White Collar

[pslasher]

The hubby and I spent all day yesterday mainlining one and a half seasons of White Collar. There was a marathon over Labor Day and I DVR'd it. We watched one episode on Saturday, and one sometime earlier in the week, but Sunday morning felt like a great time to sit and watch a few in a row together. But we both loved it, so it snowballed into watching the whole damn thing, right on through to the Season 2 finale. It was fantastic, and I totally have a new show now. :D The only problem is that I had already missed the first four episodes of Season 1 when I started DVR'ing the show, so we haven't seen those. But, I have the first 2 Season 1 DVD's on our Netflix list, so that will soon be remedied.

So, things I love about White Collar. *Note, there are spoilers for Season 1 & 2 at the very end of the entry!*

I'm so in love with Peter/Elizabeth/Neal. For serious, I can't even articulate how cute they are together. I adore how Elizabeth just wriggled her way into a relationship with Neal. Or is it the other way around? Neal's so damn slippery I think he probably saw the advantage of cozying up to Elizabeth. Either way, I love how Neal comes to her when he needs help, and how Elizabeth intervenes and advocates for him. I love how she believes in him, and he trusts her when he trusts so few people.

Peter/Neal. I adore the relationship between them. I love how it's snarky, and trusting, and full of fun. All the easy smiles and touching is fantastic. I love how Peter brings out the best in Neal, almost remakes him into a new man. Also, one of the things that speaks strongly to me is the symbolism of the collar Peter has on Neal, and the way he doesn't abuse his power over Neal. Instead he works to gain his trust, to do what he feels is best for Neal, to help Neal be a better person. Peter is so deliciously dominant in the show! With his "I caught you twice, I'll do it again" and "I'll do whatever I want with you" and "you'll do it and you'll like it" comments. Insisting that Neal is his responsibility, and he'll be the one to cuff him, damn-it! And Neal listens to him! He shuts up and does as he's told. Most of the time. At least, for enough of the time for it to be significant. He could slip that anklet any time he wants, but he doesn't. He stays.* I really enjoy the relationship they have onscreen, and feel that the show practically slashes them all by itself.

Neal Caffrey. I'm a sucker for a pretty face, and Matt Bomer has one. He's just so damn charming!

The writing is excellent. I really enjoy the plots the writers come up with. They are interesting, complicated enough to have surprises here and there, and often unique. I love all the literary and cultural quotes sprinkled throughout. They used a Princess Bride reference at the end, and it tickled me pink, but there are far too many clever turns of phrase and quotes to mention.

The characters are interesting. I love Mozzie, he's so fun and quirky. He brings a lot of life to the show.** I enjoy Clinton Jones and Diana Barrington, and their easy relationship. I like that Diana's character can take care of herself, and has a girlfriend, and how that is treated in the show. Diana has a girlfriend, and that's that. She's not portrayed as a butch lesbian, and the gay aspect isn't built up into something that overshadows the plot. It's just there, taken for granted just like Peter and Elizabeth. She has more to her character than being in a relationship with another woman, and I like that.

This is defiantly a show that’ll stay on my radar for next year! Any other White Collar fans on my flist? Anyone got any fic or communities to rec?

ETA 9/23: Ok, I've gone back and watched the first five episodes that I missed. I've revised my view on Neal and Peter's relationship slightly. See, this is why I hate watching things out of order! I see a lot more desperation in Neal with the first episode than I originally saw. It was really interesting to see him working Peter to get out, and interesting to see Peter realize that he's being worked, but do it anyway because he also needs Neal.

I also see a lot more of the trust issues between Neal and Peter. Peter can’t trust Neal because he’s a thief by trade, and Neal can’t trust Peter to grant permission to search for Kate. For example, Peter pulls up a map of Neal’s tracking device every day, and he checks his credit cards. And then it’s interesting that Neal brought his desire to search for Kate to Peter early on, and Peter said absolutely not right off. Neal has no choice but to search on his own, but that only proves that Neal is untrustworthy to Peter. Such a tangled web! I like the story of the two sides that can’t trust each other on principal working towards that trust anyway. Or, gaining that trust through their interactions, even if they had no intention of doing so originally. Even if every step towards trust is followed by some equally devastating step backwards. Makes for very interesting stories to me.

However, I’m an optimist at heart, so I see them getting over their issues and Neal moving in with Peter and Elizabeth, and everyone lives interestingly and happily ever after, with only the occasional questionable criminal act from Neal.

I'm saving fics at my delicious and my AO3 recs page - currently you can't sort the rec pages by tags, but I'm sure that the OTW volunteers will have that coded eventually.

*In fact, he admits at the end of Season 1 that Peter was the only one who could make him stay. That epp was bittersweet for me, because the OT3 shipper in me was all ‘SQUEE! He loves Peter!’ but the rest of me was all ‘damn, they killed Kate. How’s Neal going to deal with that?’ Although, I don’t think they’ve killed her. Hubby and I think she slipped out the other side of the plane, or something, because without Kate what kind of season arc are we going to have? But with the revelation that Fowler himself was being manipulated by someone even higher up, I think we may be busy enough in the plot department.
Also, killing Kate and making Neal all hurty and in need of comfort actually gives the OT3 a good chance to get started. *g*

**I really like how the relationship between he and Peter develops, as they both want to protect Neal, and work together to make that happen. If they have killed him at the end of Season 2, I will be severely disappointed.

We don't know yet if she's a lesbian or bi, but I like how they handled her character in the one where she has to pretend to be a prostitute. They make it clear that she's not interested in Neal, without hitting you over the head with She's Gay!  LOL, way to speak too soon, self! Ok, so they address that issue in the very first episode, but I liked how they did it. The whole "She's not even on your dance card" line was cute. But I still do like how they handled that episode with the prostitution.

Comments

[yeomanrand.livejournal.com]

Also, Contractual Obligations (http://archiveofourown.org/works/34244/chapters/45267) which I did not write, but which is pretty darn awesome.

Do you also watch Leverage?

[pslasher.livejournal.com]

I knew there had to be a comm around here somewhere! Your fics look interesting, I'll check them out!

*g* Contractual Obligations was the first WC fic I read! I love shaenie's writing, and read it even though I hadn't seen any of the show yet. It was one of the things that piqued my interest enough to watch it.

Also, reading back over my entry, I think I've focused on all the ways Peter & Neal get along, and downplayed a lot of their struggles. Because they do struggle with trust. But I think I see them as ultimately getting over those struggles, and that makes me happy.

I do watch Leverage, although I'm on the slow boat with it. I have it on my Netflix list, and watch an episode here and there. I've probably watched half of Season 1. You do too, right?

[yeomanrand.livejournal.com]

I was asking because there is this awesome Leverage/White Collar crossover:

I Lie, I Cheat, I Steal (and I don't get any respect) (http://archiveofourown.org/works/92962)

And yeah. shinychimera and I are pissed that they cheated on the betrayal (in Company Man) by killing Peter immediately afterward, so Neal didn't really have time to process it -- it was right and natural and in-character for Neal to be more concerned for Peter's well-being than for the betrayal, but it was still a cheat on the writers' part.

However, we haven't seen Point Blank yet -- she and I watch on Hulu, so we have to wait 8 days. I happened to get spoiled on the Mozzie point thanks to someone careless on whitecollarfic, but...don't know how it all plays out yet. Maybe the writers will redeem themselves and have Neal react properly to the betrayal, but I doubt it.

Oh, and there's also collar_kink

[pslasher.livejournal.com]

Oh man, sorry it took me so long to get back to you!

I actually have that fic as a podfic in my To Listen playlist. It sounds like a great crossover idea. Thanks for reccing!

Yeah, they keep going back and forth on hiding secrets from each other, don't they? They've eventually got to get past the distrust. Did you finally get to see the finale? I was SO UPSET about Mozzie, they better save him at the hospital, or something, because I can't think of them killing him. Man, spoilers are the worst. I saw that post when I scanned the comm, and was all "whoops! Not cool," even though I already saw it.

Ooo, a kinkmeme!

[pslasher.livejournal.com]

Oh also, I've got a rec for you:

Give Us This Day by sinead. It's a Peter/Elizabeth/Neal, and it's the other fic I read that convinced me to watch the show.

[yeomanrand.livejournal.com]

Cool, thanks. :)

[pslasher.livejournal.com]

Oh my god, did you see that she's posted more fics in that series on the AO3? It's fucking brilliantly amazing, I'm reeling from it. Do read more if you haven't!