I was kind of disappointed in the season premiere of White Collar. I’ve always questioned the sense in Peter’s lingering mistrust of Neal, and I find the entire Nazi U-boat story to be a bit … well … ridiculous. So you can imagine my take on an episode that was more than fifty percent about the missing artwork, and featured Peter subjecting Neal to a polygraph. The stolen money case could barely be heard over that roar.
But last night White Collar was all-the-way back. Even so, I can’t help but think this won’t be the last time we’ll see Peter distrusting Neal — clearly, considering that he still thinks the paintings are out there somewhere — and that’s really not something I want to go through yet again. If Peter can’t buy all-in trusting Neal, how could he have put a conman as good as Neal back out on the street, even if he’s under close watch? And how can he trust his motives on each and every case? I can’t get past their relationship needing to be all or nothing.
But that’s got nothing to do with last night’s episode, which featured not one but two Masterson brothers: Christopher Masterson suited up and Danny Masterson let loose. Awesome to see them both, and to see them working together.
And the case was fun, too. I wasn’t so into the entire treasure hunt, and the kidnapping seemed like a bit of an unnecessary twist, but I loved the various different skills Peter, Neal, and Mozzie got to put on display. Neal being called in to authenticate a will was priceless; Peter arranging the scene at the sundial was a bit nutty but great; and Mozzie? Well, Mozzie playing the blind man was perfect. And I loved how the antique book self-destructed at the first exposure to oxygen. Bad dog!
And the case-of-the-week wasn’t the only place where the strength of the show shone through:
At the same time:
But bottom line? Watching Neal and Peter (with or without Mozzie) is always a great way to spend an hour. I might do some things differently, but they hit much more than they miss.
Uh…I think you’ve missed addressing something key here. You put all of this on Peter, but the truth is Neal deserves that distrust. Did he turn the treasure over to Peter when he realized he had it? No. Instead he elaborately conned Peter and Elizabeth (I found his taking advantage of his friendship with her particularly upsetting) into thinking the painting scrap wasn’t his work. He was ready to cut and run with Mozzie just last episode, which would have left Peter high and dry and probably facing an inquiry. It’s Neal’s behavior that has been counter to the character development of the past two seasons, Neal who’s screwing the bromance. Peter is having a normal reaction to the very suspicious evidence that is presenting itself.
*POST AUTHOR*
I can understand where you’re coming from, but I see it like this: this is who Neal is. He conned Peter, in a sense, in order to get out of jail and chase after Kate in the first place. And for all that they’re building a relationship, Neal’s still always been about the career he built for himself, beating Vincent Adler (as we learned recently), and landing the final retirement score. Besides, it sounds like “Neal Caffrey” and the life he’s lived has been one big con itself if some of Neal’s comments are meant to have greater significance.
Meanwhile, if Peter was always going to suspect Neal of lying he should never have let him out of jail in the first place. His suspicions may be well founded here, but it seems a bit naive for an FBI Agent to have given freedom to a con that he himself can’t ever seem to trust.