Wow... a lot of insightful thoughts. I will admit I was pleasantly happy with how it turned out - possibly because I saw it coming and that I'd written this plot line, so I'd already accepted it. It still hurts - SO much, because everyone did grieve. (and I was more cruel with a 5 yr revelation!) But hey - they could have killed off Neal or Peter or Moz for real, and I would never forgive JE for that.
I don't know how I feel about whether or not Neal is back to his old ways. I choose to believe he's working as a security consultant. Yes, starting a new identity and all that is hard work vs just hiding away and stealing things, but that's just something to be glossed over because it's Neal. I mean, when has JE ever been realistic? I still don't know how they create fake passports when there's a database and they have to be swiped!! So yeah... the ending was definitely left for us to believe what we want. I don't agree with JE's vision or view of Neal 'born bad' because he wasn't. His father was a good cop at that point.
I'd like to think Neal has changed, and he was honest when he told Elizabeth that they were his family. He didn't give all that up just to go running around the world again. He did it for their protection. I think it's very interesting how you broke it down, and the reasons to fake his death or not. June is a very big one. Peter has the badge. But the baby changed everything - you're totally right on that one. In my fic - I made my villain to have a vast network that was threatening him. So I feel that was a let down and a cop-out regarding the Pink Panthers. Yes, they were gun-happy and dangerous, but not so vast and threatening in my opinion. How were they different from any other group they'd faced?
...and this comment has been interrupted so much I've lost my train of thought so I'm going to leave it here.
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I don't know how I feel about whether or not Neal is back to his old ways. I choose to believe he's working as a security consultant. Yes, starting a new identity and all that is hard work vs just hiding away and stealing things, but that's just something to be glossed over because it's Neal. I mean, when has JE ever been realistic? I still don't know how they create fake passports when there's a database and they have to be swiped!! So yeah... the ending was definitely left for us to believe what we want. I don't agree with JE's vision or view of Neal 'born bad' because he wasn't. His father was a good cop at that point.
I'd like to think Neal has changed, and he was honest when he told Elizabeth that they were his family. He didn't give all that up just to go running around the world again. He did it for their protection. I think it's very interesting how you broke it down, and the reasons to fake his death or not. June is a very big one. Peter has the badge. But the baby changed everything - you're totally right on that one. In my fic - I made my villain to have a vast network that was threatening him. So I feel that was a let down and a cop-out regarding the Pink Panthers. Yes, they were gun-happy and dangerous, but not so vast and threatening in my opinion. How were they different from any other group they'd faced?
...and this comment has been interrupted so much I've lost my train of thought so I'm going to leave it here.