White Collar - 3x03 "Deadline"
Jun. 22nd, 2011 09:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tj_teejayNew week, new episode. I was really geared up for this one, and now I'm not sure if it disappointed or not.
See, as soon as I heard pharmaceuticals and FDA, I immediately grew leery. White Collar is not known for its meticulous research when it comes to their storylines – and when I spot blatant mistakes in TV shows and movies, it can ruin things for me. I work for a pharma company, I know my way round clinical research. I have a pretty good idea how drug recalls work, and I know that the FDA is pretty much the be-all-and-end-all when it comes to regulatory bodies in the realm of pharma. I'm telling you, an FDA audit is not fun.
Now, before I go on, don't worry, I'm not gonna harp endlessly on all the things that were wrong with this episode. I'd like like to get the futz ups out of the way first. Though, actually... I thought they did pretty well with the pharma stuff. These weren't hugely improbable ideas. The whole scenario was actually pretty believable (in a TV show kind of way). The only thing (I think) they made up is that FDA officers have an actual badge, much less one that looks like the FBI leather-bound ones. And they don't come prancing into your office unannounced, plowing down every secretary that's in their way. Yes, of course I can see how that was necessary here, but in real life? Not frickin' likely. (Edit: Apparently, there are FDA officers out there who have badges. Oh well, you learn something new every day...)
Now, I must say that what I don't like about it is that it plays into the whole "the pharma industry is deceitful and evil" kind of view that a lot of people have. It's not that I'm a huge protectionist for the pharma industry. Not everything they do is great and wonderful. But, really, covertly trying to cover up a bad batch of drug like that – while clearly within the realm of possibility – is not something you'll readily encounter in the real world. If there's anything that pharma companies hold in the highest regard, it's patient safety. There are whole departments dedicated to drug safety and pharmacovigilance. And a drug recall on a scale like what these guys were doing would never fly. There'd be way too many people involved who have a conscience, who have a responsibility to keeping the patients safe. The one thing that is true, though, is that by the time a drug gets on the market, the company will have spent billions of dollars on its research and development. You wouldn't believe what a single clinical trial costs.
But I digress. I'm gonna cease with delivering my pleading for the pharma industry and come back to the topic at hand.
Diana-centricity: I like. No, I love! Diana needs to kick more ass. I mean, needs to get the chance more often to kick ass. Loved that Marsha got to show off her native accent. I'm a sucker for British English. Heck, I even speak it. Or at least try. Not Mancunian, but British. Probably South England-y. Or at least that's what I've been told. (Though someone once told me I sound Icelandic. Uhm... huh? Well, as long as they don't tell me I sound German, I'm cool.) Anyway...
Us getting to know Christie gets all kinds of love from me. She's wonderful, and she's very deserving of Diana (and vice versa). Well done there, casting and writing staff. Which, thinking about the double-date-at-home scene, brings us to the topic of Sara. (And don't worry, I'm not gonna harp on her either.)
I've been known to admit I'm not a huge Sara fan. But I did say that it wasn't entirely impossible that she could grow on me. And gonna have to concede that that process might actutally be in motion. Now, I'm never going to become a huge Neal/Sara shipper, and she's never going to be my favorite character on the show, but, damn, that was sweet! Maybe I'm gonna have to revoke that statement about them having zero chemistry, though, hm, while there was definitely spark there, it's not like my belly when up in flames when I watched them make out. Let's just say there was more than zero chemistry, but not the kind that makes me go squee. All in all, I'm gonna have to confess that I actually liked the Neal/Sara scenes. Yay for character redemption. Maybe. *wavers a little* (And,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
swanpride, I hope you're not gonna like me less for having said that.) The one thing I really didn't like about those Neal/Sara scenes were the back and forth cuts between the camera angles. That was distracting.
The threat on the reporter thing. Darn, it's so timely. Because I'm just working on a fanfic where someone receives threatening e-mails. Great. Now everyone's gonna think I stole that. Did not. I was first! Scout's honor. (swanpride can vouch for that.)
So, the loot list. It's gonna be the new music box, isn't it? The thing that Neal and Mozzie are going to hunt down for the rest of the season. Oh well... If the shoe fits. But, hey, why use a German dictionary? Ask me, I'll translate that thing for you before lunch. For free. (And then maybe I get to go to the conference in Miami too.)
Not sure what to think about the new Neal/Peter dynamic. I guess that's what I was thinking of when I said I wasn't sure if the episode disappointed. I'm very on the fence with this. I've been known to like discord, but only if it eventually resolves. (Or doesn't take a season and a half to resolve.) But what I like most of all, is a Neal who endeavors to be good. This new Neal does not. Well, okay, upon closer examination, he never has. I think I've just grown a little too fond and too comfortable with the idea that Neal could learn from Peter that there's more to life than thieving and conning people. Just recentlykriadydragon posted an excellent character study on Neal Caffrey, so I'm not gonna go into that whole "con at heart with good intentions" or "good guy at heart with misguided intentions" discussion. Suffice to say, I'm a big defender of the "good guy at heart with misguided intentions" theory. And I have a feeling the constant reminders of Neal being the eternal conman are not something I'm gonna be all that happy about.
You know what struck me the other day? I was looking into one of the mid-season one episodes (can't remember which one now, or why it was "Front Man", and I was doing some research for that Het ficlet I've recently written), but I watched maybe five minutes of it, and then I found myself sighing, thinking, "Ah, those were the days." It was when the Peter/Neal duo was still happy, trusty, friendy and, well, amiable. Until then, I hadn't noticed how much I was going to miss that. *sighs* While so far I'm liking season three well enough, I think I liked the other two seasons better. If that can be said just three episodes in...
Okay, now on to the more mundane things. Some may say the most important things, but let's just pretend I'm not that shallow. *coughs* Asrabidchild67 so adequately put it... nipples! Shirtless!Neal! Squee time! And pajama bottoms to boot. I was grinning like a little girl at Christmas. (Okay, I exaggerrate, but you get the drift.) And, yes, of course I watch for the plot. You know that, right? And, shiiiiit, when does The Bomer find the time to work out to be able to have that to show for!? (Anyone have any tips on how to get drool stains out of the couch cover?) :-P....
The splitting of the paper jokes were cute. (Does that really work? I mean, come on, McNally totally made that up, right?)
Plinkety-plink new theme doesn't earn any brownie points the second time around. If anything, I like it even less than last time.
Mozzie walking in on Neal and Sara – kinda cute. Loved how, like any sane, normal guy would have done, he didn't say, "Oh, sorry, I'll come back," and slunk away, but how he pwned those wine glasses and watched Sara walk away. Mozzie, you are just... I have no words. Acting-wise, this episode gets major thumbs ups in all directions.
And to come back to last week's episode real quick: Where's the treasure cam? I wonder how long it'll take for Peter to walk into Neal's loft (seeing how it doesn't have a lock) and find the laptop tuned into treasure cam right smack in the middle of Neal's dining table. Oh, wait.... Yeah. Never.
Random observation: Neal in a light purple shirt with dark purple tie? Yummeh.
The End.
See, as soon as I heard pharmaceuticals and FDA, I immediately grew leery. White Collar is not known for its meticulous research when it comes to their storylines – and when I spot blatant mistakes in TV shows and movies, it can ruin things for me. I work for a pharma company, I know my way round clinical research. I have a pretty good idea how drug recalls work, and I know that the FDA is pretty much the be-all-and-end-all when it comes to regulatory bodies in the realm of pharma. I'm telling you, an FDA audit is not fun.
Now, before I go on, don't worry, I'm not gonna harp endlessly on all the things that were wrong with this episode. I'd like like to get the futz ups out of the way first. Though, actually... I thought they did pretty well with the pharma stuff. These weren't hugely improbable ideas. The whole scenario was actually pretty believable (in a TV show kind of way). The only thing (I think) they made up is that FDA officers have an actual badge, much less one that looks like the FBI leather-bound ones. And they don't come prancing into your office unannounced, plowing down every secretary that's in their way. Yes, of course I can see how that was necessary here, but in real life? Not frickin' likely. (Edit: Apparently, there are FDA officers out there who have badges. Oh well, you learn something new every day...)
Now, I must say that what I don't like about it is that it plays into the whole "the pharma industry is deceitful and evil" kind of view that a lot of people have. It's not that I'm a huge protectionist for the pharma industry. Not everything they do is great and wonderful. But, really, covertly trying to cover up a bad batch of drug like that – while clearly within the realm of possibility – is not something you'll readily encounter in the real world. If there's anything that pharma companies hold in the highest regard, it's patient safety. There are whole departments dedicated to drug safety and pharmacovigilance. And a drug recall on a scale like what these guys were doing would never fly. There'd be way too many people involved who have a conscience, who have a responsibility to keeping the patients safe. The one thing that is true, though, is that by the time a drug gets on the market, the company will have spent billions of dollars on its research and development. You wouldn't believe what a single clinical trial costs.
But I digress. I'm gonna cease with delivering my pleading for the pharma industry and come back to the topic at hand.
Diana-centricity: I like. No, I love! Diana needs to kick more ass. I mean, needs to get the chance more often to kick ass. Loved that Marsha got to show off her native accent. I'm a sucker for British English. Heck, I even speak it. Or at least try. Not Mancunian, but British. Probably South England-y. Or at least that's what I've been told. (Though someone once told me I sound Icelandic. Uhm... huh? Well, as long as they don't tell me I sound German, I'm cool.) Anyway...
Us getting to know Christie gets all kinds of love from me. She's wonderful, and she's very deserving of Diana (and vice versa). Well done there, casting and writing staff. Which, thinking about the double-date-at-home scene, brings us to the topic of Sara. (And don't worry, I'm not gonna harp on her either.)
I've been known to admit I'm not a huge Sara fan. But I did say that it wasn't entirely impossible that she could grow on me. And gonna have to concede that that process might actutally be in motion. Now, I'm never going to become a huge Neal/Sara shipper, and she's never going to be my favorite character on the show, but, damn, that was sweet! Maybe I'm gonna have to revoke that statement about them having zero chemistry, though, hm, while there was definitely spark there, it's not like my belly when up in flames when I watched them make out. Let's just say there was more than zero chemistry, but not the kind that makes me go squee. All in all, I'm gonna have to confess that I actually liked the Neal/Sara scenes. Yay for character redemption. Maybe. *wavers a little* (And,
swanpride, I hope you're not gonna like me less for having said that.) The one thing I really didn't like about those Neal/Sara scenes were the back and forth cuts between the camera angles. That was distracting.The threat on the reporter thing. Darn, it's so timely. Because I'm just working on a fanfic where someone receives threatening e-mails. Great. Now everyone's gonna think I stole that. Did not. I was first! Scout's honor. (
swanpride can vouch for that.)So, the loot list. It's gonna be the new music box, isn't it? The thing that Neal and Mozzie are going to hunt down for the rest of the season. Oh well... If the shoe fits. But, hey, why use a German dictionary? Ask me, I'll translate that thing for you before lunch. For free. (And then maybe I get to go to the conference in Miami too.)
Not sure what to think about the new Neal/Peter dynamic. I guess that's what I was thinking of when I said I wasn't sure if the episode disappointed. I'm very on the fence with this. I've been known to like discord, but only if it eventually resolves. (Or doesn't take a season and a half to resolve.) But what I like most of all, is a Neal who endeavors to be good. This new Neal does not. Well, okay, upon closer examination, he never has. I think I've just grown a little too fond and too comfortable with the idea that Neal could learn from Peter that there's more to life than thieving and conning people. Just recently
kriadydragon posted an excellent character study on Neal Caffrey, so I'm not gonna go into that whole "con at heart with good intentions" or "good guy at heart with misguided intentions" discussion. Suffice to say, I'm a big defender of the "good guy at heart with misguided intentions" theory. And I have a feeling the constant reminders of Neal being the eternal conman are not something I'm gonna be all that happy about.You know what struck me the other day? I was looking into one of the mid-season one episodes (
Okay, now on to the more mundane things. Some may say the most important things, but let's just pretend I'm not that shallow. *coughs* As
rabidchild67 so adequately put it... nipples! Shirtless!Neal! Squee time! And pajama bottoms to boot. I was grinning like a little girl at Christmas. (Okay, I exaggerrate, but you get the drift.) And, yes, of course I watch for the plot. You know that, right? And, shiiiiit, when does The Bomer find the time to work out to be able to have that to show for!? (Anyone have any tips on how to get drool stains out of the couch cover?) :-P....The splitting of the paper jokes were cute. (Does that really work? I mean, come on, McNally totally made that up, right?)
Plinkety-plink new theme doesn't earn any brownie points the second time around. If anything, I like it even less than last time.
Mozzie walking in on Neal and Sara – kinda cute. Loved how, like any sane, normal guy would have done, he didn't say, "Oh, sorry, I'll come back," and slunk away, but how he pwned those wine glasses and watched Sara walk away. Mozzie, you are just... I have no words. Acting-wise, this episode gets major thumbs ups in all directions.
And to come back to last week's episode real quick: Where's the treasure cam? I wonder how long it'll take for Peter to walk into Neal's loft (seeing how it doesn't have a lock) and find the laptop tuned into treasure cam right smack in the middle of Neal's dining table. Oh, wait.... Yeah. Never.
Random observation: Neal in a light purple shirt with dark purple tie? Yummeh.
The End.
