S06.E06: Au Revoir

[ganesh]

I'm not going to bother reading any interviews because I don't think I need someone else to tell me how I should watch the show I just watched.

 

I had said before that there was no way the FBI would let Neal go and I'm glad Keller brought that up. I also think that it was key for Mozzie not to be told because his grief had to be real. Peter would have figured that out otherwise. I do hope they were saying that Neal clued Mozzie in later as he did with Peter because it would be kind of a shitty thing to do to let Moz think he was actually dead. 

 

I thought this was a fairly silly last season. It wasn't that good. I'm glad the main people didn't die, but that's about it. 

 

I think it's ridiculous on tv when they pull the "this is where I belong" though. Sure Peter, don't take a huge raise and move up the ranks. Maybe run the White Collar division for the entire country or something. Your wife already showed a willingness to move and she clearly can find a job too. 

[Gigi43]

I thought they found 9 on Keller and was 23million still missing by Peter's wording to Mozzie and I didnt get it because Neal had said there was 30million. Whether there's 23 or I guess 32 total, even if Neal didn't divide the bags as evenly as he thought that would mean he was under by 7 or over by 2 and I buy Neal making either of those mistakes as much as I buy Neal planning Neal and Peter: The Paris Years.

Maybe the person that was suppose to catch that in the script was too busy not paying attention to how white Neal's shirt had become again from bleeding in the basement to the ambulance?

[roctavia]

I thought they found 9 on Keller and was 23million still missing by Peter's wording to Mozzie and I didnt get it because Neal had said there was 30million. Whether there's 23 or I guess 32 total, even if Neal didn't divide the bags as evenly as he thought that would mean he was under by 7 or over by 2 and I buy Neal making either of those mistakes as much as I buy Neal planning Neal and Peter: The Paris Years.

Maybe the person that was suppose to catch that in the script was too busy not paying attention to how white Neal's shirt had become again from bleeding in the basement to the ambulance?

 

 

I think it's more that  Mozzie's open the tube free for all wasn't as accurate as Neal made it sound... with loose bills shooting out of that tube, Mozzie couldn't know when they'd get exactly 30 mil, so going a little over makes sense to me... and I think Mozzie was the one dividing it up before Neal and Keller got all the way there, so it's possible the bags weren't all completely equal... since again, they were in a rush... 9 million of unmarked untraceable money is a pretty good haul.

[kminfinity]

I agree, ignoring the Eastin interview is the way to go.  I didn't mind the predicatable ending, it's a USA romp.  I personally would have preferred a tighter plotline developing the idea Neal 'had' to fake his death to keep Peter and his loved ones safe. Fans of WC are naturally dominated by Neal fans, so leaving that resolution murky was a fail, imo.

 

I think the 23 million is derived from the FBI having a more accurate count of how much was actually in Big Bertha.  Neal was guesstimating 30 mil by calculating the time the $ would be diverted to Moz, so the actual time being off, even by a few seconds, meant millions one way or the other.  So if the FBI knows 32 mil is missing, and they recovered 9 mil from Keller, then Moz had 23. 

[BkWurm1]

I agree, ignoring the Eastin interview is the way to go.

 

I wish I had.  It blows my mind that I came away with pretty much the opposite of everything he said. 

 

No, the chase is not on.  Peter has something more important than running after a guy who had earned his freedom (and he can't prove the thing about the money)  He's also not wrapped up in the political rat race at the FBI.  That's why he turned down the promotion.  That's why he's ok with showing up with donuts and coffee tomorrow morning to see how it all went down.  Neal gone lets him do these things because Neal was Peter's temptation, always leading him to take risks and sit through one more stake out.  He's happy now with what he does and who he is.  The job can actually come second.  He doesn't need the excitement he used to get from the chase. 

 

Plus, the only reason Peter would be able to chase Neal is because Neal (probably via Mozzie) let him know.  Like someone else pointed out, 701 was written on the cork.  That's the clue that sent Peter to his Neal box and finally make the connection between the storage containers and the key.    Neal wasn't saying come catch me if you can, he was just letting him know he was alive. 

 

I think Mozzie didn't know the plan but he had the Queen so he knew Neal actually dying couldn't be the whole story.  He seemed to have stayed away from the Burkes so we don't know if he figured everything out right away and was with Neal in Paris most of the time or if he just figured it out.  I'm of the mind that he figured it out sooner than later and somehow got the money to Neal.  They'd both already agreed to only con for "good" reasons so I guess I worry less about Mozzie's bad influence.  I rather like the idea that somehow Neal kept tabs on the container and realized Peter was still in the dark and sent Mozzie to come clean.  We do have him using his real name so that fits too. 

 

We know Mozzie was in the container no later than the previous day so I assumed the international paper about the a contract upgrading security to the Louvre being granted was recent and a nod not to Neal planning to sneak in before hand and steal, but that HE was the one that was granted the contract.  The storage unit was littered with paintings and other works that I think were supposed to be left over from the submarine (the story that Mozzie was telling baby Neal) Why would he leave behind such artworks already in his possession only to go after another score that couldn't possibly measure up? 

 

So count me in with those that saw Peter's smile as just happy that Neal was alive and the paper's headline as a nod not that Neal was stealing, but the one setting up the security to thwart the thieves.  That work still involves planning the impossible.  It had to be appealing to him.

 

Some problems I had with the ending. 

 

FIrst off, I really wish they'd spent more time on the threat the Pink Panthers were to Neal's loved ones.  The way the group was taken down and the part where no one was worried about Peter Burke, FBI guy facing retribution from them seemed really at odds with Neal deciding he had to fake his death to protect everyone.  Until I read the article telling me that was why he did it, I was left assuming he faked his death on the off chance that his iron clad contract that everyone in power kept making a point to say was a sure guarantee would get ignored which again, seemed kind of a desperate thing to do when the odds at the time seemed in his favor. 

 

If it had just been Neal faking his death to make sure he was free, I could buy it, but in faking his death,  he also had to put the people he cared for the most through abject misery and that's just a level of cruelty that I had a hard time accepting from Neal on the off chance that the FBI pulled a fast one.  Nothing in the show telegraphed that the FBI was going to screw him over this time.  Only Keller said it and he's not really a fountain of truth or wisdom.

 

So again, I really wish they had pushed the "fakes death to protect others" plot line.  I'm normally a savvy viewer and it went completely over my head. 

 

My other issue with the ending is I swear we got several seasons of Neal not wanting to leave New York.  It was his home.  Sure Paris is lovely but it's still not him getting to be where he wants to be with the people he values most, so that was kind of a sad note IMO.  He's permanently estranged from his family.  :(

 

These last seasons, I have not been a fan of the sudden turn around that had him deciding he was a leopard that couldn't change his spots after years of the show showing us that he loved his job with the FBI.  It was the leash and not having a say in what he did that he hated and I'm also a bit sad that he never got the chance to stay in his city and choose the life that he wanted most. Maybe he'd have picked the FBI maybe not, but by faking his death, the option is off the table.   I am assuming he's caring out private security work (and conning those that deserve it every once and a while) but it's still not what the show told me he really wanted and I wanted him to have the city and the job and the love. The whole package.  I liked Sara (except for the part where she stopped eating - so scary skinny) but if not Sara, I would have wanted him to have some chance of non lethal or twisted love in his life so we could come full circle from him rushing to see Kate. 

 

So yeah, I have a few regrets and disappointments, still, they could have ended this waaaaaay worse (here is where I AM ignoring the article)  so I'll call it a win and say goodbye to some breezy fun.  The writing lost it's edge in these latter seasos but I loved the actors and the characters right to the end.

[ganesh]

I agree, ignoring the Eastin interview is the way to go.

 

This is a symptom of modern tv. It's notorious on The Walking Dead and Game of Thrones whenever something "big" happens. The next day there's articles all over: here's what Beth was thinking at the end of the episode. Here's what Peter was thinking in the cargo container.

 

I don't need anyone to tell me what Peter was thinking because I'm actually able to interpret that based on what I know about the character and watching the show for several years. 

 

I find it highly condescending and arrogant when TPTBs and actors do this because if some viewers have a different interpretation, it makes it seem like their viewing experience is invalid or wrong, and that's not fair. 

[Ohmo]

I rather like the idea that somehow Neal kept tabs on the container and realized Peter was still in the dark and sent Mozzie to come clean.  We do have him using his real name so that fits too.

 

The key was also part of Neal's personal effects, the things that Neal actually had on him when he "died."  Neal had to likely knuw those items would be given to Peter in the event of his death.  So, the storage container was never meant to be a secret from Peter.  I think the storage container is a message to Peter.  "Here's what I did.  I'm in Paris, and I'm fine."  In no way to I think that message is an invitation to begin the chase again, nor do I think Peter took it that way.  Given the story that Mozzie was telling Baby Neal, using the details about the Nazi art, I'm going with Neal helping upgrade the Louvre's security and helping repatriate some stolen Nazi art to its rightful Jewish owners without Neal getting bogged down with pesky legal rules and regulations---conning for the greater good.

 

Jeff should have just stayed quiet.  What boggles my mind is how he got HIS interpretation out of what was on screen.  I think his view is a serious stretch, and it's like he wasn't paying attention to what Willie, Tim, and particularly Matt were doing at all.

Edited December 20, 2014 by Ohmo

[nico]

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.    

Edited December 20, 2014 by nico

[fireice13]

I just thought of something. I assume they had a funeral, so who did they bury?!

[sinkwriter]

 

I find it highly condescending and arrogant when TPTBs and actors do this because if some viewers have a different interpretation, it makes it seem like their viewing experience is invalid or wrong, and that's not fair.

 

I don't usually mind hearing from the actors, because they're the ones closest to these characters and (usually) have worked so hard to build the character and get to know the character inside and out. Their take is really interesting to me. The showrunners are the ones who usually tick me off, because I feel like by a certain point in the show's run they've lost touch with who their characters and what the heart of their show is all about. They're already moving on to their next project so they don't care as much as the actors or the viewers.

 

(Except when it feels like I'm being fed a 'company line' sort of statement in an attempt to not burn bridges - like when you know the actors probably know the quality has dropped but they want to work in this industry again, so they are much kinder about the final products than we are. I know they can't be completely honest without risking future jobs by looking like they have an attitude, but sometimes I appreciate when an actor is able to say, it wasn't perfect, but here's what I tried to do with what I had to work with.)

[roctavia]

I just thought of something. I assume they had a funeral, so who did they bury?!

 

 

Someone could have known that Neal's wish was to be cremated... so they wouldn't need a body for burying. He thought of everything else, so surely he made arrangements for that as well-paid off someone in the morgue or something.

[Ohmo]

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.

 

I read the TVLine interview and genuinely thought, "Wow, that's REALLY how Jeff Eastin viewed that finale?"  I don't know if he's forgotten who Neal is, is no longer interested in Neal, or never knew him to begin with, but I feel that Matt and Tim have become the caretakers of Neal and Peter, as much as they are able with Jeff still being in charge.  I also think GRACELAND is part of the problem.  I watched GRACELAND for approximately ten minues and decided that it wasn't for me.  Yet, around that time, Jeff started trying to make White Collar edgier and darker, with all of this conflict.  He kept yammering on about how Neal was "bad," and all the other rot he was saying, yet Matt was showing me something completely different.  If Jeff Eastin honestly believed he was getting his interpretation on screen, then Matt Bomer really has become Neal Caffrey---because he certainly has conned Jeff (in a good way).

Edited December 20, 2014 by Ohmo

[ganesh]

I don't usually mind hearing from the actors, because they're the ones closest to these characters and (usually) have worked so hard to build the character and get to know the character inside and out. Their take is really interesting to me.

 

They can still only play the lines written and how they are directed. And I still don't think they should say much anyway. They should say, "What did you [viewer] get out of the scene?" I don't need the actors to tell me how they're playing a scene. Play the scene and let me decide. 

 

Peter's look at the end was, "I could chase him again; I know I'd find him." I quite disagree he'd actually do that because the coda seemed pretty clear he was settled into to this 'new life.' Coming home on time, etc. If some viewers say, 'no, he was settled in, but now that he knows Neal is really alive, the fire has been lit.' I think it's unlikely, but it's not ridiculous. At no point does anyone involved with the show need to weigh in on a definitive interpretation. 

 

If anything the actors should be psyched that there's two interpretations. 

[Jediknight]

Someone could have known that Neal's wish was to be cremated... so they wouldn't need a body for burying. He thought of everything else, so surely he made arrangements for that as well-paid off someone in the morgue or something.

And part of his wish was for a smoking hot badass blond woman who he had history with to spread his ashes in Lisbon.

[Ohmo]

I don't need the actors to tell me how they're playing a scene. Play the scene and let me decide.

 

I agree with that up to a point.  Broadly (not necessarily specifically about the White Collar finale), I think some interpretation is good.  However, I do think shows have to have defined tentpoles---things that are held to be true as the show's canon.  If everything is open to interpretation and nothing is decided, then Ithe show loses cohesion.  You no longer have a defined entity, just a bunch of random interpretations.  I think some things have to be designated as "so" and be untouchable.  In terms of a tentpole for White Collar, I'm glad that one of the defining, no-interpretation things was that Peter and Elizabeth were happily married.  She loved him.  He loved her.  No cheating.  No wandering eyes.  There were disagreements in six years, but no significant strife.

[AnnA]

I thought it was $23 million missing and they recovered $9 million of that in Keller's bag.

 

 

You're right.  I just watched that scene again and that's exactly what Peter told Mozzie.

[romantic idiot]

I wish I had.  It blows my mind that I came away with pretty much the opposite of everything he said. 

 

No, the chase is not on.  Peter has something more important than running after a guy who had earned his freedom (and he can't prove the thing about the money)  He's also not wrapped up in the political rat race at the FBI.  That's why he turned down the promotion.  That's why he's ok with showing up with donuts and coffee tomorrow morning to see how it all went down.  Neal gone lets him do these things because Neal was Peter's temptation, always leading him to take risks and sit through one more stake out.  He's happy now with what he does and who he is.  The job can actually come second.  He doesn't need the excitement he used to get from the chase. 

 

Plus, the only reason Peter would be able to chase Neal is because Neal (probably via Mozzie) let him know.  Like someone else pointed out, 701 was written on the cork.  That's the clue that sent Peter to his Neal box and finally make the connection between the storage containers and the key.    Neal wasn't saying come catch me if you can, he was just letting him know he was alive. 

 

I think Mozzie didn't know the plan but he had the Queen so he knew Neal actually dying couldn't be the whole story.  He seemed to have stayed away from the Burkes so we don't know if he figured everything out right away and was with Neal in Paris most of the time or if he just figured it out.  I'm of the mind that he figured it out sooner than later and somehow got the money to Neal.  They'd both already agreed to only con for "good" reasons so I guess I worry less about Mozzie's bad influence.  I rather like the idea that somehow Neal kept tabs on the container and realized Peter was still in the dark and sent Mozzie to come clean.  We do have him using his real name so that fits too. 

 

We know Mozzie was in the container no later than the previous day so I assumed the international paper about the a contract upgrading security to the Louvre being granted was recent and a nod not to Neal planning to sneak in before hand and steal, but that HE was the one that was granted the contract.  The storage unit was littered with paintings and other works that I think were supposed to be left over from the submarine (the story that Mozzie was telling baby Neal) Why would he leave behind such artworks already in his possession only to go after another score that couldn't possibly measure up? 

 

So count me in with those that saw Peter's smile as just happy that Neal was alive and the paper's headline as a nod not that Neal was stealing, but the one setting up the security to thwart the thieves.  That work still involves planning the impossible.  It had to be appealing to him.

 

Some problems I had with the ending. 

 

FIrst off, I really wish they'd spent more time on the threat the Pink Panthers were to Neal's loved ones.  The way the group was taken down and the part where no one was worried about Peter Burke, FBI guy facing retribution from them seemed really at odds with Neal deciding he had to fake his death to protect everyone.  Until I read the article telling me that was why he did it, I was left assuming he faked his death on the off chance that his iron clad contract that everyone in power kept making a point to say was a sure guarantee would get ignored which again, seemed kind of a desperate thing to do when the odds at the time seemed in his favor. 

 

If it had just been Neal faking his death to make sure he was free, I could buy it, but in faking his death,  he also had to put the people he cared for the most through abject misery and that's just a level of cruelty that I had a hard time accepting from Neal on the off chance that the FBI pulled a fast one.  Nothing in the show telegraphed that the FBI was going to screw him over this time.  Only Keller said it and he's not really a fountain of truth or wisdom.

 

So again, I really wish they had pushed the "fakes death to protect others" plot line.  I'm normally a savvy viewer and it went completely over my head. 

 

My other issue with the ending is I swear we got several seasons of Neal not wanting to leave New York.  It was his home.  Sure Paris is lovely but it's still not him getting to be where he wants to be with the people he values most, so that was kind of a sad note IMO.  He's permanently estranged from his family.  :(

 

These last seasons, I have not been a fan of the sudden turn around that had him deciding he was a leopard that couldn't change his spots after years of the show showing us that he loved his job with the FBI.  It was the leash and not having a say in what he did that he hated and I'm also a bit sad that he never got the chance to stay in his city and choose the life that he wanted most. Maybe he'd have picked the FBI maybe not, but by faking his death, the option is off the table.   I am assuming he's caring out private security work (and conning those that deserve it every once and a while) but it's still not what the show told me he really wanted and I wanted him to have the city and the job and the love. The whole package.  I liked Sara (except for the part where she stopped eating - so scary skinny) but if not Sara, I would have wanted him to have some chance of non lethal or twisted love in his life so we could come full circle from him rushing to see Kate. 

 

So yeah, I have a few regrets and disappointments, still, they could have ended this waaaaaay worse (here is where I AM ignoring the article)  so I'll call it a win and say goodbye to some breezy fun.  The writing lost it's edge in these latter seasos but I loved the actors and the characters right to the end.

 

Agreed with pretty much everything said here except the liking Sara bits. 

[ganesh]

However, I do think shows have to have defined tentpoles---things that are held to be true as the show's canon.

 

One can do this with good writing, direction, and acting, however. 

 

In terms of a tentpole for White Collar, I'm glad that one of the defining, no-interpretation things was that Peter and Elizabeth were happily married.

 

The state of their marriage was very clear to me, and should be to any viewer who paid attention to the show. This didn't require the actors telling us off show that they had a good marriage. If the show does their job right, extra weighing in is unnecessary. I have no idea if they did or not, but I don't really care either way. I don't mind if actors like to talk about how they prepared for scenes, etc.; like TM on Orphan Black says she makes a playlist for each character to prepare. She's not saying that Sara thinks of Felix as a brother, because it's pretty obvious from watching the show. Or if the actors are like, 'it was *freezing* out when we did this scene and I had to wear that tank top!' 

 

Things like what Peter was thinking at the end of the series don't need to be clarified by anyone on the show. Every show needs tentpoles, but these should be clear to the viewers from watching. 

 

At some point you need the audience to just watch and pay attention to your show. TPTBs tend to be their own worst enemies. How about instead of squawking on twitter about what the actor was thinking, you have a show bible and a continuity editor, so the the writers can do their job better? 

[Slovenly Muse]

Yeah, this ending was predictable and telegraphed from a mile away, but it still ties up loose ends far more satisfactorily than the "flip a coin" ending Eastin envisioned, which was intriguing in concept but would have been ultimately empty in practice.

 

Neal had a supposedly iron-clad contract to be released when the Panthers were caught, so presumably, even if the FBI did know he was alive, they would have no basis to resume the chase. He faked his death to protect the people he cares about, so that the Panthers' people would not come after them, not to evade law enforcement. Until he actually commits another crime, Peter and the FBI would have no reason to pursue him as he is not wanted. (Ok, faking your death is probably a crime, but it wasn't done out of a spirit of law-breaking and deviousness so much as it was done out of necessity to protect the innocent - Peter gets that.) In that sense, he is free. And that, I appreciate. Even though he can't be in NY with the people he cares about, he's not on the run and he has the potential to build something real for himself somewhere else, and that is great. I also read the headline to hint that he had been hired as a security consultant, but I like that it could go either way. There is still hope for him now that he is no longer on the run. Screw whatever Eastin says.

 

Not sure if Mozzie was in on it from the start (probably yes), but I definitely think he'd been hanging around NY to make sure Peter eventually found all that evidence Neal left for him to let him know he was alive. Peter was given that key with Neal's personal effects, and it took him a whole year to figure it out? Mozzie seemed to be intentionally prodding him to suspect that Neal was alive, telling him the story of the card Neal had given him, trying to stir up some hope. Mozzie probably left the bottle of wine when he arrived to visit the Burke's (planting it on the doorstep when he arrived to see Elizabeth for Peter to find when he got home slightly later), and he left the card (and possibly the paper) in the storage container, so he really was trying to make sure Peter connected all the dots and wasn't left grieving forever because of his own stupidity. Now that Peter does know, Mozzie's job is done, and he is free to make his own fresh start somewhere. Or meet up with Neal again and pick up where they left off. Or hang around NY and be Neal's means of keeping tabs on everyone he had to leave behind.

 

The finale wasn't particularly well-executed, but I do think they wrapped up everyone's story in a way that best fits their characters. Happy, but not too happy. Changed by what they've experienced, but without losing their way. Eastin's interviews just make me wonder if he maybe didn't fully UNDERSTAND the ending that Bomer and DeKay pitched to him, and that he ended up using. Because what I saw was a heck of a lot better than what it sounds like he wanted or expected me to see.

 

In any case, I am sad it's over. Thanks for six years of bringing the fun, White Collar! I will look back on you fondly, whatever your flaws.

[sinkwriter]

 

Not sure if Mozzie was in on it from the start (probably yes), but I definitely think he'd been hanging around NY to make sure Peter eventually found all that evidence Neal left for him to let him know he was alive.

 

The only things that make me think that Mozzie was not in on it from the start (but probably found out somehow or figured it out not long after Neal's "death") was 1) he seemed devastatingly grief-striken in seeing Neal's body, and 2) he was really pissed off because Neal wasn't telling him what was going on and Neal continued to stay quiet, no matter how many times Mozzie asked or demanded to be invited in. I think this time Neal managed to keep Mozzie out of it, for many reasons.

 

Even though the presence of the playing card in the storage locker seems to hint that Mozzie knows Neal is alive, Mozzie still seemed pretty quiet and sad when talking with Peter and I think that's because Mozzie knows he's alive but realizes that they'll probably never see one another again. Not this time.

[Slovenly Muse]

Yeah, that makes sense. I could see Neal keeping Mozzie out of it (maybe leaving him a key as well, or some other clue, so that he figures it out), but there was that conversation that was cut away from that could also explain it. When Neal finally DID clue Mozzie in about why he'd been kept in the dark (because he was planning to steal from the Panthers and was "teaming up" with Keller and needed Mozzie to work from outside the operation), he could have clued Mozzie in all the way at that point about the whole plan. Mozzie asked him what would happen when Keller inevitably betrayed them, and Neal responded that he'd be ready... there was a cut away from the conversation at that point, but we don't know that that was the end of it. Neal could have told Mozzie the whole plan then.

 

I could see Mozzie being in on it from that point on, OR finding a clue of his own and putting it all together afterward, but I definitely got the vibe that he was in NY making sure that Peter put the clues together so that he would know Neal was alive. And in that sense, it could go either way. If the card in the storage container WAS placed there by Mozzie after he had showed it to Peter in the park, then it would have been left intentionally as a nod from Mozzie to Peter (presumably a goodbye, because Mozzie had told Peter earlier that the card had been meant as a goodbye, meaning Mozzie would be moving on now that Peter had finally put it all together). If not, then it would have been left there as a sign to Mozzie from Neal. (The card itself wouldn't have enough significance to Peter apart from the story that Mozzie told him, right?) And since the way he handled the card indicated that there was something special about the texture, and since Mozzie commented when Neal gave it to him that it had the same feel as when he had first used it (it had been marked somehow? Bent? Thumbed? I can't remember his exact words), that seems to indicate that Peter found the same card in the unit that Mozzie had had in his possession earlier that day, meaning that Mozzie had been there and that his conversations with Peter were meant to help Peter find the place as well. THAT is why I think Mozzie was hanging around for Peter's sake, probably at Neal's behest, to make sure that last loose end was tied up and Peter wasn't left hanging. And that would indicate that Neal and Mozzie had been in touch, and that leads me to believe that Mozzie was in on it from the start, and was trying to sell Peter on the idea that Neal really was dead for the sake of the plan. (After all, would Mozzie really believe it himself without sitting in on the autopsy? He's probably helped Neal fake his death too many times for that.)

 

It does also make sense if Mozzie didn't know. I could easily believe it. But I like to sort of believe in both versions simultaneously, rather than committing to one. Not knowing for sure means I don't have to believe that Neal was cruel enough to break all of his friends' hearts at once with his "death," but then I also don't have to believe that Mozzie would intentionally manipulate Peter by leading him to be needlessly grief-stricken while Neal used the distraction to leave the country. Sometimes, ambiguity is appreciated!

[Gigi43]

I fell asleep in the middle of the night watching Criminal Intent (maybe Goren could figure this out!) and woke up to the episode just starting on USA. What timing my sleep has. Maybe I'm giving them too much credit but Neal telling Mozzie all about how he had to on the outside stood out to me now as foreshadowing to the fact that no, Mozzie was not in on Neal's plan until much later. Mozzie was the outside man. Mozzie's breakdown had to be real. When the time was right Neal brought him in, just like with the Panthers but he couldn't be his partner on this. I think Mozzie's grief, real grief, was a point in the plan to sell it to Peter (and maybe June later?) But I also thought too this was done so Neal could leave Mozzie too, and I don't see Mozzie agreeing to such a thing, but after adjusting to a Neal-less life, could come around to knowing and staying away... and since I'm ignoring Eastin, I'll stick with it.

 

Hearing the contents of Neal's wallet this time kinda amused me, I don't think I really took it in all that was said. I like to think now Neal really did always happen to leave the house with a load of credit cards and random hotel keys.

 

I just thought of something. I assume they had a funeral, so who did they bury?!

 

As a life-long Soap Opera watcher, I can comfortably say it's the easiest part of death-faking to pay someone off to bury a random body or empty coffin or have yourself cremated *wink* Also, the last episode of Leverage involved a very real looking version of a dead body of one of the main characters meant to fool search and rescue/law enforcement (with Mark Shepard's character aka White Collar's Curtis Hagan, no less, shooting it up and pulling out the inside materials---which I can't think of off of the top of my head---, to prove it was fake and how it was done), I can see Neal having one of those in the hospital as his, I assumed in the morgue scene with Mozzie and Peter right away it was a body like that actually.

Edited December 21, 2014 by Gigi43

[AnnA]

I think there's a real possibility that Neal had this planned for a very long time.  Way back in S5 he said he needed to "cut all ties" and he did.   We've all assumed that Neal faked his death to protect those he loves but if the Pink Panthers were all locked up for life,  who would be coming after him/them?  And if there was such an individual, wouldn't they be going after Peter as well?  He was in on the job and helped set them up.

[catrice2]

have not had a chance to watch. Was June not in the final? 

[Ohmo]

June was in the finale at the beginning of the episode.  I thought her scene with Neal was very sweet.  It seemed like Diahann and Matt were saying good-bye on-camera.  It came across to me as very real-life sentimental and genuine.

 

Until he actually commits another crime, Peter and the FBI would have no reason to pursue him as he is not wanted.

 

 

This is where the money comes into play.  I thought that Neal has at least part of the missing money from the Federal Reserve, so would that not be a crime?  He had an ironclad contract to leave the FBI, but not to take the money.  I do disagree that the chase is on again (at least as far as Peter is concerned), but if Neal has any of the money, he's committed a crime.

Edited December 21, 2014 by Ohmo

[Gigi43]

have not had a chance to watch. Was June not in the final?

She was in the beginning (second scene I believe) for about two minutes. I found it very unsatisfactory. Mozzie was in the scene too (Neal came home to them having martini's) it wasn't even a one-on-one two minutes.

They really should should have spanned this two episodes (God knows that Mozzie random-love episode could have been sacrificed) or try to get an extra half hour. There was so much that felt short changed.

Edited December 21, 2014 by Gigi43

[nico]

There was so much that felt short changed.

 

 

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.   

Edited December 21, 2014 by nico

[marihunc]

And part of his wish was for a smoking hot badass blond woman who he had history with to spread his ashes in Lisbon.

My headcanon is that the whole idea to take down the Pink Panthers came from a certain red-haired General... :D Also, the company that got the Louvre security contract was Carmichael Industries with their new employee :D :D

[romantic idiot]

I have no idea what this means. Please to explain? 

[VanillaBear85]

I believe it is a Chuck reference. Matt Bomer had a recurring role on that show.

[amaranta]

My headcanon is that the whole idea to take down the Pink Panthers came from a certain red-haired General... :D Also, the company that got the Louvre security contract was Carmichael Industries with their new employee :D :D

 

I have no idea what this means. Please to explain?

 

Me thinks that marihunc was a loyal Chuck watcher (as was I).  But yes, if you haven't seen or Netflixed Chuck that wouldn't mean much.  That show is where I first saw Matt Bomer, as gorgeous and totally kick ass CIA agent Bryce Larson.  So that would be an interesting tie-in.

 

I've watched the finale once, just last night.  I don't know what Eastin's been smoking and like most here I didn't see any of what he was talking about play on my screen. Not with how Matt and Tim played it.  I too thought when they showed the newspaper with the Louvre headline that Neal was in charge of that security upgrade.

 

Did anyone else think of the storage unit as a vehicle for returns?  That the items inside are valuables that Neal has stolen back and were left there for Peter to find? Or returns of things Neal himself had?

 

Now I need someone to make a series about a magic storage unit, one that acts as a portal.  Or something...

Edited December 21, 2014 by amaranta

[MDL]

I "knew" that Neal was not really dead.......BUT the show almost convinced me that he was really dead. (kudos to Tim and Willie for the morgue scene).

I think that Peter's smile at the very end was not that "the chase is on" but a smile  of joy that Neal was alive,... and finally free.

I also think that Mozzie did not know, but somehow figured it out (with help from Neal??), and that he left the card for Peter .

 

The "one year later" bugged me because that meant that Neal let his "family" grieve for a full year. (Unless he thought that Peter and/or Mozzie would find the shipping container in less time.

[sinkwriter]

 

Also, the company that got the Louvre security contract was Carmichael Industries with their new employee

 

LOL! I loved watching Chuck but I didn't get the references to the blond or redhead until you said Carmichael Industries. Then my brain said, "Ohhhh! Got it! YES!"

 

"Carmichael. Charles Carmichael." Heee.

 

Makes me want to rewatch my Chuck DVDs... that pilot episode with Matt's character doing parkour is really sexy. He was wonderful on that show. 

[Slovenly Muse]

 

The "one year later" bugged me because that meant that Neal let his "family" grieve for a full year. (Unless he thought that Peter and/or Mozzie would find the shipping container in less time.

 

Well, Neal planted the clues as to the whereabouts of the shipping container the very day he "died." He had been spotted there making a transaction with the "EMT" and he left the key in his personal effects for Peter to receive right away. He never intended for Peter to be in the dark for so long, and left him with everything he needed to find the truth! When Peter did not investigate these leads and rather let it go and focused on his family instead, Neal sent him the wine to "remind" him that there were some loose ends to tie up.

 

Man, it's been a long time since I've thought about Chuck! It might just be time to revisit that series...

[Ohmo]

Well, Neal planted the clues as to the whereabouts of the shipping container the very day he "died." He had been spotted there making a transaction with the "EMT" and he left the key in his personal effects for Peter to receive right away. He never intended for Peter to be in the dark for so long, and left him with everything he needed to find the truth! When Peter did not investigate these leads and rather let it go and focused on his family instead, Neal sent him the wine to "remind" him that there were some loose ends to tie up.

 

I agree that Peter was never meant to be in the dark for forever, but I do think the year was purposeful on Neal's part.  He drank a drug because he needed a "body."  I believe that he wanted Peter to genuinely believe, for at least a year, that Neal was dead  and Neal intentionally put things together so Peter wouldn't investigate right away.  My own theory/personal handwave is that would be long enough for Neal to get a sense through his network of contacts of how seriously the Pink Panthers might be pursuing him.  After a year, Neal could at least make an educated determination of how well the ruse was holding up, whether it was possible to safely contact Peter, and then send tthe wine to him if Neal believed that the conditions were favorable enough to do so.

Edited December 21, 2014 by Ohmo

[tessaray]

I need a moratorium on faking your death for a series finale.  I get why they do it but enough already.  Of course, there really aren't any "caper" type shows left are there?  Leverage, Burn Notice, White Collar... any others like them?

[wellread]

Although there were some lovely moments in the finale, such as Matt's farewell to June, they were all generated by the skills of the actors and not the strength of the material.  The writers should be ashamed of themselves.  Maybe if I had never watched a TV show before, I would have been moved by the faked death, the "one year later"ploy, and most of all the coy avoidance of saying the babys' name.  Yes, the show was USA fluff, but couldn't someone have showed a little imagination?

[marihunc]

Me thinks that marihunc was a loyal Chuck watcher (as was I). 

 

Yep, guilty :D And a proud member of the "Neal Caffrey is Bryce Larkin undercover"-brigade :D :D :D

 

Makes me want to rewatch my Chuck DVDs... that pilot episode with Matt's character doing parkour is really sexy. He was wonderful on that show. 

 

Oh yes... and one of the things I lament the most is that Yvonne Strahovski never guested on White Collar. Can you imagine something like a repeat of this scene on WC? :))))

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUUi_BEoSe0

 

 

I need a moratorium on faking your death for a series finale.  I get why they do it but enough already.  Of course, there really aren't any "caper" type shows left are there?  Leverage, Burn Notice, White Collar... any others like them?

 

Nope, can't think of any :( I really need a new one, I can't live on re-watches forever! :D

[romantic idiot]

Ah Chuck. Thanks. I have seen it but couldn't get into it beyond the Bomer episodes. Despite Adam Baldwin.

[sinkwriter]

 

Oh yes... and one of the things I lament the most is that Yvonne Strahovski never guested on White Collar. Can you imagine something like a repeat of this scene on WC? :))))

 

LOL. I didn't even have to click the link. I knew immediately it had to be the dance between Bryce and Sarah. Love it.  *GRIN*

 

Yes, that is a sad thing, that Yvonne never guested on White Collar. Now there would have been some chemistry for Neal! They were great together. (And that's a "Sarah" I could have loved on this show. Ha!)

 

This is one of my favorite Chuck and Bryce (Matt Bomer) moments: when they speak Klingon to one another. Classic.

Edited December 21, 2014 by sinkwriter

[apgold]

I enjoyed the finale even though it was telegraphed that Neal would fake his death somehow.  It was still sad though when Peter broke down.  The show was really about their relationship - the push and pull of trust levels despite their love for each other.  

 

As soon as El said she was having a boy, I knew they would name him Neal.

 

My favorite thing about this show was the use of the NY area locations and how great the DP made NY look.  The last image of Neal walking in Paris was actually done on Stone Street in Manhattan.  I suppose they thought cobblestone streets, a Financier Patisserie + green screen Eiffel tower would suffice, lol. 

Edited December 22, 2014 by apgold

[marihunc]

LOL. I didn't even have to click the link. I knew immediately it had to be the dance between Bryce and Sarah. Love it.  *GRIN*

 

Yes, that is a sad thing, that Yvonne never guested on White Collar. Now there would have been some chemistry for Neal! They were great together. (And that's a "Sarah" I could have loved on this show. Ha!)

 

This is one of my favorite Chuck and Bryce (Matt Bomer) moments: when they speak Klingon to one another. Classic.

Moving to Small Talk :)

[amaranta]

I watched the finale one more time and a few things sprang to mind (nothing deep here...) -

 

1) Matt Bomer and Tim Dekay really sold everything they were given; both are excellent actors

 

2) I'm going to miss Willie Garson.  I always liked Mozzy, but I didn't realize I was going to miss him.

 

3) People magazine needs to grow a pair and give Sexiest Man Alive to Matt Bomer.  No offense to Chris Pine, but Bomer is beyond beautiful. Also see the already noted excellent acting skills.

 

Bye show!

[IWantCandy71]

I'd love for Mozzie to let Neal go. I hope he had a good amount of time to grieve the relationship, and even as he talked with Peter on the street, he seemed quieter, more content to just be on his own. I know Mozzie will never leave the con life, but Neal has always seemed to want more than that, so I hope that Mozzie leaves Neal to travel and do whatever his heart desires, while Mozzie keeps some of that money to be comfortable financially but stays in NYC, working on his own, going "back to basics" as Neal wanted him to do. (Nothing dangerous, just "fun" cons.) He knows Neal's safe, Neal knows Mozzie's safe (and was never part of the Panthers so they won't hurt him), and they can move forward separately, and remember fondly the "good old con days" they had together. But I think it's time for them to part ways, and I think that's why Mozzie was still a little sad, talking with Peter, because he knows at that point that Neal is alive but he knows they probably won't see one another again, not in the way they used to.

 

That's how I'm going to see it, anyway.  :)

 Gosh I'd like to hope, but you know if they do that movie or a one shot show after this, they'll have Mozzie all up in Neal's life. It's too bad. I liked Mozzie the least out of the entire cast, and I think he's the main reason Neal fought the con side of himself so much.

Just something about Mozzie rubbed me the wrong way. But again-I think Mozzie is the type of character you aren't supposed to really "like" as a person. Be entertained by, laugh at, sure. But "like"? No.  And certainly never trust.

 

I am conflicted. I don't like the ending with Neal and Peter separated, because Neal and Peter were the heart of the show, and the only reason I bothered to watch. On the other hand, I can't say it's entirely OOC for Neal. Yes, we saw glimpses he wanted to be a better man, but we also *always* saw his love of the con, his wandering spirit, and mostly his desire to be free. I think we got all three of those in his ending, and it fits.

Peter and Elizabeth having a baby was just....weird. They were perfectly happy without one.

On the other hand.....I don't really care for JE's flip of the coin and fade to black idea.  I personally haaaate shows that end with a fade to black during a crucial point. I think it's lazy and uncreative, and it could even suggest the writer doesn't know the character well enough to know where they'd end up, or is too wishy washy to just END IT.

But mostly, I think an audience who has invested years of their lives in these characters deserves a definite ending or at least, a stopping point, for each featured character. We deserve to *know* where they end up at the end, even if we know they might likely not stay at that point. Not knowing if someone reunites or survives or what have you-that's just a cop out way to end a show.

So I'm glad he didn't do that, but I am not sure this was better.

 

Also realized that the ending, if you mainly watched for Peter and Neal's friendship as I did, is sadder than it first appears. Because Neal can't ever come back to NY/be with Peter and Elizabeth and any of the others, not as long as any of the Panthers are alive. Even incarcerated, they could exact vengeance. So even though Peter knows he's alive-chances are, they'll never see each other again. Of course, if Peter is clever enough to pick up on other clues Neal sends, and the Burkes went to Paris, he could meet up with them some how. But that would be the only way.

Kind of sad, really.  :(

And no. I don't care if Mozzie and Neal ever meet again. Neal would be far better off if they didn't.

Edited January 14, 2015 by IWantCandy71

[DrSpaceman]

I just finished the finale, got behind on the last season and finally watched on DVD.

It was a decent finale, though could have been better

It reminded me a lot of Burn Notice....even beyond the fake death. I thought it had such great potential for an epic twist beyond just the fake death and then in the end it was a pat happy ending.

I don't think Peter goes after Neal again at the end.

Also what I was hoping was Peter would resign from the FBI altogether at the end and let neal escape, basically a Point Break ending. He gives up his job to be home more with his son (I knew he would be named Neal, I think we all saw that coming) and to allow Neal his freedom.

Then in the final scene......now this would be the ultimate, Tiffani Amber Thiesen is dressed like Elaine, Mozzi becomes bizzaro George, they move and their new next door neighbor shows up and is bizzaro Kramer. He then assumes his role as bizzaro Jerry.