By: Stephanie Sigafoos
People seem to think I watch a lot of TV, but you know what I tell them? It’s irresponsible not to value television. Just like anyone who reads a good book or enjoys a critically-acclaimed movie, TV is another medium to tell stories. Now if you’re looking for something memorable, great scripts and great casts are an invaluable combination — but finding that blend on the hundreds of channels now available through even the most basic digital cable package is a bit like wading through muck after a long, hard rain.
One show you should be watching? USA Network’s White Collar, which has cornered the market on words like “fun,” “charming,” and dare I say … intelligent?
In last night’s episode, “Bad Judgment,” the writers managed to take a case of mortgage fraud – perhaps the most boring white collar crime you could cover in a 60+ page script – and somehow manage to make it ridiculously interesting. How’d they do it, you ask? Well they planted an adorable six-year-old in the FBI offices, had her doodle on some important-looking bureau paperwork, threw in a corrupt judge, an even more corrupt OPR agent (that’s bureau slang for “agents who investigate agents”) and topped it off with two fairly important words – “See Robert.”
Just who is Robert? Well he happens to be the very dead father of Neal Caffrey’s missing girlfriend, Kate. You see, Neal isn’t convinced Ms. Kate is working for this crooked OPR agent (Noah Emmerich as Garrett Fowler) and he’s intent on tracking her down to get a decent conversation out of the girl. But in order to find her Neal has to follow the clues, the most recent of which was a paper flower tucked into a days-old bouquet at her father’s grave marker.
“Does that flower mean what I think it means?” asked Mozzie, the ever-hilarious sidekick played to perfection by Willie Garson. “I think it does,” Neal answered, leaving viewers with another mini-cliffhanger heading into next Tuesday’s episode.
Other fun things about last night’s show:
“Bad Judgement” was the first White Collar episode that brought together the entire cast of principle actors. When Elizabeth opened the door to find the “cleaner” and asked if he was selling vacuums, the response by Mozz was hilarious. Even better was his thorough search of bugs in Peter and El’s home, where he turned up old surveillance photos and a story of their first date. Awwww.
Where else on TV are you going to find two leads playing a board game of Oregon Trail to plot out a break-in at a federal courthouse? Better yet, tell me where you’ll see that and have the writers make it make sense?
If you were paying close attention last night, you would’ve found out a fun new way to forge people’s signatures. Not that I recommend it (*wink) but Neal made it look so easy!
Next week (and I totally had an exclusive on this information), Peter goes undercover as a massage therapist. Does FBI stand for “Female Body Inspector?” You’ll have to tune in to find out!
