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eleanorjane) wrote2009-12-06 11:38 am
eleanorjane) wrote2009-12-06 11:38 am
Entry tags:
White Collar thoughts
I just watched the last couple of episodes of White Collar before the end-of-year hiatus, and I think I'm just not on the same fanplanet as everyone else.
Most everything I've read, if it's not OT3, is talking about Peter and Neal like they have this ~special bond~ -- it's basically following the bromance model, with added romance for the non-gen fics.
But what I see on screen is not that relationship. Peter does not trust Neal and is quite ready to believe the worst of Neal on every occasion. In almost every episode there's an incident where Neal has an opportunity to steal or run, and Peter _always_ assumes he'll do it (and if anything happens that's not in the plan, Peter assumes that Neal has stolen and/or run) - which is quite right and sensible for an FBI agent dealing with a convicted (and very smart, manipulative) criminal on a 'good behaviour' release.
Look at the most recent episode: Neal is framed by another FBI agent, and Peter is quite willing to believe that Neal did it. Even when Neal asserts that he was framed, Peter makes the easy assumption that Neal's lying, and willingly arrests him.
Which is, you know, probably fair enough given their respective situations. But this is not the show that fandom's trying to sell me: fandom's painting these guys as a team who like, respect and trust each other. Like? On some level, certainly. Respect, definitely. Trust? Not based on anything the show has given us.
(Also, show, NEAL IS NOT A KLEPTOMANIAC. Peter keeps talking about Neal like his desire to steal is an overriding urge, which it's not -- Neal is a smart, gifted white-collar criminal who must have excellent self control or they'd have caught him far sooner and convicted him of far more. The whole released-with-an-anklet thing was Neal's idea in the first place; if he wanted out just to run he'd have done it while Peter was in Belize for a week at the end of the first episode, or he'd have just escaped from prison again without bothering with this whole deal. Neal is smart and cunning, and is not going to throw away whatever his plan is for a few shinies that probably pale in comparison to whatever he's got stashed away anyway.)
My icon makes me sad, because that image is everything the show isn't, and that I wish it were.
Most everything I've read, if it's not OT3, is talking about Peter and Neal like they have this ~special bond~ -- it's basically following the bromance model, with added romance for the non-gen fics.
But what I see on screen is not that relationship. Peter does not trust Neal and is quite ready to believe the worst of Neal on every occasion. In almost every episode there's an incident where Neal has an opportunity to steal or run, and Peter _always_ assumes he'll do it (and if anything happens that's not in the plan, Peter assumes that Neal has stolen and/or run) - which is quite right and sensible for an FBI agent dealing with a convicted (and very smart, manipulative) criminal on a 'good behaviour' release.
Look at the most recent episode: Neal is framed by another FBI agent, and Peter is quite willing to believe that Neal did it. Even when Neal asserts that he was framed, Peter makes the easy assumption that Neal's lying, and willingly arrests him.
Which is, you know, probably fair enough given their respective situations. But this is not the show that fandom's trying to sell me: fandom's painting these guys as a team who like, respect and trust each other. Like? On some level, certainly. Respect, definitely. Trust? Not based on anything the show has given us.
(Also, show, NEAL IS NOT A KLEPTOMANIAC. Peter keeps talking about Neal like his desire to steal is an overriding urge, which it's not -- Neal is a smart, gifted white-collar criminal who must have excellent self control or they'd have caught him far sooner and convicted him of far more. The whole released-with-an-anklet thing was Neal's idea in the first place; if he wanted out just to run he'd have done it while Peter was in Belize for a week at the end of the first episode, or he'd have just escaped from prison again without bothering with this whole deal. Neal is smart and cunning, and is not going to throw away whatever his plan is for a few shinies that probably pale in comparison to whatever he's got stashed away anyway.)
My icon makes me sad, because that image is everything the show isn't, and that I wish it were.