That's another one I like. When I see that I think "Peter and Neal are ONE"

[link] This lj header is one of several similar photos, and there's a better one that has Peter framed more deliberately in the... frame. That one says to me that Peter is the priceless work of art that Neal will covet and eventually steal.

Christian Kane talks music and Leverage and stuff.

Kind of a nifty White Collar overview: [link]

Ah, the dom/sub reading.

I think he overstates the "no lie" quotient of the show. Neal totally lies to Peter. It's more that there are few misunderstandings. Peter just sees through him. So while there are no "lie arcs" there are still lies. Neal might trust Peter more than he trusts anyone else, but that's not a total trust.

I don't think the point was no lying, it was that the plot doesn't hinge on the kind of obvious lies that in real life no one would buy. Or at least that's my take. It reminds me of romance novel critiques where one of the tests were "could the entire conflict of the plot have been resolved by someone asking one question that any reasonable person in that circumstance would ask?" A surprising number fail.

I think the no *stupid* lie part was pretty dead on. Yes Neal lies, and Peter knows it, but they aren't stupid lies, really.

He said:

The same holds true for Neal and Peter; they rarely lie

Neal doesn't rarely lie to Peter--he lies to him about once an ep. Peter doesn't lie to Neal. He brutalises him with the truth, in fact. Keeps him in check with it.

I agree with him that arcs don't hinge on lies being believed, but I think it's mischaracterising the relationship to say they're rarely told.

I know he's very attached to Neal being a good little sub, but he's not that good.

Fair point. I was focusing on his point about how it's not the lies that drive the plot. They are there, but because Peter almost always knows about them, they are pretty secondary to the plot arc.

At a certain level I agree with that reading, in that it's true that there are often plot points relying on stupid lies, and that's not true in this show. But that's just better writing, I think. I don't think it necessarily implies a dom/sub relationship insofar as that goes.

I think the relationship is more complex than that. Neal is often trying to subvert what Peter is trying to do. And at least at a certain point in the season we, and Neal as our POV character, were unclear on Peter's intentions and loyalties. I think it's that tug of war that make their relationship dynamic and interesting.

I absolutely have no idea where they'll take the sexual relationship next season.

I agree with him that arcs don't hinge on lies being believed, but I think it's mischaracterising the relationship to say they're rarely told.

Yeah, I kind of skimmed past that aspect of it.

But that's just better writing, I think. I don't think it necessarily implies a dom/sub relationship insofar as that goes.

It's a slightly radical interpretation of the text. I can see it, but I agree it's not the whole story.