Neal Caffrey (Matt Bomer) is young, charming, and a criminal. He’s a master forger and con man who’s only been caught by FBI agent Peter Burke (Tim DeKay). When his girlfriend says goodbye, Neal escapes prison to see her but only finds an empty apartment before Burke catches him again. Then Neal comes up with a deal--he gets released to work with Burke and the FBI to catch the criminals like him. Never stopping his search for his girlfriend, Neal offers his unique expertise and gets into many places the agents can’t-- and many dangerous situations.

CRITIQUE

In recent years, the television series appearing on cable networks often tend to surpass the offerings of the major stations. The very nature of pay channels allows for more of a freedom of content which may be the impetus for this. Or perhaps those networks are simply more willing to take a risk. Both ways, viewers get all the benefit, and this series is one example. The writing, direction, and acting of White Collar make for a stylish, sharp, and cool as hell television series--and this is only its first season.

Let’s start by giving credit where credit is due--Neal Caffrey is simply a killer character. Of course audiences will like watching a debonair, intelligent, captivating man, even if he is a con man. Put him in the form of talented and perfect-looking Bomer and well, that’s just not playing fair. Smartly, creator Eastin provides more for the viewer to latch onto with the relationship between Neal and Peter. Peter is a strong character in himself, who DeKay makes immensely likeable, but the true core of the show is the way Neal is affected by this partnership.

Though it remains to be seen whether Neal is capable of truly walking away from the criminal life, his desire for the normalcy of a life like Peter’s--successful career, happy marriage-- is clearly established and becomes the motivating force behind Neal’s search for girlfriend Kate throughout the season. This comes to a head in the season finale when Neal’s right-hand man Mozzie (the ever-valuable Willie Garson) says, “Happily ever after isn’t for guys like us” and Neal replies, “It is this time.”

This central theme progresses throughout the season alongside the well-plotted weekly crime-solving storylines. People Neal has a connection with--glamorous thief Alex, nemesis Keller--are introduced in fine fashion and made good use of, with excellent chances of appearing again later, while a corrupt counterpart for Peter, Agent Fowler (the perfect Noah Emmerich) from the FBI’s version of Internal Affairs called O.P.R., seems to be shaping up as the main villain. And I have no space to mention the wonderful humor or the sweet interaction between Peter and wife Elizabeth, played appealingly by Tiffani Thiessen!

White Collar in its first season is simply entertaining in every way, and the success of the writing, direction, and performances ensures more of the same for future seasons.

THE VIDEO

One of the many benefits of the ascendance of DVD is the release of television shows to own, which wasn’t possible before, and most shows now release seasons on multi-disc sets in time for the next season to begin. This 4-disc set is an example of that, as well as of the technical superiority of widescreen. The colors of the episodes are perfectly transferred.

THE AUDIO

The Dolby Digital 5.1 format for the English language track is both expected and reliably great for home viewing. There are no other language tracks, but there are subtitles available in English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese.

THE EXTRAS

Audio Commentaries: Five episodes have commentary tracks here, all featuring creator/writer Jeff Eastin and various cast members. All four leads join him on the pilot and their affection for each other is palpable. Thiessen is frequently heard to comment on Bomer’s perfect looks, while Garson is just as funny off-screen. The others get their jokes in as well, including a hilarious recounting by Bomer of the embarrassment he suffered filming the scene in the pool in the finale when he dove into the pool and came out of his briefs!

Deleted Scenes: Ten minutes worth of excised scenes are collected in this extra, probably the best of the bonus features. A cute chase scene cut from the episode titled “The Portrait” appears here, as does a nice scene between Peter and Elizabeth where she voices the sentiments of most of the audience: get Neal a nice girl, not Kate.

Pro and Con: A basic overview of the show, this brief but fun featurette uses interviews and clips to showcase the various actors and characters. Bomer’s place on People’s “Most Beautiful” list is touched on (which Bomer jokes that his mother paid $500 for!), while it’s fun to hear the relationship between Peter and Neal discussed.

A Cool Cat in the Hat:  This featurette is under six-minutes long, but is one of the most entertaining extras here because it focuses on the costuming of the show. Given Neal’s already-famous taste for the finest clothes, this topic is quite apt in relation to this show. I love hearing Mozzi’s style referred to as “homeless chic.” I wish there were more here.

Nothing But the Truth: Another short extra, this featurette discusses the FBI consultant who works on the show, Tom Barden. The show clearly takes advantage of all his knowledge and I like the way DeKay relates that to his character.

Gag Reel: This ten-minute blooper reel is quite funny, though a tad too full of curse words. There are some hilarious ad-libs here, as well as some fun goofing off. Worth one watch.

FINAL THOUGHTS

White Collar invites the audience every episode in its first season to a good time with wonderful characters, exciting writing, and ingratiating performances. Neal himself, his relationship with Peter, and the plotting of the show will incite anticipation to see the next season--which helpfully just began airing.

There is a nice set of extra features on this set as well, more than many shows on DVD can boast. Fans will definitely want to own this first season of White Collar and those who haven’t seen the show need to catch up with these DVDs and then tune into the series.