nico

Reunion, anyone? http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/sports-night-reunion-peter-krause_us_56f314d9e4b04c4c37613497?ir=TV&section=us_tv&utm_hp_ref=tv

Hillary Clinton is scheduled to appear on Jimmy Kimmel's show on Thursday, March 24th. Peter Krause is also scheduled to be a guest on the show that night. Why do I have a feeling Casey has received a barrage of texts and calls from Danny, begging his buddy to somehow explain away that secular/non-secular silliness and to make sure that Hillary understands that his co-anchor is not an idiot?

I tend to think that the best episode titles refer not only to that particular episode but to some broader aspect of the series. If the episode is well-written, the title suggests another dimension by which you can view the characters and the series itself. To me, Jimmy is the series' palimpsest -- and in a much deeper, more complex way than those who chose body modification. I also thought it was interesting that Jilly chose to keep her tattoos -- she was changed by the experience and wanted to keep the "scars", the reminders of what happened to her, what she learned about herself. So in that way, she is the palimpsest, too. I like that Jilly's name is almost a "twin" of Jimmy's, leading me to see her situation as a reflection of his. A good story changes the main character (and perhaps others) in some way. I need to see this episode again to consider Jimmy in light of that title.

"No more lies." Fathers, sons. A dad named James who might have been a dirty cop. Boxing. A hanger at an airport. When Duval reminded Jimmy that of course he knew how to set a perimeter -- after all, he was an FBI agent -- I laughed, remembering how many times the perimeters Peter Burke ordered his FBI agents to set proved to be full of holes. Grace is beginning to remind me of Elizabeth: the steady, smart, calming love of Duval/Peter's life. Strange little Otto doesn't actually make me think of Mozzie, but by the time I finish an episode of this show, my mind just naturally goes there. Some people like this kind of thing, but for me it doesn't work. The White Collar comparisons are distracting, so that I can never really see the new show on its own terms. Not that it matters, I suppose, since Second Chance seems doomed. It's comforting to see Tim/Peter again, love of this fan's life, but I wonder a little at his choice of this role.

That's one of the things I dislike most about finales. They try to do too many things at once and so nothing gets done really well. This series was best when the writing and direction allowed for scenes to play themselves out to their natural end. Too many scenes in this finale ended abruptly, not leaving time or space for nuance or grace or texture -- no time for the quiet moments that were so much a part of why I loved this show. So much of what is meaningful to us in literature or television or film is transmitted in the spaces between words, between actions. The best of White Collar, for me anyway, were the tender moments, the times when the characters had a chance to reflect, to be quiet together, to finish the moment. We weren't allowed that in this finale and I guess that isn't surprising -- we haven't been allowed in close for a long time. Care has not been taken on a consistent basis. I especially missed Peter and Neal's hands in the finale. The series was so much about hands (handler, handshake, handcuffs, magic hands, picking pockets, sleight-of-hand, fingers lifting a filament or hair off a shoulder, Neal demonstrating so many delicate tricks of his trade, a hand on a shoulder or arm, a hug). Just the way Peter and Neal walked to work or stood talking together told us something about how they were learning to trust, or failing to trust, how they depended on each other.. Peter handcuffing Neal (or taking the handcuffs off) was never just routine. Those were significant moments -- sometimes quiet ones, painful or stressful for the characters -- but the way it was done, the way the camera made sure to capture it, (and the intensity with which many of us watched it) told us something about that relationship. But it only worked when care was taken, when there was time to linger a moment.

I tried to rewatch the finale on USA this morning (a very slightly abbreviated version -- no discussion of Italian roast, for instance -- to keep it at an hour). I say "try" because for some time now I find myself unable to watch directly, straight on, continuously -- instead, I watch from an oblique angle, out of the corner of my eyes, and when I find my attention wandering, I'll pick up a magazine or get up to walk into another room, and of course when I get there I won't understand why I'm there except that for some reason I needed to walk away from that show for a moment. In the end I conclude that I was anticipating incompetence and was desperate not to see that. I used to tune out everything else for this show, but they lost my trust somewhere along the way so I stopped my obsessive note-taking and my habit of watching each episode multiple times. But there were a few things in this one that I needed to see again: As they viewed Neal in the body bag, I liked that the scene ended with Peter -- tentatively at first, but then more firmly, perhaps because he needed to reach out to someone as well -- putting his hand on Mozzie's back. I loved that they conjured up the spirit of "Vital Signs" (never more vital than when Neal is dying) and "Out of the Box" (Neal finally out of his box; Peter discovering the truth in one big box). But also, Neal's words from both of those episodes . . . "You're the only one I trust" "You're the only one who could make me change my mind" "You're the only one who saw good in me." When he said those words in the finale, was Peter's hand on his head, as it was in "Vital Signs"? I thought it was, but they didn't make it clear to me -- and if he did have his hand there, why didn't they make it clear to me? See, this is why I can't watch sometimes -- and why I'll never invest time, attention or my heart in an Eastin show again. Does he purposely set out to tease us, to madden us? At those moments I'd swear he's laughing at how silly we are for caring so much. (Mozzie's not the only one with conspiracy theories.) And of course there was Neal doing what he did in "Out of the Box", saying goodbye to everyone, except in the earlier show he was going to avoid saying goodbye to Peter. This time he made sure they had a moment together. "You're the only one . . . You're my best friend." Given how far this show had fallen, I consider us lucky we were given a decent ending. Maybe one reason I can't watch it too closely is that I have this sense that I wanted more -- something deeper, something finer, and we didn't get that. For me the series was always about Neal and Peter and so I needed more from their scenes, and I know if I looked too closely I'd see we didn't get that -- nothing even close to the quality of that scene on the tarmac in "Out of the Box" or Neal and Peter's scene in Kate's apartment in the pilot episode-- which is why I'm not going to see this episode again, not for a long while anyway. Once I'd have made a detailed list of every item in that big box, but I already know what was there, or what should have been there, and I'd rather not know if they missed something essential to me. It should have been great -- not only the finale, but the entire series -- and it kept missing somehow. I get frustrated with Eastin for not taking better care of this show. He created a treasure and then didn't seem to know (or care?) how to develop it, deepen it, didn't know how to let it soar. Instead, he kept dragging it down to earth. So the ending doesn't satisfy, but at least puts an end to the nagging worry of what awful things they were going to do next to the Peter-Neal relationship, how far out of character they were going to twist those two guys, how lazy and sloppy the writing was going to be in the next "could have been great" scene. If only . . . how many times did I use those words in discussing this show? Now, finally, we're free of all that. No more. No next episode. Done. Fin. And it feels nice, like I've been let out of a box or something. Vital signs much better now.

I personally hope Neal is exploring his own artistic vision. He told his father he was never able to do that because he didn't know who he was. Maybe now he does, or is finding out. I hope he hasn't taken up the criminal life again -- unless he's in some way running his cons strictly to help others, or to right wrongs. Maybe he and Peter will be able to have a few of those late night phone calls like they did so long ago, or perhaps they can meet on a vacation somewhere. I think it would be nice if Neal could meet his namesake. I was a little disappointed to see Neal in Paris wearing his suit and hat -- I know it's what he's known for, but he has a different life now. I think I wanted to see him in a more relaxed mode, more comfortable clothes, his hair longer -- like he was on the island. He very deliberately shaved the beard and put on the suit and hat on the morning he returned to work at the FBI. I don't understand whether Mozzie was supposed to have figured out that Neal was alive, but I hope he doesn't. I hope Peter doesn't tell him. If Neal wants to do so, that's fine, but I hope Peter leaves it up to Neal to decide. I don't want Mozzie chasing Neal down and trying to lure him back to his old life. Mozzie's having a harder time getting over Neal because Neal was his life. He had moved in with him and never really considered what Neal wanted or needed He never listened to Neal. During that time when Mozzie was plotting to get them to the island, Neal was going through such emotional turmoil and Mozzie never saw it or, if he did, chose to ignore it. Neal's feelings didn't matter to him. The night they broke into the Burkes' home, Neal was so torn by what they were doing and Mozzie didn't care about that -- he also didn't mind using his friend Elizabeth for his purposes. Seeing him in the park running his old con game brought to mind the little boy that he was using to run errands for him on the day he met Neal, bringing that child into the life of a con, too. There's probably some other kid in that park now who is lost and looking for someone to teach him how to survive -- Mozzie will never find another Neal but I'm sure there are others he can lure into that life to use for his purposes.. Neal left him enough money to get a new start -- a pay-off in a way. I thought it was very significant that Neal made sure to tell Peter he was his best friend -- the only one who believed "there was good in me." I don't think Neal wants to see Mozzie again -- at least not until he is strong enough and secure enough in his new life to resist Mozzie's attempts to pull him backwards. As for what Eastin thinks, I wouldn't pay much attention to that . . . not after what he allowed to happen to his characters in S5.

I liked the ending. I just wish we hadn't had to put up with the previous five episodes to get there. The finale seemed to fit with the spirit and energy of the beginning of the series. Of course, it leaves a lot of unanswered questions, but WC episodes always do, for me anyway. The events of the last five minutes were a little rushed for me -- I didn't always understand what Peter was discovering or what he was thinking. I suppose someday I'll watch it again, but right now I'm just glad it's over. They ended it in a way that pleased me, and I'd like to leave it at that. I don't understand why Peter would go after Neal again. There's no reason for it, unless just to show him he could, to have a reunion. Peter has a life he's happy with now. He's not going to leave Elizabeth and his son and the job he loves to run off chasing Neal, unless of course Neal steals something the FBI would need to chase him for, and I have a feeling Neal will not do that. Neal gave Peter time to grieve and to become a father and settle into life post-Neal, and now he's gently letting him know the truth, that he's alive and okay and thinking of him. I think he trusts Peter not to pick up the chase again. Neal's settled things in America, knows that Peter and Mozzie will be all right, and he needs to build his own life without revisiting the past. He's always been too much about the past -- now he gets to work on his future. He's his own man now, and that's all I really wanted for him.

Tim talks about Peter, Neal and the finale: (mildly spoilerish) http://www.tvguide.com/News/White-Collar-Series-Finale-Preview-Tim-DeKay-1091055.aspx

Tim and Matt talk about ending the series: (the mildest of spoilers) http://tvline.com/2014/12/17/white-collar-series-finale-spoilers-cliffhanger-ending-movie/

Neal has to get away from Mozzie -- he needs to build a life for himself and he doesn't need Mozzie always harping on their next big score and how Neal will always be a con. Mozzie is the devil on his shoulder, a negative voice. Maybe later they can be in touch again, but only after Neal has a chance to get out on his own. They need to go back to the scene on the sidewalk in "Out of the Box" and say goodbye -- at least for awhile. Mozzie has to give up on Neal being his partner in crime and I'm not sure he can do that. I know he loves Neal but he doesn't love him enough to let him go. Every time Neal comes close to getting free, there is Mozzie, letting him know he can't go straight, can't live "happily every after". I really do believe (and there have been hints of this since he said it in S5) that when Neal declared he was going to "cut ties" he wasn't just talking about Peter and the FBI. He meant Mozzie, too. Neal is an addict who needs to go cold turkey -- he needs to change his life -- and Mozzie reminding him he'll never be anything but a con is the drug talking, luring him backwards. Working for the FBI has been that, too, in a way, by allowing him to be involved with crime, continuing to use his talent and addiction for criminal behavior. He needs to break the cycle. He needs to be on his own. Maybe later after he has had a chance to become whatever he's going to become he can get in touch with Mozzie again. Peter, too. Maybe by then he'll be strong enough so that he doesn't hear the devil's voice (or the voice of the "angel", Peter). His own voice will be the one he hears and he'll be able to be his own man, not Peter's C.I. (the dot on his computer screen) and not Mozzie's number one asset in crime (the tool in his belt). Neal's life needs to be about Neal. When Peter told him at the end of S5 that he was about to be free, I was surprised that Neal seemed a little lost talking about it with Mozzie -- he really had no idea what he wanted to do. And there was Mozzie the devil pulling him backwards, discouraging him from thinking about changing his life. I wanted to kick him. He's like the drug dealer afraid to lose his best customer. Neal talked about going to Paris but Mozzie made him consider Paris without money, as if that would be beneath them somehow. But it sounded romantic to me -- sort of like some of Neal's memories of the time when he and Kate were young and in love and had nothing but each other and their dreams. Those were sweet times for him. He needs time to consider all that. The son has to grow up and find his own path. The fathers have to love him enough to let him go.

If Peter takes even a dollar of the billions, I'd be extremely disappointed in him. What a legacy for his child -- to be brought up on money stolen from the U. S. government. No matter how disillusioned Peter is with the FBI, he'd be abandoning all those principles of responsibility, right and wrong, and family he has tried to reinforce in Neal (values Neal already has in that good heart but doesn't always act on). And what would Peter taking a cut of the money say to Neal, whose future is still hanging in the balance? The only way there's a victory here is if Neal turns down all that money, too. I want Neal (whether as "Neal" or as some newly invented person) to walk away from all this clean. If he takes even a dollar of the money then he isn't. He's still who he was to start with, a desperate con on the run, not able to settle anywhere, not able to trust anyone, just like his real father -- bad blood after all. It's been so disheartening for me during this sixth season to watch Peter and Neal do the same things they've always done -- banter in that friendly, almost affectionate way they have, then turn away with looks on their faces that tell you they don't trust each other for a minute. I so hoped to see them get beyond that. I so hoped there would be sparkling, brilliant writing for these last episodes -- something transforming, illuminating, thrilling, touching -- but I don't see how they can pull that off now. Ah, well, it was a breezy, pretty little series with some memorable moments (though damned few lately), lovable characters, a great city on display -- but they never seemed to get anywhere. They just kept running in circles. Maybe that's true to life -- we repeat the same patterns over and over, nobody changes, once a con always a con -- but I hoped for more, longed for it. Isn't that why we tune in to a show like this, hoping for it to show us the way, to give us hope? For me, a lot still depends on how Neal comes out of this. I'm so hoping that by now he has sense enough, heart enough, peace enough -- to walk away free and clear. And perhaps that would be tribute enough to his friendship with Peter. Later, if he finds he just can't resist the shiny stuff and has to steal -- okay, some fans seem to want that -- but the show will be over and I won't have to know about it and I won't have to watch that. For a single day, I want him free, clear -- clean, on his own, breathing fresh air, not having to look back over his shoulder. And I want Peter to know that's how it is for him -- that Neal has that. Then Peter will be able to let him go and walk away (he'll be free and clear, too) to devote his life to Elizabeth and their son.

I think Mozzie's main focus in life has been to make sure he doesn't lose his partnership with Neal. He will do anything, say anything, use all his skills as a con artist to keep Neal from changing his life. even if that might be best for Neal, even if it's what Neal really wants. In a way, he's exactly like the directors of the FBI. who keep changing the rules to prolong Neal's sentence. Neal is the goose that lays the golden eggs and neither Moz nor the FBI can let go of him. Mozzie's been angry with Neal at times, but he's backed away and readjusted and made concessions in order not to lose him. Working with Peter and the FBI, being friends with Elizabeth, getting along with Sara and Rebecca and other women who have been important to Neal -- these are some of the concessions he's made. Some of his relationship with Neal is based on affection, but Mozzie is first and always all about the next big score and Neal is his best asset (the best tool in his belt?) when it comes to achieving his goals. Neal is also valuable in that he is willing to take the fall if the two of them get in trouble. Mozzie needs Neal's good heart to protect him and get the FBI involved if he has a problem. Elizabeth is also useful in that way. I think he's fond of Elizabeth, but I don't think he gave her a thought once he and Neal got to their island. Mozzie's a user, and a much darker character than he'd like everyone to think, including Neal. One of the reasons I have so much trouble with Mozzie's cuddly, cute persona is that I don't believe it for a minute. Sometimes it's interesting to watch how he uses it to play everyone, to see how stupid they are about trusting him. And I include Neal in that, Neal who ought to know Mozzie well enough to know when he's being played. But there have been other times when Neal has been conned, so perhaps it shouldn't surprise. The good heart, the romantic spirit, gets in the way. No matter what Neal is feeling, no matter whether Neal is worried about Peter or when Neal is torn between his loyalty to Peter and the temptation of running a con, Mozzie can be counted on to use Neal's vulnerability to drive a wedge between him and Peter. Sometimes it has seemed cruel to me, his lack of sensitivity at those moments -- but it's true to his character. He's a con artist -- he sees vulnerability and he zeroes in on it to get what he wants. He's rather relentless in that way. And, yes, I realize a lot of this might be said of Peter -- but Peter has shown more sensitivity to Neal's feelings, and I still believe cares more about Neal's future, wants something better for him than a life on the run. There's no doubt having Neal on the team has greatly enhanced Peter's career, but he's also risked his career for Neal, foolishly perhaps. "Foolishly" is something you can't accuse Mozzie of -- he seldom makes decisions based on some foolish notion like affection. Even when he seems to it is often part of the long con he's been running since Neal got out of prison to get him free of the FBI and back to work as his partner. A wife would have been a burden to Mozzie, someone he'd have had to discard anyway when Neal is finally free and the two of them can get back to conning full-time.. Sure, she'd be useful in their cons, but the other responsibilities of a marriage would only distract him from his quest for the big score. Plus, she's a con -- could he ever trust her?

I was hoping that before the series ends they'd find a way to bring back some of the magic of the pilot episode -- that Neal and Peter, not the pale, twisted out of shape, gutted imitations we have now. Remember when they felt like substantial, flesh-and-blood human beings? Now they're just two guys spouting lines. There was a time when there was a struggle going on inside Neal -- who to be, how to change, how to find his own artistic vision instead of only stealing from others. He's just a con artist now. Once a con, always a con, no happily ever after. Heading for the life of June's old pal, Ford -- an old con still looking for that one big score. Half a billion dollars in unmarked bills. Wow -- sounds about as meaningless and soulless as the twin to the Hope Diamond or the Nazi treasure -- or, for that matter, the island where they could live out their lives in splendor. They never quite managed to hold onto any of those things for very long -- when they finally got their hands on them, they only managed to let them slip away -- or gave them up to save someone they cared about, which should have taught them something about what was important, but somehow it hasn't. This seems to have been a journey to nowhere. Nothing gained, nothing learned, just kind of sad and pathetic. Peter was always my favorite -- I was so relieved when I saw the first season and realized that though he had a ways to go, he was learning and changing, too. He wasn't just your stereotypical agent: he had potential, he was a match for Neal, and he and Neal had this relationship that grew and seemed to mean something to both of them. They lost all that somewhere, mostly in the need of the so-called writers to use Peter to do and say stupid, heartless things so he and Neal could be "at odds". They destroyed that character for me. And last night they used him to hurt Neal again -- all that stuff about how he'll lose his job if Neal doesn't get the Panthers -- such lazy, ham-fisted writing, They should have left Peter on the steps of his house: Neal gone, Elizabeth gone, his career gone. Neal and Mozzie are criminals and always will be; let them go off on their pathetic path, once again in pursuit of the big score. I don't know how it will end and at this point don't much care. It won't be a perfect bookend to the great pilot episode. I wish that Peter and Neal could come back for a few scenes, though I think they'd seem like aliens from a parallel universe. It would be nice to see them, though.

I was hoping the Elizabeth/baby scenes would satisfy Eastin's passion for cutesy filler crap, but apparently not. Wow - an entire episode of the stuff. Could someone tell me if Mozzie's flashback nuptials fulfilled the requirement for a wedding in the last days of a series? Baby, wedding . . . I'm checking them off the list. What's left? Ah, yes, "surprise return of former true love." I'm hoping it's Kate and not the awful Sara, but anyone will do so long as I can check her off the list. We wouldn't want to miss even one of these precious cliches.

Don't you think Neal and Amy are shoe-ins for prom king and queen? How old is Neal? It took Keller to clue him in on all the collateral damage a con artist leaves in his wake? He should look back over his shoulder and see the long line of "little people" -- security guards, secretaries, clerks, bank tellers, etc. -- who've lost their jobs because of his cons, not to mention the people who've been hurt, incarcerated or killed. Of course, they were probably middle-aged, ugly, flawed and in need of being fired or otherwise injured anyway. But Amy, sweet innocent little Amy -- do you think the girl has a flaw? Was there ever anyone more perfect, more angelic, more right out of a Mary Pickford movie? She probably got off the bus in NYC, her little fists clenched, all starry-eyed, humming "New York, New York . . . if I can make it there, I'll make it anywhere . . . " And now she's back on that bus heading home to her "little town blues", all her hopes dashed. Boo! Hiss! Bad Neal. Guilty Neal. Amy, you need more grit than that to tackle New York. And Neal -- why are you so surprised all over again? Isn't this the same thing you did to Rebecca? Of course, in the end it was okay because Rebecca hadn't just stepped off the bus from Sunnybrook Farm. Neal the good, the innocent, the hopelessly in denial doesn't have to feel guilty about her. But he can't get her off his mind -- especially how she died. It appeals to his sense of the dramatic, the final, the grand gesture. So now, in his woe-is-me, I'm-such-a-bad-boy funk, he's going to martyr himself to keep from hurting his friends, the Burke baby, and all the sweet Amys of the world? A person who did that would become something he always wanted to be -- beloved. But he's a con at heart, after all -- and I don't think he has a death-wish. He'll fake his death and run away again which will enable him to feel noble and self-sacrificing and heroic. Does he leave Mozzie behind? Mozzie's willingness to do the dirty work in their partnership has enabled Neal to live inside the illusion that he's only stealing from the rich who after all can afford it and that no one ever gets hurt. No guns -- and if guns, only to wound, never to kill. His prissy little rules are indicative of how deeply he needs this illusion and why he needs Mozzie -- and doesn't Neal know that Mozzie doesn't play by those rules? Makes you wonder about Tonto and Pancho and Little John and Gabby Hayes and all the other sidekicks -- how much cleaning up they had to do to make sure the white knight could be the beloved, the romantic, the dashing hero. Maybe Mozzie needed to believe in that Neal, too. And Keller -- didn't he do the same thing for Neal, in a way? He reflects another aspect of Neal's dark side. Keller has often reminded Neal of truths Neal does not like to think about. Is Neal aware of any of this? It scares him when he gets close to that kind of self-knowledge. He runs away from it. Typically, he turns his escape into something heroic, legendary, mysterious. If he really "cuts ties" (of course he still has a drawer full of them), he'll have to face the world -- and himself -- alone. No more "plausible deniability." Too scary. Maybe he does have a death-wish.

I've been thinking about S5 and S6, trying to make sense of it all. In the S4 finale Peter was found to be wearing Neal's anklet -- a move that still makes me cringe, but is highly symbolic of how far across the line his friendship with Neal had taken him. And then he was arrested for murder. Six weeks in prison gives you time to think. I can imagine his first meeting with Elizabeth after his arrest, the pain and fear and bewilderment he saw in her eyes. It was time to get his priorities straight: somehow prove his innocence, convince the FBI to let him have his job back, and devote himself to building a future where Elizabeth and their marriage and his career weren't in such jeopardy. In the first episode of S5 he reminded Neal that he was a criminal. I think he was saying it to himself even more than to Neal. He was reminding himself that he was the FBI agent and that he had to stop covering for Neal, risking his job and his future. He had to find a way not be so involved in Neal's life -- no longer would he risk so much for him. And it was hard to do -- he missed Neal, missed the fun they had together. And Neal missed him, but Neal was also offended and dismayed by the change in Peter's attitude toward him. Because of his involvement with Hagen, Neal had huge secrets to keep from Peter, and he was in many ways more a criminal than he'd been in a long time. S5 made me believe Neal could never change, never give up his life of crime. Him dancing down that hall at FBI headquarters, on his way to destroy evidence he and Peter had gathered -- that is haunting to me. Beautiful, but such a betrayal -- and he was so into it, enjoying it. S5 was such a mess, the writing so inconsistent, the continuity so screwed up -- it was hard to know what Peter and Neal were feeling. Peter was trying to keep that distance -- he did and said things that seemed so unlike him in an effort to keep to his promise to change. I never could understand why he wanted a job in D. C., yet perhaps the mere offer of such a job was reassurance that he was headed in the right direction, making decisions that made Elizabeth proud and would give them a more secure future. In the end, he couldn't go, couldn't walk away from Neal, couldn't work with FBI leadership that would treat Neal so unfairly. But the distance did its work. Call it tough love, I guess. It's what he said speaking as the father in 6.2: I tried to sculpt him into the man I know he can be. At some point, he has to grow up, become his own man. One of the things I have liked about this series has been the evolution (with lots of backsliding and fits and starts) of Peter's understanding of how to handle Neal, not only for their work in the FBI, but on a more personal level. He's made lots of mistakes with him -- trying at times to sculpt, to remake him in his own image, but he's also learned so much (not only about Neal but about himself, about doing what's right for both of them). The time in prison scared him, gave him time to think. He went overboard in the other direction for awhile but his affection for Neal has finally brought him to a place that seems best for both of them. Neal, more and more on his own, unsure if Peter was on his side and not knowing if he could depend on him for help, had to face some difficult times. He felt angry, abandoned, alone, and his reactions were at times wrong-headed. He had to do some growing up, which was painful. He has a lot of guilt, has lost so many people, has brought so much trouble into the lives of those he is close to. So now, seeing Peter so happy about the baby, believing that Peter does want Neal to be free, knowing that Peter is committed to being his handler until the deal with the FBI is finished -- Neal sees things more clearly, realizes that he has to be the grownup here, has to be in charge of his own life, has to take the responsibility to set himself free, one way or another. The way Neal is handling himself in S6 (instead of Peter handling him), is not only about Neal setting himeslf free, it is about Neal trying to protect Peter and Elizabeth and the baby, trying to protect his friends, "his family". The son becomes the father. Neal is fighting for his own freedom, but he is also fighting to set Peter free as well. Peter's on the other end of that tether, after all. The best gift Neal can give that baby is the father he himself longed for, a father who will be present in that child's life and who will devote his life to doing what's right for his family.

I keep going back to Neal on the island. Was he glad Peter showed up? I don't think he was happy on the island, I don't think he felt free there. Peter's arrival and subsequent events gave him a chance to complete his deal with the FBI (or so he thought) and become free, but I've always wondered what he was really thinking during that time. He's always so hard to read which is in the nature of such a character -- we must always be unsure of him. At the end of season five, when the possibility of freedom seemed so close, he seemed to have no idea what he would do next. And maybe you have to be truly free (something he's never really been -- something he could never depend on anyway) to begin to understand what you want. No tethers, no one chasing you, no one to answer to -- maybe you have to experience that in order to know yourself and what you want to be. He's come to a point where he's willing to die in the attempt to reach that point. Maybe the suspense -- the not knowing who he really is, what choices he will make when he has the chance -- maybe it's killing him anyway. Time to go for broke. He really is beyond a place where he'd listen to Mozzie. Peter is very far away now. I think Neal feels Peter has done what he could for him in securing the deal with the FBI and that Peter is not lying to him about it, but Peter has his marriage and the baby and his career to be focused on. So he really is alone. Back in season five an episode ended with him talking about cutting ties with everyone. Mozzie of course assumed he wasn't included in that. But I always thought he meant he had to start operating alone, working toward a time when he made some tough decisions about his future. Of course, soon after that he got mixed up with Rebecca, so things changed. But her situation and her death reminded him of the choices you have to make and how alone you'll be when you do, how all-or-nothing the choice might have to be. He's always had that dark side to his personality: bad blood, criminal, all the people he's lost. He can't take Peter and Mozzie with him. He must do this alone. He's near rock bottom.

I thought of the pilot episode, too, Sinkwriter. It was the ending to the case that assured Neal would have his deal with the FBI. In the scene at the end of this week's episode, Neal thought Peter was wanting to celebrate the Attorney General's signature on the agreement, and reminded him you don't celebrate before you cross the finish line (something Peter taught him). But Peter was thinking about the pregnancy -- not waiting until the baby is born to pass out cigars. Tempting fate -- both of them ending with "to the future". Of course we know that means things are going to go very badly -- for both of them? I was troubled, disturbed, maddened, touched -- not sure which, maybe all of the above -- by Neal's statement, Maybe because there has been a distance between them for awhile now, Neal can't say what I wish he'd have said -- or perhaps he was just keeping the conversation light-hearted because he senses they're past the time when he might have said something more. Or perhaps Neal knows deep down that things are going to go badly -- he can't depend on the FBI keeping its agreement and he knows how much danger he's in trying to bring down the panthers. "Based on the 24 hours" -- how about based on the last few years? They're beyond the place where they could talk about that. And of course he's genuinely pleased for Peter -- and is perhaps wistful about Peter having a real son (or daughter) to take the place that had sometimes seemed to belong to him, even if he wasn't sure that's what he wanted. The end of a dream, and perhaps that's as it should be. They've moved on to another place now. Endings. This is going to be really bad at the end, isn't it? Does Peter understand any of this? Will he understand even when it's all said and done? Is he really just eager to have Neal gone so he can move on with his life without him? When Neal is dead or convinces everyone he's dead, what will Peter remember? What will he feel? I'm guessing but it seems to be where we're going -- of course, they're good at putting out misleading information or clues.

Here are two Sorkin parodies, one video, one written -- not exactly about Sports Night but anything "Sorkin" seems to allude to everything else "Sorkin", so perhaps it's all right to post here. http://kenlevine.blogspot.com/2014/11/aaron-sorkin-parodies.html

This conversation with DeKay and Eastin may contain mild spoilers: http://www.teamdekay.org/2014/11/tim-and-jeff-eastins-talking-tv-appearance/

Eastin, Bomer and DeKay created these amazing characters, this incredible relationship, but Eastin seemed not to understand what a treasure it was. He and his writers betrayed that relationship over and over by insisting that there must always be trouble between Peter and Neal. Of course there would be trouble between an FBI agent and his C.I., but the writers were too lazy and pedestrian to allow that to develop organically, subtly within a richer context. Instead, the premise was one-note and it became a pattern the writers followed over and over. The writers struggled (Eastin admitted as much) to find ways to keep Peter and Neal at odds, to cause trouble between them. The usual way was to have Peter do something stupid or mean or heavy-handed, and Neal would respond by going off the deep end, acting like a spoiled, irrational, insensitive brat. The writers did not stay true to the characters; they showed no respect for the integrity of that relationship. If for awhile the characters seemed to grow, to mature, to draw closer together, the writers would respond by forcing them apart, by causing them to do and say things the true, essential Peter and Neal would never do or say. Didn't matter if it made no sense. It's the worst kind of writing, the worst kind of television. So, so disappointing. Better if they'd have made them cliched cartoon characters from the start; that way, those of us who want something more would have tuned out quickly. But they started with something that seemed to hold such promise -- and then they screwed around with that relationship until in season five it finally made no sense whatsoever. If the Peter and Neal we have now had been the characters introduced to us in the pilot episode, I'd have known not to stick around for episode 2. And in the end, what is Eastin's message? No one changes? Everyone reverts to form? No one learns anything? It was fun for awhile, but in the end the gulf between criminal and FBI agent, between Manhattan and Brooklyn, between sophistication and middle class values is too wide for anything meaningful and lasting to develop? Don't bother, don't dream, don't try? Waste of time? I get the impression that Neal and Peter don't even remember the best days, the times when they found common ground, the affection and hope they found in one another, those magic moments when they learned from one another and experienced and perhaps envied each other's lives. Do they remember any of that? Has the impact of all that already worn off? Life goes on: Peter will have his own child soon. Neal will be free, one way or another.

There was a time when the father-son banter might have been charming -- back in the day when the relationship between Peter and Neal wasn't so strained and this show still had some writers who could pull off that kind of magic. But Neal is just looking to get the hell out of Dodge. He's being as polite and friendly as he has to be toward Peter to get himself free and then he is gone. Peter will be lucky to get an occasional birthday card (assuming Peter would even care). I've always had my problems with the insistence on the father-son theme, and what we see now is one of the reasons why. The son really has to grow up and choose his own path and if you keep him on a leash too long, the relationship sours and you destroy any chance for a meaningful relationship in the future. There's a feeling in this final season (and through much of season five) of these people having stayed too long at the fair. The whole thing seems old and tired and the participants (characters and actors) look as though they can't wait to be free of one another. I keep thinking of the expression "pro forma." This episode felt flat: no heart, no soul, just actors reciting lines, and not very-well-written lines at that. I'm not even trying to make sense of the Pink Panther silliness. Keller showing up is, I suppose, rather fitting, since I've never believed in the supposed menace and brilliance of that character. The fact that the FBI and Neal could never put him away speaks volumes about their incompetence. I'm beginning to wonder why they needed six episodes to tie up this series. The pregnancy is taking up way too much time. It's just cutesy filler material, reminiscent of all those awful "fun with the Burkes" episodes. I was hoping the finale would be sharp and smart and memorable but so far it's sloppy and cringe-worthy and a reminder that this series was special only some of the time. The main problem for me is that they knocked the heart out of the Peter-Neal relationship awhile back -- sort of like unplugging the life support system -- and without it there is no hope for much more than a few last gasps. I'll stick around to the end -- maybe they'll find a way to surprise me. That would be lovely, but I'm not expecting much.

A video from the cast "reunion": http://insidetv.ew.com/2014/11/11/sports-night-reunion-ew-video/

I keep hoping Elizabeth's "pregnancy" is a con, a trick to wrench Peter away from Neal and get himself to D. C. and that FBI desk job. Actually I'd accept any explanation for her announcement rather than believe that the writers stooped so low as to include that tired old "we're having a baby" cliche in the final episodes of this series. Eastin used to pride himself on avoiding cliches, or so he said. Does this mean that we're also due for a wedding? Of course, some of us are still waiting for the resurrection of Kate, and wouldn't it be nice to see Ellen again? When does Neal's mom show up? And what about the return of the dreaded (by me, at least) Sara? So much to look forward to. I can hardly wait. The Neal-Peter relationship and their individual journeys took so many odd turns in season five that it's hard to understand where they are or who they are now. I don't sense much warmth or affection between them. They go through the motions, but mainly they seem to be conning each other, and without much spirit or purpose, as though they're both marking time to the end, eager to be rid of one another. It makes me wonder if that's what they were always doing and we were the ones being conned if we assumed there was something more between them, something unique and promising and thrilling. I saw "Vital Signs" again the other day and when I came to the scene so many of us love ("You're the only one I trust"), I had a hard time seeing it the way I used to. It seemed like Neal was just conning the gullible FBI agent, saying whatever he had to in order to save himself from going back to prison. Peter's hand on Neal's head, the way he seemed touched by Neal's words -- was that real or Peter just stalling for time while he decided to commit a crime rather than lose the C. I. who would further his career? "Borrowed Time" seemed stilted, and so cold. The writing was off, mainly because they made too many lines some cryptic statement meant, I suppose, to build suspense and keep us guessing how this will end. Will it be death or prison for Neal? They've done this kind of thing before and with about as much heavy-handedness. In the end, these things seldom amount to much. Endings always seem to fizzle into something vague and/or sappy and you're left with more questions than answers. I'd much rather see them use their time to fix some of what they broke last season, though I know it's way too late for that. Is there a possibility Neal and Peter could have even one conversation that seems sincere? Are they capable of speaking the truth to one another, and speak in such a way that they both know it is the truth? I suppose the writers will allow us a hug. Am I going to believe there's some real affection there, or is it too late to sell that? Despite my doubts, I still hope for one (or more) of those magic Neal-Peter moments, perhaps nothing so great as their conversation on the tarmac, or their reunion on the island, oh, but wouldn't it be lovely to see them that way again, all that delight and excitement in their eyes?