White Collar 2.2 & Covert Affairs 1.2

[rm]

Well, those were both a lot better.


White Collar

!. Diana is AWESOME and does not need rescuing.
2. Peter is a heavy-handed dumbass when playing bad cop.
3. I liked the idea of a politically-related plot, but I felt it was both oddly complex and oddly simple in a way that didn't quite work.
4. 10K sex-work exchanges, aside from ludicrous, would usually be charge, not cash.
5. I still hate these central mystery things -- the music box, the jigsaw man, I don't care. We need it to raise the stakes and have the push-pull of Peter and Neal's relationship be interesting, but beyond its use, I still find it annoying as hell.
6. Deviled ham can now be added to the list of tragically cock-blocking foods. Along with beans.



Covert Affairs

1. Well, it's better.
2. Slightly less agressively heterosexual. But now instead of romance it's the KIDS AND FAMILY episode.
3. Hey, Anglicans celebrate Lent too.
4. I am so in this show just for Auggie, who I adore more with every millisecond. He is hot and funny and charming, and the fight-training stuff was not stupid and I feel like the camera really lingered on reaction shots from him a few times that are like a bottomless pit of fanfic character development potential. Maybe now I can figure out this story.
5. I almost care about the married couple of CIA execs this time. Almost. But why are they in this show? That's some other show.
6. I don't have a 6. I'll just say AUGGIE again. Guh.

Comments

[therealycats.livejournal.com]

I am so, so happy that they brought Diana back on White Collar. That actress and character are so much more believable than...see, I can't even remember the other's name.

I really like Auggie, and I agree with you that the Peter Gallagher/blonde actress whose name I don't know characters seem to be in their own show...it's almost like Mad Men; Betty/Don's home life is completely separate from Sterling Cooper, and Betty particularly seems to be in her own show. She hardly ever interacts with the other agency characters. Except the difference is that Betty is a part of the protagonist's double life, whereas this couple is just sort of...there.

[marcmagus]

I assume you're talking about Natlie Morales as Lauren Cruz [as IMDB informs me; I'd forgotten the name]. I really liked her in Middleman, and was excited to see her in White Collar, but it kind of felt like the show had no idea what it was doing with that character and she kind of lurked in the background occasionally acting as Exposition Girl or Gopher. I worry that's just my memory playing tricks, though.

[therealycats.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's the one. I couldn't remember the character's name because they kept cutting her out of episodes bit by bit. It seemed like when they introduced her it was like she was somehow there as some sort of possible love interest for Neal, except everything Neal did was about Kate. She was just kind of useless, and I just didn't get the feeling from her that she would cut it as an actual FBI agent. Diana seems much tougher and able to hold her on against the boys. I think El does the same in her own environment, so that also kind of balances out the sexual dynamics. Lauren just seemed to sort of float about like Winnie the Pooh's lost balloon, not knowing where to land unless the boys told her.

[coriander.livejournal.com]

That's how I felt about her too, and I really liked her in Middleman, so I was happy to see her.

[lefaym.livejournal.com]

OMG, DIANA! ♥ She is absolutely my favourite character now. I know I keep saying it, but she SO NEEDS HER OWN SPINOFF.

I was very pleased with the devilled ham and crossword references, because I used both of them in a recent fic. :) But now I'm imagining beans with devilled ham, and that is just disturbing!

[eumelia.livejournal.com]

Diana is my new Superhero!
She's so freakin' amazing! I concur there needs to be a spin-off with her as the main. Also, I'm dying to finally meet Christie! We know you have a girlfriend, there needs to be a double date with them and the Burke-Caffrey household :)

Also, her tattoo is hawt and those dresses. Smoking.

Edited, 'cause I felt like it.

[thenowhere.livejournal.com]

I only get to see these shows when I'm at work on Tuesdays and end up having to stay up all damned night.

But...

1. I so *heart* Auggie. So very much.

2. I must confess, I honestly prefer the central mystery over-arching plotbunnies. ...I have no idea why. The only time I don't like 'em is when I miss many episodes due to aforementioned work things. Because I miss out on big chunks.

3. I'd care more about blondie and whateverdude CIA couple if, I don't know, she wasn't sort of blandly insecure and covering it up with bitchiness and he wasn't a parody of a strong, silent, overprotective douche-type.

Or maybe I wouldn't. Hm.

4. Iiiiiii don't know if I care about Diana, but I did appreciate the fact that she didn't need to be rescued.

5. You ever watch Leverage?

Okay, time to run.

Re: Edited, 'cause I felt like it.

[rm.livejournal.com]

I find these big mystery arcs often go nowhere and rarely are the writers writing with clear intent towards them because US series don't have finite endings. I thought Carnivale was good in that it had a plan (not that we ever got to a reveal) and that X-files was good for a long time because it balanced the big mystery arc between smaller, character-driven stories, although it eventually lost the thread. I enjoy the big arcs of Buffy and Angel But stuff like Heroes and Lost feel both sloppy and manipulative to me and annoy me after one season. The side plots in both White Collar and Covert Affairs seem to exist because of the popularity of that sort of storytelling but feel unnecessary to me.

I haven't seen Leverage but I know it's one of the shows that's been popular with Torchwood fans-in-exile, but I have no time.

Re: Edited, 'cause I felt like it.

[thenowhere.livejournal.com]

I haven't seen Leverage but I know it's one of the shows that's been popular with Torchwood fans-in-exile, but I have no time.

...really?

I watch it purely because of Christian Kane. I first caught him as Lindsey, and it was lust at first sight. I could watch him growl like he gargled 10W-40 and windshield glass on his days off, and pummel people for hours.

[bodlon.livejournal.com]

White Collar
Diana is freaking amazing. I'm beyond hopeful about this season now, especially now that we know that she's not some secret bad guy who's playing Peter and Neal both.

Heavy handed or not, I'm dead certain they penned that line about "I can tell you're dirty just looking at you" for pure fan service.

I agree about how strange this week's case felt. On the other hand, Mozzie as a political creature falling for Neal's stadium plot was really amusing.

And deviled ham is just as funny this season as last season. Also, both deviled ham episodes feature a hotel and activities that make Peter look like he's straying when he's not. Coincidence? Secret writing team euphemism?

Covert Affairs
It was better, but man. I could never work for this version of the CIA. I've got no patience for the kind of shit they're all pulling on one another.

Married CIA execs are...some kind of long plot point, but I haven't worked out what. They're both in the know about the real reason Annie's in that department, but beyond that, they seem to exist mostly as a simmering pot of WTF conflict.

But yeah. Auggie. We're here for the Auggie.

[valancy-joy.livejournal.com]

I ended up staying up WAY too late just to watch that fight training scene again for the pure joy that is Auggie.

Oddly/interestingly he gets second billing and Peter Gallagher ends up under "also starring" ...

and White Collar just gets better and better. Loved Peter's LOOK when Neal said he didn't graduate H.S.

and let's talk about "You'll sit there and like it." as fanservice :)

Tuesday nights are busy!!!

[rm.livejournal.com]

The fight training scene was really good. It was both informative character wise and didn't include stupid/wrong bullshit about fighting. It made me miss the five minutes life at my salle wasn't toxic. But I know better. TV is a liar.

I thought the high school detail about Neal was very interesting, and I confess my first thought was that the Torchwood fen who have migrated to White Collar would eat that up.

What I really loved though was Neal's "I have never lied to you. Not once. Not ever."

[valancy-joy.livejournal.com]

Heard tell White Collar is planning a flashback episode sometime this season looking back at the first time Peter catches Neal (or something along those lines). Which I am really interested to see in light of the dance they always do around the trust issue.

[fourzoas.livejournal.com]

I don't watch White Collar--it didn't really appeal the first couple of episodes--but I may have a second look at Covert Affairs, if for no other reason that Auggie, who is ♥.

I think I'd like to see the married CIA couple on another show, although I wish they'd either forgone or switched up the dynamic on that "is my spouse cheating" story in the pilot--it made my skin crawl.

[laughingacademy.livejournal.com]

I cannot believe how badass Diana is turning out to be. Taking the surprise undercover-as-a-hooker — and Peter's sekrit mistress, LOL — completely in stride! Bonding with Neal — without UST! "I will shoot you in the shoulder"! SO AWESOME.

Re: the A plot, I missed the first three or four minutes and wondered if I'd missed some key scene. Apparently not. (Though if the network allows, I may rewatch the ep online during lunch just to make sure.)

I was boggling at the $10K in cash thing, but it set up another installment of the Peter 'n' Mozz Show ("I need a shoelace, a magnet, and an issue of Sports Illustrated"), so I'm willing to handwave how ridiculous that was.

ETA: Also, Peter's tragic mustache. BRB, dying of laughter.

[neifile7.livejournal.com]

Squee city for WC last night, contrivances notwithstanding. I love (and have teal deered at length onnit) what they did with Diana in this ep, and how successfully, all things considered, the writers subverted the undercover-prostie tropes. We actually got critical character development out of it all.

[popfiend.livejournal.com]

I'm still rocking on both these shows and it's obvious I like CA better than you do.

I like the idea of an overachiever finding their way in this very weird world and like all the USA shows this really is a character piece, pretty much about Annie and Augie.

And yes, I love Augie too.

I told Lisa I want one for the basement.

She was wondering about maintenance issues in that case.

[heron61.livejournal.com]

4. 10K sex-work exchanges, aside from ludicrous, would usually be charge, not cash.

Really? I'd thing charging such a thing would be leave far too much of a trail. What advantage is gained by charging - is it just the convenience of not carrying around huge wads of cash?

Wrt Leverage, it's fun, but also fluffier and a bit less good than White Collar - the characters are much fun, but the plots don't hold up at all.

[rm.livejournal.com]

Dudes who charge a lot of high end stuff don't arouse suspicion with a big charges like that from spas, restaurants or other front companies (car dealerships are popular). Especially if it's broken into a couple of 3K - 6K transactions.

Getting out 10K in cash? That gets reported to the government and puts you on terrorist watch lists.