A few years ago, G and I had seen promos for a new show
called White Collar, and returning
from a short trip to Chicago, we watched the premiere episode. I always enjoy shows about heists, con men
and the like, so it looked like fun, and it was. It was never nominated for any awards, but it
was definitely watchable. The camera
work was absolutely gorgeous and showed New York City to wonderful
advantage. It felt like the flip side of
Castle.
While everyone in Castle is as lovely
as the characters in White Collar, it
always seems to be late fall to early spring in Castle’s New York, and they’re
generally wearing coats, sweaters and jackets.
White Collar’s New York was
always warmer, and usually always daylight.
The shows have a similar light feel, but do occasionally feature darker
episodes, which feel a bit heavy-handed in this type of series. Oh no, someone’s killed Neal’s helpful family
friend! Yikes, a bad guy has kidnapped
Peter’s wife Elizabeth! Thankfully, the
dark stuff is usually wrapped up nicely when it moves the show along, so, yay,
Mozzie and everyone else are okay!
As long as we get to see the lovely Matt Bomer every week as
Neal Caffrey, any plot inconsistencies, unbelievable conclusions and weak
storylines are fairly easily forgiven. So
Neal just happens upon a great apartment with a landlord like Diahann Carroll
and to be able to wear her husband’s impeccable 60s wardrobe with snappy tie
clasps. And he and Mozzie are lucky enough to drink fantastic wines while he
forges art and pulls off amazing cons. What a life! And his FBI handler Peter Burke is such a
lovable straight arrow (with Tim DeKay being also easy on the eyes), plus the
easygoing acting and camaraderie amongst the cast make for fun watching.
I have a bit of a hierarchy for shows. I’ve got my As, Bs, and Cs. There are shows I can’t miss and try to watch
son after they air, partly so I won’t get any spoilers, and my high As are ones
I just can’t miss. Breaking Bad was definitely an A.
Justified is number one at
this point. White Collar wasn’t in
the upper echelon, probably a B, but it was fun, and I will miss it. We haven’t watched the last episode yet. I hope there’s some kind of tribute to James
Rebhorn, who played their FBI boss for a while.
In the end, I hope Neal is finally free of his anklet and
can forge some kind of path to the straight and narrow on his own terms. I’ll miss seeing the beautiful shots of NYC
and hope I can get there to visit on my own again soon.
So long White Collar, come
back with a TV movie or two.
I’ll write a sadder goodbye in the next couple of days to
another DVR slot which opens up tomorrow (or Saturday morning at 1:37).
