White Collar season premiere

[aelfgyfu_mead]

I was afraid to watch this episode, afraid that they were going to ruin the show for me.

Yeah, they pretty much have.

I fell in love with Peter and Neal working together, even when they didn't always agree about methods. I loved that Peter was willing to take chances with Neal, and that Neal seemed to repay Peter by helping the good guys and the victims. I loved that he gave the Haustenberg back to the rightful owner.

I don't love a Neal who keeps Nazi art. He didn't steal it, but he's in possession of it now.

I don't love a Neal who uses Elizabeth.

We won't even talk about Mozzie right now. I would think he'd see that this is wrong. I know Mozzies a paranoid conman, I know that he has no faith in the system—but this art was taken from victims of genocide. You don't ever profit off that.

I'm disappointed in Peter too. I think Neal was looking for a way out and a reason to get out of Mozzie's plan, and Peter didn't give him that reason. Peter has more reason, however.

I can rationalize that Neal is afraid that simply turning over the art could put Mozzie in jail, but that's as far as I can get. I understand how loyal Neal is, and that he doesn't want Mozzie hurt.

I'd like to hope that we'll see Neal's conscience develop this season, but Eastin hasn't even laid the groundwork for it. I'm not sure Eastin's aware there's a serious moral issue here! I think Peter should have said, "Nazi loot? Neal, it's hard to turn your back on the big score, but this art was taken from people who were brought to death camps. People have dedicated whole careers to getting it back where it belongs—as close as they can, with so many people murdered. Do the right thing. If you know anything, help get this art back to the heirs, or at least to the countries from which the Nazis took it."

I was afraid at the end of last season that Eastin was setting us up for a rift between the boys, but I thought the art would come to light pretty quickly. Now I'm afraid it's the season arc. I know Neal's morals aren't mine, but I thought he had more of them than he apparently does.

I'm also really upset that Neal used Elizabeth. I thought of Neal as someone who genuinely likes people, and though he uses them almost habitually, he tries not to use Elizabeth (and June). I can't recall him just manipulating Elizabeth before: sure, he plays on her sympathy in the course of their interactions, but he went to her house for the sole purpose of learning what she knew. He abused her trust, her love for him, and her hospitality. I didn't even see a sign he regretted it.

I don't want to watch Peter playing cat and mouse with Neal and Mozzie over Nazi loot. That's not fun. Does Eastin not recognize how wrong the conmen are here?