White Collar S01E01, "Pilot"

[kate_nepveu]

SteelyKid is sleeping in this morning, so:

White Collar: new TV show, art forger reluctantly helps FBI to keep from going back to prison, having escaped to look for his girlfriend, who has gone *poof*. Fairly appealing leads, good diversity in cast, not hugely caper-y but had some clever moments. Didn't love it, liked it well enough, will do until Leverage comes back. (Speaking of which: "Accessories," a crossover between the two, general-audience, gen, 1300 words.)

Quick spoilers:

No, the dodge about the warrantless search probably wouldn't work—if I were defense counsel I would have such a good time at the suppression hearing—but I liked that Peter knew right away what Neal was doing, and that Neal is loyal to his friends.

Also, yes, as soon as someone in custody says "I want a lawyer" that's end of game, so they did get that right.

(However, the tone of the show is kinda light for dead bodies.)

Needs more June, the awesome landlady, and Diana (?), the awesome FBI agent. Not sure about Peter's wife Elizabeth, though maybe it's because I'm still in " . . . but she was in Saved by the Bell" mode. At least he came up with the present himself eventually?

(Neal knows Peter's birthday and wedding anniversary when he doesn't, and a million slash stories sprang spontaneously into life.)

Thank you, camera, for not being exclusively male gaze and giving us shirtless male leads (including Neal with really no attempt at excuse).

And that's all I can think of.

Comments

[mcswan.livejournal.com]

The one thing I've enjoyed so far is that, unlike a lot of these "criminal with a heart of gold helps the good guys" themes, is that the good guys are not de facto idiots. Peter is competent, confident, and believably qualified to do his job. The FBI just need a little help and Neal is filling in the gaps, rather than single handedly saving the day every episode. Unfortunately, the way it's looking in the later episodes, they might be leaning in this direction.

Peter is learning new tricks just as much as Neal is, and I like that we still see little glimpses of the con-artist/thief in Neal. Nobody's going to rehab overnight, and I can see a major transgression on Neal's part adding some drama in the future.

[kate_nepveu]

Yes, I like that Peter is smart (though I could have done without the anti-intellectual dig about Harvard-educated agents).

Neal skipping out to rescue his damsel in distress is the gun over the mantelpiece and I would be shocked if it doesn't go off by/at the end of the season.