Earlier this week, USA Network’s White Collar had a spine-tingling, exciting caper mid-season finale which was well-played by all the cast and ended with a cliffhanger that was both unexpected and shocking – something no longer easy to do in TV as cliffhangers have become commonplace ploys to keep the audience from bolting or the cast from asking for more money. Normally, I decry cliffhangers as unnecessary – believing they’ve lost their mojo since the one that lit up the public with who shot JR. Who really starts watching a show he/she hasn’t liked just because of a great cliffhanger, or misses a season premiere of a show he/she has been watching, just because the finale didn’t end in jeopardy?
But in this case, I concede that it’s necessary for conman Neal to face consequences for once again going off the reservation playing Lone Ranger even though FBI agent Peter warns him not to. And I look forward to the opening episodes in January where Neal has to come to terms with those consequences.
Perhaps the insights shared by the cast and writers in the pressroom at San Diego Comic Con 2010 in July will help fans get through the hiatus. At the core of the show is the relationship between convicted and paroled conman, Neal Caffrey (Matt Bomer) and his FBI handler Peter Burke (Tim DeKay), who not only caught him twice but has befriended him. It’s classic male/male buddy banter relationship set in a police crime drama, but it’s also more than that: it’s about one friend growing and evolving into a better person and the other broadening his world through the guidance each gives the other.
Through Tiffani Thiessen’s Eyes
Tiffani Thiessen, who’s returning to the Burke home after having her pregnancy cleverly disguised by sending Elizabeth to open a gallery in France and communicating with hubby Peter via webcam, said it best. “Neal brings a lot of things to Peter that Peter doesn’t have, and I think that Peter brings a lot of things to Neal that Neal doesn’t have. I think that’s what any good relationship, any good partnership has. It’s like a marriage, but it’s different, you know. It’s a partnership between two guys.”
In fact, when asked what Elizabeth thinks about the relationship between the two men, Thiessen believes that Elizabeth had a hand in pushing it. “I think she was very much the one to get Peter to make that decision to bring him in. And I think she sees how each other’s personalities help each other.” She also likened Neal to a loose dog that sometimes needs a leash on him so he can be reined in. “I think what Neal really sees in Peter and Elizabeth is a relationship that he doesn’t have and that he doesn’t know how to have. And I think there’s a part of him that really wants it.”
This was later echoed by Matt Bomer and Tim DeKay, when Bomer said, “One of the things about the writing that I loved from the get go is that there’s aspects of Tim’s character that Neal completely wants and admires and envies. He has a white picket fence that Neal never thought he could have… believes he can’t have. And I think there’s something about Neal and his devil-may-care attitude that Peter lacks and respects as well.”
This solid unlikely relationship with all the trust/mistrust and conflict issues is a top lure to the show for many in the audience. In fact, one of the most hard-hitting moments was when Neal admitted to Peter that he would never lie to him. The brilliant acting from both actors showed a troubled Peter for occasionally lying to Neal and a Neal who is silently aware of it.
Jeff Eastin Nixes Lying
When asked about this haunting moment, show-runner Jeff Eastin said that early on, without understanding why they were doing it, they set up that “Neal would never lie to Peter ever. If you watch the show, he will never actually come out with an outright lie, but Peter never quite had that same deal with him. He does lie to him. He doesn’t do it cavalierly. He actually thinks about it when he does it.” But at the end of the day, he’ll do it for the greater good.
Asked whether this is similar to the adage that the least open has the most power, Eastin denied that going on. “Neal lies for a living. So for Neal, lying is a big deal. It’s like what he does to everyone else. So he’s been very careful not to do that to Peter. For Peter, not that he lies to people too, but it’s something else -- he does it in his best interest to protect Neal.”
Eastin also maintained that this dichotomy didn’t represent a big change for Neal. “The problem with Neal has always been that as much as he cares about Peter, or whoever he cares about, he’s really a creature of the id.” It’s in those moments when he’s not thinking, that he’ll do things that undo him. “The first time he does it is by getting caught and Peter says to him that they’ll give him four more years for that. And he says, I don’t care. And he does care. But at the moment, he doesn’t care. And those moments sort of jeopardize the relationship.” Something that was really driven home in the midseason’s finale to Neal and fan alike.
That the writers are even taking trust issues seriously this season is somewhat of a fluke. Eastin explained, “I think that the biggest fan reaction that surprised me last year was with “Vital Signs” when Neal said to Peter ‘You’re the only person in my life I trust.’ Viewers really reacted strongly to that.… In our minds… I had a throwaway. It wasn’t a big moment.”
DeKay agreed that the lying exchange was a hard-hitting moment. “I think the relationship between Peter and Neal is not just FBI/CI criminal informant, it’s big brother/little brother, it’s father/son. Sometimes you have to lie to your kid for the better of his upbringing,” DeKay said, turning to look at Bomer, who was nodding through all this. “I think Peter feels responsible for him, for Neal… on more than just a professional level. I think that’s why he lies. Even though… what’s great is that Jeff writes that Peter doesn’t like it, doesn’t like doing it, but he feels he has to.”
So how does Neal feel as a person being totally honest, knowing that Peter lies to him in return?
“Neal is very intuitive,” Bomer said. “As a confidence artist, Neal has a pretty good bullshit meter. And it’s sort of a poker game between us at times, we’re not revealing all our cards, but we’re not really lying.” He went on to say that he liked the idea of never knowing what Neal might do next, no matter how fleshed out the character becomes. “The first person outside of his world that he’s ever opened up to and trusted and so when that gets… not abused, but that trust gets infiltrated, he gets hurt… by it.”
DeKay called Peter and Neal’s relationship compartmentalized. “There are certain areas where Peter trusts Neal more than anything. Or anybody. Trusts him. I know he’ll come through. And then there are other areas where I don’t trust him. And as long as there are those other areas…” DeKay paused here to glance at Bomer beside him, as if to get affirmation. When Matt nodded and said sotto voce, ‘yeah’, DeKay continued with “…then the tension will be there. I think if both of us trust each other completely, we’ve jumped the shark.”
To see if they do jump the shark, tune into new episodes in January on the USA Network. In part 2, the other cast members weigh in on their characters and how they fit into this world.
Crystal Taylor - I'm a writer of TV one-hour scripts, screenplays, novels, short stories, articles, and poetry. I'm most proud of a story (episode outline) ...
