Elegant Pi

I still haven't answered all my comments from the holiday ficathons, and I wasn't going to post until I had done that (hell, I didn't even do a Yuletide reveal or rec post, BUT I WILL EVENTUALLY), but WHITE COLLAR PREMIERE GETS A SQUEE ENTRY.

BECAUSE IT WAS LIKE THE CHRISTMAS WHERE YOU ASK FOR A PONY AND KNOW YOU WON'T GET IT BUT THEN YOU TOTALLY DO. It's like, your parents bring the pony INTO YOUR ROOM and IT NUZZLES YOU AWAKE and you're like OMG I CAN DIE HAPPY NOW.

( Peter and Neal are going to kick your ass. )

And no one made Neal eat lemon chicken all by himself in a corner. The end.

It's one of those insomnia nights, and I decided to watch a couple of episodes of SG-1 because it's my comfort food. I'd forgotten how early in the series (season 4, "Point of No Return") Willie Garson's character Marty shows up. The character of Marty has soooo many similarities to the character of Mozzie - it's like watching a young Mozzie, in some ways.

Anyway, I'm at the beginning of the episode, and conspiracy theorist Marty has called for a meeting with Colonel O'Neill, threatening to reveal everything about the Stargate program. So O'Neill goes to meet him at a diner, Teal'c poses as a cook in the diner to man the surveillance camera installed in the order ring, and Daniel and Sam are in a van, watching tv monitors.

Daniel: "You know, I've never been on a stake-out before. Shouldn't we have, like, donuts or something?"

Y'all, I've totally forgotten almost everything about this episode, and all these little bits of dialog have been lost to my memory. I'd totally forgotten about Sam and Daniel's "stake-out". I was already thinking "van" and "White Collar" because of Marty. Then Daniel's line made me spit water all over my keyboard. Because all I could think about was the White Collar van crew and their tuna fish and deviled ham. And then it was all down hill from there because I am apparently a crossover fic addict.

So, yeah. I just wanted to share that little bit of silliness. Now back to your regularly scheduled insomnia.

ETA: SAM, WITH THE LOCK PICKING. *dies* (Seriously, I need to do a real SG1 rewatch - soooo many details I've forgotten...)

ETA 2.0: JACK GIVING TEAL'C QUARTERS FOR THE "MAGIC FINGERS" BED AHAHAHA. How did I forget all of this?

Mostly, sholio is to blame for my sudden onset of rabid White Collar fannish-ness. In reading her posts about this series, I became mildly intrigued, and when I saw season one going for $15, I picked it up. And the first episode led to marathoning our way through the first season and paying full price for the second season because 2-day shipping from Amazon was too long to wait.

It really is some of the best television I've seen this year! I've caught up on season 3 (all but episode 2) from my parents' OnDemand, and I'm going to get the s3 eps from iTunes for David to watch. And we're DVRing the rest of the season, of course!

I wish I had time to make an enormous post on all the things I love about the series, but I've got some... stuff going on that requires me to get up earlier than I would like. So, maybe later, although I make no promises since I've been a truly crappy journaler lately. In the meantime, general bullet points! And then some spoilery musings under the cut.

• Jeff Eastin is a Frank Abagnale fan. He HAS to be.


• EL AND PETER FOREVER. Seriously. They are tied with Sheriden and Delenn from Babylon 5 as my favorite tv couple. I love everything about them, as individuals and as a couple. I love, love, LOVE Elizabeth's intelligence and the way she so easily navigates the currents of Peter and his job, and the complications that Neal brings into their lives. She is awesome. And I love Peter for his genuine goodness and honor and rightness without righteousness. I love that he is always, always willing to see the good in people, the possibilities. ♥♥♥


• I can really get into the Elizabeth/Peter/Neal OT3, but ONLY in future!fic when Neal is out of the anklet and truly free to do his own thing. My interpretation of Peter's character is that as long as Neal is in his custody, the power dynamic between them being unequal, Peter would never enter into any kind of relationship with Neal. Nor would he bring Neal into his and Elizabeth's lives so long as any doubts about Neal remain. And, canonically, Peter has a LOT of doubts. But I do love putting the three of them together under the right circumstances almost as much as I love Peter/Elizabeth.


• Mozzie and Elizabeth's friendship. So. Adorable!


• Mozzie in general. David and I called him "Marty" through the first half of season one. The actor gives us Stargate SG-1 nostalgia! Marty was a favorite of ours.


• The playfulness of the whole cast. They all have great chemistry.


• The writers know how to sell the material. There have only been a couple of episodes where I had suspension of disbelief issues. Leverage needs to hire some of these people. Oh, Leverage, I have so many thoughts about you, but I'll save them for another post. The White Collar writers turn out consistently good stories and great dialogue. And believably human actions and reactions.

( Some thoughts on Season 3 and where it's going )

Conclusion: Love the show.

Also, crossovers with Castle are an absolute MUST. There are so many ways the characters' lives and the show stories could intersect. And so many ways for Detective Beckett and Agent Burke to bond. I have one quick rec for this. My soul, it cries out for MORE.

Five Ways Crime Does Pay by celli - Impossible to read without laughing loud enough to wake the house.

"Jimmy Ellery!" Castle said, jumping up and holding out a hand. "I haven't seen you in years. How are you?" He turned to Beckett. "He sold me that Lorado Taft bust."

"You sold him what? As who?" Agent Burke rolled his eyes up to the ceiling, then back down again. "Allow me to introduce my consultant, Neal Caffrey."

Castle froze, his hand still held out in front of him. "Neal Caffrey the con artist?"

Caffrey tilted his head in an aw-shucks gesture. His hat remained tilted rakishly on his head.

"Neal Caffrey the forger?"

"Alleged forger," Caffrey said.

Burke groaned.

"Awkward," Ryan muttered.

"Oh, my God," Castle said. His face lit up, and he reached out to Burke and shook him by the shoulders. "I got conned by Neal Caffrey!" He let Burke go and grabbed Caffrey's hand. "This is awesome."

Burke looked at Beckett. "I don't even know what to say to that."

"I never do," Beckett said.