I’ll be the first person to admit and agree that television doesn’t need another buddy comedy. Especially another male buddy comedy. However, that hasn’t stopped me from watching and enjoying USA Network’s delicious new White Collar.
Matt Bomer (Neal Caffrey) is so good looking, there should be a law against walking around with a face like that. I’m sure USA counted on that fact to lure in viewers like me. Then they lined up the show with a terrific ensemble of characters that kept me coming back for more. (I’m not going to watch a show week-after-week if the lead is an idiot and the ensemble is vapid, no matter how good he looks).
“I thought you’d be taller.”
“Me too.”
There were three really smart things about this week’s episode “Flip of the Coin,” and one really irritating thing. Let’s go ahead and get the irritation out of the way so we can enjoy the rest of it, shall we? When the show just started, FBI agent Peter Burke (Tim DeKay) had a lovely black female assistant, who was resistant to Neal’s charms because she is a lesbian. However, she has disappeared and been replaced with a not-as-lovely, in-your-face assistant who is clearly there to flirt with Neal. It’s too obvious, and Natalie Morales (Agent Lauren Cruz) can’t act. But it’s an irritation I can live with.
The first smart thing: The continued development of Burke’s relationship with his wife Elizabeth, played by Tiffany Amber Thiessen. Thiessen is pregnant in real life, and I so want them to give this couple a child. It’s such a relief to see Thiessen play a mature, warm woman rather than a bratty little twit! Their relationship has been a pleasant surprise.
The second smart thing: The continued development of both Neal’s relationship with Burke, and his relationship with his partner in crime Mozzie, played by the wonderful Willie Garson. Clearly, Neal’s ability to help the FBI hinges on not only the fact that Neal is walking a fine line between being willing to break the law to help them, but also his uneasy, gritty reluctance to screw them (and himself) over by betraying them.
Finally, it was a surprising and pleasant twist to have Burke invite Mozzie in to Neal’s place for drinks (“Gin’s good”) and some cop/conman bonding time over Neal’s wife Kate leaving him with only a mysterious wine bottle for comfort. Sure, it’s not believable or conceivable that Mozzie could get away with stopping a running criminal by literally mowing him down with a limousine and then leaving the scene, but it sure as hell was funny.
White Collar doesn’t pretend to be completely serious– but it’s smart and funny. I’ll take it.
Clacked by Jen Creer
on Nov 14, 2009 @ 13:56 EST5EDT
I agree with almost everything you’ve said, save for a few points.
It’s fine not to like Cruz, and it’s a shame to have lost Diana, but Morales most certainly can act. We just haven’t seen anything on this show thus far to stretch her. I would dispute the “not-as-lovely” claim as well.
Dillahunt’s character wasn’t actually running away when Mozzie knocked him over with the limo. He had stopped and was firing at Burke, an FBI agent, and therefore did not notice the car coming from behind him. There were no witnesses, and the antiquities thief wasn’t badly injured (we see him walking into an FBI car in handcuffs afterward) so Burke chose not to report Mozzie.
You had me at ‘charming audacity’ but lost me a little bit with the Natalie Morales putdown. Never saw the charmingly audacious ‘The Middleman,’ did you? Love Marsha Thomason, but don’t think it’s any loss in having Morales come on. Somebody had to be around for Neal to flirt with … knowing it’s ONLY flirting.
The other nit? It’s Tiffani Thiessen these days. Otherwise, a good appraisal of what she brings to the show.
I think Morales can act but she is an annoyance and distraction I would rather not have on this show. I love the relation ship between Neal and Peter and she is just being forced upon us and it takes away from the show and changes the dynamics. Wrong move…I really don’t think she’s all that attractive either. I love the other female characters. Why can’t he flirt with June’s daughter if he has to flirt with anyone? Or with Peter’s wife? Or a new guest star every week?