White Collar: Season 3

For me, the heart of White Collar has always been the relationship between con man Neal Caffrey and FBI agent Peter Burke. The bromance between the two is so unexpected and so much fun and drives the rest of the relationships on the show. So I was a little worried going into season three because it looked like they would be messing with that relationship. But it turned out my worry was for nothing because this was by far the strongest season of the show to date. The premise of the show is that Neal Caffrey (Matthew Bomer) is serving the second half of his prison sentence for fraud as a consultant to the FBI helping them take down other white collar criminals. He’s working under the supervision of Peter Burke (Matt DeKay), the only man able to track him down and arrest him. And they make a surprisingly good team. To properly discuss the on-going story of the season, I’m going to have to spoil the first 5 minutes of the season premier, which resolves the cliffhanger from the end of season two. If you want to go into the season completely and totally unspoiled, just trust me this season will blow you out of the water and buy the set now. If you don’t mind, keep reading. Season three opens exactly where season two ended – Neal is standing in the middle of a warehouse full of the treasure supposedly destroyed when the U-boat exploded. Peter thinks that Neal stole it or at least knows where it is. But the real thief is Neal’s friend Mozzie (Willie Garson). But before the two can sell their ill-gotten gain and buy an island, they have to make sure that the FBI can’t trace any of it to them. That means that it is business as usual in the FBI offices. Neal, Peter, and agents Diana (Marsha Thomason) and Jones (Sharif Atkins) track down someone threatening a journalist, find the person robbing a private school of funds, and save a rare baseball from being stolen. We even get a look into Mozzie’s past as someone comes to town looking for the Dentist of Detroit. Sometimes, the cases involve Neal’s new girlfriend Sara (Hilarie Burton), an insurance investigator who used to be chasing Neal for a painting he stole. (Sorry, allegedly stole.) The show is just as addictive as ever. On New Year’s Day, I found myself watching a marathon of the season three episodes, and I couldn’t stop watching even though I had seen all the episodes before. Yes, the plots are that much fun with some good twists. But again, it’s the characters that are the real pull. I love spending time with all of them. The chemistry between the entire cast is top notch, and the writers liberally sprinkle in humor that keeps you laughing even though this is a serious mystery show. Yes, Mozzie gets all the best lines and they often make me laugh out loud, but the rest of the characters have their moments to shine. The treasure storyline, which develops slowly over much of the season, is the heart of what drives the character development this season. Watching Neal struggle with what to do with that treasure is amazing. Late in the season, Peter has his own struggle. You don’t know which way things will go because you don’t feel like the characters know themselves what they are going to do. Mozzie is also highly involved in the treasure plot, and the development works for him, too. For the other characters, we see more of Diana’s girlfriend, and even Agent Jones as well as Peter’s wife Elizabeth (Tiffany Amber Theisen) get better development. This was really Sara’s first season on the show, and she gets some development, but she’s the weakest of the main characters. Speaking of Elizabeth, she and Mozzie are right behind Neal and Peter for favorite relationship on the show. They have a very fun friendship, and their scenes are guaranteed to make you laugh. Meanwhile, Elizabeth and Peter still have a very strong marriage, another element of the show that I love. The increased layers to the characters required more acting, and the cast stepped up brilliantly. There isn’t a weak performance in the bunch, and they handle the many notes of every episode brilliantly. I have to single out Tim DeKay for special recognition. The first episode of the second half of the season was a powerhouse performance from him. It required him to be two seconds away from losing it and fighting hard to maintain control. He was brilliant the entire way through. If he doesn’t win an Emmy, it is a travesty. There are four discs in this set, collecting all sixteen episodes in widescreen and full surround. Extras include a gag reel, deleted scenes, and commentary on the season finale. Rounding out the set is a trivia challenge and some behind the scenes fun as the cast confronts creator Jeff Eastin for his excessive tweeting. To full appreciate this season, you need to start the show at the beginning. It’s so addictive, you won’t mind in the slightest. And when you get here, you’ll appreciate the character development so much more. I cannot recommend this show or this season highly enough. You’ll love every second of season three of White Collar.

Season Three of White Collar is an interesting spin on the series. There are two main plot arcs, each taking up half a season, and both ratchet up the tension really well. Arc one completes the storylines of Season Two, the U-Boat treasure being the main one. Neal (Matt Bomer) and Mozzie (Willie Garson) are contemplating hightailing it out of the country and into freedom, while Peter (Tim DeKay) and his demi-Suits (Marsha Thomsen and Sharif Atkins), as Mozz calls them, focus on their belief that Neal and Mozz have the treasure, but have no proof or probable cause. Complications ensue, involving Sara (Hilarie Burton) and Keller (Ross McCall), and a lot of danger to Elizabeth (Tiffani Thiessen). As said, tons of tension is involved, as well as "is the grass greener" from Neal and Mozz, with Neal wondering about the life he'd leave behind, while a loyal Mozz, reluctant to leave his best friend behind, nevertheless is getting increasingly antsy. The second arc is about a possible commutation of Neal's sentence, freeing him from the final two years of his anklet and allowing him to live free of monitoring. There are characters, both in and outside of the main narrative, who favor different sides in this debate, while you can almost see Neal drooling at times. Particularly so is when he gets to work with the world's master thief, the rich man's Robin Hood (motto: No one goes to jail, everyone gets paid). His yearning for his old life is palpable in that episode, and sets the tone for the remainder of the season. The big theme of this arc is: Is Neal really reformed, or is he just biding his time? Matthew Bomer is excellent as ever, it's a mystery to me why he's not a bigger deal than he is. He's such a good actor that I hope that this is his ER, with him as a possible successor to Clooney (who broke out at roughly the same age that Bomer is now). Tim DeKay is much improved over the first two seasons, where I was wondering if perhaps he was playing the part a bit too goofy. Goofy is for Willie Garson, who has a lot of scenes with Tiffani Thiessen, and they prove to be a great low key comic duo. Marsha Thomsen and Sharif Atkins have more to do than in previous seasons, and pull it off, while Hilarie Burton portrays Sara as someone fully aware of how potentially dangerous Neal is, and skittish as a result. Which is how it would be. Most cable shows have a hard time filling acting slots 3-8 with talented actors, but White Collar has no such issues. The end of the season seems to shift the show in a different direction, which should be good if they want to keep it running. I'm already looking forward to Season Four and beyond. Five Stars.....easily.

The opening and closing episodes are the best writing and plotting I have ever seen. The first one in particular---it takes a lot for me not to guess what is going on and I totally got taken both times. I LOVE IT! The writing is the only iffy thing about this series---the acting is always great and the directing and the ad libs. The characters are well-drawn and you really love them. But the writing can really miss---I am still wondering what happened to the "hit" in season two and that six million dollars no one seems to mention, both just evaporated. There was also a lot of "the trail ends with" and no explanation as to the "trail." And, yes, very glad Keller did not harm the dog, but really? Seriously? That dog bit them and they said, "Oh well." Anyway, better that then some crazy sadistic dog killing episode. People stop watching that sort of stuff. Loved that they used the spaghetti sauce for effect instead of some gory bloody scene. Kudos!!! I think the wrabbit guy on the Big Bang Theory is Keller---is that possible? Wow, funny. It was hard to take him serious. I am so suspicious as to whether Kate is really dead. We never heard about her bones, and she did have time to get out on the other side and hide. Possible. Anyway, even though the plots often do not work sometimes it all comes together and is just awesome! Like I said, the first and last episodes are amazing. Best I have ever seen.

So since it doesn't have a list of the special features on the disk, I'll list them (since that's what sways my buys anyways). Disc 1 (with Neal Caffery on the disk): 1. On Guard 2. Where There's a Will 3. Deadline 4. Dentist of Detroit SPECIAL FEATURES: -Interrogation Room: A Trivia Challenge with the Cast (very funny!) Disc 2 (with Peter Burke on the disk): 5. Veiled Threat 6. Scott Free 7. Taking Account 8. As You Were SPECIAL FEATURES: -Jeff Eastin: @ddicted Disc 3 (with Elizabeth Burke on the disk): 9. On the Fence 10. Countdown 11. Checkmate 12. Upper West Side Story Disc 4 (with Mozzie on the disk): 13. Neighborhood Watch 14. Pulling Strings 15. Stealing Home 16. Judgement Day SPECIAL FEATURES: -Gag reel (disappointed with this one, because the prior two series censor the "F" word that Matt Bomer is very fond of, but though it's only here a handful of times, it's not only not censored but the gags themselves aren't really all that funny. Sad, because prior seasons had great gag reels.) - Deleted Scenes (Pretty good additions, not very important overall, you know hence the "deleted scenes" label, but some good additions.) -Audio Commentary on Judgement Day (Always nice to have the running commentary with the cast, but this is the only episode that has it. Prior seasons have at least two, but nice nonetheless.) Great season, still going strong! Matt Bomer and Tim DeKay are fantastic and with some more Mozzie and Elizabeth Burke added to the mix, Neal and Peter have loads of adventures ahead of them! Good DVD set, just maybe not quite worth the entire amount it's listed at with no discounts as it's lacking in extras even though the episode count has gone up from season one.

Great show I enjoyed all the seasons.

I LOVE "White Collar" and can't wait for the season 3 DVD to come out. I own season one and two. I'm buying the series for the episodes, not the extras, which I find lacking. The commentaries are basically a lot of chatter, with very little useful information given. The gag reels are fun, but I could have done without the F and S word in one scene in season two. I love the writing and the wit of this series and Matt Bomer and Tim DeKay work so well off each other. Willie Garson is so much a part of the episodes, I hope there's no intention of writing his character out of the series. That would be disastrous. Thank you for the steady camera work! I'm so tired of the hand-held camera effects and the MTV editing. If you're going to pay an actor to act, you should give him time to react! I haven't seen this kind of male rapport since Scott Bakula and Dean Stockwell in "Quantum Leap." The whole cast seems to work well together and it shows on screen. A wonderful series well worth having.

Love love love this entire series!

Great dearies and not bloody. About an art thief that works for the FBI. I own the complete series. Watched it several times

No-one needs me to say that the show is fantastic, Matt Bomer is just a pleasure to watch, the characters are super-engaging, the storylines are entertaining, even the dog gets to play his part. This DVD is clearly not the English release, but as that is not available for seasons 3 and 4, I bought these Region 2 German ones. Be assured! It works perfectly. When you insert each disc, the menu is in German, just select the far right option (languages) and select the English Audio, which is the top option. Then play episodes, as normal. The episode titles, in the menu and in the opening credits, are in German, but all the other credits are in English. (This must be really annoying for German buyers.) The only time you would be aware that it's not the English release is when a character shows the camera a text message, and a German subtitle suddenly pops up. This does not happen often.

ウィリーガースン氏の訃報から、また彼を偲んで拝見しています。 何回見ても色々面白さ、しみじみさ、美しさ・・・などあります。 ニールとサラの関係って、華麗なる賭けやトマスクラウンアフェアみたいに、泥棒と保険回収人の恋愛関係だったわけだなー、と思いました。犯罪者じゃない側が、一線を越えるか、犯罪者側が足を洗うか？二人がおしゃれでいい人間であればあるほど、ドキドキのちょっとヒリヒリした関係・・・

Cette série est remarquablement bien interpréter ; il est dommage que la suite ne s'appelle que " WHITE COLLAR " mais ce n'est qu'un détail.

Non voglio anticiparvi trama ne episodio finale, lui il bel ladro gentiluomo, e' combattuto tra la voglia di sprire col bottino e quella di restare avendo trovato la bella e magra assicuratrice che ha perso la testa per lui, un classico, e che ora lo cerca di difendere in sede di riesame delle tempistiche per un rilascio accorciato del WINGLET o del braccialetto che lui tine al piede, tutto gira intorno al tesoro dellUBOAT tedsco, ed alla sua lotta introspettiva per godersi il tesoro o l;amore......e gli amici qualita' viedo ed ottima, molti pezzi in esterno, conosco bene NY ma mi sfugge una bella piazza in cui fanno appostamenti ad un ricettatore dai capelli rossi. sempre piu' pimpanti i co-protaginisti, la belloccia meticcia in ufficio con la boccucia a cuore, e che fa outing (che peccato!), la moglie Mrs. Suit, (io lo seguo in inglese tutta altra cosa), e soprattutto il sempre piu' protagonista Muzzy, e si scopre anche da cosa ha preso il nomignolo. le 5 stelle sono poche , non vedo l'ora del sequel, ho previsto molte situazioni da giallista incallito, ma non la sorpresa finale, volutamente clamorosa, che non vi anticipo

Alles ok