First off, I want to start by saying I loved the first season of USA Network's White Collar, especially the banter between Matthew Bomer and Tim DeKay. They were able to establish a very good groove early in the season that they maintained well. However, there were some elements I found rather lacking and fortunately they remedied that by killing off Kate in the season one finale. I’m hoping that for the most part the Kate storyline is resolved. Neal is focused on finding out who killed her but I hope they don’t go the “Kate is not really dead” route. That part became tedious and bogged the episodes down.
"Withdrawal" opens up with Peter being asked to answer for the events that occurred in the season finale. Peter is being called on the carpet. Meanwhile, consider me beyond happy that Marsha Thomason (Diana) is now part of the cast! I thought she was great in the pilot episode and then she wasn't present for the rest of the first season. I never understood that so I'm glad she's back. The other FBI female agent they used had no chemistry with Neal Caffrey.
I have to say I found the first part of the episode mildly tedious because we were back to having to establish Neal once again working for the FBI. Thankfully the action very quickly moved to Neal breaking into a bank. White Collar star Matthew Bomer continues to spread his charm and is very convincing in his methods of gaining entrance to the bank.
Peter's concerned about how Neal is coping with Kate’s death. I love that Peter is interacting directly with Mozzie, Neal’s slightly shady sidekick from his old life. Willie Garson of Sex and the City fame excels as Neal's buddy – his paranoia and covert actions are hilarious.
Diana and Neal's working relationship is refreshing and thankfully for us they establish a camaraderie very quickly. Particularly interesting is how Peter seems to be feeling left out of their chumminess. They continue to riff on Peter not being that cool but there is a part of him that would like to be.
The introduction of Tim Matheson as the episode villain is quite fascinating. They show him as a powerful businessman at the top of his game who seemingly has the world at his fingers. His character quickly puts Peter and Neal in their place. This definitely establishes the character as the alpha male. Neal seems to have his buttons pushed by the interaction with the architect.
The scene between Peter and Elizabeth seemed rather off to me. The background looked a little fake so I found it rather disconcerting. Tiffiani Thiessen is pregnant so I’m aware that they are going to have be creative with shooting her but I wasn’t sure why this scene seemed a little off. Watching a second time, it seems like they were not shot together. I wish it didn’t seem so obvious.
I have to say it did seem rather obvious that the bank security officer was in on it. The interchange between Peter and the architect was very interesting. I loved that he was rubbing the failure in their faces but you also know that this is not where the episode will end and in the end the good guys prevailed. Overall, this was a solid episode for White Collar. I'm looking forward to see what they'll do with Diana now that she has joined the fun with Peter and Neal.
Random Thoughts:
• I love Marsha Thomason and love, love, love that she's a series regular. I loved her on Lost as Naomi and actually would have liked for them to do more with her character before Locke killed her.
• Tim Matheson continues his directing duties on USA shows with his appearance as the villain-du-jour on White Collar. He recently made an appearance on another show I enjoy Burn Notice.
• Great to see Diahann Carroll. She's awesome as Neal's landlady.
No comments:
Post a Comment