Some White Collar meta inspired by a couple of quotes from the Paley Center event

[rusty_halo]

http://rusty-halo.com/wordpress/?p=3058

So the cast of White Collar did this event at the Paley Center the other day, which you can read about here (you should at least should look at the photos, because Matt Bomer is so ridiculously beautiful that it’s not even fair).

But anyway, two things that stood out to me:

Jeff Eastin:

“Really what I want to do in season two is just do over and over again the things we did right in season one. The temptation to sort of change and really mix it up, I’ve tried to overcome that and really just try to get back to what I think worked in season one and just keep going. Really make it about Peter and Neal’s relationship, try to expand a little bit on the characters we already know, find out a little more about Mozzie’s past, things like that.”

--From here

This just makes me ridiculously happy because it's so nice when the writer behind a show actually understands what you like about it and wants to write more of the good stuff! Since Buffy I've vowed not to watch shows unless I'm basically on the same page as the writers (it's miserable otherwise) and I'm so glad to have found another.

Jeff Eastin knows it's really all about Peter and Neal's relationship, yay!

In discussing the finale, the moment between Peter and Neal prior to the explosion was a favorite. "It was one of those scenes that when you read it, you know it holds a lot of import and it needs to be given the credence and respect it deserves," Bomer said, adding that it was one of the last scenes that were shot during a blizzard. "I think we both inherently knew that."

DeKay agreed. "Acting teachers tell me how you should hold your trump card and this is one of those where Jeff held it 'til that scene," he said.

The dramatic scene between the two partners almost didn't happen. Originally, it asked for Peter to cuff Neal so as the two exited their embrace, viewers would hear the handcuffs click. It was at DeKay's request that Eastin revisit it, which ultimately produced the gut-wrenching confrontation that lives onscreen.

--From here

Oooh, this is really interesting. I want to know more! Was the plane going to blow up right after the cuffing? Was Peter going to be cuffing Neal because it was The Law, or because he wanted to protect Neal from femme fatale Kate, or because he so desperately didn't want to lose Neal, or some convoluted mix of all of the above? Was Peter still going to be suspended or did they add that in to give Peter a justification for not physically stopping Neal? Why did Tim DeKay think it was OOC?

Now that I know this was going to happen, I can see how it was foreshadowed, most obviously by the end of 1x13 where Peter gives Neal that ultimatum that he will catch him if he tries to run. And before that there's this whole theme of Neal pushing Peter's boundaries and Peter letting it slide--Neal dresses Mozzie as an FBI agent, Neal steals the bible and the painting, Neal takes evidence home with him, Neal breaks into the hospital and Peter covers for him, Neal gets Peter to actually work as his accomplice in the wine episode--so I can see where they were building up this theme of Neal having gone one step too far and Peter finally putting his foot down and stopping him, proving where the boundary is.

I feel like maybe this is the kind of plot point that would've fit based on the premise of the show but that doesn't fit what the show has grown into after fourteen episodes, so it's actually good that they were willing to adjust. I remember Eastin talking somewhere about how his initial plan had been for a darker show, and his initial pitch featured an image of Denis Leary in the Peter role. Tim DeKay is so much warmer and cuddlier than Denis Leary! He gives Peter such humanity and empathy and humor, and he also makes Peter a less rigid, rule-bound character than I think he was initially presented as. This is something that keeps occurring to me as I rewatch, because the premise is that Neal's the id and Peter's the superego, Neal's all about breaking laws and Peter's all about upholding them, but actually that's not how it works in practice. All season we've been watching Peter's moral flexibility, Peter being fully aware of when Neal was breaking rules to benefit their cases and letting it happen, usually putting up at most a token objection.

I've read some complaints that this is Peter slipping to the dark side, but I don't believe that either, because the core difference between Peter and Neal (regarding breaking rules) is that Peter only breaks the rules when it's for the greater good, to help someone in need, but Neal also breaks the rules just because he can, for the thrill or for personal gain. And I actually really like this because Peter could so easily be a character I dislike, a rule-bound authoritarian who enforces the rules even when it's impractical or stupid to do so, a Ned Stark, but instead Peter's got the common sense to break the rules when his own judgment tells him it's right, more of an early Tyrion or later Jaime.

But you know, in terms of relationship issues I don't think Peter cuffing Neal would've been the end of the world. It would have set them back, but Neal attempting to run away ought to also set them back. Neal had already violated Peter's trust so Peter violating Neal's would've been fair play. It would've given them an interesting starting point for season two, the rebuilding of the trust, lots of issues to work out.

But I also like that Peter doesn't do it, that what we see in that final scene is the two of them finally speaking to each other as friends and partners without the "I could put you in prison" power dynamic looming over them and tainting their ability to interact as equals. Peter respects Neal enough to let him make his own decision, and it's wise because a Neal forcibly caged is a Neal who's going to run eventually, but a Neal who decides to stay is more likely to actually stay.

I love that Peter doesn't take the easy but instead forces Neal to think about what he's doing, what the tradeoff is between the fantasy life with Kate and the real life he has with Peter (and a meaningful social network and a potentially fulfilling job), really forces Neal to realize all the good things he could lose and gets Neal to turn off his veneer of confidence and examine the feelings underneath. (And Neal cries, OMG, I love that scene so much.)

Anyway, it was really interesting to me to hear that this was on Jeff Eastin's mind and that DeKay asked him to change it. It sheds a lot of light on the way they think about the characters and the themes of the show.

Originally published at rusty-halo.com. You can comment here or there.