find this episode as enjoyable as Tim's outing last year, or were you just meh about it?
There's supposed to be a lot to love about this episode, but for the spoiler-phobes out there, you'll have to click through...
Our story this week opens with the discovery that Mozzie's actually got a job. He drives a NYC taxi cab, which he calls (and this is apparently legit cabbie lingo) his "yellow girlfriend." He apparently is "bleeding fares for info." One guesses for future felonious activities. I was ready to take a drink and consign my liver to doom every time "copper pipe" was mentioned.
There was a cute moment - which was spoiled for those who watch the official clips - when Moz takes Neal on a wild ride through Brooklyn (and charges him full fare), to find the right vantage point for the skyline in the key. Moz goes a little crazy when he oh-so-coincidentally sees another yellow cab with the same medallion number and Peter gets called in. To be honest, at first I found it an incredible stretch that the FBI would claim jurisdiction on this, but then I remembered that the Feds (Rudy Guiliani was the US Attorney who did the prosecuting) were the ones who prosecuted all of the corrupt NYC Parking officials during the late Ed Koch's third term (conveniently timed research, I'd say).
To be honest, I found the caper plot for this episode completely incomprehensible. Something with a taxi company selling bogus medallions??? Not sure how they got to the taxi company owner, then to the Cotton Club. But are we really supposed to care?
But rather than focus on what I didn't like about this episode (and there was a lot), let's just take a look at what I loved:
Well, hello casually clothed Agent Clinton Jones. Could you be any yummier? And what's with the incidental touching of Mrs. Burke's boobs? I do like that the writers have given Jones the role of confidante to Peter for this part of the mythology - that's usually Diana's role.
Hal Hoover! Where does Mozzie come up with these names? Apparently he's legitimately the owner of a NYC taxi medallion, and those things aren't cheap. Moz claims to have paid "a rock," which, according to Peter-as-exposition-monkey, means one million dollars. I always suspected that Moz had gelt. Or maybe he used some of the cash he got from selling the Degas to fund the failed hit on Keller (six million, if I recall correctly).
Peter really getting into his undercover roles. It was cute how Neal tried to school him about the limitations of his TLC authority, but he was definitely digging it. Peter clearly needs to get out of the office more!
And even better than his sting at the taxi garage was how well he rolled with Neal at The Cotton Club. They were in good form - perfectly in sync - as record label execs (though I might think that Peter, in his off-the-rack Brooks Brother suit, might raise some eyebrows in the music industry). And as an aside, I wonder how the White Collar production team got the rights to use the iconic Cotton Club name for this story. And the logo is right out of the Martin Scorsese movie… Which is the logo for the current iteration of the club. And let's handwave the fact that the original Cotton Club shut down in the the 1940s (El waxes nostalgic about going there in her early days in New York, and so does the club owner - for when he was a small boy) and its current iteration is more about gospel than jazz.
And the cigar smoking? Come on … it's been almost a decade since Mayor Bloomberg got smoking banned in bars and restaurants. And it's pretty unlikely that a putative jazz club got a "cigar bar" designation. (Tip of the hat to my friend
jrosemary for bringing this to my attention). Not to mention that the owner is a recently released felon, which would automatically disqualify him from getting a liquor license, too.(Sorry - let's just continue with the handwaving).
Anyway, having the caper mostly set in a jazz club gives us the opportunity for some lovely set pieces.
El as Grand Master Event Planner gets to decipher the old-fashioned ledger entries. (Who uses a paper account ledger anymore?)
Which brings me to June. Really, this whole episode was just an excuse to have the utterly wonderful, extraordinarily talented Miss Diahann Carroll sing, and sing and sing some more. You know, for many of her appearances in S3, I wondered if she was unwell. Her brief appearance in the second worst episode of the entire WC canon, Pulling Strings, made me wonder if she was downright ill, she looked so frail. But the actress who all but stole Pilot was back tonight, in full force. She looked magnificent and sounded even better.
An aside about the recording session - will someone confirm that they set up the recording studio in Neal's apartment? Mozzie welds in there, Neal uses a blow torch to char the inside of an oak barrel, and now it's a recording studio? Apparently the fourth floor of the Ellington Mansion is really a Requirements Room.
And then there's Diana as Cigar Girl. Who wouldn't appreciate her in the blonde wig, corset, fishnet stocking and high heels? And she smokes cigars? I did love her scene with the club owner and how they wax rhapsodic over music. It was good enough to quell my minor outrage over Diana once again being put into a sexualized role (she's been a prostitute and a runway model).
I suppose I should count Mozzie's shenanigans as some of the better moments of this ep - like how he just walks right into Chez Burke, his motor-mouth stunt in the taxi garage, the convenient way he gives a ride to the villain of the week. But honestly, he just annoyed me this week, and that's a shame.
A few words about the less-than-stellar moments of Empire City.
Elizabeth failed to come clean about getting Neal to lie to Peter. She sees how hurt her husband is, why isn't she making things right? She's got to know that Peter's not going to give up on this - not now. And Peter, someone needs to hit that man with a clue-by-four. El says she's happy that Neal lied to him - don't you at least ask her why?
And the last scene, where Neal discovers where the key leads to. Mozzie takes him to Queens. Which is miles and miles beyond Neal's two-mile radius. I guess, by this point, the tracker is just to track his movements? And doesn't Neal realize this? Guys - come on - there's so much handwaving going on with this ep that I'm going to need an MRI on both wrists.
Okay, Collars - what are your thoughts on tonight's episode? The thinky ones, the not-so-thinky ones, too. Do you find this episode as enjoyable as Tim's outing last year, or were you just meh about it?
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2013-02-07 12:16 pm (UTC)I was bored by the case of the week, though I enjoyed some scenes but all in all it was nothing more than a filler. The best scenes were thoses of the hunt for the right building the key is supposed to fit. Neal was adoreable sitting in Mozzie's cab complaining over the taxameter and the dialogue was great as always but this ep didn't do it for me.
They all did their job well and Tim directed it great, although I don't see the excitement in that, because what is so special about who is directing an ep? If I was the director of that ep my first complain would have been: There is no smoking in clubs anymore! And as you said, Elr, there was so much off in that ep, it really is important not to think about it, or I would be really sad about what the show has become in this fourth season.
Don't get me wrong, I still love this show - dearly - but there really is a reason I re-watch season one and two so often! Please show go back to that light humor, charm and cases that involve fun and funny shenanigans. Sometimes I wish some kind of music box back!
That said, I'm looking forward to the last three eps, but maybe only to wrap this season up and looking forward to season five and hoping that Jeff Eastin takes a little more care of his baby. Maybe he is too much sidetracked with his new show. I really was afraid of that when I heard about "Graceland" being picked up. I really miss his writing.
What I want back as well, is cases Neal and Peter do their magic alone, like they did in so many cases in season one and two. It is too much, when the whole team and Mozzie and El are on the screen. It was okay when El was in the scene with the whiskey testing in 4x11, but she doesn't have to be in every case now. That annoys even me, although I'm fond of El.
Peter and Neal on the case, and Jones and Diana in the van, that was always fun and the bromance was deep but right now I'm not feeling any bromance and this has nothing to do with the story around the key or Neal having to lie to Peter. I'm missing scenes like in 2x01 and in 3x04 (only to mention two) when Peter and Neal do something totally awesome and funny to get to the criminal.
Show get back on track or we won't have you around either for a full fifth season or a sixth season.
That's my opinion and I'm sorry if I see it a little dark right now.
no subject
Date: 2013-02-07 02:04 pm (UTC)We are supposed to believe that Neal lives near the Chrysler Building, near Tudor City, not on the Upper West Side as stated in Pilot. If that is true, then his jaunt to the Queens Ferry Terminal in Long Island City is still within his radius - just barely.
But that doesn't solve the overall problem of Neal travelling to Brooklyn in Mozzie's cab.
Perhaps Neal isn't on alert during the daytime? On weekdays?
But I do agree with you that this is no the Peter and Neal show that I fell in love with - way too much Neal-Moz. But given that Tim was behind the camera for most of the episode, it doesn't surprise me.
Which means that every season now will have two weak eps - the one where Tim is AWOL for his prep and the other where he's directing. Oh, well.
I do have to disagree with you about Elizabeth - she was too absent in much of the first half. I like her involvement as long as it doesn't stretch the bounds of credulity (a la Neighborhood Watch) - and it doesn't.
Yes, I want my Peter-Neal Show back. NOW!!!!
no subject
Date: 2013-02-07 02:21 pm (UTC)Well, I remember a German show in which the main-cast-actor was as well the director and he was not absent because of his directing all of the episodes at all. If the eps of WC get bad because Tim is directing then he should not do it, I can go without him directing but I don't like to go without the best the show has, namely the bromance of Peter & Neal.
Why is he even directing? They had very good directors in season one and two and those where the best, so why change that? I love Tim DeKay but I love him on screen much more than behind the cam if his role and screentime is suffering.
As for El, of course I like it when she is more on screen! I missed her in the first eps of season four, too! And unlike you, I liked Neighborhood Watch ;)
I'm going to re-watch this ep and will see if I can more appreciate it afterwards but it will not be one of my faves.
no subject
Date: 2013-02-07 09:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-02-08 12:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-02-08 05:32 am (UTC)I just had to throw that out there. It would be a smart thing for WC to do, and definitely something they would have to do if Matt ever chose to direct an episode. I think he would like to but doesn't believe he'd have the time to devote to make it an episode that he would be proud of.