White Collar 4x11 Episode Thoughts!

[cookiegirl]

Let’s all pretend I’m not really late with this episode reaction, kay? Awesome. I’m getting it up before the next episode anyway, so technically I am on time. And regardless, I wish to record my thoughts! 

I was super excited about the new episode and then, I have to admit, a tiny bit disappointed. Not that it wasn’t good, it just wasn’t amazing. But! My boys are back, and that’s really all I need. And there were a lot of great moments.

This is pretty much in chronological order, as I couldn’t remember all my feelings and therefore had to rewatch a lot of the episode whilst writing :) 

• First things first – we pretty much kick things off with a flashback to Neal’s third birthday, and WHAT? That kid is about seven years old! I have a seven, nearly eight year old nephew who looks exactly the same age, and a five year old one who looks considerably younger than that. No way is that boy just turning three! So…that’s odd. Also, he looks nothing like I imagined tiny!Neal to look. Where is the curly hair for a start? My dreams of being able to illustrate kid!fic are dashed.

• Neal’s mom is in the flashback. For about a second. I am so confused as to why nobody’s really mentioned her, why she has no name and why nobody’s enquired as to where she is now. Is she even still alive, do we know? Have I missed this? They’re not going to spend an entire season arc on her next year are they?!

• I love Peter bursting into Neal’s apartment, all urgent and running and ‘HI I AM HERE TO PROTECT YOU’. And I love him holding his hand out to Neal to motion him back, shield him from Sam/James and keep him safe. Peterrrrr ♥ (I am somewhat confused as to how Peter has managed to get there so quickly, considering it’s been maybe three minutes since he got off the phone to Neal, and he was at the FBI offices then. Never mind.)

• Peter asking Neal if he’s OK and Neal admitting he’s not is adorable (and progress!). But, where is the hugging? You could at least put a hand on his arm Peter! I’m just going to assume this happened after we cut away from the scene.

• Neal and Clinton testing whiskey in tea cups is super cute.

• Peter and Neal’s tense little argument about whether Neal can go undercover with Flynn is great. I love Neal saying ‘you can’t bench me’ and Peter saying ‘Yeah, I can’ with that utter confidence – it’s a very brief moment of super-hot-dom!Peter, but a brief moment is better than none \o/

• Back at Neal’s apartment – Neal is IN A VEST \o/ Neal has floppy hair \o/

• MOZZIE AND JUNE ARE AWESOME. I adore the idea of them gambling on Candyland. And June looks amaaazing.

• Slightly-drunk!Neal and slightly-drunk!Moz = love. So much fun, but also I like their friendship here and how Moz’s aim is to get Neal to open up. He’s so earnest and supportive here and aww Mozzie, I loves you.

• Hungover!Neal is all cute and limpy. Peter’s pickle juice made me laugh. And I really like that Neal asks him to handle the conversation with James alone – that shows so much trust in Peter. ‘I know you’ll ask all the right questions’ made me melt.

• The distilling event thing (?) is a fun scene. El looks beautiful. And posh!Clinton is always good value :D

• El and Neal pull a mini-con! That tiny smile that just flickers over Neal’s face for a second when he realises what El’s doing is awesome. Plus, Peter looks all proud and impressed back in the van ♥

• Peter and El walking Satchmo – yay! Peter’s oddly dorky in this scene though :-\

• There’s a cute Neal and Moz scene, where Neal’s bitchy (he’s wound fairly tight right now, which is understandable), and Moz bestows wisdom. And sarcasm:

Neal: ‘He invited me to dinner.’
Moz: ‘HOW DARE HE!’

• Dinner time at the Burkes! I’m still as in love with El’s quiet, private ‘Glad you came’ to Neal as I was when I saw the promo.

• Mozzie meeting Flynn is epic. And then we get a glass blowing and whiskey forging montage \o/

• Neal breaks into Flynn’s office (well, bar), and so YAY we get a brief scene where Peter, err, tells Neal off for breaking into Flynn’s office. I know, I’m weird, but I love it when Peter tells Neal off ♥ And Peter points angrily with his folder which is hot. Maybe only to me.

• I did say ‘oh dear’ when Neal says ‘It means MY FATHER was telling the truth’. He’s quickly gone from ‘James’ to ‘my father’ and I don’t see this ending well. Protect your heart bb!

• Aww, Neal instantly insists Peter can’t go undercover because it’s too dangerous! Honey! ♥ And then he sees Peter’s game: ‘…it allows you to be there to keep an eye on me’. Haha, that’s always Peter’s game.

• PETER IS WEARING LEATHER. Let us all take a moment. And then Peter saves Neal, and very roughly arrests Flynn, and… I need to take another moment.

• It felt somewhat anticlimactic to spend the whole episode trying to arrest Flynn and then have him killed off-screen immediately. Meh.

• Neal shows James the video. WITH THE INFORMATION ABOUT HOW TO ACCESS THE EVIDENCE BOX. Neal, what are you thinking?!?! Even if you think James is telling the truth, you know well enough that it could be a con. You’re normally perfectly happy to hide stuff. THIS IS SOMETHING YOU SHOULD HIDE. *headdesk*

• Neal and James have emotional moments and Neal’s eyes get all watery and then there’s a beautifully acted hug and a kiss on the neck and arghhh. I don’t care about James but I care about Neal and ohhh sweetie this isn’t going to end well. (Or, it is going to end well, and then James will be sticking around and that will be worse because I will have to watch him!)

• Also, if there’s neck kissing to be done on Neal, my preference is for Peter to be doing it. Gen, fatherly, slash, whatever. Just get it done.

• The ending kind of drew me in, with the hugging, but then the cut to the weird oversized-for-his-age child who doesn’t look like Neal threw me out. I hope there's no more flashbacks in future.

So, average episode? A bit below average? I just don’t like the season arc, and it doesn’t make any sense, but I love Neal and Peter and Moz and June and El and everyone so, never mind.

AND THEN I WAS AN IDIOT who didn’t learn from all the epic spoilers in the trailer for 4x10, and I watched the trailer for 4x12. Which went on forever and showed a huge thing that I didn’t want to see. Surely the point of a trailer is to hint at what’s to come, not actually show you all the biggest parts?! I am going to have to be controlled in the future and just not watch them. I can do it. I can.



Only 24 hours or so until the next ep! \o/

Comments

[ficwriterjet.livejournal.com]

Awesome thoughts on the show. :) i'm with you on the hotness factor of Peter telling Neal off when he's been naughty (which lucky for us is often). I also don't trust James, and hope like hell that he doesn't end up somehow betraying Neal. The stuff with Neal's mom is all very shady isn't it? Why don't they tell us a little more about her?

That sucks that you got spoiled for the next episode. I try to avoid trailers as much as possible for that very reaso.

[cookiegirl]

Thankyou :D And lol, I can't imagine why we find that hot :D

It's weird, because I think when Ellen was around and talking about Neal as a kid, she and Neal sort of referred to his mom in the past tense, but nobody's said she's dead either, so...I don't know. Strange.

Argh, the White Collar trailers are the worst I've ever seen for spoilers. The one for 4x10 really obviously gave away the whole Sam-being-James thing (though it wouldn't have been much of a shock anyway, but even so!) Apparently after that Jeff Eastin had words with the network but it's obviously not made any difference!

[kerrylang.livejournal.com]

Love your review!!! :)

You know, on camera everyone looks a little bigger and the kid does still have baby fat, so I loved the little boy and I believed him to be little Neal.

Despite for this I'm with you on every point, because I always find it VERY hot when Peter talks Neal down or is dom-like. Those are the scenes I'll never get tired of, and it's this friction I sooo love about the show.

Looking forward to your next review and of course to the next ep! :D

[cookiegirl]

Hee, thanks! :D

Hmm, I think I may just have read too much kid!fic and so have a really set image of what Neal should look like in my mind lol! The kid they cast was cute though :)

Yay, a fellow dom!Peter lover ♥ He just does it so well :)

[timewithers.livejournal.com]

Woah! That was supposed to be his third birthday? I agree, the kid was definitely too old!

I pretty much agree with all of your points here!

[cookiegirl]

Haha, I know right?! He's definitely been eating his spinach.

and yay! :)

[sinfulslasher]

I know a lot of folks gripe about the age of the kid (and I'm assuming the kid actor is older than three, just to make sure he could deliver his lines and hit his mark, etc), but I gotta admit, my biggest peeve is that he doesn't look at all the way I imagined wee!Neal. *pouts* LOL!

And yes, it's ridiculously hot when Peter tells off Neal. *swoon*

While I don't really mind either way re: James, I see the potential for hurt (and Burke!comfort \o/) and general angst for Neal, so I'm all for James! LOL! *iz evil* What can I say, I love emotional whump, and after the last scene, I double-dare everyone not to be affected by teary-eyed!Neal. That scene KILLED me. *smishes Neal hard*

[cookiegirl]

Arghhh I know! I've read so much kid!fic that I have a solid idea of tiny!Neal with little dark curls and huge eyes and dimples, and I don't think the casting people quite agreed :(

That last scene was definitely heart-wrenching. Aww, Neal's awkward stiff arms at first when he doesn't know whether to join in the hug!! He is adorable. And there's definitely major H/C potential...I hope they don't skimp on the C!

[sinfulslasher]

Did you see the baby/toddler pics of the WC cast in...People magazine, I think it was? Matty didn't look the way I imagined him as wee!Matty. Not one bit! *boggles* He was totes adorbs and all, but...not what I imagined him to look like. *boggles some more* So, maybe wee!Neal really doesn't have little dark curls and dimples and such. *ponders*

[cookiegirl]

Ooh thankyou, I didn't know they existed but I've just found them! Wow, Sharif and Tiffani look SO much like they do now! And awww, Tim looks so much like a mini Peter, even personality-wise! But yeah, Matt doesn't look anything like I thought lol! Very cute still of course :)

Hmm. I am still going to think of mini!Neal with curls :D

Also, when I googled 'White Collar cast baby' to find the pics, it brought me up the twitter pic for @WCwriters which I hadn't seen before, of a little toddler at a laptop with a tiny waistcoat and tie, who I assume is meant to represent Neal - very sweet! (bit of a weird choice for their twitter pic though?!)

[sinfulslasher]

Actually, I think wee!Willie was THE cutest baby EVER. *pinches his cheeks* Everyone looked like their adult self, more or less...except Matt! O.o LOL!

I LOVE the WCwriters toddler!!! :D

[citrinesunset.livejournal.com]

I hear you--I didn't think that episode was bad, but it wasn't amazing or extremely memorable.

- You're right--I thought that kid looked a little old, too. I'm not around kids much, though, so I'm not the best judge of ages. I'm usually not impressed with kid versions of characters in flashbacks. The kids rarely feel like the characters to me, or look like how I would've imagined. I had that issue with Fringe a lot.

- I'd forgotten about Mozzie and June gambling over Candyland! That was great.

- Gotta admit, I like it when Peter tells Neal off, too. :P

- Yeah, I'm not optimistic about a good outcome with James.

[cookiegirl]

The kids rarely feel like the characters to me, or look like how I would've imagined.
Yeah, and I find this really weird, because within fandom - esp WC - there tends to be fairly unanimous descriptions within different kid!fics etc, so you'd think it'd be easy enough to find someone who everyone agreed looked like baby!Neal. I guess the casting people just aren't as invested in the characters as we are?!

Gotta admit, I like it when Peter tells Neal off, too. :P
Hee! Yay! ♥