#keller: nice try lady ik you and your husband like that fancy feral bastard no matter his crimes

[gonnadosomethingwmylife]

White collar handles angst in such a great way because 3/4ths of the characters are emotionally mature, well-regulated people so when things like El getting kidnapped for the treasure go down, Peter doesn’t blame Neal or Mozzie, and even hears out Neal’s side on how he got the treasure. El doesn’t hold any resentment either because she recognizes Keller is to blame even though he was after their treasure.

I wouldn’t have blamed them for being more mad at Mozzie and Neal, but the fact they understood where they were coming from and never misappropriately assigned blame (Peter even tells Mozzie to stop blaming himself, because it was Keller who kidnapped El) is such a huge indicator of their maturity.

Also, Peter being able to see Neal be willing to confess and go to jail for his part in stealing the treasure allowed him to see that his good influence WAS changing Neal too. Peter recognizes that Neal is genuinely trying to be better, even if he can’t fully kick his habits, so even when Neal fucks up, he always keeps that in mind.

There are other examples, but how they handled the treasure fallout really stood out.