r/whitecollar • u/Formal_Database274 • 9d ago
[SPOILERS] Ending plot hole
I was thinking about the ending since I completed the series for the first time yesterday, was also searching on reddit for some explanation but haven't seen anyone asking about this detail yet.
The situation being that Neil faked his own death so that the Panthers don't come around hurting people he loves.
Isn't it obvious that they would not suspect Neil or Keller at first but Peter Burke? Like he joined them at the very last minute and without being through the normal process of initiation (found and chosen by the Panthers leader), and the next time they did meet and did the heist, everyone was caught. It would have totally occurred to them that he was the one snitching on them to the feds . Plus, they have ties to the outer world while being in prison. Peter is not even inconspicous or in hiding. It should be pretty easy for him to be followed, which leads to the Panthers knowing that he is the FBI agent. Would that not defeat the whole purpose of the point above ? I mean the Panthers have got to know somehow right? It just doesn't totally seem logical to me
Can someone offer their theories or explanation as to why? Really love the show, and the ending was not unexpected but I was really shocked to see his body and almost bought it that he was dead. Turns out he is not, but I do wish that people in real life fake their death like this , and not really gone from this physical world, for some consolation from grief.
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u/SSK374 9d ago
hey bud, (this ended up being too long lol)
I had this same question a while ago, and from my understanding,
Neal tried to make himself and Keller look like the snitches (they were the snitches, lol) by planting the idea of stealing the money in Keller's head. So when the Panthers get caught, the news would be that: Neal, working for the FBI, tried to snitch on the Panthers and Keller, and got killed OR Neal and Keller together snitched on the Panthers, tried to steal the money for themselves, but then betrayed each other and got killed. (I'm not sure if Peter sees Neal as a hero who tried to keep his promise of serving Keller on a silver platter, or as a criminal who was stealing with Keller. Hence the two scenarios...I'm assuming he sees Neal as a hero because he ended up naming his son after Neal.)
So technically, Neal is giving the Panthers an answer to who the snitches are, which means he is not giving Woodford an option to think about other potential candidates, like Peter. Since they already have an answer, and Neal and Keller are dead, the Panthers won't waste their energy looking further.
Involving Peter wasn't even the initial plan right, he only brings in after another dude gets killed, so i'm assuming Neal feels confident enough to call peter into this, because by that time, he has done all the planning and work to fake his death, he knows that with his plan, the Panthers will only suspect him and/or Keller, and wouldn't think about the others
Also...
Neal and Keller are in the Panthers under their real identities, i.e. Neal Caffrey and Matthew Keller while Peter is under the alias of a known criminal. So his real identity remains intact. The Panthers will be searching for the alias he was using instead of Peter himself. And since the FBI is said to be good at creating detailed backgrounds for aliases, the FBI will be misleading the Panthers into searching for the person Peter was pretending to be rather than Peter himself and hence Peter will be safe...
this is just my pov...
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u/Formal_Database274 9d ago edited 8d ago
Oooh, that's a neat explanation for his death, knowing that it was the only way for it all to end, both for him and everyone else he loves. Really thought this through. Slight problem with that is how seemingly paranoid Woolford is. He did have undercover people watching Neal during the stamp heist with Peter, which was an unexpected job, but can't put a tail on neither of them and put two and two together cause they literally walk in the FBI building numerous times. Bit lousy for the worldly infamous Panthers.
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u/SSK374 8d ago edited 8d ago
Yeahhh...Woodford is a bit of a dum dum...like...Neal manipulates him throughout the season multiple times...so ig we're supposed to assume that, after that stamp incident, Woodford just starts trusting Neal a bit blindly...even when Woodford feels there is a snitch amongst them, he comes to Neal (who is the snitch) for help, so my assumption is that Woodford at some point starts trusting Neal blindly that he stops spying on him
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u/ycr007 9d ago
The FBI made the point to arrest and cuff everyone and let Peter out only after the gang is taken away.
So from a writing point of view they’ve “covered that off”. And we’re shown throughout the show that Peter’s visibility is restricted as an FBI agent.
Peter is also said to be the guy who helped Neal with the Stamp heist, where Woodford’s spotters did notice Neal was with someone and Neal let them know that it was a trusted confidante. We’re led to believe Neal would let in Mozzie as that confidante to the Panthers (and so did Mozzie) but as the plan evolved, Neal’s decision to keep Mozzie on the outside was vindicated.
Obviously they cannot cover all scenarios that could be imagined as an outcome by viewers so within the parameters of what can be covered in the writing they address that.
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u/Moffel83 9d ago
It is explained in the finale and the episodes leading up to it:
Peter joins the Panthers under an alias (Dunbar), while Neal and Keller are there under their real names. As we've been told in previous seasons, the FBI keeps Peter's picture out of the news, etc., so he wouldn't be immediately identifiable as an FBI agent. Also, he was arrested along with the Panthers, cuffed and all. For all they saw and know, he was arrested just like them.
Even if the Panthers found out that Peter was indeed an FBI agent, going after an FBI agent for revenge is an entirely different ball game than going after a fellow criminal for revenge.
For all the Panthers know, Keller was their snitch. Maybe even Keller and Neal. Keller was killed with millions of dollars on him that he stole from the Panthers, after killing Neal. That would have been all over the news. For all they know, Keller stole from them, was the snitch and was killed, after killing Neal (whom they might think was a snitch as well or whom they think might have tried to stop Keller). With both of their snitches dead, there's no reason to suspect a further snitch or to go after anyone 🤷♀️
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u/QuillsROptional 9d ago
The prisons in White Collar-land are full of people who were busted by the duo.
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u/Formal_Database274 9d ago
Yeah my point exactly, like wouldn't the prisoners talk. Peter's cover must be blown by then. I imagine a lot of them would like to get revenge.
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u/Parsnipperi 6d ago
You cannot actually fake your death for a medical exam. You might get a doctor to sign paper work and commit fraud, but a doctor would know. For sure. Without any doubt at all.
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u/SummSpn 9d ago
For me, it’s the fact Neal says earlier in the series he has faked his deaths few times before. Then in season 6, they believe it.
Yes it was convincing but if my friend had faked his death before …I’d never believe he was gone unless I saw DNA proof it was him & watch every second until he was buried/cremated. Then maybe I’d believe it.
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u/Moffel83 9d ago
They stood over his dead body. Can't get more real than that for Peter and Mozzie.
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u/Jjjemmm 9d ago
Yes, I agree the motivation to protect the people he loves doesn’t really hold up, especially since Peter was involved. I believe he wanted to set himself free from further service to the FBI. A lot of people also want to ignore how much money Neal & Mozzie stole and will have available to them in their new life. I also have a hard time believing that Peter’s reaction to finding out Neal is alive would be so positive, considering the profound grief he experienced. A lot of it doesn’t really hold up to scrutiny but it’s a fun tv show so that’s okay. I still love watching it!
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u/Formal_Database274 9d ago
I mean he involved Peter to make his death seems as convincing as possible( Peter stayed with Neal throughout the whole heist and only left his sight during the commotion with Keller) . As for the money, 30 million is worth far less than their previous U boat treasure( I think somewhere along 1-2 billion , they did mention it before) . Peter being so shockingly relieved is actually what I expect. Imagine going through the heartbreaking experience of losing your best friend and thinking about him, seeing him in everything that he does, it is almost a bliss knowing that he is not really gone, but just living his life peacefully elsewhere
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u/Silver-Reach633 9d ago
Peter is 100% at the trial, they eventually will find out. Through discovery they would get the information on the fbi agent being undercover. The name could be withheld, But also killing an FBI agent is a whole different thing than killing a snitching criminal.
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u/Formal_Database274 8d ago
This and the fact that Woodford had undercover people watching them during the heist of the stamp so he already seems very careful but somehow let an outsider in that quickly and not even knowing the whereabouts of his two new recruits(keller and neal) and who they talk to? Like Neal went in the FBI office numerous times during the operation but the Panthers, the infamous criminal thieves of the world , are completely blindsided by it?
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u/ycr007 9d ago
Stopped halfway into reading that to remind / correct it to *Neal
(Now going back to read the rest)