Stars: 4 out of 5
Pros: Stories still good; characters still fun
Cons: Characters have grown beyond the premise of the show.
The Bottom Line:
Still conning the cons
As characters outgrow show
Good but not the best
"Did You Set Off an Alarm?" "Peter, That's Hurtful."
I hate to say it, but I’m actually kind of glad that the
next season of White Collar will be
the show’s final season. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still enjoying the
show. But the writers have to work so hard to keep the cast of
characters together at this point, it’s time to set them free and bring an end
to the saga. Having said that, there is still plenty of fun to be
had in season five, which is actually what I’m reviewing today.
If you have missed the show in the past, it focuses on Neal
Caffrey (Matt Bomer), a con man who has been caught by FBI agent Peter Burke
(Tim DeKay). Instead of serving out his sentence in prison, he’s
become an asset to the FBI and helps them bring down other white collar
criminals. Reluctantly helping is Neal’s con man friend Mozzie
(Willie Garson). On the FBI side of things, we’ve gotten to know
agents Clinton Jones (Sharif Atkins) and Diana Barrigan (Marsha Thomason). Rounding
out the cast is Peter’s long suffering wife Elizabeth (Tiffany Thiessen) who
occasionally gets involved in cases, too.
This season opens with Peter in prison after he got falsely
accused of murder in the fourth season finale. (But that’s a long
story.) Neal is willing to do anything to get him out of prison,
especially when the person who really committed the murder goes
underground. In his efforts to do that, Neal winds up indebted to Curtis
Hagen (Mark Sheppard), a dangerous man from his past, and once again finds
himself trying to evade the FBI while working with them on cases while keeping
his latest crimes secret to keep Hagen’s blackmail at bay.
Of course, there is always the case of the week that Neal,
Peter, and the gang at the FBI need to solve. This season we get
such cases as a black market ring that leads straight to Mozzie, Neal becomes a
butler to prove an imposter is in their midst, Peter must work with his
ex-girlfriend on a case, and Diana must go undercover to stop a rogue stock
trader. Neal even gets a new love interest in Rebecca (Bridget Rega),
a woman he meets at a museum early in the season.
Unfortuantely, Diana is absent for much of the season since
Marsha Thomason gave birth in real life as well as on the show. The
rest of the cast is here full time however, and they are wonderful at bring
their characters to life each week. The guest stars jump right in
and match this fine level of acting.
The overall story arc this season is very interesting and
kept me off kilter with a couple of nice twists along the way. This
isn’t the show’s best story arc, but it was certainly entertaining. Likewise,
the cases of the week are wonderful as always, and I loved watching them work
on solving these cases together.
So what is my problem this season? We’ve gotten
to the point where the characters have outgrown the premise of the
show. I’m not saying I think Neal has reformed, but he certainly has
earned being off the anklet the FBI has used since season 1 to track him. Yet
we still have that plot devise. Peter has been up for and turn down
promotions several times to stay close to Neal. In fact, they play
with him moving to DC for much of this season. And there is no
reason in the real world he wouldn’t do that. I’ve always loved how
real and fully developed the characters on the show are, but unfortunately this
is the result – too much realistic character growth hampered by the constraints
of the show.
Having said all this, I’m thrilled the show is coming back
for a final six episodes. The cliffhanger at the end of this season
cries out to be resolved. And it will
give us a chance to say goodbye to these characters properly and see where the
next chapter for all of them begins. (I
just hope I like how they choose to end it.)
As always, the heart of the show is the relationship between
Neal and Peter. They do a better job of creating tension between
them than in seasons past, but at times even that felt artificial. And, as much as I love their relationship, it
is the only reason Peter hasn’t taken a promotion, which doesn’t feel right to me.
This season consisted of 13 episodes, and all of them are
present in this four disc set. Not
surprisingly, they are in their native wide screen and full surround as
well. Extras include a gag reel and
deleted scenes as well as an audio commentary on the season finale and a
featurette about star Willie Garson taking on directing duties for an episode
this season.
So while I’m still enjoying the show overall, I’m glad
everyone has agreed it is time to end the story. Knowing that allows
me to enjoy the fun of season five of White Collar more.
Season 5 Episodes:
1. At What Price
2. Out of the Frying Pan
3. One Last Stakeout
4. Controlling Interest
5. Master Plan
6. Ice Breaker
7. Quantico Closure
8. Digging Deeper
9. No Good Deed
10. Live Feed
11. Shot Through the Heart
12. Taking Stock
13. Diamond Exchange
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