One thing White Collar has traditionally done well is leave us on a reasonably solid cliffhanger heading into a hiatus (last time’s “Elle’s been kidnapped!” story line notwithstanding). So I wasn’t surprised that tonight’s episode closed with Neal and Mozzie on a plane to paradise and half of the missing U-boat treasure. In fact, it’s probably about time Neal actually left with Mozzie on one of their planned escapes.
My concern is that the opportunity will be wasted. If the early episodes of season four have yet to be written, now’s as good a time as any to make some suggestions for how they should be structured. I think Neal and Peter could both do with some time apart; I’m thinking maybe six months to a year of both growing accustomed to new lives without the other. Peter could get back to honing his skills without an ace-in-the-hole backing him up, and Neal could finally enjoy the good life that he’s been working so long for. Plus, it’ll give us a break from the immensely annoying Agent Kramer (Beau Bridges). Of course, something will bring Neal back (Sara’s in danger!) and everything will come full circle. So if that’s inevitable, at least give us some time without the noise of Kramer, Sara, and Peter mistrusting Neal.
As for tonight, I have to say that I was largely disappointed. Jen was right in thinking that the Raphael would come to play a role … who knew it would be so central? That’s actually the problem I had with the season finale: this episode would have done well to go one of two ways, neither of which involve the Raphael. A) An all-interview episode, where we learn the role that Neal’s come to play in everyone’s lives. Instead we got two seconds with people like June, Elizabeth, and Jonesy. They were good seconds, but would it have been so bad to give us more? The other option, B) A case-of-the-week in the midst of the hearing. White Collar does its best work when solving crimes, so why mess with a winning formula?
Instead we had to suffer through Agent Kramer gunning to trip Neal up and condemn him to a life of servitude in Washington, DC (Public endangerment? Really?). Worse was how that led everyone to join in on a criminal conspiracy to help Neal get the painting to Sara before the 6:00pm deadline. It’s one thing when Peter covers for Neal, but actually helping him commit crimes? I don’t believe Peter would ever do that, nor do I think it says much about him if he did.
And yet even amidst all of that, I enjoyed some of the moments that Neal and Peter shared. Sure it was in between plotting and scheming their way around Peter’s fellow G-Man, but their relationship has always been the heart and soul of the show. I’m not sure how it will survive this latest test, but then if it couldn’t there would be no more show, so that kind of speaks for itself.
The other thing worth mentioning is the brief peek into Neal’s past that we received when Neal headed to Roosevelt Island to visit his crooked cop father’s old partner, Ellen Parker (Judith Ivey). We learned that Ellen’s in witness protection, and Neal’s father is not actually dead. What all that means, and whether those two pieces of information are connected, is for another time. For now we know that one day we will explore Neal’s past. Which is great.
This half season? Not so much. And I don’t foresee things turning around so long as Agent Kramer is chasing Neal. I’ve never agreed with the theory that this show needs something else in order to succeed. Would you really not be interested in a show about Peter and Neal solving crimes, with Mozzie and Neal committing crimes of their own on the side?
Because that sounds pretty awesome to me.
“Having a known felon speak for me doesn’t qualify as a good character reference.” – Neal
“I am a felon, but I’m not known … at least in bureaucratic circles.” – Mozzie
Clacked by Aryeh S.
on Feb 28, 2012 @ 23:51 EST5EDT
Finale was awesome. Of course there should be sub stories in addition to crime solving. We’ve seen a lot of partners solving crime shows on TV. That alone would just be another FBI/police shows. If that’s the case, I’ll watch the news.
Partners solving crimes yeah, but not where one of the partners is one of the criminals. I totally agree that Kramer can go. To me he isn’t really a threat. What, were supposed to believe that he will catch Neal, and Neal will go to jail? Well considering that would basically end the show, we can fairly safely assume that will never happen–thus, to me, he kinda feels like filler. Like something they thought they should add but didn’t need.
I too was largely disappointed by this episode, and I guess it will all hinge on where they go next. My hope is that they find cause to kill Kramer off in the next episode, but we’ll see.
Side note–this whole Kramer thing feels really… I don’t know… staged? What I mean is, if they really had reason to suspect a con-artist who was currently under sentence and working IN the FBI, they wouldn’t have someone investigate–they would throw him back in jail and THEN look into it. I know this is TV and not real life, but that is kind of my point. That sort of thing goes so far in to ‘improbable’ territory that it breaks the suspension of disbelief sometimes. For me anyway.
The twist was that Kramer didn’t want Neal back in jail. Kramer showed up in NYC because Neal had done an amazing job with Peter and wanted to force Neal to go to DC and work with him. Kramer wanted to show that Peter couldn’t handle Neal and add years to Neal’s sentence so he would basically be forced to work for Kramer indefinitely.
I get that, but there were so many other ways they could have gone about it. Why, yet again, go the trust issues route? Why throw this all in so soon? How many times are we supposed to believe Neal can pull scams, ruin any trust in him, and then be forgiven. It feel like it keeps happening over and over, not because it makes sense, but because the show requires it. Like now–Neal has run off and we know Peter is going to end up forgiving him, because for the show to continue, he pretty much has to. Even if Neal does end up with Kramer for a while, he will ultimately be back with Peter. Kramer in general just feels like a new way to rehash old themes, and I wish they would come up with something new, that’s all.
Two points: I got the impression that Peter basically told Neal to run with his nod when he was talking to Kramer. I don’t think Peter will have anything to forgive. Also, I can’t stand the Kramer storyline. I always felt that way on House when someone came in to try to put House in rehab or whatever the sweeps plot of the season was.