#Peter doesn't WANT Neal to have done this but he's Peter he cares about the truth | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

gpsoftun · 2 years

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“Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” (Ephesians 6:4 ESV)

Don't feel bad if you're not familiar with that Biblical verse. Once they undergo childhood amnesia, the majority of adults get too fixated on quoting, 'Honor they father and mother'.

The above instruction came to mind because Peter goes against it big time in Live Feed. That's NOT hate or even harsh criticism of him. It's an honest observation. In fact, these final episodes of season 5 gives Peter very human emotional range and by the end, redemption as a father.

Peter: He's so going to bed early tonight.

Season Five Papa Peter:

Live Feed

This one starts off with Peter sadly remembering his argument with Neal about the coins and everything. I don't buy that he's dwelling on how cheating the system sent him to prison. I think he's really upset about how cruel he acted towards Neal, but is blocking it with passive aggression. Let's not forget that Peter isn't one for outright apologizing to Neal. When he's offered the lame D.C. promotion, he's clearly hesitant and not just because David's murder hasn't been solved yet.

Between El's eagerness to leave New York (just say you blame Neal for everything) and Jones using the most dialogue he's ever had to advise Peter to separate himself from Neal, none of this is a fun initial watch.

When Neal meets up with Peter to consult on a forgery, he tries to be lighthearted, which Peter isn't in the mood for. Neal then tries to get down to business then Peter wonders why he's in such a hurry. This exasperates Neal, who Peter scolds for being supposedly sassy. He is determined to pick a fight with this kid. It's really sad because Neal's girlfriend Rebecca (don't care what her real name is) has been abducted by Hagen and Neal doesn't even feel comfortable reaching out to Peter for help.

After they find out they're dealing with Hagen again, Neal wants to clear out so he can finish Hagen's latest demand to free Rebecca. Peter snaps that they'll be done when Daddy McGrumpy says so. He then wants to know why Neal doesn't want to see the rest of this case through. See what I mean by Bi-polar Papa Peter? He wants to argue yet he's clueless as to why Neal is acting evasive towards him. Again, this is so much worse than Neal's passive aggression towards Peter in Vested Interest. That one was more amusing than anything because of how Peter kept trying to diffuse the situation. When it's the adult being petty, it's way more stomach-churning.

Peter's natural authority figure mode doesn't even work as Neal vehemently declares the judicial system Peter so believes in to be broken. Got to give props to Neal for being able to articulate such a thought without swearing while under massive stress. Instead of reasonably refuting him, Peter coldly but finally dismisses him.

What happens next is why many fans developed full on hate for season 5 Peter. While listening in on the FBI, Neal overhears Jones and Peter talking. Despite his earlier advice, Jones still cares about what will become of Neal while Peter's in D.C. He offers to look after him, but Peter tells him he'll regret it. Neal's crushed face says absolutely all. I can let this go because Peter didn't know Neal could hear him and it was uttered in anger.

In the end, before a captured Hagen can reveal Neal's been working for him, he's gunned down. Peter rushes to cover and keeps a hand on Neal as he calls for backup. They then resume their stellar partnership as they figure out who shot Hagen- Rebecca.

As poor an example as Peter is being here, he's still addressing his child instead of an employee.

Shot Through the Heart

Is that title describing Neal or the audience suffering right along with him. His pain and head spinning from finding out Rebecca's been stalking and using him comes off very much like a victim of sexual abuse. I have no idea how he maintains a healthy mental state with everything that he's been through.

More inconsistency from El as she's surprised at how Peter doesn't feel very bad for Neal. I'm sure this rubbed fandom the wrong way, too. To me, it's one of Peter's more reasonable reactions to Neal. Unfortunately, he's not wrong about a lifetime of deception catching up with Neal. But he doesn't rub it in Neal's face or anything.

On an awesome note, both Peter and Jones are protective towards Neal when they're explaining the Rebecca situation to the rest of White Collar. They try to leave out her relationship but Neal admits it, anyway. It's really sad how he tries to reduce Rebecca to no more than a con so he can pretend their romance was a mere fabrication. This is also the only time Neal is openly livid towards a love interest.

When he predicts that Peter thinks he deserves this pain, Peter clearly feels for him. He doesn't fill Neal with false platitudes but he is gentle with him. After Rebecca shoots at Neal, Peter orders him to behave for the paramedics and doesn't even want Neal on the case anymore.

After Rebecca's finally arrested, Peter commends Neal for helping bring David's killer to justice. Anyone with a bad word to say about Neal has to answer to Peter.

Taking Stock

The real Papa Peter is still here. The episode starts with him wanting to organize all materials related to Rebecca with Neal's help. I guess that's the male equivalent of discarding your crappy ex's stuff. When they finish, Peter lets them have beers in their 'dancing denied' office. This reminds me of previous seasons after Neal and Peter have had a blowup. Peter wants him kept close by for a while in order to re-build their bond.

When they need info from Rebecca so that Diana can go undercover as her, she says she'll only help if she can talk to Neal. Peter clears that with Neal first. While he speaks with the one lady more two-faced than El this season, Neal admits to believing he's smarter than Peter and vice versa. When Neal tries to explain it later, Peter cheerfully tells him he knows Neal *thinks* he's smarter, which is how Peter always catches him. Just so nice and classic Neal and Peter.

Diamond Exchange

There's some weird hostility from Neal to Peter in this. When Mozzie is poisoned, Neal accuses Peter of only seeing Mozzie as a resource. Uh, what?! Mozzie is treated way too well for an active criminal. As further evidenced by half the team trying to cure him while Rebecca's on the loose again. With how she yelled at his doctors, El is clearly too 'emotionally invested' in Mozzie- no, I'm never letting the first episode of this season go.

I appreciate that it was Peter's brute strength method that got them out of that cage instead of Neal's lock picking skills. Love even more that despite their exchanges of snark, their reaction to hearing Mozzie is recovering is to wrap arms around each other. Major cuteness when they're alone in the office later and Neal thinks he's in trouble for something.

Peter advocating for Neal's freedom, who promises to stay on the straight and narrow. One of Peter's requirements that Neal *better* visit him and El a lot. Translation?

Peter: Going to college don't make you grown.

Peter pulling Neal into that feel-safe hug made up for their bizarre lack of greeting hug in the first episode of this season. As said as it is that the FBI higher-ups deny Neal's freedom to keep using him, the best reaction comes from Peter. Despite all of the advice given to him, he chooses to remain in NY with Neal. Even when El declares she's still leaving to work in some fancy museum. I hoped this meant season 6 wouldn't have her much... But no, that storyline that need-not-be-named occurred with her instead.

Regardless of that bleak development, Papa Peter earns his redemption ❤

Peter: I will make you the CI of D.C.!

Neal: So, win-win ☺

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qwanderer · 3 years

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Loki in the Hall of Mirrors

This story is complicated. Not, like, as a plot, not particularly, but philosophically and thematically. It's got that great play of hero against villain that I love about the Loki story in general and that makes it all so divisive and messy. And I love it even more than I did on first watch.

The first time I watched the desert landing scene, I was like, "Wait? What happened to Allspeak?" because the people who live there don't seem to understand him. But on the second watch, I realized it could be a lack of context, rather than a break in translation. These people probably have an even chance of knowing nothing about Norse myth. Like, what if an alien came up to you and said "I am Boogle of Bofgar, I carry a burden"? You would still have questions like "What the hell is a boogle and why are you carrying your shit here?" So the basic dynamic of Allspeak is probably still functioning, and Loki probably understood their questions, but he was still trying to figure out how to answer when he got distracted by the TVA people.

It could even be an innate psychic ability rather than a magical one, as he seems to understand everyone in the TVA, including the man who can't be fluent in all languages like the field agents because he has never heard of a fish and the seemingly nonverbal robot. (Which of course makes me want Loki talking with Dum-E and the other shop bots! But I digress.)

Okay. I want to start talking about the next-level manipulation shit the TVA are pulling on Loki here. Time, as they say, moves differently in the TVA, and one might even assume that they can avoid having to deal with more variants at once than they can handle. And yet we see them dealing with exactly two other troublemakers during Loki's onboarding.

The first, I'm going to call little echo man.

Little echo man is incredibly annoying to Loki, because he does and says everything Loki might find himself inclined to do and say if he wanted to be difficult. Little echo man does these things in little annoying undignified ways, making them look silly and petulant. Little echo man protests and questions and pushes back, in his business suit and his long dark hair and pale skin, and clearly thinks everyone should treat him as important even though every indication is that he is an annoyance and an afterthought.

Perhaps he's a plant, and perhaps he's just a variant of an annoying but predictable regular they see who they lined up at the same time on purpose. But he is on purpose. Everything he does screams directly at Loki, "Don't do this."

We'll get to the second convenient intersection later.

The most obvious layer of manipulation is simply the beraucracy. They put him up against a series of obstacles which he needs to deal with to get anywhere else, and nothing he does can get him past those obstacles except compliance. All of these obstacles have personality, but they are not personable. They treat Loki like a bag of trash they have been tasked with taking to the curb. Annoying, distasteful, but ultimately routine. His silver tongue isn't going to get him anywhere because these people simply don't care.

I think a lot of these he just goes along with to see where it gets him, since at this point he still believes he has his magic in reserve. But the fact that he steps through the robot fryer even though he thinks he might be a robot without knowing (as others have pointed out, he spent thousands of years as a frost giant without knowing it, and he's recently spent time in the control of the being who shaped Nebula) is a testament to how deep they've already got their hooks in him.

They treat the robot fryer like it's routine, but come the next obstacle, they kill little echo man like it's routine, too. Because he didn't comply.

Loki is slowly being ironed flat to thread into their compliance mill.

And then - I love this, because it reminds me of one of my favorites among the multiplicity of Lokis, GoS!Loki - they put this line in as punctuation between the impersonal, compliance, don't phase of their manipulation and everything that comes after it.

When he's set before the judge, someone actually paying some attention to him, this is his chance to use his silver tongue on someone who will listen. But, although the judge listens, she treats him the same as all the other obstacles have - like listening is a distasteful chore she would like to be done with.

So it seems like the perfect moment for a dramatic escape. Except his magic is gone.

"It's not your story," the judge says. "It never was."

That hammers in all the worst things Loki has ever believed about himself - that he stands in the shadows of others, that he will never have the central place he was raised to desire, that he is, and always will be, a villain to be vanquished rather than a person with choices and agency.

Enter Mobius.

Mobius is a big echo.

He draws all the attention in a room. He is everything that Loki wishes to be - he is powerful, informed, prepared, in control. Capable of charming the judge. And most importantly, he is actively interested in Loki.

At this point in Loki's journey - both in the show and in his life - that has to be irresistible.

So Mobius is in a perfect position to wrap Loki right around his pinky finger.

He listens to Loki without shutting him down, the way all the obstacles have. When Loki tells Mobius he's going to burn down the TVA, Mobius suggests a couple of places he might want to start. One concrete, small, mischievous. One an indication that he's open to Loki doing larger, more significant things here in the future.

He shows Loki his own past and future - but carefully edited, to paint a particular picture.

So many echoes, so many reflections - Loki is in a house of mirrors. Lost, disoriented. Distorted one way, then the other. Magnified and examined.

Loki snarks, and Mobius comments, "Makes you sound smart." Affirms Loki for that little mischievous bit of personality.

Mobius shows Loki some of the most terrible things he's done, and questions them. Pushes Loki away from them. Then changes direction before he can get too heavy-handed, to basically fangirl over the DB Cooper adventure. That's mischief. That's good. I like that.

Punishes him for a small infraction, just to remind him who is in control and that even looking threatening could be seen as a problem.

I think it was at about this point that I got hard reminded of the dynamics of the show White Collar. It's a buddy cop show on a basic level and sometimes the relationship can be very sweet, but sometimes Peter spends one too many times reminding Neal that he can send him back to prison any time he wants and the power dynamic shows its messed up edges.

Mobius is part of the machine, and the machine is doing terrible things to Loki, but I have at least a sliver of hope that the relationship could gain more balance - more genuine balance, not based on the faux freedom that Loki has gained by the end of the episode. There's something to be said for making changes to a system from within that system, but for that to be meaningful change, Mobius would have to change as a person.

Anyway, this current nastily powerful Mobius pushes Loki as hard as he can, and then is conveniently interrupted by the actions of another variant, leaving Loki alone with his remote.

It could easily have been on purpose. The only thing Loki learns by escaping that room is that the TVA is more powerful than any force in the universe, in his experience.

Let's talk about the other Loki variant for a minute. It took me until the second viewing to realize the symbolism of leaving a small child the only survivor in a place of worship, then giving her something to turn her blue.

Odin said he found Loki in a temple, in the aftermath of a battle.

It's actually frighteningly easy to imagine how a distraught Loki could get to a place where he feels the need to genuinely burn down the TVA, and kill every agent in it. Because the TVA put certain clips in his little future show, focusing on the death of his mother, the way his own actions affected it, and the futility and brutality of his own death at the hands of Thanos.

They don't show him the destruction of Asgard, his own role in helping save the evacuees, and the way Thanos decimated the population of that transport before it could even reach Earth. They don't show him the devastation of his home or his capacity to do good.

A Loki who knows that the power of the TVA exists and that he has the capacity to be Asgard's heroic savior would do anything to get that power and save his people.

But we haven't met that Loki yet. I'm sure we will, and it's going to be exhilarating.

This Loki is being taught the importance of control over little things, and so when he gets his collar off and onto that guard, he toys with her, just to see that he can. They have been toying with him and it's oh so satisfying to turn the tables. But it's still compliance in its own way, the petty little mischief that Mobius has been steering him towards.

Loki has been given just enough freedom, just enough choices, that it seems like his own choice to watch the rest of the slide show and come to the obvious conclusion - there's no "out" to go to. His life has gone on without him, and ended. And there's really no point in his trying to fix it. No putting things back the way they were.

So he admits to Mobius - the person who has listened hardest, probably, besides his mother - he admits that he is small and scared and lashing out. That he doesn't know what to do.

Of course, this is when Mobius introduces the task the TVA has for Loki - to take down his other self.

Oh, I can't wait for the next episode! I want to know where this is going.

(I've popped in some panels from Loki: Agent of Asgard because it's my favorite and the show is giving me feelings about it.)

#the loki show #the loki series #agent mobius #loki #loki meta #spoilers #loki spoilers #loki show spoilers #aoa #gos!loki #marvel

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