White Collar 2.12 and Southland 3.05
Yes, that is the sound of worlds colliding, as these two incredibly dissimilar shows (which occupy the same time slot on Tuesday nights) attempt to occupy the same lj post.
Except that both worlds seem to be preoccupied with the problem of bad fathers (does anyone in Hollywood think about anything else?).
Extra short this week:
White Collar:
Okay, that episode offered up epic amounts of Peter and Neal adorableness--both separately and together. I'm not even going to mention the new White Collar rule that Matt Bomer's biceps must be on display for some part of every episode--just Viking!Peter and glasses!Neal, and Mr. Satchmo, and that gratuitous but lovely scene of the two of them in their shirtsleeves just sitting on Peter's (tiny) couch together shooting the breeze while they wait for Diana to call (yes, Neal, we know you like to hone in on things!).
It was interesting that such a slashy episode would also hit so explicitly on the father-son aspects of Neal and Peter's relationship.
I didn't feel like we heard a grain of truth from Neal about his father. Only Mozzie’s “he might be helpful” had the ring of truth to it. That and the scene where Neal said “What if it were your son?” to Peter-when he clearly meant “what if it were me?”
Or at least that’s what Mozzie (aka, Dr. Freud) and I both think about Neal’s “patriarchal” (I think you meant “filial” there, Moz) relationship to “The Suit” (and also to “the suit,” as we learned from his relationship to Adler last week). I don’t think the show has ever stepped quite that hard on that particular aspect of the Caffrey/Burke relationship, or so pointedly underlined Peter’s slightly mysterious childlessness.
Southland
Meanwhile, Southland successfully completed a heartbreak hat trick, and had me staring at the computer screen (for that is how I watch most TV these days) not so much in tears as agog with sympathetic horror for the third time in three weeks.
Not for this show the angst of does my father/mother/brother/girlfriend love me?, not for it the single perfect tear. No,if you like Southland, you like it because it delivers the full-on gut-punch of trauma.
Which I do. And if it's been delivering an absolute flurry of blows recently, it's only because it laid the groundwork for all these story lines so carefully in the first couple of seasons.
So, once again, I was sniffling from about midway through--maybe from when Cooper awkwardly returned the abandoned kid's embrace--or maybe from the conversation they had in the car--certainly from when he touched the kid's head so gently when he showed up back at the station. And the sight of Cooper scrabbling in the dirt for his pills? Lordy.
And Ben's positive symphony of worried/sympathetic/questioning looks really deserve their own meta. He wants so much to help or protect or comfort John, and has no idea how to do it(and no authority for doing so).
Lydia and Josie were great.
And the snake handling was awesome.
I'm going out of town tomorrow, so I won't be able to see the new SPN episode until....late next week probably. Happy viewing, y'all!
Except that both worlds seem to be preoccupied with the problem of bad fathers (does anyone in Hollywood think about anything else?).
Extra short this week:
White Collar:
Okay, that episode offered up epic amounts of Peter and Neal adorableness--both separately and together. I'm not even going to mention the new White Collar rule that Matt Bomer's biceps must be on display for some part of every episode--just Viking!Peter and glasses!Neal, and Mr. Satchmo, and that gratuitous but lovely scene of the two of them in their shirtsleeves just sitting on Peter's (tiny) couch together shooting the breeze while they wait for Diana to call (yes, Neal, we know you like to hone in on things!).
It was interesting that such a slashy episode would also hit so explicitly on the father-son aspects of Neal and Peter's relationship.
I didn't feel like we heard a grain of truth from Neal about his father. Only Mozzie’s “he might be helpful” had the ring of truth to it. That and the scene where Neal said “What if it were your son?” to Peter-when he clearly meant “what if it were me?”
Or at least that’s what Mozzie (aka, Dr. Freud) and I both think about Neal’s “patriarchal” (I think you meant “filial” there, Moz) relationship to “The Suit” (and also to “the suit,” as we learned from his relationship to Adler last week). I don’t think the show has ever stepped quite that hard on that particular aspect of the Caffrey/Burke relationship, or so pointedly underlined Peter’s slightly mysterious childlessness.
Southland
Meanwhile, Southland successfully completed a heartbreak hat trick, and had me staring at the computer screen (for that is how I watch most TV these days) not so much in tears as agog with sympathetic horror for the third time in three weeks.
Not for this show the angst of does my father/mother/brother/girlfriend love me?, not for it the single perfect tear. No,if you like Southland, you like it because it delivers the full-on gut-punch of trauma.
Which I do. And if it's been delivering an absolute flurry of blows recently, it's only because it laid the groundwork for all these story lines so carefully in the first couple of seasons.
So, once again, I was sniffling from about midway through--maybe from when Cooper awkwardly returned the abandoned kid's embrace--or maybe from the conversation they had in the car--certainly from when he touched the kid's head so gently when he showed up back at the station. And the sight of Cooper scrabbling in the dirt for his pills? Lordy.
And Ben's positive symphony of worried/sympathetic/questioning looks really deserve their own meta. He wants so much to help or protect or comfort John, and has no idea how to do it(and no authority for doing so).
Lydia and Josie were great.
And the snake handling was awesome.
I'm going out of town tomorrow, so I won't be able to see the new SPN episode until....late next week probably. Happy viewing, y'all!