White Collar 4x13 Belated Thoughts!

[cookiegirl]

I thought I'd rewatch 4x13 in preparation for the next episode tonight. I heard a lot of people saying they disliked the episode after it aired, but I enjoyed it, aside from one rather glaring issue I had towards the end. I thought most of it was cute and fun though, and definitely lifted my mood after the week before.

• Mozzie was awesome this episode. I got a bit confused at the start, when I thought that Mozzie was driving the taxis to get information about the key for Neal, and I didn't understand what the random copper pipes in a warehouse had to do with anything. And then I got with the programme and realised it was his 'regular' job and usual information-gathering. Which makes sense seeing as way back in 2x04 Peter said Mozzie would only be similar to Gina's boyfriend if he was 'a low end criminal who drove limos for a part time job', and Mozzie looked somewhat uncomfortable! Anyway, yay Moz for his attempt to charge Neal for the taxi ride, his comical lack of being-impressed when Neal mentions tugboats, and his awesome attempt at a citizen's arrest.


• I had to lol at Peter and Jones working at the Burkes. Peter is so giddy and buzzing with excitement and intrigue because he's on Neal's tail again, and is watching his anklet moving around the city. It's almost like a teenager with a crush. Err, almost. And Jones could not be any less interested!


• When El came in and Peter tried to hide their work from her, I thought for a moment we were going to get into a weird situation where they were both deceiving each other, and Peter's lie cancelled out El's. Thankfully it lasted for about ten seconds before El did her unimpressed face and Peter confessed all.


• I loved that Peter brought up the fact that Neal never lies to him, he just avoids the truth, and so there must be a special reason why he lied this time. After last week I thought they might ignore the fact that Peter is super smart and knows Neal well, and have him just focusing on being angry that Neal had lied, but thankfully this seemed more like he was interested in the motive.


• El had a perfect excuse to confess when Peter brings up the issue, and she chose not to. I kind of feel sorry for her now, because the more times you have to confess a lie and don't do so, the worse it is when the truth comes out, and she's got herself into a bad situation. She did come off a bit more sympathetic here than last week, trying to make a real case for why Peter should stay on the sidelines with regards to Neal's personal vendetta and just go after Pratt as an FBI agent. I still don't see why that protects him, but...anyway. I am a bit concerned that she doesn't seem worried for Neal's safety, but I'm going to assume that's because Neal seems invulnerable sometimes, whereas Peter is right there with his arm in a sling.


• Yay for Peter going to rescue Moz from the police! It was really interesting when Neal basically implied Moz had used some of the treasure to buy the taxi license. I think it's the first time they've even slightly brought up the fact that Neal and Moz still have millions of dollars worth of treasure as far as we know, and Peter's brushing it under the carpet. Not that there's really anything he can do about it now. Maybe he's hoping he can one day retire to an exotic island with El and Neal on the money. And Mozzie would come too, probably.


• Diana's reaction when Peter calls the taxi Moz's 'yellow girlfriend' is definitely worth a rewind! 'That makes me uncomfortable!!'


• The scenes at the taxi place were cute. Peter being a dork and practicing with his TLC badge seemed a bit insane, seeing as he's had an FBI badge to practice with forever, but it was adorable so I will let it slide!


• Neal's fake confrontation with Moz was enjoyable! I lol'd at the following moment:

...thanks, tumblr :)

• And then when he went all commanding and demanded 'I'd like a word with you please!', I ...had a different reaction. The rarely spotted but much loved dom!Neal returned for a moment! JOY!


• I enjoyed Peter spotting Neal and Moz getting into the taxi, and watching his face move between resigned annoyance, and his special 'Neal's in trouble' look. Fairly minor trouble though.


• Mozzie walking into the Burkes' and making himself at home whilst Peter looked on in mild horror was awesome :D


• BUT NOT AS AWESOME AS JUNE. She is so beautiful and classy and in charge. I wish I could be her when I grow up. No chance. I admit I kind of hoped it would be Neal singing at the club instead, but then I probably would have heard about that before the episode aired.


• The scenes in the club were mildly entertaining. I wasn't bothered in any way about the outcome of the plot, but Neal looked hot in his suit and June sang nicely and El had a stunning dress, so...that was fine.


• I had a moment of panic when they left the club that Jones was going to take the cigar without paying for it /o\ I was so relieved when he put the cash down. I'm all for Neal and Moz stealing but I hold Clinton to a higher standard!


• GUH. Neal at his apartment, looking ridiculously gorgeous with his ruffled, un-gelled hair, was a treat.


• The last scenes with Peter and Jones were fun too. Peter setting a beeping alert to tell him whenever Neal moved was not helping to hide his very sweet obsession. And the Caffrey box comes out <3


• BUT ARGH. This whole corks by the pier makes no sense at all!!! It supposedly happened when Peter was closing in on Neal and Neal thought he'd be in prison soon, right? BUT. I don't think Neal ever thought he was going to prison - I figured he was confident right til the end. That messes with my head canon. And if he did think he was about to be caught, why not hightail it off to Egypt or somewhere for a bit? More pressingly, if Peter was trying to catch him, and knew about the corks and the river (which he obviously did, seeing as he had the brochure), WHY DIDN'T PETER JUST GO DOWN AND ARREST HIM WHEN HE KNEW HE'D BE THERE, THROWING CORKS AROUND?! Why do the whole using-Kate thing?! Isn't the point that they couldn't find Neal? I don't get that at all. I thought for a moment that perhaps he found out that Neal was doing the corks thing after he'd arrested him, but that doesn't work, because Peter had the brochure in his case box. (Also, I'm concerned that Neal was apparently drinking an entire bottle of wine alone each night.) I really wish the writers would put a timeline of Neal's life, and the chase, on the wall in the writer's room. And refer to it to see if their new events fit in with canon. That wouldn't be hard right?

SO. The corks thing really annoyed me. I wish someone could explain it away satisfactorily, as things like that grate on me. But aside from that, fun episode! I was expecting the Pratt plot to be moved on a bit more, but I guess that will happen this week. I'm excited for a new ep anyway :)

Comments

[ohcaptain.livejournal.com]

Clicked solely for the promised sassy gif and was not disappointed.

[cookiegirl]

Hee! I feel that one could get a lot of use in the future :D

[love-82.livejournal.com]

I don't really have any thinky thoughts to add. I liked that episode too. It was fun and made me laugh. And they are all so adorable.

But I mainly wanted to comment on that gif. That is awesome. :) My favorite part of that scene was the women behind the window at the taxi place. When she was all "who the hell are you? I don't have time for this." :D

Looking forward to tonights episode but then there are only two more left and then hiatus again. :( So boo on that. But at least there is fandom during the wait for new episodes. :)

[cookiegirl]

Hee, the taxi woman was awesome! I'm always amused when people aren't charmed by Neal lol! :)

I know, 16 episodes is nowhere near enough to last a year :( But yeah, thank goodness for the fandom ♥

[thelittlespanko.livejournal.com]

I loved this episode so so much! Haven't seen the newest one yet and so I'll have to wait on reading your newest WC entry. But you hit upon the things that made me SQUEE! I loved Dom!Neal! o0 It's....it's a surprisingly nice thing to behold! On White Collar Corrections in the FUN section, ColaBear is having a Caption fest for 2 pics when Neal & Moz are in the taxi & Peter flashes his fake badge. You might like it. I thought the same thing about the cork thing. I'm rectifying by deleting those scenes from my brain episodes. So, see, that never happened. All better! I think the thing that made this episode bestill my heart was Peter telling El that Neal never lies, knowing Neal has to have a good reason.

One thing you didn't mention is Neal slinking through that tiny window from the office to the humidor. I've long had fantasies of someone getting stuck in a window just like that and getting their naughty bottoms spanked. Where I live, those windows are common in basements as a way out if there is a fire and so a burglar could slink in & then try to slink out and get caught in it. XD Could you imagine getting spanked in that undignified position?!

[cookiegirl]

Mmm Dom!Neal was yummy! I'm trying to remember when else he's been like that, and I'm only coming up with the fencing fight in 3x01, but I'm sure there's others. And lol at those captions! 'There's clearly a lot you haven't been telling me, Neal' :D :D

Hee! OK RIGHT. TELL ME MORE ABOUT THESE BASEMENT WINDOWS. For reasons not related to anything I might write at any time... *shifty eyes*. Are the windows normally at the top of the wall or halfway up? So would you have to climb up to them or would your feet still be reaching the floor when you were halfway through? (Logistics are important lol!) Would the person who discovers them be able to..umm..reach, or would they need to stand on something? And would the Burkes have one of these windows? :D

[ficwriterjet.livejournal.com]

I enjoyed the episode too, but I was STILL annoyed with Elizabeth for continuing her lie. I LOVED Peter explaining to Elizabeth that Neal doesn't lie to him. :) Best part of the episode. The corks thing didn't bother me much, but that was mostly because I just didn't think too hard about it. But now that I'm thinking about it, you're right - it doesn't make much sense.

[cookiegirl]

That bit with Peter was the cutest thing ♥

I think we are going to have to sweep the whole corks thing under the carpet like thelittlespanko said above and just pretend it didn't happen!!

[thelittlespanko.livejournal.com]

....you...you might write this?! ::flails::

......... ::flails harder:: OK!

Well, they are typically small and are just wide enough for you to wriggle through in case of a fire, though small enough to make doing so a bit of trouble in order to dissuade thieves. The average size is right at the size of an average male's hips: 15" [38cm], though Neal's are likely slimmer. They typically open out in a fashion similar to the hatchback on a car, and there isn't usually a lever to keep them open so they can fall on your back and make getting out a bit difficult - thereby sort of holding you in place as you try and wiggle back and forth to get yourself free while reaching behind your back to try and push it open. Since at this point your legs are already a few feet off the ground you can't get leverage - you've just got to sway back and forth and shimmy out with your feet kicking in the air and you use your hands to push off the outer wall/drag yourself on the ground til you're free. The windows are typically level with the ground outside so that your upper torso is laying on the ground, your lower back is stuck in the window, and your legs are kicking freely off the ground inside. Most basement ceilings are about 7 to 7.5 feet high [2 to 2.28 meters] and the windows are close to the ceiling. The windows themselves are about 1 foot high [30-38cm], but you'd have less than that as the window tries closing on you.

As far as being able to reach someone trying to escape through one, here is a photo of a man standing in a basement with a ceiling that's a bit higher than normal [about 15.24cm higher than average]. He wouldn't have to stand on anything, but may have to swing higher than normal or overhand.

Isn't the thought of this just Delicious?! I am so excited at just the IDEA of you writing this! ;D

[cookiegirl]

This may be the best researched and illustrated comment my journal's ever had, lol! Thanks for the info! I guess I might just have to write something now :D

[thelittlespanko.livejournal.com]

...... ::blush:: I...I guess I did sort of go off the rails there, didn't I? ::facepalm:: Sorry about that, LOL!

BUT I love that I now get the honor of 'best researched & illustrated comment' on your journal!

[cookiegirl]

Nooo, you kept on the rails, it was awesome! I always need to be able to picture a scene physically before I can write it. And I can totally imagine Neal wriggling the window now :D

[thelittlespanko.livejournal.com]

Oh good. teehee

....Oh yea? Weeellll I *was* in the middle of doing a sketch of this. Want me to post it? You know, purely for research purposes.

[cookiegirl]

YES OH MY GOODNESS YES POST IT!!

For the research. Because we are dedicated to accuracy.

:D

[thelittlespanko.livejournal.com]

I just posted it! Here's a direct link: http://thelittlespanko.livejournal.com/125475.html

Of course. Research. What are we if we do not continue our education?