White Collar

[arenee1999]

My thoughts on last weeks episode, and Kate in general.


I haven't trusted Kate since the first time we saw her in season 1. I just felt there was something off about her. I became convinced she was playing Neal. At first I thought maybe she was working with Fowler. However, it soon became apparent that was unlikely.  When the plane blew up I was adamant that she wasn't on it. Then as season 2 started I began to have second thoughts about that. When Fowler said the bomb on the plane was her idea, I was once again certain she wasn't on the plane (I still am). Last weeks episode pretty much sealed it for me. She's definitely playing Neal. But we'll come back to that...

Most grifters see a 'long con' as lasting a few months. Vincent Adler set up a con to last years. His entire company was set up with the end game in mind. He always planned on stealing all of his clients money. Oh, sure, the company was most likely legitimate when it started. It would have had to be in order for him to get the kind and amount of clients he wanted/needed. Then as the company grew he set up the Cayman Island account as a blind. If everyone thinks that account is the scam they won't go looking for a larger one.  I believe the 'Vincent Adler' alias, is just that an alias. Which is why as Neal said, "the trail doesn't go cold, there is no trail." There's only one way that's possible. He dropped the Adler alias and either picked up his real identity or another alias that was set up years before. 

Now back to Kate. She worked for Adler. I mean she worked for Adler. She was his personal assistant. She was part of the con. Lets pick apart the episode a bit. Adler obviously knew Neal was a grifter. Kate, while yes, she flirted with Neal, there was no hint that she wasn't going to go to Chicago with her boyfriend.( I don't think the boyfriend was real , btw. I think Kate was supposed to  disappear, pick up an alias an go to where ever Adler was going to meet her when the con was over.) Alex was poking around after the Music Box. I think Adler suspected Neal was working with Alex. Adler changed his mind about Having Kate meet him and sent her to Neal instead. Hoping Neal would lead her to the Music Box. It worked. too. Kate left when Neal went to Copenhagen to help Alex steal the Music Box. Neal let everyone believe he had the box. Kate hopped from place to place, not to hide from Neal as Peter thought, but hoping (probably believing) Neal would find her. After all, she still needed to know where he put the box so she could get it to Adler. Unfortunately Neal got caught and arrested. We already know that everything that led to Neal breaking out of jail and eventually ending up with Peter was a set up. And it was set up by Adler through an 'official middleman' that got to Fowler.

Everything comes back to the Music Box. And I think even more importantly, what Adler's real identity is. I think Adler is somehow connected to whatever that fractal leads to. Obviously he's obsessed with it, but I think the reason he's obsessed is because it leads to something in his family's past.


Of course I'm probably completely wrong about all of that and Kate is exactly what she appears to be. A flat two-dimensional character with no personality. Of course, then the question becomes: Did the writers just fail miserably with her or is it the actress' fault?

Comments

[pat-t.livejournal.com]

I'm having internet problems today so I hope this takes.

You make some very interesting points. It just doesn't make sense that the writers would have such a lame character when everyone else is so fleshed out.

I like where you are going with this. I've always thought they conned another dark haired woman on that plane and it never was Kate. She obviously wasn't being held against her will when he was looking for her after breaking out of jail.

That still doesn't take away the problem of no chemistry between the actors and the fact that they simply have no heat or passion between them.

But it makes sense that Kate knew who Neal was before he told her, hence, why she wasn't upset. It also is more in line with what we do know of Kate.

Well done.

[arenee1999]

Yeah, unfortunately I think everyone realized too late that Alexandra and Matt had no chemistry. Other than the jail scene when she visits Neal to say goodbye, Kate and Neal don't actually have much screen time together. We see Kate with Peter and Fowler, but not with Neal. So when they finally had screen time together and it didn't work, it was too late to recast her.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I'm certain she wasn't on the plane too. On this sort of show, if you don't see a character die, they probably didn't.

I pretty much agree with the rest too. Kate has to be more than she seems, and Neal was certainly very gullible back then. As for Adler, his name (or alias) is German for "eagle" and I think there's a Nazi connection, either now or in the past as he goes after some treasure from back then. There were the plates after all.

And yeah, the Nazis would put swastikas on their dinnerware? Extremely unlikely unless someone did that as a clue or bait.

[arenee1999]

Actually since the Nazis were in power for 6 years prior to the start of WWII and the Swastika was the national symbol of Germany, they would indeed have fine china with the symbol on it.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Only if it was an official setting. I can't imagine putting a national symbol on the underside of china otherwise, but it may well be different elsewhere.

[arenee1999]

Well yes, it would have been on china that was made for Hitler and his top people to use at official gatherings and fancy occasions. (The 1936 Olympic Games were in Berlin. There would have been a lot of State dinners at that time.) However, there would still have been multiple sets floating around. That crate of china we saw could easily have been one of Hitlers. In which case Adler is probably directly related to someone from the top circle of the Third Reich.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Which is what I was thinking. Adler may not be his name, but an eagle is also a German national symbol.

[arenee1999]

That may be exactly why he chose the name.

[swanpride.livejournal.com]

The eagle is traditionally the coat of arms of Germany, since the Holy Roman Empire (naturally a reference to the eagle used by the Romans). It used to be called the "Reichsadler" but after Hitler (who had redesigned it with Swastika and Laurel) it got redesigned again and renamed "Bundesadler" (federal eagel) to avoid the connection with the "Dritte Reich" of Hitler. So yes, the name Vincent Adler is very interesting.

I thought that the Swastika was a little bit odd, but I'm used to things like that from US-shows...and it's possible, although the Germans didn't stamp the Swastika on everything avaible, and if they did, they destroyed it or it got destroyed when the war was lost.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

So the eagle did come from the Romans. Perhaps the Russians got theirs the same way; they certainly got "Tsar" from "Caesar".

I picked up on the Adler straight away, but now I'm thinking about the Vincent. I think it might be from the Latin for victorious. [looks it up] Yes! It's from the Roman name Vincentius, which was from Latin vincere "to conquer". Hmm. Conquering eagle.

Yeah, I thought a swastika on a dinner set was very strange, but maybe if it was Hitler's set or something official like that it might make sense.

Anyway I was very bored with the whole Kate and music box backstory till now and wanted them to stick to crime. But this development is very interesting.

[swanpride.livejournal.com]

Most of the european eagles go back to the roman one.

even if it was, you normally only see the swastika with a circle around it, and I like to imagine that Hitler would use the Reichsadler. But like I said things like that are very common in US-shows.

Yeah, I was very bored at the beginning too...but now, I changed my mind. In fact, I just posted a long recap about the music-box-arc (nevertheless I hope that we get some sort of closure at the end of this season. I really don't want them to chase the secret behind the secret behind the secret for the next years).

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Yep, like on Luftwaffe planes. I daresay they only did it as a visual shortcut, even though it seems so odd to you and me.

I read your post. I agree about Kate. I never believed she was dead in that explosion, and she is so detached and cool with Neal that either there's no chemistry between the actors (which has been said elsewhere) or she's under orders to get close which makes more sense. It's still hard to see why Neal was so obsessed with her.

[swanpride.livejournal.com]

Actually, Neal always worked for me (perhpas because Bomer has such a great longing look) and I can totally understand why he would fall for her. She is interested in art, she represents the kind of calm life Neal wants and people tent to like famliar faces and Kate is a similiar type as Neal. I'm not sure how Neal manages to delude himself in seeing her as some sort of damsel in distress, considering all the cons they run together, but love makes blind, right?

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, I could see it on Neal's side, just not hers. I actually thought she looked rather like a young Elizabeth but I'm sure that's completely unintentional and irrelevant.

[swanpride.livejournal.com]

Yeah! Finally someone who agrees with my theory! I totally thought that the timing of Kate dropping her boyfriend and going to Neal was odd.
Another possible scenario is this: Kate was supposed to inform Adler about the music box. But she began to develop feelings for Neal. So when Neal wanted to follow Alex, she made an attempt to keep him away from the box. Neal went nevertheless, and as word went out about the take, Kate went into hiding, not from Neal, but from Adler, because she basically betrayed him. When Neal found her, she either wanted to stay with Neal, or she was tired of hiding, thus offering Adler to spy on Neal again.
This scenario would explain her oddly bipolar behaviour in the first season, like telling Neal that this is about something he stole, but not being ready to tell him what immediatly, to avoid involving him even more.
Either way, I'm surprised that so many liked Kate in Forging Bonds...I think she seemed to be very manipulative and I really dislike the big step back she took when the FBI barged in to arrest Neal. I really hope that the writers don't try to sell THAT as a great love story. And I really hope that Kate is dead, once and for all (after all, she was ready to murder the pilot).
The big question is: Who did she phone from the plane? My guess at the moment is Adler himself. Who perhaps decided that he didn't her any longer if Neal was fixated on Peter.

[arenee1999]

Yeah, there's no way Kate didn't have an ulterior motive in going to Neal. I like your theory too. I'm hoping Kate is dead, but somehow, I just don't think she is. The writers have been fantastic up until now, so I'm really hoping they have some kind of story planned that will explain Kate's odd behaviour. I'd hate to see them FAIL that badly.

[swanpride.livejournal.com]

Well, the great thing about the writing until now is that the writers tend to delve into standart ideas but nevertheless managing to avoid the pitfall of the cliche again and again. (Like Elizabeth NOT being jealous when Peter has to flirt on the job, or Diana having subdued the suspect already when Peter barges in to rescue her - or just last episode the son NOT being angry with his father in reality). So I desperatly hope that they will avoid the "you can only be sure that someone is dead when you see the body"-pitfall, too.

[arenee1999]

So I desperately hope that they will avoid the "you can only be sure that someone is dead when you see the body"-pitfall, too.

In this instance I don't see it as a 'pitfall'. The way I see that scene at the airport is: Kate see Neal turn back to Peter, she thinks he plans on staying so she gets off the plane via the back exit on the other side and then detonates the bomb. That way Neal thinks she's dead and she can disappear.

[swanpride.livejournal.com]

I would totally prefer if the dead person stays dead for once...especially since I don't see further use in her. Neal already morned about her, it should be enough now.Learning the truth about her (whatever the truth is) will be angsty enough without her being alive.

Plus, I'm actually more interested in Adler than in Kate...I totally hope that they will end this arc with a lot of interaction between him and Neal.

[swanpride.livejournal.com]

And I actually don't think that Kate had enough time to leave the plane...I mean, her voice was on the black box/voice recorder of the plane. So if her cell and her voice was definitly in the plane as it exploded, I really don't see how she could have made it out in time.