So . . . we started watching White Collar . . .
At con.txt, we watched this vid (Tonight [I'm Fucking You], vid by talitha78), a White Collar vid, that sort of made 
my_daroga and I look at each other and say, "Why isn't this in our lives?" Then
jjhunter (ETA: I thought it was
sarah!) described the premise, and I just wanted to say, how come no one told me?
The premise is this cracky, very attractive thing: art forger/con artist dude has to "work together" with FBI agent to crack down on felons. From the vid, it was obvious the art forger/con artist dude was the very pretty, smiley, "who moi?" sort of dude bouncing about on the balls of his feet waggling his eyebrows every which way. It was also obvious that the FBI agent dude was a) totally smokin', b) a bit scowly, c) fucking him tonight. So in my head it was this very Spike/Angel, delightful!bouncy!cute!hilarious!badboy slash upstanding!righteous!angry!glowery!asshole. This might be one of my favorite ships. Then
jjhunter also mentioned, "And FBI Agent's wife is the best. You only ever want threesomes because no one can leave her out." Okay that might not be an exact quote. So, like I said, sold.
Except for how, so far, this show isn't actually what I imagined but maybe it's better?
The main thing is that FBI agent is neither glowery, righteous, or an asshole. I love glowery righteous assholes, I mean the ones who are trying very very hard to be good, but are actually assholes. Peter tries to be "good", but he's not saving the world. He's just trying to do his job and make his wife happy and I don't know, maybe he wants to not always have to pay for the most expensive parking spot? In other words, he is a sandwich (boy next door) not a muffin (angsty-face) (this is a link to a great essay about male heroes. However, it appears all smushed? Maybe try searching "muffin" and you'll get to the relevant bits).
I find this fascinating, and I'm very interested to see where it will lead. Peter being a sandwich means that the show is different than what I expected, and from many other shows, in this key way: it's happy. It's a happy show so far. Everyone is delightful and happy and happy with each other, and we hardly ever see that. Peter and Neal don't have that love/hate, chafing period in which they work awesomely when they do work together except they never want to work together--no, they are totally bros. Neal is totally on board with this FBI thing (why?) and Peter is totally on-board with this, "So, Neal, how 'bout you go break some laws now mmm-kay?" thing.
It's really interesting, and I'm fascinated to see whether it can work over the long haul. We're on episode 4, and Peter already trusts Neal enough to let him cut off the anklet and to ask him to do the illegal stuff that an FBI agent can't do. Neal is already so into the FBI gig that he throws away several good chances to escape. Is there going to come a time when Peter's faith is tested, and will it be believable? Will there come a time when Peter's ethics differ enough from Neal's that there's some serious tension, and will it be believable and real, or will it read falsely, considering what they've set up? Will Neal's inexplicable joy in police work and willingness to jump the minute Peter says so ever be explained? Will Kate ever be interesting? Who knows.
Also, Elizabeth. Elizabeth is delightful, the trust she puts in Neal is delightful, the way that Peter jumps whenever she says so is delightful, and the three of them together are delightful. Will her trust in Neal be explained? Will there be tension in her marriage to Peter that is believable and real, considering what they've set up? I love how good and solid (and interesting) their marriage is, I love how good and solid Peter and Neal's relationship already seems to me, but it does seem that the show's premise requires eventual exploring of motives and tension concerning motives, and I worry that it will either a) becomes murky and angsty, thus ruining the delight, or b) in attempts to remain life and fluffy, skim over some very serious issues here.
Also the Elizabeth/Peter/Neal. Is awesome.
Also, I kind of love everyone else. Joey! (ETA: Jones. I can't keep names in my head...) That FBI agent girl, I don't remember her name! Neal's bald sidekick guy has yet to grow on me, though, mainly because he seems to be played primarily for comic relief instead of getting to be his own person. And still so not interested in the Kate plot.
Also this show is gay. I'm just saying. Like, it's really really gay.
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my_daroga and I look at each other and say, "Why isn't this in our lives?" Then
jjhunter (ETA: I thought it was
sarah!) described the premise, and I just wanted to say, how come no one told me?
The premise is this cracky, very attractive thing: art forger/con artist dude has to "work together" with FBI agent to crack down on felons. From the vid, it was obvious the art forger/con artist dude was the very pretty, smiley, "who moi?" sort of dude bouncing about on the balls of his feet waggling his eyebrows every which way. It was also obvious that the FBI agent dude was a) totally smokin', b) a bit scowly, c) fucking him tonight. So in my head it was this very Spike/Angel, delightful!bouncy!cute!hilarious!badboy slash upstanding!righteous!angry!glowery!asshole. This might be one of my favorite ships. Then
jjhunter also mentioned, "And FBI Agent's wife is the best. You only ever want threesomes because no one can leave her out." Okay that might not be an exact quote. So, like I said, sold.
Except for how, so far, this show isn't actually what I imagined but maybe it's better?
The main thing is that FBI agent is neither glowery, righteous, or an asshole. I love glowery righteous assholes, I mean the ones who are trying very very hard to be good, but are actually assholes. Peter tries to be "good", but he's not saving the world. He's just trying to do his job and make his wife happy and I don't know, maybe he wants to not always have to pay for the most expensive parking spot? In other words, he is a sandwich (boy next door) not a muffin (angsty-face) (this is a link to a great essay about male heroes. However, it appears all smushed? Maybe try searching "muffin" and you'll get to the relevant bits).
I find this fascinating, and I'm very interested to see where it will lead. Peter being a sandwich means that the show is different than what I expected, and from many other shows, in this key way: it's happy. It's a happy show so far. Everyone is delightful and happy and happy with each other, and we hardly ever see that. Peter and Neal don't have that love/hate, chafing period in which they work awesomely when they do work together except they never want to work together--no, they are totally bros. Neal is totally on board with this FBI thing (why?) and Peter is totally on-board with this, "So, Neal, how 'bout you go break some laws now mmm-kay?" thing.
It's really interesting, and I'm fascinated to see whether it can work over the long haul. We're on episode 4, and Peter already trusts Neal enough to let him cut off the anklet and to ask him to do the illegal stuff that an FBI agent can't do. Neal is already so into the FBI gig that he throws away several good chances to escape. Is there going to come a time when Peter's faith is tested, and will it be believable? Will there come a time when Peter's ethics differ enough from Neal's that there's some serious tension, and will it be believable and real, or will it read falsely, considering what they've set up? Will Neal's inexplicable joy in police work and willingness to jump the minute Peter says so ever be explained? Will Kate ever be interesting? Who knows.
Also, Elizabeth. Elizabeth is delightful, the trust she puts in Neal is delightful, the way that Peter jumps whenever she says so is delightful, and the three of them together are delightful. Will her trust in Neal be explained? Will there be tension in her marriage to Peter that is believable and real, considering what they've set up? I love how good and solid (and interesting) their marriage is, I love how good and solid Peter and Neal's relationship already seems to me, but it does seem that the show's premise requires eventual exploring of motives and tension concerning motives, and I worry that it will either a) becomes murky and angsty, thus ruining the delight, or b) in attempts to remain life and fluffy, skim over some very serious issues here.
Also the Elizabeth/Peter/Neal. Is awesome.
Also, I kind of love everyone else. Joey! (ETA: Jones. I can't keep names in my head...) That FBI agent girl, I don't remember her name! Neal's bald sidekick guy has yet to grow on me, though, mainly because he seems to be played primarily for comic relief instead of getting to be his own person. And still so not interested in the Kate plot.
Also this show is gay. I'm just saying. Like, it's really really gay.
This entry was originally posted to Dreamwidth. Read Comments | Reply