White Collar's Series Finale: Creator Jeff Eastin on That Big Twist, the Alternate Ending, and a Possible TV Movie

White Collar S06E06: "Au Revoir"

White Collar creator Jeff Eastin knew from the very beginning how the show would end. Or so he thought. “The last moment was going to be a couple years in the future,” Eastin told me when I called him to discuss the series finale. “Neal has just gotten out. It's the first he had been off his anklet and has been a free man. He walks down and, standing at the apex [of the Flatiron Building], he’s flipping a coin. He flips the coin, it comes up heads, and he walks to the left and he walks down and there’s Mozzie and they get into a limo and we realize that they’re going to go off to be the greatest criminals. Suddenly we’re back to Neal at the apex of the building, flipping the coin, and it comes to tails, and he walks to the right and goes into the FBI. We realize that it's two years later and Neal’s actually taken Peter’s place at the FBI and he’s become possibly the world’s greatest lawman. Then we go to back to Neal at the apex of the building and he flips the coin and then the coin lands on his hand and we cut to black.”

However, that’s not how the USA drama said farewell on Thursday. After Neal (Matt Bomer) and Keller (Ross McCall) got away from the rest of the now-apprehended Pink Panthers with a nice chunk of change from the Federal Reserve heist, Keller got greedy, and he and Neal struggled with a gun before it went off, shooting Neal in the chest. Keller escaped, but it wasn’t long before Peter (Tim DeKay) found him and shot him when he tried to take a hostage. Peter turned the corner to see a visibly weakened Neal being loaded into an ambulance, at which point Neal told Peter—finally—that Peter was his best friend. The exchange would be the last one the two ever shared, as Peter and Mozzie (Willie Garson) were next seen standing over Neal’s dead body in the morgue, in what was by far the episode’s most emotional moment. 

A year later, Peter and Elizabeth (Tiffani Thiessen) were the parents of a beautiful baby named Neal, natch, and Mozzie was back to his old ways. When Peter received a mysterious bottle of Bordeaux, he did some digging and found Neal’s secret storage unit, which contained a photo of the ambulance driver (whom we then saw that Neal had paid off), and a mannequin dressed just like Neal with a bullet mark on its chest, and a newspaper boasting a headline about new security at the Louvre. The final moments of the series revealed Neal in his best suit and fedora, walking the streets of Paris with a smile on his face. 

I chatted with Eastin about his decision to change the ending, what fans didn’t see in the finale and whether a White Collar TV movie will ever happen. Here's what he had to say...

This ending left much less open to interpretation. Why was this the right ending? 

The flipping-the-coin ending I had before played with this idea of Neal trying to figure out who he was. Is he like Peter with the beautiful wife and the white picket fence and the dog? Or is he more like his father, which is the con man and the ultimate art thief? I liked playing on that vagueness, but then Matt and Tim had come to me and said, “We have this ending.” What this ending said that I liked better was that the chase goes on. … The more I thought about it, it’s like, "You know what, this is my universe that I created. I can do with it what I want," and it’s much more fun to think that Neal is off robbing the Louvre than it is [to think about him being] settled down and living somewhere with his white picket fence. Neal is who he is. As I said before, he wanted to be good, but he was born bad, and at the end of the day, Neal’s going to go do what he is the best at. 

Why was faking his own death specifically the only way out for him instead of jumping on a plane and jetting off to a country with no extradition treaty? 

We’ve done the extradition thing and something also drew Neal back. I had long debates internally just thinking, "So what’s the way to do this?" Neal’s done this and run and then come back. By actually letting the world believe he’s dead, that was really the one way he could do it where he was free and clear. The biggest challenge really was hopefully convincing the audience that Neal actually was dead. The only way to do that was if Mozzie believes it, then I think people may believe it. Personally, that moment in the hallway always gets me choked up where Peter is holding his anklet and says, “You’re free.” There wasn’t a dry eye in the house when we were filming that one. It was that idea that we could believe that Neal was gone and life continued after. There wasn’t anybody chasing Neal. Mozzie moved on. Peter moved on. Peter and Elizabeth had a kid and named it Neal. Life really has moved on. That was the only way to ensure that nobody was following him. So this way we ensure that the slate is really clean. 

Neal looks happy in Paris but in exchange for his freedom, he never gets to talk to his closest friends again and meet Peter’s son. Is that still a happy ending? Does he have regret? 

If you look at the series as a whole, we had pointed to that several times, and there’s a lot of moments where we talked about, "If you run, this is what you lose." You lose those people. ... That is just sort of what comes with the territory. I consider it a happy ending, although melancholy. But probably ultimately where we ended up, the one ending that no matter how you played it, for Neal to be free ultimately, based on who he is and the fact that he can never really be what he is, it’s the only ending that would ever be possible for him. Which is sort of a life on the run and a life where ultimately he has to be separated from the people he cares about. That’s just based on who he is. So for Neal, it beats the alternative, which in this case was death. 

Neal and Peter had that big final moment where Neal is on the stretcher. After all these years and all the back-and-forth between these two characters, why was it important to end things on that note? 

That was a scene that took a great deal of thought just because there were so many things between them that could be said. Ultimately what it came down to was, “You were my best friend,” which I think summed up that entire relationship that had gone from Peter being Neal’s handler at the very beginning, [when their relationship was] based on a great deal of mistrust, to the point where Neal can say that. ... People ask me, “Did Peter ever trust Neal?” The one answer Peter said repeatedly was, “I can trust him when it counts.” Ultimately, Neal lied to Peter and was very deceitful, but he showed time and time again that he cared a great deal about him. 

What was the hardest part of producing this finale? 

The original finale [ran] 22 minutes long in the editing bay, so that was tough. We left in a lot of stuff. The one that will air originally is two minutes longer than the repeats that will air after. The difference there is small things, like in the [shorter version], we don’t get to see what happens to Jones and Diana. There’s a moment with Neal and Peter, and Peter toasts to cappuccino in the clouds. So there were a lot of moments that I ultimately wanted to include which were really callbacks throughout the series that the fans who stuck with the show hopefully would have enjoyed. Cutting those down was the toughest and hopefully they’ll live again on the DVD. 

Was there any one element in particular that proved the most difficult to cut? 

There was a very nice moment between Peter and Keller where they talk about the nature of Peter’s relationship with Neal. ... Peter really tried to understand how Neal and Keller could have ever been friends. Keller says, “That’s what you don’t understand about him. He is like me.” And there’s a nice moment of realization on Peter’s face where I think it sort of hits home that Neal, no matter what you want to say about him, he was never domesticated. 

Should we assume in the future that Peter will end up with another criminal informant? He and Neal were really successful as a team. 

Possibly. I think the ending that we went with, the implication there was that Peter is Peter and he's settled into a new way of life, which is he’s the guy who leaves at six o’clock and he isn’t going to stay out and work all night because he has a son at home. So really he became a different guy. So the idea that he’s going to go back and become the guy he was and get a new C.I. ... in the universe I see, it doesn’t happen. What I really want to see is Peter jump on a plane and show up in Paris looking for Neal and run into Mozzie on the way. For me, that would be the most satisfying route to go. 

What do you ultimately hope viewers will take away from the series finale? 

For Neal to be successful, he needs to convince the world that he is dead. So I’m hoping that three quarters of the way through, that people will believe that we have killed Neal. And then at the very end, that they will take away the feeling that, in whatever sense thatWhite Collar continues, whether it’s a TV movie down the line or if it’s in people’s imaginations, that for the rest of the time, Peter won’t pursue Neal and Neal will keep on as the world’s greatest art thief and that Mozzie will be there somewhere helping him out. Even though the series is done, the pursuit continues. 

Is a TV movie something you’ve talked to people about doing or considered for the future? 

Fox Studios came to me—I know they had some fans on Twitter suggesting it—and said, “Hey, let’s get fans to send in ties to USA and say, 'Tie up White Collar with a seventh season!'” The idea of that, sure, would have been very appealing. We probably had more stories to tell. So yeah, I think the idea that we come back for something like a TV movie would be appealing and after talking to everybody, especially Matt, I would say that everybody would probably be down for something like that if it came up. If it doesn’t, what I’m happy about is that I think we had a pretty good run. Very few shows make it six years, so it’s really impossible to complain about that. 

What did you think of White Collar's series finale? Did you believe Neal was dead? Would you like to see a White Collar TV movie? 

The Last Awkward Pause: A Fond Farewell to Craig Ferguson's Late Late Show

In a surreal situation where Community's Dean Pelton interviewed the boss from The Drew Carey Show, Jim Rash and Craig Ferguson took the stage at the Paley Center in Los Angeles on Monday to bid The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson adieu. During the chat that ensued, Ferguson talked about how Americans have allowed a strange Scotsman into their homes for a decade, and how he brought along plenty of off-beat monologues, a two-man horse character, a skeleton robot sidekick, impromptu game shows, and so very many awkward pauses. Awkward pauses that celebrity guests tend to ask for emphatically. It's been a weird 10 years.

The theater in which the event took place could easily be described as "quaint." It was certainly smaller than the studio in which Ferguson tapes The Late Late Show, though to be fair, those tickets are free. Everyone in the audience had paid for the opportunity to squeeze into this intimate room and give themselves at least one more shot at witnessing Ferguson work during this era of his career. He leaves The Late Late Show at the end of this week.

It seems like it can't possibly have been so long since Craig Kilborn left yet another show in more capable hands and we watched The Late Late Show's transformation into something unique and slightly insane. Rumors may swirl about why Ferguson is leaving now, just as Stephen Colbert prepares to take David Letterman's seat at the Late Show, but Ferguson maintains, as he did on Monday while sitting five rows away from me, that it's a strictly creative decision. That it was time. That he's explored "the box," pushed into all of its corners, and now it's time to leave irrespective of the real or imagined ghosts of promotions and opportunity.

That's something I can respect. Because Ferguson also maintained that he's never understood the competition part of late-night television. Letterman, Jay Leno, and, later on, Conan O'Brien were marked with a cutthroat nature that isn't really represented in the current landscape. Sure, maybe there was a time when hosts got stabby over the thought of coexisting. But Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers, Colbert, and particularly Ferguson have never been warring types. There's seemingly room for all their voices. And thus, when Ferguson says he leaving because—and only because—he's ready, it's with a heavy heart that I tell him that'll do.

I don't want to say Ferguson was the heir to Conan, particularly since he was on a different network. But once Conan took over The Tonight Show, got fired, became a brand, toured the country, went all-in on that brand, and then moved to cable to deliver his late-night schtick, I lost some interest in "my guy." Ferguson only followed in Conan's footsteps because he was someone who used that 12:30am space to its fullest. He took chances and pushed the envelope of what a host could do on American late-night television. You want to take your show to Paris and conduct interviews in a bookstore and then perform improvised sketches with celebrities in a museum? Let's go. You want to do a Doctor Who-themed episode? Yes. You want one of the guys from Mythbusters to build you a robot sidekick that occasionally speaks in a Morgan Freeman voice, even when, and okay, especially when, Morgan Freeman is a guest on the program? Heck, a robot sidekick couldn't be more inconsistently funny than Andy Richter is, right? (I love Andy Richter, by the way, but I find that he's sometimes a non-contributor).

The result was honest-to-goodness chaos. Rash asked Ferguson about his routine, how he prepares for each show, and to no one's surprise, Ferguson revealed there's very little of that sort of thing. He described himself as impatient and not good at planning. And of course, there's no aspect of The Late Late Show that better illustrates this notion than the celebrity interviews in which Ferguson rips up his notecards, ditching whatever information they contain and throwing them on the ground to join the emailed and tweeted questions he read in earlier segments (the stage of The Late Late Show is very messy). Of all the elements that make Ferguson's show work, from the personal monologues to the bizarre characters, the conversational tone he maintains with his guests is one of the most remarkable.

I obviously can't speak for you, but to me, almost everyone in late-night TV who's not Letterman or Colbert doing a bit is terrible at conducting interviews with celebrities. Everyone. The discussions typically comprise a bunch of pre-interview questions jammed together into what would be an incoherent mess of human interaction if it aired anywhere other than on the shows we watch at our sleepiest and/or drunkest. Instead of playing nice with a publicist and lobbing softballs, Ferguson always strives to just have a nice chat. He's a weird dude, so he'll occasionally ask questions like, "Do you believe in ghosts?" or "Have you ever ridden a kangaroo?" but that generally only happens when a guest is either careening toward unintentional awkwardness or hellbent on predetermined talking points. Everything else is organic.

Ferguson describes his interview style as his attempt to humanize these larger-than-life figures. And it works. You don't need another reason to love Kristen Bell, but your love will reach new depths after watching his many bits and interviews with her. There's something different about the way people talk on The Late Late Show. There's a sense of comfort and ease, a certain disarmament, when they step onto a stage covered in paper and sit down in that chair across from a desk covered in toys to talk to a smirking Scotsman. Even Kristen Stewart looks downright personable while in conversation with Ferguson, and that, as I can attest from watching other hosts try and fail to achieve the same result, is no small feat.

Now, The Late Late Show is certainly quirky. There have been a number of times where Ferguson has dressed up as an insane Michael Caine for a running gag. There was an episode where he cleared the house so that he could interview Stephen Fry without an audience. And yes, there's also a fake horse that used to be summoned by a doorbell but now has its own stall offstage so that people can attempt to throw rings over its head. But Ferguson's knack for talking to people might actually make him the most traditional late-night host of all. Carson had that same skill, where it seemed like old friends were meeting up for coffee instead of carrying out some awkward Hollywood transaction. Fallon has started to come around to that in a different regard, by somehow convincing many of his guests to play silly games that involve smashing eggs on their heads. But Ferguson did it the old-fashioned way—and his games, though much smaller in scope, preceded Fallon's by years. The post-interview choice of an "awkward pause," playing a harmonica, or winning a "big cash prize" through trivia or imagination added an additional layer of playfulness. Ferguson's Late Late Show has always elicited the feeling that we're all friends here. Sure, the guest in his hot seat makes millions of dollars a picture, but we're all susceptible to mouth organ innuendo.

So where does Ferguson go from here? Does he stick with his new Hollywood Game Night clone until he can turn it into some kind of incoherent yet loveable sideshow of inside jokes and Laugh-In-style dance parties? Will he just become a rotating player on Whose Line Is It Anyway? so he can hang out with fellow Drew Carey alums? Will he host the syndicated primetime show that he was reportedly in negotiations for not so long ago? Will he pen erotic novels based on his Doctor Who fan-fiction? I can't really tell. And, based on his answer to Rash asking him the very same question, he's not really sure either, or at least isn't ready to outwardly commit to a specific long-term future. Which is a sentiment I can respect.

I think it's the concept of respect that most often comes to mind for me when I think about Craig Ferguson. I respect him for being a statesman of late-night TV among the silly Millennial games the rest of the crowd engages in as a means of creating succinct videos for their YouTube channels. And I believe that Ferguson respects not only his guests and the people who work on his show, but his audience as well. You'll never find him over-explaining or talking down to anyone. Whereas all the other hosts put on their host faces and play MC to keep things running on schedule, Ferguson has always been more of the life of this televised party. Everyone's got a loose idea of what's supposed to happen, and the show will always have to pause to accommodate network requirements like commercials and timeslots, but outside of those pesky little interruptions, Ferguson's Late Late Show is just an informal gathering. It's comfortable and fun. That's an element of late-night television that I'll be sad to see disappear. In a sea of polished, veneered, and tightly scheduled shows fronted by well-dressed clowns, Ferguson was human and without artifice. And that's respectable, even if he would never claim to resemble an embodiment of the term.

The Archbishop Desmond Tutu appeared on The Late Late Show a few years ago, and he told Ferguson that he thought Ferguson was just "a little bit crazy," but the kind of crazy the world needs. During his talk with Rash, Ferguson claimed that his discussion with Tutu was a turning point for the show, like God telling him it was okay for him to pursue these fancies of insanity. Once the lights come down at the end of this week, I'll be sad to see that divinely supported craziness disappear from the landscape.

I mean, Ferguson isn't dying or anything. He's going to be around. I guess. I think? I don't know. He hasn't been clear. I'm sure it'll be fine. This is getting out of hand. Ah, tutsi-fruitsi.

Parks and Recreation: Check Out the Futuristic First Footage from the Final Season (VIDEO)

Soon we're going to have to bid farewell to the beautiful tropical fish wacky and weird people of Pawnee, Indiana's Parks and Recreation department. It's going to be sad and we're probably all going to hug each other and cry (except for Ron Swanson because duh, he's Ron Swanson). But today is not that day! 

No, today is the day when we get our first look at what's in store for Parks and Recreation's final season when it debuts in January! So what's the world like in 2017? Well, the drones look annoying, I know that much. Press play on the teaser below to find out what else is new, and then hit the comments to share your thoughts and feelings the show's impending conclusion and to reveal how you plan on coping once Leslie Knope is no longer a regular part of your life.

OMG, Andy Dwyer has his own TV show; 2017 is going to be so awesome!

Parks and Recreation returns Tuesday, January 13 on NBC.

Orphan Black Season 3 Has a Premiere Date and an Exciting New Teaser! (VIDEO)

Clone Club is officially back in session! Stock up on jello, hooded sweatshirts, and all the arts and crafts supplies that Alison could ever want, because BBC America has just announced a premiere date for the highly anticipated third season of its clone drama Orphan Black. 

Sarah and her sisters will return to our TV screens on Saturday, April 18 at 9pm to deal with the fallout from the show's Season 2 finale, which revealed the existence of highly trained, identical male soldiers created by Project Castor. The new season will pick up almost immediately following the events of the finale, and based on the image above—our first real look at what's in store for Season 3—it appears that Sarah will be jumping right into an interrogation of Rudy, the clone whom Marian had locked up in a Dyad prison cell. Will Ari Millen, who plays Orphan Black's dude clones, turn out to be the male equivalent of one-woman wonder and recent SAG nominee Tatiana Maslany? For our own sakes, let's hope so! 

In addition to the premiere date, BBC America also released a new teaser for the third season, which hints that a war is coming. Check it out:

There seems to be one clone missing; should we take Rachel's absence as proof that she didn't survive that pencil to the eye, or are the powers that be just messing with us? Hit the comments with your theories!

Are you excited for Orphan Black's return?

What to Watch Tonight:

What to watch on Thursday, December 18...

8pm, ABC
The Taste
Holiday-themed challenges task the 13 remaining cooks with conjuring dishes centered on fowl, spiced chocolate desserts, maybe some roasted chestnuts, dancing sugarplums, a turtle dove or two, typical stuff.

8pm, The CW
The iHeartRadio Jingle Ball 2014
Taylor Swift, Pharrell Williams, Ariana Grande, and Nick Jonas are among the slated performers at the annual celebration of Youth-Oriented Entertainment Industry Marketing (Holiday Season Division).

8:30pm, CBS
Mom
Christy and Bonnie join Violet's therapy session in "Free Therapy and a Dead Lady's Yard Sale." It isn't long before family skeletons start tumbling out of the closet.

SERIES FINALE, 9pm, USA
White Collar
Six seasons of charming cons and dapper duds culminate with "Au Revoir," which finds Peter joining Neal and the Pink Panthers for the airport heist. But that's not the only scheme on Neal's to-do list, as he looks to finish the master plan that will secure his future.

9pm, NBC
The People Magazine Awards
The latest round of one of the Western Hemisphere’s most prestigious accolades, which I believe in years past have honored Edgar Allen Poe, Marie Curie, the Mahatma Gandhi, and Charo. Scheduled to appear this year are Jeff Bridges, Jon Hamm, Jennifer Aniston, Kevin Hart, Michael Keaton, Diane Guerrero, and many more.

9pm, CBS
Two and a Half Men
Walden and Alan hope to convince Louis that Santa is real in "Clockwise in Back Hole Until Tight." Meanwhile at the North Pole, Santa and Mrs. Claus hope to convince the elves that Two and a Half Men is not real.

9:30pm, CBS
The McCarthys
In “Red Sox Swap,” Marjorie hopes to lift the spirits of the family’s upstairs tenant (Alyson Hannigan) by inviting her to join their various reindeer games.

SEASON 5 FINALE, 10:05pm, USA
Covert Affairs
Pursued by Vega Force assassins, Annie and McQuaid must escape Argentina in "Gold Soundz." And if their situation is anything like the old Vega Force Assassins on the NES, the Konami Code would really come in handy.

10pm, CBS
Elementary
"End of Watch" finds Holmes and Watson joining the NYPD in the search for an officer's murderer. But the killer isn't Sherlock's only quarry this week, as he tracks a blogger who's posting personal statements he had made in sobriety meetings.

10pm, TBS
Conan to GO
Highlights from the late-night program's first four years are featured, including favorite sketches, out-of-studio segments, and last-minute-of-a-Big-Bang-Theory-repeat-preceding-the-show snippets.

SERIES FINALE, 10:30pm, Comedy Central
The Colbert Report
Before the show signs off for good, Stephen will sit down with his old friend Grimmy, a gaunt and sallow fellow who enjoys chess, robes, and pre-industrial farm equipment.

LATE-NITE:
– Orlando Bloom, John C. McGinley, and Sebastian Maniscalco on Conan, 11pm, TBS
– Chris Rock on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, 11pm, Comedy Central
– Amy Adams, Nick Offerman, and Foo Fighters on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, 11:35pm, NBC
– Rosie O’Donnell and Jeff Altman on Late Show with David Letterman, 11:35pm, CBS
– Mel Brooks and Christine Baranski on Jimmy Kimmel Live, 11:35pm, ABC
– Christoph Waltz, Uzo Aduba, and Greg Warren on Late Night with Seth Meyers, 12:35am, NBC
– Jim Parsons on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, 12:37am, CBS

WHAT ARE YOU WATCHING TONIGHT?

8:00pm Pawn Stars: Game Over: Enhanced Version  NEW HIST I'M WATCHING The Biggest Loser: Kauai Part 1  NEW NBC I'M WATCHING 8:30pm Mom: Free Therapy and a Dead Lady's Yard Sale  NEW CBS I'M WATCHING Pawn Stars: Mini Rick: Enhanced Version  NEW HIST I'M WATCHING 9:00pm White Collar: Au Revoir  NEW USA I'M WATCHING Two and a Half Men: Clockwise in Back Hole Until Tight NEW CBS I'M WATCHING Pawn Stars: Clowning Around  NEW HIST I'M WATCHING Beyond Scared Straight: Fulton, GA: Facing Foxxxxy  NEW A&E I'M WATCHING Project Runway All Stars: Mix and Match.com  NEW LIFE I'M WATCHING 9:30pm The McCarthys: Red Sox Swap  NEW CBS I'M WATCHING Pawn Stars: Oldest Trick in the Book  NEW HIST I'M WATCHING 10:00pm Elementary: End of Watch  NEW CBS I'M WATCHING Tamar & Vince: Tamar & Vince  NEW WE I'M WATCHING Beyond Scared Straight: Chester, SC: The Harder They Fall NEW A&E I'M WATCHING Conan: Conan  NEW TBS I'M WATCHING 10:05pm Covert Affairs: Gold Soundz  NEW USA I'M WATCHING 11:00pm Watch What Happens: Live: Watch What Happens: Live NEW BRAVO I'M WATCHING Conan: Conan  NEW TBS I'M WATCHING The Daily Show With Jon Stewart: The Daily Show With Jon Stewart NEW COMEDY I'M WATCHING 11:30pm Colbert Report: Colbert Report  NEW COMEDY I'M WATCHING 11:35pm Late Show With David Letterman: Late Show With David Letterman  NEW CBS I'M WATCHING Jimmy Kimmel Live: Jimmy Kimmel Live  NEW ABC I'M WATCHING The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon: The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon NEW NBC I'M WATCHING 12:00am At Midnight: At Midnight  NEW COMEDY I'M WATCHING 12:15am The Eric Andre Show: Naturi Naughton; Ryan Phillippe NEW TOON I'M WATCHING 12:35am Late Night With Seth Meyers: Late Night With Seth Meyers NEW NBC I'M WATCHING