I know White Collar wasn’t gone for very long — less than two months — but doesn’t it feel like the following questions have been burning in your brain forever: Did Peter really take Kate? Is he the man in the ring?
I know that I, for one, was not happy with that little twist in the mid-season finale. Especially if you consider that it will be tough for the show to answer those questions in a satisfactory manner….
Now, I don’t know about that, but I did have the opportunity to not only preview the mid-season premiere “Hard Sell,” but also to participate in a conference call with Matt Bomer (Neal) and Tim DeKay (Peter). So let the games begin! WARNING: some spoilers to follow.
First of all, the call with the two actors presented them as two guys who are having a tremendous amount of fun working together. There was a very easy vibe between them, and it was the little things that indicated that they clearly spend a lot of their down time together as well. I feel like that knowledge added to my enjoyment of their partnership in the episode I viewed after the call.
Which, on top of addressing some of the issues left hanging in the finale, also played its first strong scam since the first or second episode of the series. A boiler room (I loved that movie!) is at the center of an investigation into guest star Jonathan Tucker, the wunderkind mastermind behind the operation. Neal goes in to take it apart from the inside out, only to find himself caught between two partners who I couldn’t imagine working together on anything legit (although supposedly they do).
In Kate news, Neal gets confirmation that Peter has the ring from the picture, and the two have out the elephant in the room. The situation is not by any means fully concluded, but the episode does go far enough to make it reasonable that Peter and Neal would continue to work together going forward.
It also brings Agent Fowler (Noah Emmerich) back into the mix, a relief since I did think his initial appearance was bumbled a bit. And we get some intel on what it is that Kate is talking about when she tells Neal to “give him what he wants.” And believe me, I’m being only slightly more evasive than the episode.
Although the episode does it in an artistic way, in order to prolong the mystery. And it also starts to roll out some of its production guns — “Hard Sell” features two cool FBI gadgets, the type of things I bet we’ll be seeing more of now that White Collar has a more certain future and the brass at USA Network are starting to give them more money to spend.
And as for the conference call … pictures of Matt topless was a pretty heavy topic for a few minutes. A heads-up for you fans: Matt said to stay tuned for the season finale for more of that.
He also said that the issues raised in the closing shot of the mid-season finale would have relatively quick resolution, and would cause Peter and Neal to grow closer. That sounds a bit like a cliche, but the premiere definitely has them on their way to resolving the issues. I just hope the writers don’t think that they finished handling it (my review of the episode will point out what I felt was missing).
Also, in real life Matt’s a huge t-shirt and jeans guy; Tim loves to wear suits. I thought that was funny. And along those lines, Tim got a question about what he thought Peter and Neal would be like if they reversed roles. While he didn’t answer the question directly, he was extremely intrigued by the idea. According to Tim, look for something like that to happen on an episode in the future. Sounds cool.
And finally, if you thought that Mozzie and Elizabeth were forgotten on the call, well, I guess that’s probably my fault for not mentioning them sooner. But both Tim and Matt discussed how they were both going to play major roles in not only the resolution of the “Peter’s the man in the ring” issue, but also its aftermath. I can confirm that they are involved in the former. Like above, however, I hope that what we get in the first episode back isn’t the “major role” that was described … if it is, I think we need to conference on the definition of the phrase.
And that’s all you’re getting. Tune in for the mid-season premiere of White Collar tomorrow night, Tuesday January 19 at 10:00 PM. I’ll see you there.
Clacked by Aryeh S.
on Jan 18, 2010 @ 13:00 EST5EDT
Thanks for the inside scoop … I love knowing what the actors are like and that they are buddies in real life. Reminds me of Supernatural and how you can see the friendship play out in the awesome on-screen chemistry. Looking forward to WC’s return!
I second that “thanks” for a bit of information on what has quickly become one of my favorite shows.
Concerning Peter, Kate and “The Ring” I’m probably way off here, but I guessed that perhaps Kate was FBI all along or at least working with Peter to see just how trustworthy Neal can be. Essentially using Kate as bait to see if he’s sincere in his desire to stay on the good side of the law by providing him with a strong reason to run off and do whatever it takes to get Kate back.
I’m usually very wrong about these things, but that’s what popped into my head after I had some time to process the fact that Peter was the wearer of the ring. Mostly I’m just glad it’s back so soon!
It’s unclear when you write “Neal gets confirmation that Peter has the ring from the picture,” but you are aware that the hand on Kate’s shoulder in the picture belonged to someone other than Peter, presumably Fowler, and that Peter merely has the same type of ring, right? Peter and Kate confirm in the hotel room conversation that it’s their first meeting in three years, I believe.
I found it funny that you thought an increased budget would lead to them incorporating more cool gadgets like the two in this episode, when those two cost nearly nothing to make, since they didn’t do anything. The pen’s audio playback was obviously added in post-production, and the five-minute air supply breather had no visible effect on screen.
*POST AUTHOR*
I specifically used that phrasing so as not to reveal anything about the ring and Peter, just that Peter “has” the ring. “The same ring” would have been too telling. I do know that Peter is not in the photo.
I wasn’t speaking to the two gadgets specifically, but that they were symbolic of the idea that the show would be expanding its production. Hey, it’s hard to reveal without revealing! :)
But it’s more fun to pick on you when you’re constrained by spoilage concerns from fighting back. :D
Maybe the expanded production could bring back Marsha Thomason for a guest spot? Although this show at least has two women, it’s frustrating because they’re never in a position to interact with each other, Bechdel Rule-wise.
*POST AUTHOR*
It would be awesome to have her back! I’m sorry, but Natalie Morales’ is just a waste of a character.
My point was that it would be fun to see Diana and Lauren interacting, since we’re not getting Lauren and Elizabeth. I was keeping the conversation positive, and there you go bringing up your dislike for one of my favorites again. It seems a bit rude. ;)
*POST AUTHOR*
Oh, I got that, but I’m just on the Marsha Thomason train! :)