The brothers Masterson rock White Collar

I was kind of disappointed in the season premiere of White Collar. I’ve always questioned the sense in Peter’s lingering mistrust of Neal, and I find the entire Nazi U-boat story to be a bit … well … ridiculous. So you can imagine my take on an episode that was more than fifty percent about the missing artwork, and featured Peter subjecting Neal to a polygraph. The stolen money case could barely be heard over that roar.

But last night White Collar was all-the-way back. Even so, I can’t help but think this won’t be the last time we’ll see Peter distrusting Neal — clearly, considering that he still thinks the paintings are out there somewhere — and that’s really not something I want to go through yet again. If Peter can’t buy all-in trusting Neal, how could he have put a conman as good as Neal back out on the street, even if he’s under close watch? And how can he trust his motives on each and every case? I can’t get past their relationship needing to be all or nothing.

But that’s got nothing to do with last night’s episode, which featured not one but two Masterson brothers: Christopher Masterson suited up and Danny Masterson let loose. Awesome to see them both, and to see them working together.

And the case was fun, too. I wasn’t so into the entire treasure hunt, and the kidnapping seemed like a bit of an unnecessary twist, but I loved the various different skills Peter, Neal, and Mozzie got to put on display. Neal being called in to authenticate a will was priceless; Peter arranging the scene at the sundial was a bit nutty but great; and Mozzie? Well, Mozzie playing the blind man was perfect. And I loved how the antique book self-destructed at the first exposure to oxygen. Bad dog!

And the case-of-the-week wasn’t the only place where the strength of the show shone through:

• Peter and Savannah chatting at the beginning of the episode was awesome. I’m not sure if we were supposed to feel a) Peter’s awkwardness with kids, or b) His longing for one, but what I saw was his first experience with how flighty kids’ minds are. I could see him steeling himself to explain Neal’s anklet when she moved on to her having one too. None of Peter’s training prepared him for that!
• Mozzie referring to the FBI art theft specialist as a “Specialty Suit.”
• The mechanical arm that turns one page of the Brahe’s collected works every hour until the end, then goes in reverse … you could come back in three days!

At the same time:

• What was up with the new theme song sequence? I don’t know that there was anything special about the old one, but the new one’s terrible. And is Hilarie Burton really a main character now?
• Still messing with the U-boat nonsense. The partial manifest thing could be interesting, but in general I find it so dull that I never bothered to fully process why any of it matters. And a treasure cam? Really, Mozzie?

But bottom line? Watching Neal and Peter (with or without Mozzie) is always a great way to spend an hour. I might do some things differently, but they hit much more than they miss.

Clacked by Aryeh S.
on Jun 15, 2011 @ 14:00 EST5EDT