“White Collar” was “Blue Sky Era’s” best
Last week, I wrote about the "Blue Sky Era" on The USA Network. The impetus for this was starting a rewatch of "White Collar." This was my favorite of those shows, and I am not just saying that because of recency bias.
"White Collar" aired on the USA Network in October 2009 and ran for six seasons. The show follows Neal Caffery (Matt Bomer), a con artist who works with Peter Burke (Tim Mckay) to catch white-collar criminals. Burke was the FBI agent who caught Caffery and gave him a chance to work off his four-year prison sentence.
Each episode is a mini heist, and as we all know, I am a sucker for watching a heist. Someone is committing a crime. Someone from the White Collar division (usually Neal) goes undercover and brings the bad people down. Watching the plan unfold or change and ending with an arrest is fun. It is one of those things that make the show easy to watch.
As I mentioned last week, the characters were the best thing about these shows; this show is awash in incredible characters. Neal and Peter start as reluctant allies; Peter can't really trust Neal because he suspects Neal has ulterior motives. They become friends over the first few seasons, but there is always an element of "Is Neal being truthful?" The evolution of that relationship is incredible to watch, and they both become better people because of it.
The key relationships are Neal, Mozzie (Willie Garrison), Peter, and his wife Elizabeth (Tiffani Thiessen). Mozzie is Neal's friend and another criminal. He is a conspiracy theorist who is distrustful of institutions, but he has a good heart. He tends to want to see Neal return to his conman ways, but as the show progresses, he begins to warm to Peter and Neal's desire to be better.
Elizabeth and Peter are the best onscreen married couple. I will die on that hill. They have been married for ten years but are still very much in love. You see this in every interaction, every look, every kiss. They have disagreements but not fights. Elle thinks, rightfully so, that Peter needs to have more faith in Neal, but she also understands why he doesn't. Elle is not just a supportive wife; she has her own life and business outside her husband. Her job as an event planner has even helped on a few cases by using her access to get the FBI into an event so they can take down the criminals.
There are a bunch of other characters I could talk about, but this post would go on forever if I did. Of all the shows that USA Network was airing at that time, this is the easiest to recommend. As popular as "Suits" has gotten, its not nearly as much fun as "White Collar." Don't get me wrong, it is still a great show, and if I continue to rewatch the "Blue Sky" shows, I will get to it (after "Burn Notice" and "Psych"). "White Collar" has the best characters, the most fun storylines and the easiest for me to rewatch.
"White Collar" is available on Netflix.
