My Favorite Color, At Least Today (July Photos, Day 10)

 

Let me spill the beans right up front: today, my favorite color is white.  I’m not sure too many people are that impressed with white; heck, I’m not even sure too many people believe white is actually a color.  Doesn’t matter, though.  I’m not here to debate light molecules and pigment, or whatever scientific mumbo-jumbo actually goes into creating color.  For my purposes today, white is a color.

Now that we’ve got that settled, let’s talk about why it’s the color I’ve chosen, and why just today.  Well, because on any other day, I’d probably answer the fave color question with mauve, or maroon, or some other red-or-pink-but-not-really-red-or-pink color.  But, any other day would not be the season four premiere of my current very favorite television show, White Collar.

For those of you who are fellow Collars (as fans of the show are known), I hope you tuned in tonight, because it was pretty darn good.

And, for those of you not familiar with it, let me give you a quick run-down of the basics:  it’s a buddy-cop/odd couple show about a con-man (Neal Caffrey) paroled into the custody of the only FBI agent ever able to catch him (Peter Burke).  They get on each other’s nerves almost as much as they genuinely care about each other.  And, oh, yeah—in the process, they catch criminals. 

Want to know why you should be watching?  I could probably give you a hundred reasons, but let’s start with a top 5:

#5.   Matt Bomer.

Yeah, I figured I might as well get this out of the way pretty quickly, because he’s one of the main reasons a lot of folks tune in.  As con-man Neal Caffrey, Bomer is well-dressed, charming, and always ready with a smile and a line.  The photo above is a bit unfortunate, because the sunglasses hide his gorgeous blue eyes, but trust me when I say they’re worth looking at.  But also trust me when I say they’re not nearly the best thing about the program.

#4.   Mozzie.

Perfectly portrayed by Willie Garson (Stanford Blatch on Sex and the City), Mozzie is Neal’s confidante and go-to guy, though he’s the polar opposite of the suave swindler.  With a classic quotation to fit any situation—stealing from everyone from Ginsburg to Disney—and enough conspiracy theories to boggle the mind of even Oliver Stone, Mozzie provides some comic relief, as well as serving as something of a foil to Peter Burke.  Really, from the first time we meet him, Mozzie is a gem.  And the first time Mozzie met Peter still ranks as my favorite scene in the show, three seasons later.

#3.   New York City.

I’m not really much of a big city girl myself, and, for the most part, the setting of any particular show is of little consequence to me.  After all, it’s about the characters, not the place, right?  But, somehow, in White Collar, the city feels important.  Maybe it’s because Neal loves NYC and his affection is contagious.  Or maybe it’s because the show actually films there, instead of taking the cheaper route of getting a few establishing shots and then moving the production to Canada.  Whatever the reason, it’s a beautiful part of the program, and I enjoy seeing the city through their eyes.

#2.   The writing.

Maybe it’s not surprising that someone who spends good amounts of her spare time typing away at a keyboard is fascinated by the words and the storytelling, but the WC crew gets it right.  Each week we get (mostly) interesting criminals, fun scams, and smart good guys.  We also get underlying mythology that’s spread out little by little throughout each season to teach us more and more about Neal and Peter (but mostly Neal).  But more than anything, we get excellent dialogue.  It’s quick and sharp and always on the mark.

#1.   Um, Peter and Neal.  Duh.

I mentioned it’s a buddy-cop show, right?  And I’ll admit it:  I’m a sucker for these types of shows—I’ve been watching them all my life.  But good television is about good characters, and Peter and Neal are both really well-drawn characters brought to life by talented actors.  Watching them spar and bond and grow is almost more entertaining than the case of the week or the slow unraveling of the history of Neal Caffrey.  Their developing friendship (I’ve never been overly fond of the word “bromance”) is a joy to watch and be a part of.

So there you have it: the reason my favorite color today is white, and some reasons you ought to think about making it yours—at least every Tuesday.

Are you a fellow Collar?  Or do you have a show you eagerly await each week?