I have noticeably mixed feelings about the season finale of White Collar. On one hand, ‘Under the Radar’was a solidly-execution to the Adler story and all the drama that’s been driving the series from the very beginning. On the other hand, it features yet another problematic cliffhanger from a series that seems destined to produce problematic cliffhangers.
I adore White Collar, I really do. It was on my top 25 of 2010 and had I more time before this episode aired, I was going to write a piece about how it was far and away the best series in USA’s current stable of programming. I think there’s really no question about that. But for whatever reason, this series has a problem with its cliffhangers. This might sound weird, but I think the White Collar writers try too hard to make their cliffhangers cliffhanger-y. With any cliffhanger, there’s an obvious intent to shock and surprise the audience, hoping those feelings with convince them to come back for more in the next season or half-season. But good cliffhanger writing balances the shock value with logic, believability and character consistency. The White Collar writers have clearly nailed the first half of the equation, but they’re still figuring out how to execute the second half.
This whole season, especially the back-half, has been all about Neal’s changing perspective. He’s slowly put Kate behind him and grown to recognize that there is some value in the work he’s doing with Peter and the FBI. When his sentence is up, he could return to a life of capers, cons and crime or he could (presumably in this world) continue to work with the FBI, catching the kinds of people he used to call friends. During the series’Paley Fest panel the other night, EP Jeff Eastin said that Neal is inherently bad trying to be good, but I think it’s the exact opposite. Without question, Neal Caffrey is a good guy. He’s made some questionable decisions over the years, but even during his most ‘villainous’periods, it doesn’t appear that Neal was too bad. Sure, he didn’t want to get caught by Peter and the FBI and did all he could to avoid that fate, but it’s not like he was a vicious murderer or even particularly aggressive in his con-work. And before this episode, it was pretty clear that Neal was leaning more towards ‘good’rather than ‘bad.’
But the cliffhanger of ‘Under The Radar’betrays all that work the season has done. Adler’s been taken care of, the nonsense with Alex and the music box is now complete, but now Peter believes that Neal stole all the precious art found in the Nazi submarine. And as the final scene of this episode suggests, Peter might be right. Whether or not he actually did the stealing himself – a question that is more problematic based on the note and key left in his apartment – Neal knows exactly where all the art is. It’s in his possession and he’s told Peter that it’s not, so the trust built up over the season is now gone. Perhaps Neal has been running a long con this whole time, perhaps he just stumbled into this and figured it was best to get his final, bloodless revenge on Adler for killing Kate. But nevertheless, this is a troubling development.
It might just be my personal hang-ups that I think Neal betraying Peter sucks and undercuts the last half-dozen episodes of development. I understand that this series is probably going to run for a while and having your sneaky lead character become completely ‘good’by the end of the second season isn’t the best kind of ‘development’for a series that could go 80 episodes. But even separate from that, this feels like a cliffhanger that the series is going to have to back away from, just like they did Peter’s conversation with Kate or Mozzie’s shooting (which was admittedly less problematic and more just obvious). The point is, I don’t know as if season three works if it’s all about Peter trying to catch Neal in a lie or a mistaken secret. That feels like the first few episodes of season one. It’s a retread. And if the story doesn’t go that way, it will probably involve a quick conclusion to what happened here, with a Neal apology, some wise cracking, etc. and then onto the case of the week. That is a cop-out. Of course, the series could pull out an entirely different exploration of this cliffhanger and I’ll be wrong. But even if I’m wrong in July, I’m not sure that makes me entirely wrong now. This cliffhanger is still a bit sketchy, and the series needs to stop doing it.
But as you know, that was just the last five minutes. Otherwise, ‘Under The Radar’was pretty great. I suspected that the series would somehow skirt around any substantial developments with Adler or quickly get rid of him under the guise of introducing AN EVEN BIGGER THREAT like Burn Notice likes to do, so I was pleasantly surprised to watch the narrative unfold here. Andrew McCarthy got enough screentime to be chew some scenery and be evil and the story wasn’t short-changed at all. I really liked how this episode tied Adler, Kate, Alex and the music box all together without making it seem completely hackneyed and contrived. I mean it’s a little contrived, but I’m willing to go with the fact that Alex has known way more than she’s ever let on. Despite my issues with the cliffhanger, the first 40 minutes of the episode did a great job of concluding the last two seasons of stories and wiping the slate clean for what’s to come in the future. White Collar will only be gone for four months, but I kind of already miss it, mediocre cliffhangers or not.
Other thoughts:
- I will continue to say this: Neal and Sara are awesome together. I tweeted last night that I’m glad my major crush on Hilarie Burton has apparently been justified in that she’s gotten another decent job afterOne Tree Hill. I am so glad she’s going to be a series regular in S3.
- I’ve talked a lot about the chemistry with the cast and this week’s primary evidence to that point: Diana and Jones poking fun at Mozzie while they drive around the van. These people are all so charming, it’s stupid.
- Neal and Peter trying to diffuse a possible bomb on a Nazi submarine was probably more exciting than it should have been.
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I think you're jumping to some incorrect conclusions, and you have your timeline more than a bit mixed up here. There was no "betrayal" between Neal and Peter…when he told Peter he had nothing to do with the disappearance of the art he was being completely honest at the time. It was Peter that was in the wrong by not trusting Neal and making completely unfounded accusations in anger, which were fueled by being completely blindsided. His attack on Neal was the true betrayal…he didn't try to get an explanation from Neal, he simply let him have it with both barrels.
The note that accompanied the key to the warehouse, and Neal's reaction to seeing the treasure again proved that Neal hadn't been behind the theft of the Nazi treasure, but now Neal has to make a choice. His base nature will tell him to hide the treasure (and thereby proving to us all that he's a bad guy) but his relationship with Peter will tell him to turn it over to the authorities (which would prove to us he's a good guy.)
The best part about the cliffhanger is that for the next four months, we viewers get to wonder which way Neal will decide.
I completely agree with this assessment. When Neal told Peter that he didn't take the treasure he wasn't lying. He didn't. And he had no idea where it was. He honestly thought it had burned in that warehouse.
Exactly right about the timeline – when Peter made his accusations to Neal, Neal still thought it was the real lost treasure that had been burned. He was understandably upset about that, and about Peter's total lack of trust, even after everything they had been through together.
Neal's smile in the very last moment opens up so many possibilities. He knows he's sitting on the biggest treasure in the world. So now we get to look forward to what he'll do with it. Does he cut the anklet and run to someplace with no extradition? (Probably not – that would kind of ruin the premise of the show.) Does he sit on the treasure and just try to play out his remaining probation time, knowing that he's set for life when he's free? Or, once he cools off a little after being mad at Peter, will the changes he's gone through over the first two seasons come into play? Maybe he'll return at least some of the art to its rightful owners – while keeping aside a nice finder's fee, of course ;-)
I agree completely with this assessment of the situation. I was disappointed in Peter for instantly believing the worst of Neal without even attempting to talk to him about it — and Neal's reaction to Peter's accusation was one of complete shock and hurt. If there was any doubt about whether that was sincere, the ending should have alleviated it — Neal was NOT in on this. The crux, of course,is how Neal handles it. But I don't think it's as simple as turn it over and prove himself trustworthy, or hide it and regress. Peter already hit him with the accusation — if Neal comes forward with this now, it runs the risk of looking like he's fessing up out of guilt. I think they've actually set something very promising up with this — depending, of course, on how it's handled. Neal has big choices to make, true, but I think Peter's also goingto have to answer for failing to walk the walk where trust is concerned.
I agree about the lousy cliffhanger. The sudden aversion of trust between Neal and Peter is almost a “dealbreaker” for me with the show. Thanks for pointing it out.
I’m sad about the end! I don’t want Neal to be shifty! We’ve already done that! July now, please?
Sorry Cory, but you are wrong: " EP Jeff Eastin said that Neal is inherently bad trying to be good, but I think it’s the exact opposite. Without question, Neal Caffrey is a good guy. He’s made some questionable decisions over the years, but even during his most “villainous” periods, it doesn’t appear that Neal was too bad."
Neal is "that bad." Just because he does not like guns does not make him a good guy. He loves to steal and he cannot avoid the temptation. If Peter had not caught him, he would still be a con. He is a con at heart. You think he regrets those questionable decisions? No way. Caffrey is a great thief and because he is so charming, it takes away from how "bad" he really is. Just because he has a great personality means nothing. He will continue to steal and there is no way an ex con would resist such a temptation to steal all that art.
Comments?
If Neal had actually done something I’d be okay with the ending but as it is Peter just screamed at him for no reason at all. There’s absolutely nothing in the episode that makes me suspicious of Neal. And I say this as someone who usually doesn’t trust Neal at all. The episode made me angry and Peter of all people – and usually I’m defending Peter when others think he’s not being fair to Neal. Not this time. Fine maybe he was upset after killing someone for the first time and felt manipulated into killing Adler but it still sets up a contrived conflict based on Peter jumping to conclusions and making an ass of himself.
I would have rather seen Neal actually DO something that warranted Peter yelling at him – but the thing is Neal never suffers any consequences for his actions. He gets away with everything in canon with nothing actually happening – up to and including the attempted murder of Fowler. Now we’ve got a situation where Peter has yelled at him for something he didn’t do and I wouldn’t be surprised if Neal felt that if Peter doesn’t trust him there’s no point in even trying to be good any more. Especially with that grin of Neal’s at the end.
I think you all are forgetting the most valid point. The only reason that Peter even suspected Neal is because of the painting piece he saw fly to the ground. It was of the top of the skyscraper of the painting that Neal had in his apartment. So we are left to suspect Neal in doing the theft, though, someone could have come into his apartment, taken his paintings to the warehouse to possibly frame him. Then why give him the key and the note?
Until we find out who left him that note (Mozzie?), and if he really did steal the treasure. Then we won't know till July. But don't look wrongly at Peter for accusing Neal. I'm sure Peter may have had suspicions, he seems to always have suspicions, but he actually saw that skyscraper piece and I believe that gave him the doubt he needed to confront Neal.
Also, if I am not mistaken, Neal walked away from Peter without the anklet. Are we certain the FBI even put the anklet back on him, and if so, I'm sure they were tracking him, so him taking that trip to the warehouse would have tipped the FBI off right away. I'm pretty certain he is not wearing the anklet, anytime in the last two seasons that they took it off, they always showed them putting it back on him.
@Matt Yeah… I'm slowly coming around to the idea that there's reason for Peter to be suspicious – especially with all the times we've seen Neal manipulate situations (and Peter) to attempt to get what he wants – in Copycat Caffrey or Point Blank for example. I guess it's just since we didn't see Neal plotting I didn't (and still don't) believe that Neal had actually done anything. But of course from Peter's POV there is a chance that Neal did something – especially when you add in how upset Peter as about killing someone for the first time and if he feels like he was manipulated into killing Adler for Neal.
I still would have preferred it if either A) Neal really had done something or B) the writers tried harder to make me believe it was possible for Neal to have done something. It's like Kate and the music box all over again – there was never any effort put into making anyone believe that Kate really was using Neal – we were just supposed to assume it based on what the characters said.
I don't believe that Neal took the treasure and when Peter let lose on him he was innocent, 'at the time'. What happens now is anyone's guess, but I cannot believe that they built this relationship between Peter and Neal only to blow it out of the water.
I don't care for Sara, but since she is being shoved down our throats, I cannot see her believing Neal innocent in taking the treasure. She would side with Peter even after Peter changes his mind. FYI: having her see Neal kiss Alex made me feel good as Sara annoys the heck out of me.
Eastin says they will be back in June, not July!