Matt Bomer and Tim DeKay, courtesy NBC Universal
WHITE COLLAR
Friendly Rating: Upper elementary and older.
Safety Rating: Minimal violence, but anti-hero issues.
Quality Rating: Way good. Seriously way good.
Season Two premieres tonight on USA Network at 9 p.m.
You’ve got the world’s greatest forger and con-man. You’ve got the only FBI agent who could track him down. You’ve got the two of them working together to bring down the bad guys. Big fat hairy deal. Like this scenario hasn’t been done to death in movies and on TV.
And yet, what makes White Collar so good is that it’s still unlike anything else on TV.
Safety-wise, you get the occasional sex talk. There is some violence – the cliff hanger from last season involved a plane exploding. But if there is violence, you generally see the end result, not the actual act. Generally. Plus, con man and forger Neil Caffrey (Matt Bomer) is prone to working outside the law to achieve his ends – although he’s been known to manipulate it, as well. He’s a bit of an anti-hero – meaning you can probably get some extensive conversation mileage out of the ends justifying the means philosophy.
Tim DeKay plays Peter Burke, a by the books FBI agent – but possibly the smartest guy in the agency, ‘cuz no one else was able to catch Neil. Neil is a total charmer who’s beginning to realize with this new season, that maybe life on the run has its disadvantages, as well as there’s something to be said for being one of the good guys.
When we left them last season, Neil was about to take off with his mystery woman, Kate – the love of his life – only to have the plane go boom before he can get on it. The problem is that Peter took on his nasty colleague Garrett Fowler (Noah Emmerich), who was seriously up to no good.
Well, Peter’s now kinda in trouble. Neil’s freaking out, but trying to play it cool, even though Kate was murdered. And Peter’s worried enough about Neil that he’s contacting Mozzie (Willie Garson), Neil’s conspiracy-loving buddy in crime so that the two of them can help Neil. Alas, Tiffani Thiesen (as Peter’s lovely wife Elizabeth) doesn’t get as much play time this episode – she’s a hoot and a half. But Diahann Carroll is back as Neil’s landlady.
The best part of White Collar is that you’ve got lots of wonderful twists and turns in the plotting, but even better, there’s a sense of wit about the show. These are articulate people. But best of all, you’ve got these wonderful relationships – Peter and Neil, Neil and Elizabeth, Mozzie and Elizabeth and Neil. The joy of it is that you’ve got essentially flawed human beings doing their best to be good. Granted, that good isn’t always what most folks would call good (in the case of Neil and Mozzie), but they are trying and they are evolving and the fun is in watching them get beyond their prejudices and find the right way of things.
Not to mention some excellent twists and turns and wit. Oh, wait. I mentioned that already. But that’s what makes White Collar unlike anything else on TV. And it is reasonably family-safe.
