this post is about amazing women and neal's questionable life decisions

[aria]

I enjoyed White Collar enough this week to do a proper post about it! Yay!

I love that we got a Diana-centric episode, oh my god. Her unwavering competence and self-confidence make me feel all warm and happy. I actually quite liked Helen the journalist; she was intense and prickly and hell no I would never in a million years work for her, but I love that she went to Diana at the end and asked her to come back. (Also, holy Bechdel passing, Batman! I NEVER THOUGHT WHITE COLLAR WOULD DO THAT.)

Also, nngh, Christie. I am sad that we still don't know much about her (except that she is a doctor at a hospital, I think? she's Dr. Lady Suit, anyway, and mentions a hospital) but I really love her regardless; she is utterly gorgeous and can contend with Neal well enough, and she and Diana have pretty great chemistry. Also the casual affection of their relationship is treated exactly the same by the camera as cute Peter/El kisses are, which is delightful. (I think there may have been a shot or two of Neal and Sara looking vaguely uncomfortable, which was a bit unnecessary, although it is possible I imagined it.) Anyway, onscreen girlkissing, not a big deal, can I just watch the Diana show forever?

I am sad there was not much El, but as always she was excellent, with her space cowboy party. Amazing. And Jones is the best cowboy.

So, so sold on Neal/Sara now too. Like, I love them both separately but I wasn't sure what they would do as a couple besides just be sexy people at each other. But no, they try to have normal conversation and end up talking about picking locks and shredding documents and it is so flirty and amazing. I am still a bit wary on the endgame of this, because I don't really like the thought that Neal is just in it for a bit of fun -- unless Sara is too, in which case awesome -- or that Neal will eventually realize he needs to stay because of Sara. I am cool with Sara being part of the reason, but if Neal does stay it needs to not be for ~love~ but for family, for June and Jones and Diana and especially for El and Peter. That is the endgame narrative I desperately want. But hey, Neal/Sara, I am totally on board for this ride.

I, god, IDK about the arc plot though. I am glad that Peter is winning, both because whether or not the show actually addresses it, you fuckers you don't profit from Nazi blood money so I am very down with Peter thwarting this, and because Neal really obviously wants to stay. I am sad that this necessarily means Mozzie has been kind of put into a bad guy box in my brain, but I kind of want to shake Moz and yell at him to stop being selfish and enabling Neal and, and, go do your book club with June and be happy with what you've got, Moz, GOD. I also have no idea how this can turn out well! Maybe -- maybe if in the end Neal realizes he doesn't want to go through with this, and he goes to Peter, and Peter for some reason doesn't hit the roof and put Neal back in jail but instead somehow gets the art into FBI custody without implicating Neal along the way. I just don't know.

However, I can stand to watch Neal and Peter sneakily work around one another if I assume that both of them know they're kind of on to each other, and the hurt of their damaged trust is being lessened, for the moment, by how it is in fact kind of hot and fun to try outmaneuvering each other. Peter, this is what you get for gently turning Neal down last season and telling him you can't have a thing until he's off the anklet. Now Neal isn't getting his kicks from obeying the letter of your orders, is he? Now Neal's off trying to hurt you and maybe seduce you a little the way he did the first time.

What? We all have our headcanons. Mine is awesome.

Comments

[sahiya]

I enjoyed this week a lot, too. I actually liked last week's ep as well (Peter was so adorable with his sextant!), but this week feels like we're back to normal and that was really what I wanted.

I think there may have been a shot or two of Neal and Sara looking vaguely uncomfortable, which was a bit unnecessary, although it is possible I imagined it.

I interpreted that as similar to their discomfort when they had dinner with El and Peter last season - like secretly, they both kinda want what Peter/El and Diana/Christie have, but aren't sure if it's okay to want it, possibly because neither of them thought they'd ever get to have it (well, Neal wanted it with Kate, but this is the first time he's ever thought about having it with someone else) and possibly because they just haven't talked about it, so neither of them knows if this is what the other one wants.

I'm a little disgruntled, because I feel we somehow got cheated out of seeing the Neal/Sara relationship actually start. We went from "you owe me lunch" to "sleeping together on a regular basis" and I wanted to see that progression way more than I wanted more badly handled Nazi loot plot.

As for the badly handled Nazi loot plot . . . I'm sort of okay with ignoring it as long as it only gets four minutes of screentime each week, but at some point we're going to have another episode focused on it, and that is going to annoy me. And I agree, I don't like what it's doing to Mozzie's character. He used to be a fairly decent influence on Neal; they would get up to some shady stuff, but Moz was there to make Neal think about consequences, and he always seemed like a fairly decent guy. I feel like his role has completely changed this season, and I'm having a hard time reconciling that with the character he was for the first two years. I can't tell if hints of this were supposed to be there the first two seasons and I didn't see it because I didn't want to, or if this really is the sloppy writing it feels like.

In any case, I'm like 80% mollified at this point. At least until the next Nazi loot-centered episode.

Edited because I thought you would appreciate this: fuzzyboo03 just said to me, "$5 says that Neal's safeword is 'Raphael'." To which I replied, "Well dammit, now I have to write that story!"

[oliviacirce]

How great was that episode, seriously? DIANA. CHRISTIE. And I adored the Neal/Sara to pieces, although I agree with you in re: some concern over their overall arc. I think I would like them both to be in it for fun, and part ways comfortably if it becomes the right thing to do, but I don't know if I trust the show to write a good break-up, so, we'll see.

I am also really worried that Mozzie is going to end up taking the fall for the arc plot. Like, he is doing WRONG THINGS, and he's ended up in a sort of tragic bad guy (tragically in love with Neal) box in my head, as well. And I just don't see a good end to this, unless Neal does confess to Peter. And although I, too, am very much enjoying that this thing has us back to good kinky power play, I...am really worried about how it's going to go, and I would not be surprised if Moz ends up going down for it, which, ugh!

Still, though. Great episode! And your headcanon is totally the right headcanon.

[happydork]

I just went and watched this episode of WC entirely on the basis of your cut tag text. I was not disappointed. (Eeee, Marsha Thomason's real[*] accent! Eee, Marsha Thomason! Eee, Helen the journalist! Eeeeeee, Diana/Christie OMG!)


[*] I assume? If not, that was the most impressive "I'm originally from the UK but I've lived in the States for while" accent I've ever heard. *goes to check wikipedia* Yes. Real. Awesome!