White Collar Review
Hm.
Hmmmmm.
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm...
Did I like this episode? Young Neal. So adorable. Young Neal meets Mozzie. Mozzie with Toupee and goatee - hee! :D Neal conning Moz - clever boy;) And Moz dumps his own partner to team up with Neal. As much as I adore the idea of Moz saving a young homeless Neal, I always had the feeling their meeting was a lot more simple. Peter with a mustache. Puppy Satchmo eating Neal's bond - awwww! Neal gave Peter a sucker... I mean lolly.
Big friggin' con and, oh noes, the mark cons them! Neal and Kate... awwww :D Neal is such a romantic, I love that about him :D I'm guessing that Neal wasn't born rich after all if Adler pretty much introduced him to this lifestyle. I like that bit of info. It's not much, but it's something.
And Peter eats the lolly :D
Overall, though, I don't think we learned anything new about Neal that we didn't already know except that he didn't start off knowing how to live the high life and that he and Moz met on more simple terms. I guess I was hoping to learn a lot more about Neal, so went in with my expectations a little too high. Rule number one when it comes to me and movies/shows - never go in with expectations. You're a lot less likely to end up disappointed.
I really could have done without the sex scenes, even if they were mostly off screen. But that's pretty much a personal issue. It's just... not something I want to see, even if it is off screen. I don't like sex scenes, whether hinted at or not, and hate that shows feel sex a must to make a show good. I know plenty of shows that didn't have a lick of sex in them and they did just fine. Better than fine, even. And I know shows chalked full of sex that flopped big time. I know people say sex sells but I don't buy that (pun intended ;)). But I know that's the way shows are, and it's something I mostly ignore.
On a more aesthetic note, I think the portrayal of Neal's and Kate's relationship would have benefited from focusing less on the physical aspect and a lot more on the emotional aspect. In other words, cut the love making aftermath short and show Neal and Kate doing something that was very much them: talking about art over pizza, Kate painting and Neal running commentary, a slice of daily life that wasn't just them sleeping together. Them sleeping together was a given, I wanted something that wasn't a given. And, hey, Neal could have just as easily been shirtless in a slice of life scene. We know he likes to sculpt shirtless ;)
The Neal and Alex scene squicked me for some reason, I don't know why. I'm not against Neal/Alex but... I don't know, there was just something about it. It was very cliche, I guess: Neal can't get the girl so he sleeps with the first woman he comes across. Or perhaps because, like many, I guess I was under the impression he had dated Alex first then met Kate. The Neal/Alex scene felt too much like a one night stand thing. I don't know, I just didn't like it.
So, yeah, lots and lots of mixed feelings.
On another note, I'm seriously of the opinion that Neal may be just a smidge off his rocker. Everything he did he pretty much did for Kate, he got caught just to see Kate, stole the music box for Kate, went behind Peter's back for Kate, almost killed Fowler for Kate. Holy cow, Neal, maybe you shouldn't fall in love!
Although maybe it's not fair to blame it all on poor Kate. As Elizabeth once said, there's being in love with someone and being in love with the idea, and I think, deep down, Neal was in love with an idea. All Neal wanted was a perfect, quiet life with the woman he loved, and was willing to do whatever it took to get that life, even going so far as nearly conning Kate herself. Yes, he enjoyed what he did, but at the end of the day it was all about Kate. Boy's got some issues :/
So maybe we did learn a lot more about him. Or at the least separated a lot more canon from fanon.
So, though I could have done without all the love-making aftermath, overall it was an okay ep.
ETA: Okay, one thing this episode definitely does is make the Neal/Kate relationship a lot more poignant, because we're finally being shown instead of just being told. I'll also admit that I may not have been in the right head space while watching this ep. There's a lot of things as of late that I'm not as tolerant of as I used to be, I don't know why, and it may have gotten in the way of my viewing this ep.
Hmmmmm.
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm...
Did I like this episode? Young Neal. So adorable. Young Neal meets Mozzie. Mozzie with Toupee and goatee - hee! :D Neal conning Moz - clever boy;) And Moz dumps his own partner to team up with Neal. As much as I adore the idea of Moz saving a young homeless Neal, I always had the feeling their meeting was a lot more simple. Peter with a mustache. Puppy Satchmo eating Neal's bond - awwww! Neal gave Peter a sucker... I mean lolly.
Big friggin' con and, oh noes, the mark cons them! Neal and Kate... awwww :D Neal is such a romantic, I love that about him :D I'm guessing that Neal wasn't born rich after all if Adler pretty much introduced him to this lifestyle. I like that bit of info. It's not much, but it's something.
And Peter eats the lolly :D
Overall, though, I don't think we learned anything new about Neal that we didn't already know except that he didn't start off knowing how to live the high life and that he and Moz met on more simple terms. I guess I was hoping to learn a lot more about Neal, so went in with my expectations a little too high. Rule number one when it comes to me and movies/shows - never go in with expectations. You're a lot less likely to end up disappointed.
I really could have done without the sex scenes, even if they were mostly off screen. But that's pretty much a personal issue. It's just... not something I want to see, even if it is off screen. I don't like sex scenes, whether hinted at or not, and hate that shows feel sex a must to make a show good. I know plenty of shows that didn't have a lick of sex in them and they did just fine. Better than fine, even. And I know shows chalked full of sex that flopped big time. I know people say sex sells but I don't buy that (pun intended ;)). But I know that's the way shows are, and it's something I mostly ignore.
On a more aesthetic note, I think the portrayal of Neal's and Kate's relationship would have benefited from focusing less on the physical aspect and a lot more on the emotional aspect. In other words, cut the love making aftermath short and show Neal and Kate doing something that was very much them: talking about art over pizza, Kate painting and Neal running commentary, a slice of daily life that wasn't just them sleeping together. Them sleeping together was a given, I wanted something that wasn't a given. And, hey, Neal could have just as easily been shirtless in a slice of life scene. We know he likes to sculpt shirtless ;)
The Neal and Alex scene squicked me for some reason, I don't know why. I'm not against Neal/Alex but... I don't know, there was just something about it. It was very cliche, I guess: Neal can't get the girl so he sleeps with the first woman he comes across. Or perhaps because, like many, I guess I was under the impression he had dated Alex first then met Kate. The Neal/Alex scene felt too much like a one night stand thing. I don't know, I just didn't like it.
So, yeah, lots and lots of mixed feelings.
On another note, I'm seriously of the opinion that Neal may be just a smidge off his rocker. Everything he did he pretty much did for Kate, he got caught just to see Kate, stole the music box for Kate, went behind Peter's back for Kate, almost killed Fowler for Kate. Holy cow, Neal, maybe you shouldn't fall in love!
Although maybe it's not fair to blame it all on poor Kate. As Elizabeth once said, there's being in love with someone and being in love with the idea, and I think, deep down, Neal was in love with an idea. All Neal wanted was a perfect, quiet life with the woman he loved, and was willing to do whatever it took to get that life, even going so far as nearly conning Kate herself. Yes, he enjoyed what he did, but at the end of the day it was all about Kate. Boy's got some issues :/
So maybe we did learn a lot more about him. Or at the least separated a lot more canon from fanon.
So, though I could have done without all the love-making aftermath, overall it was an okay ep.
ETA: Okay, one thing this episode definitely does is make the Neal/Kate relationship a lot more poignant, because we're finally being shown instead of just being told. I'll also admit that I may not have been in the right head space while watching this ep. There's a lot of things as of late that I'm not as tolerant of as I used to be, I don't know why, and it may have gotten in the way of my viewing this ep.