USA's 'White Collar'

I'll be honest with you (unlike most posts where I lie like crazy), the promos that USA's been running for what seems like a year and a half for their new show White Collar have left me mostly cold. Oh wow, an odd couple-ish pairing of a by-the-book law enforcement officer with some outside of law enforcement, who plays by his own rules and is the key to solving crimes...where have we seen that one 7,000 times lately? And while I was surprised that Tim DeKay was getting a chance to be the lead on a series, Matthew Bomer's casting left me cold--most of the Bryce Larkin storylines on Chuck were my least favorite.

But I gave it a shot anyway, because hey, it's USA, and that means it's probably going to be better than most of what's on TV anyway.

So glad I gave it a chance. I actually liked Bomer's character, and thought he did a pretty good job in the role. DeKay demonstrated his typical solid acting chops. The rest of the cast and characters were somewhere between decent and good (Willie Garson and Mark Sheppard in particular). The story wasn't the most intricate plot, but it was well-told--which is far more important anyway. Oh yeah, it was fun, too. Not to full of itself, it's escapist fiction and knows it.

There were two things that really sold me on the pilot--1. Bomer's Neal Caffery was cocky to the point of arrogant, brilliant, irreverent, etc.--all the things that the 90% of the consultants that do the actual crimefighting while the TV cops watch are (see Shawn Spencer, Richard Castle, Patrick Jane, etc.), but without being a cartoon like the rest are always in danger of becoming. Gerald So used the word "vulnerability," and I wished I'd come up with that on my own. 2. DeKay's Peter Burke was a competent--make that excellent--agent. He's no bumbler inexplicably in a ranking position, like so many are (see Lt. Disher, Det. Lassiter, Agent Lisbon the California Bureau of Investigation); he could stand on his own, but sees the opportunity to do a little better by using this particular tool. A fairly fully drawn character, to boot. The dynamic--one of mutual respect--should prove to be a fun one to watch.

Now just because the pilot wowed me, doesn't mean it's a lock. USA's In Plain Sight had a great pilot and hasn't come close to being as good since. But I've read that Natalie Morales stars in episode 2, and any show that casts The Middleman's Dubby for at least one episode, demonstrates a level of taste and discernment that speaks well of the series as a whole.