White Collar seasons 1-4 have been so delightful, earnest, exciting, and poignant, then all of a sudden s5 had an extreme decrease in quality, with changes in its dialogue (repetitive overexplaining with very little actual personal connection between characters except when they narrate each other’s emotional arcs at one another), episodic and overarching plots (plot holes abounding; also relies on changing/ignoring established facts for unbelievable reasons), tone (less fun/silly, darker, seemingly at least in part for shock value, esp re: multiple murders), themes (ex: suddenly neal is a burden and a Problem, according to both he and peter, while the nuance of him being basically an indentured servant is forgotten), character and narrative consistency (characters acting very ooc, sometimes even specifically in contrast to major statements and actions from past seasons without reason, such as peter not being sure neal should be free even after the s3 finale incident in which he notably stated the opposite after making it happen, and now suddenly trusting neal far less to the point of paranoia even before bodies drop, and also being less invested in what his wife wants, from ruining her lunch plans to uprooting her life without much consideration; also peter is now okay with casually breaking the law regularly re: warrants etc while saying how much he respects the letter of the law), pacing (less happening per episode with fewer neat resolutions), and editing (nauseating NYC montages, random yellow filter on neal’s apartment, etc).
So yeah, season five was abysmal (glad for you if you liked it though of course!), but now s6, like a switch flipped, is suddenly good again. Really good.
The power of friendship™ is back as a valid plot device: Peter uses his and Rebecca’s shared love for neal to convince her to help them find him (and yes, we’re back to this kind of wild devoted!peter behavior <3), and Mozzie tells everyone neal wouldn’t have run away without him because they’re best friends and this whole room of fbi agents all look at each other and go “well, they are best friends,” and trust Mozzie that neal was kidnapped rather than running.
The active plot is resolved within the episode. The first suspect they find is the guy that did it. There’s a fun heist. All the agents are there in the van and Mozzie deviates from the plan by creating a humorous distraction. He’s also a whole person with interiority and intelligence rather than a generic “weird guy” caricature. Neal regains his agency and goes back to actively affecting the plot (and visibly having fun doing it). The both of them are improbably good at random skills and very in sync. The dialogue is no longer a combination of confusing banter and repetitive overexplaining and goes back to being one of the show’s strengths, with conversations showing friends that genuinely seem to know/like/care about each other— they joke around, talk about their feelings sometimes, get dinner together. Jones isn’t just there to narrate Peter’s emotional journeys; instead, he’s making a silly bet with Mozzie in the van. Even Rebecca is no longer a fickle obsessed stalker but rather a dangerous yet defeated woman with one last tragic play (that actually evoked emotion, unlike her entire relationship with Neal last season).
It’s very refreshing to have The Characters™ back :)
