Fandom Is Love - Part III - White Collar
Third and final entry for selenic76's February Fandom Fest, and the last stretch of my journey through my fandom life. Once again, I hope you enjoy this trip!
Question: Ever bought the DVD's to a TV show without having seen a single episode, just because they were on sale? Well, that's exactly what later would be known as my first foray into the world of my most recent fandom
Truth be told, I had read about the show before, but out of the four main actors only Willie Garson and Tiffani Thiessen were really familiar, for their previous parts on "Stargate" and "Fastlane"; I only recognized Tim DeKay from his guest stint in an episode of "NCIS". But with the actor portraying the main character of the show, one Matt Bomer, I drew a blank (which should turn out to be wrong later on). Not quite the best start, huh? Well, I guess I must have been kind of an explorer in a past live, since I like to explore things in general, not just TV shows.
And so it came that fate played into my hands when one of my local TV stations decided to pick up the airing of Season 2. My very first full episode of White Collar was "Unfinished Business", and you all can call me shallow, but the moment we see Neal impersonating "Mr. Black", a shady associate of their baddie of the week, I was hopelessly hooked - on both the show and on Matt Bomer.
When next week came around, I awaited the episode "In The Red" with quite some anticipation. And without spoilering anything, I wasn't disappointed. Not only they gave us some really great scenes between Peter, Neal and Sara (in any combination), we also saw Neal as a world-class poker player, and we got treated to a very special eye-candy by the end of the episode:
Honestly, who wouldn't want to swap places with Sara Ellis, who drops by in that scene? I definitely would! XD
This two episodes were enough for me to break out the aforementioned DVD's (which I only had checked for their functionality, nothing more) and watch the complete Season 1 and the first few episodes of Season 2 on one weekend.
You might ask what differs "White Collar" from any other crime show on TV? Well, here are some reasons, but this list is definitely not complete:
a) no blood overkill: probably the biggest difference to any other crime show. Sure, you have some deaths in the show (I only say finale!), but unlike "CSI", "Criminal Minds" or any of them, you don't get them in all their bloody, gory details. Which is quite nice for a change.
b) Cops and Robbers can be friends: you get the best example for that in the friendship that is built between Neal and Peter. Pre-series, Peter was the FBI agent who chased Neal around half the globe, but after the con-artist is released into his custody, their relationship begins to change (more on that further down below in this article). Next to them, you see friendships blossom between Mozzie & Elizabeth, Neal & Sara, Peter & Mozzie, Peter & June, and probably most surprising for all of them, between Mozzie & Diana.
c) Crime doesn't exclude fun: As the title suggests, their cases are primarily settled in the realms of money laundering, embezzling, art forgery and such. Which is a great opportunity to send either Neal or Peter (or sometimes both of them) undercover - and that is so much fun to watch, especially when Neal has to use his criminally good talents for catching the bad guy. But not only the two of them get sent undercover, Diana and Jones also get on more than one occasion the opportunity to shine in a different character.
Neal and Peter preparing for their probably best undercover operation in "Dentist of Detroit" (this pic is known in the fandom as "THE PROM PIC")
As you know already (if you have read my two previous articles), the bridge between all three of them is "Bromance". And to me, White Collar is actually the epitome for bromance. Let me give some examples:
A) Peter & Neal: The main pairing of the show, in every shade possible. It spans from father & son to almost brothers and everything in between. From the very first scene, when Peter finds a desperate Neal in an empty apartment, to every single of their cases to their heartbreaking (almost) end, these two give us so much: good advices (in both directions), the look into two so different and yet so aligned minds, and, most of all, the best banter between two guys around here, as these two quote examples prove so nicely:
Neal: [holding his cell phone] Do you mind? I have to call Mozzie.
Peter: Are you sure Mozzie didn't do it?
Neal: [confidently] Yeah.
Peter: Why?
Neal: Slash and grab. [Peter is still confused] The frame's too high?
Peter: Oh.
(from Copycat Caffrey, 2x03)
Peter: I'll need an alias.
Neal: Alistair Stone. A wealthy Hong Kong banker, relocating to New York, looking for a school for your son, Alistair Jr. You like catamarans and cognac.
Peter: It's like you're an alias savant. [Neal shrugs] I do like catamarans, but, let's go with Peter instead of Alistair.
Neal: Linda's gonna be upset.
Peter: Linda?
Neal: Your wife. She affectionately calls you Ali.
Peter: She'll get over it.
(from Upper West Side Story, 3x12)
To make dialogues like that working in the right way, you need two actors - and you need chemistry between them. Luckily for us all, USA Network found them in Tim DeKay and Matt Bomer (who I had seen on Tru Calling, as I found out later, when I did some digging into his acting career). And even if the friendship between Peter and Neal is sometimes in frays, because the trust has practically ceased to exist, Matt and Tim have built up a friendship behind the scenes as well. Tim is one of the first to congratulate Matt on several occasions via Twitter - his coming-out, his performance on "The Normal Heart", and, more recently, the win of both the People's Choice and the Golden Globe Award for that performance. And in every tweet, you can read that Tim is proud of Matt - like a big brother would be of his little one.
I mentioned the chemistry between them, and according to several interviews they both did over the seasons, they hit it off immediately. And if you really want to laugh out loud, type in "white collar gifs gag reels", lean back and enjoy the ride. But please don't eat or drink anything while watching, since it might get a bit dangerous for your health.
Neal's first arrest, as we see it in "Forging Bonds" (2x11)
White Collar's funny variation of Jedi and Padawan, from one of my favorite episodes, "Power Play" (2x15)
Matt and Tim doing a photoshoot for TV Guide
more pics of them here
B) Neal and Mozzie: A friendship that has been through every high and every low the criminal world can offer. They meet for the first time short after Neal comes to New York, and sooner than later, these two run scams. Mozzie is responsible for Neal's very first suit, and he, the orphan from Detroit, sees Neal as the brother he never really had. Mozzie has a lot of faith in Neal, and he looks out for him, which is why he accepts Peter in both their lives (well, after a while anyway). So when he finds out something about Neal in Season 3, he is shocked and hurt, but in the long shot, nothing really can destroy this friendship forged over the years.
C) Peter, Neal & Elizabeth: For four long years, Elizabeth had to "share" her husband with the con-man on the run. So when they meet in person for the first time, you would expect some animosities coming from this remarkable woman. But there's nothing, not at all. On the contrary, she voices Neal's side to Peter in "Peter language" on more than one occasion, and she opens their home to the young man.
D) Peter & Mozzie: When they meet for the first time in the pilot, Peter doesn't know who this apparently crazy guy is. But over the years, the bald man grows on Peter, and by the end of the show, they have become real friends, sharing their most heartbreaking moment together. What unites them in the first place is Neal, and on more than one occasion, they look out for him, especially in Season 2, as this dialogue shows:
Mozzie: Suit, we have a code red.
Peter : Now is not the time, Mozzie.
Mozzie: It's a dark day when I turn towards the system instead of recoiling.
Peter: Just spit it out.
Mozzie: Remember when you asked me to tell you if Neal was gonna do something stupid? Well, I regretfully report that... he's out of his anklet.
Peter: Damn it!
Mozzie: But that's not the stupid part. He's got a gun.
(from Point Blank, 2x09)
Peter and Mozzie trying to find an elusive Neal in the Season 6 opener "Borrowed Time"
I honestly could go on for hours and hours about everything I love about White Collar, but since I don't want to be responsible for "killing" LiveJournal XD, I draw this entry to an end. But before I leave you to a little picspam of some favorites of mine, I tell you one final thing: "Magnificent Seven" brought me to fanfiction, "Supernatural" broadened my horizons on that, but "White Collar" brought me to LiveJournal and all the wonderful sites and people dedicated to this equally wonderful show.
A little Neal Caffrey picspam:
One of my favorite looks on Neal: glasses (from "Upper West Side Story, 3x12)...
... and here again (from "On The Fence", 3x09, where Matt was reunited with Eliza Dushku)
Another favorite: Leather jacket and Aviator sunglasses (Dentist of Detroit, 3x04)
Neal and Sara teaming up in "Power Play" (2x15)...
...where Peter and Neal do a little swap
Case work at the office (Hard Sell, 1x08)
Neal in his "usual" clothes (promo pic from Season 3)
Matt on set, as JustJared put it so nicely, "lighting up the set"
Last but not least, the comeback of the leather jacket (Stealing Home, 3x15)
As with the other two entries before, I deliberately refrain from reccing any stories here as well, but I do advise anyone who reads this here to follow one of the links I provide afterwards and explore this wonderful fandom on your own.
AO3
(if you fancy it, there are lots of wonderful RPF stories for the actors on that site)
Fanfiction.net
As I said in the last paragraph under the cut, White Collar opened the doors to LiveJournal to me. And while there are bunches of journals out there dedicated to the show and/or its actors, here are some personal favorites of mine:
elrhiarhodan: the "Queen" of our fandom, the driving force behind so many activies, and the one with some of the most beautiful stories I've ever read in this fandom.
kanarek13: "Mistress of Arts"; her talent for creating actual works of art never cease to amaze me, and many a story had the honor to be graced by an artwork coming from her.
treonb: If you want to watch some really good fanvideos, please head over to this journal; they ewoke all different emotions, and all of them are done in high quality.
I hope you liked this entry. And if you have any questions about the show or think of a site out there that I should check out, please tell me in your comments.
To all fandoms, because Fandom = Love
Sources:
midnight_road (Screencaps)
Google Image Search (with no intented copyright infringement to the rightful users) (Screencaps, Promo Pic)
Wikiquote (quotes)
JustJared (set pics)
Question: Ever bought the DVD's to a TV show without having seen a single episode, just because they were on sale? Well, that's exactly what later would be known as my first foray into the world of my most recent fandom
Truth be told, I had read about the show before, but out of the four main actors only Willie Garson and Tiffani Thiessen were really familiar, for their previous parts on "Stargate" and "Fastlane"; I only recognized Tim DeKay from his guest stint in an episode of "NCIS". But with the actor portraying the main character of the show, one Matt Bomer, I drew a blank (which should turn out to be wrong later on). Not quite the best start, huh? Well, I guess I must have been kind of an explorer in a past live, since I like to explore things in general, not just TV shows.
And so it came that fate played into my hands when one of my local TV stations decided to pick up the airing of Season 2. My very first full episode of White Collar was "Unfinished Business", and you all can call me shallow, but the moment we see Neal impersonating "Mr. Black", a shady associate of their baddie of the week, I was hopelessly hooked - on both the show and on Matt Bomer.
When next week came around, I awaited the episode "In The Red" with quite some anticipation. And without spoilering anything, I wasn't disappointed. Not only they gave us some really great scenes between Peter, Neal and Sara (in any combination), we also saw Neal as a world-class poker player, and we got treated to a very special eye-candy by the end of the episode:
Honestly, who wouldn't want to swap places with Sara Ellis, who drops by in that scene? I definitely would! XD
This two episodes were enough for me to break out the aforementioned DVD's (which I only had checked for their functionality, nothing more) and watch the complete Season 1 and the first few episodes of Season 2 on one weekend.
You might ask what differs "White Collar" from any other crime show on TV? Well, here are some reasons, but this list is definitely not complete:
a) no blood overkill: probably the biggest difference to any other crime show. Sure, you have some deaths in the show (I only say finale!), but unlike "CSI", "Criminal Minds" or any of them, you don't get them in all their bloody, gory details. Which is quite nice for a change.
b) Cops and Robbers can be friends: you get the best example for that in the friendship that is built between Neal and Peter. Pre-series, Peter was the FBI agent who chased Neal around half the globe, but after the con-artist is released into his custody, their relationship begins to change (more on that further down below in this article). Next to them, you see friendships blossom between Mozzie & Elizabeth, Neal & Sara, Peter & Mozzie, Peter & June, and probably most surprising for all of them, between Mozzie & Diana.
c) Crime doesn't exclude fun: As the title suggests, their cases are primarily settled in the realms of money laundering, embezzling, art forgery and such. Which is a great opportunity to send either Neal or Peter (or sometimes both of them) undercover - and that is so much fun to watch, especially when Neal has to use his criminally good talents for catching the bad guy. But not only the two of them get sent undercover, Diana and Jones also get on more than one occasion the opportunity to shine in a different character.
Neal and Peter preparing for their probably best undercover operation in "Dentist of Detroit" (this pic is known in the fandom as "THE PROM PIC")
As you know already (if you have read my two previous articles), the bridge between all three of them is "Bromance". And to me, White Collar is actually the epitome for bromance. Let me give some examples:
A) Peter & Neal: The main pairing of the show, in every shade possible. It spans from father & son to almost brothers and everything in between. From the very first scene, when Peter finds a desperate Neal in an empty apartment, to every single of their cases to their heartbreaking (almost) end, these two give us so much: good advices (in both directions), the look into two so different and yet so aligned minds, and, most of all, the best banter between two guys around here, as these two quote examples prove so nicely:
Neal: [holding his cell phone] Do you mind? I have to call Mozzie.
Peter: Are you sure Mozzie didn't do it?
Neal: [confidently] Yeah.
Peter: Why?
Neal: Slash and grab. [Peter is still confused] The frame's too high?
Peter: Oh.
(from Copycat Caffrey, 2x03)
Peter: I'll need an alias.
Neal: Alistair Stone. A wealthy Hong Kong banker, relocating to New York, looking for a school for your son, Alistair Jr. You like catamarans and cognac.
Peter: It's like you're an alias savant. [Neal shrugs] I do like catamarans, but, let's go with Peter instead of Alistair.
Neal: Linda's gonna be upset.
Peter: Linda?
Neal: Your wife. She affectionately calls you Ali.
Peter: She'll get over it.
(from Upper West Side Story, 3x12)
To make dialogues like that working in the right way, you need two actors - and you need chemistry between them. Luckily for us all, USA Network found them in Tim DeKay and Matt Bomer (who I had seen on Tru Calling, as I found out later, when I did some digging into his acting career). And even if the friendship between Peter and Neal is sometimes in frays, because the trust has practically ceased to exist, Matt and Tim have built up a friendship behind the scenes as well. Tim is one of the first to congratulate Matt on several occasions via Twitter - his coming-out, his performance on "The Normal Heart", and, more recently, the win of both the People's Choice and the Golden Globe Award for that performance. And in every tweet, you can read that Tim is proud of Matt - like a big brother would be of his little one.
I mentioned the chemistry between them, and according to several interviews they both did over the seasons, they hit it off immediately. And if you really want to laugh out loud, type in "white collar gifs gag reels", lean back and enjoy the ride. But please don't eat or drink anything while watching, since it might get a bit dangerous for your health.
Neal's first arrest, as we see it in "Forging Bonds" (2x11)
White Collar's funny variation of Jedi and Padawan, from one of my favorite episodes, "Power Play" (2x15)
Matt and Tim doing a photoshoot for TV Guide
more pics of them here
B) Neal and Mozzie: A friendship that has been through every high and every low the criminal world can offer. They meet for the first time short after Neal comes to New York, and sooner than later, these two run scams. Mozzie is responsible for Neal's very first suit, and he, the orphan from Detroit, sees Neal as the brother he never really had. Mozzie has a lot of faith in Neal, and he looks out for him, which is why he accepts Peter in both their lives (well, after a while anyway). So when he finds out something about Neal in Season 3, he is shocked and hurt, but in the long shot, nothing really can destroy this friendship forged over the years.
C) Peter, Neal & Elizabeth: For four long years, Elizabeth had to "share" her husband with the con-man on the run. So when they meet in person for the first time, you would expect some animosities coming from this remarkable woman. But there's nothing, not at all. On the contrary, she voices Neal's side to Peter in "Peter language" on more than one occasion, and she opens their home to the young man.
D) Peter & Mozzie: When they meet for the first time in the pilot, Peter doesn't know who this apparently crazy guy is. But over the years, the bald man grows on Peter, and by the end of the show, they have become real friends, sharing their most heartbreaking moment together. What unites them in the first place is Neal, and on more than one occasion, they look out for him, especially in Season 2, as this dialogue shows:
Mozzie: Suit, we have a code red.
Peter : Now is not the time, Mozzie.
Mozzie: It's a dark day when I turn towards the system instead of recoiling.
Peter: Just spit it out.
Mozzie: Remember when you asked me to tell you if Neal was gonna do something stupid? Well, I regretfully report that... he's out of his anklet.
Peter: Damn it!
Mozzie: But that's not the stupid part. He's got a gun.
(from Point Blank, 2x09)
Peter and Mozzie trying to find an elusive Neal in the Season 6 opener "Borrowed Time"
I honestly could go on for hours and hours about everything I love about White Collar, but since I don't want to be responsible for "killing" LiveJournal XD, I draw this entry to an end. But before I leave you to a little picspam of some favorites of mine, I tell you one final thing: "Magnificent Seven" brought me to fanfiction, "Supernatural" broadened my horizons on that, but "White Collar" brought me to LiveJournal and all the wonderful sites and people dedicated to this equally wonderful show.
A little Neal Caffrey picspam:
One of my favorite looks on Neal: glasses (from "Upper West Side Story, 3x12)...
... and here again (from "On The Fence", 3x09, where Matt was reunited with Eliza Dushku)
Another favorite: Leather jacket and Aviator sunglasses (Dentist of Detroit, 3x04)
Neal and Sara teaming up in "Power Play" (2x15)...
...where Peter and Neal do a little swap
Case work at the office (Hard Sell, 1x08)
Neal in his "usual" clothes (promo pic from Season 3)
Matt on set, as JustJared put it so nicely, "lighting up the set"
Last but not least, the comeback of the leather jacket (Stealing Home, 3x15)
As with the other two entries before, I deliberately refrain from reccing any stories here as well, but I do advise anyone who reads this here to follow one of the links I provide afterwards and explore this wonderful fandom on your own.
AO3
(if you fancy it, there are lots of wonderful RPF stories for the actors on that site)
Fanfiction.net
As I said in the last paragraph under the cut, White Collar opened the doors to LiveJournal to me. And while there are bunches of journals out there dedicated to the show and/or its actors, here are some personal favorites of mine:
elrhiarhodan: the "Queen" of our fandom, the driving force behind so many activies, and the one with some of the most beautiful stories I've ever read in this fandom.
kanarek13: "Mistress of Arts"; her talent for creating actual works of art never cease to amaze me, and many a story had the honor to be graced by an artwork coming from her.
treonb: If you want to watch some really good fanvideos, please head over to this journal; they ewoke all different emotions, and all of them are done in high quality.
I hope you liked this entry. And if you have any questions about the show or think of a site out there that I should check out, please tell me in your comments.
To all fandoms, because Fandom = Love
Sources:
midnight_road (Screencaps)
Google Image Search (with no intented copyright infringement to the rightful users) (Screencaps, Promo Pic)
Wikiquote (quotes)
JustJared (set pics)