jlh | bomer doesn't see any shame in cheering!

So I was going to write a thing about social justice fandom and *fail and shaming others about the cultural products they like, and then I remembered that

kalichan wrote it last fall so I don't need to.

I'd been a little slow to catch up on White Collar because though I liked it there was such a strong negative reaction to the new season from many quarters, whether about Neal's morality, the Nazi loot, or Sara-as-love-interest.

kalichan has a great take on Neal's morality, and how it's specific rather than conceptual. I always thought his drift out of crime was one part not wanting to go back to jail and about five parts loyalty to/wish for the approval of Peter. Even Frank Abagnale Jr. had to be arrested a few times before he went on the straight and narrow, and he was a lot younger and newer to the game than Neal.
That said, I understand how rotten it is to be a fan of a serial narrative and realizing you were getting something out of it other than what it means to be doing.
If you have a problem with the Nazi loot, I have to wonder if you had a problem with all the other pieces of antiquity and "recovered" art and artifacts that have drifted through this show, like the Iraqi treasure from season one. The Nazis aren't the only ones who lifted whatever they thought was pretty from the places they conquered.
I get not liking Sara; usually when characters like her are introduced they are completely tiresome. But what I like about Sara is her moral ambiguity. She doesn't think twice about helping Neal to scam Diana at her house; she doesn't ask him about it until after. She's an example of another path Neal could take, and in that sense, she's a lot more than just a love interest or a narrative prize for Neal following the straight and narrow.
Besides, in my head canon she's the daughter of Thomas Banacek and Carlie Kirkland.

As a reward, here is Matt Bomer doing the cheer from Bayside High: