Then Tim DeKay and Matt Bomer came to me and said, “Hey, look, we love that ending. It’s awesome. But we’ve got a better idea.” And that was the idea, which is Neal, ultimately, decides to kill himself to save the people he loves. But of course, it’s Neal, so he hasn’t quite done that. Once they pitched me this ending, I said, “You know what? This is so much better.” So that’s how this ending came about. 然后Tim和Matt觉得应该让Neal假装自杀来保全他所爱的人,编剧觉得这是个好主意,于是就有了现在的结局。
Q: What do you want viewers to take away from those final moments? 问:你希望观众怎么理解最后那几幕呢? A: The real idea there was the relationship between Peter and Neal, that chase that we started. In the world of White Collar, that pursuit will just continue forever. The moment Peter discovers that [Neal] set the entire thing up, I’m hoping people will go, “OK. Neal tricked us one more time.” Obviously, there’s a playing card inside there to indicate that Mozzie had been there before. So Mozzie will also continue on with Neal. And that, really, Neal’s finally free. The entire series, we’ve tried desperately to get Neal to Paris. We figured that if there’s one place that an art thief needs to be, it’s in Paris. So we’re finally able to do that in the very final moment, which I’ve very, very happy about. 答:Peter和Neal间还是猫鼠关系,当P发现N设计了整个事件的时候,我希望观众的反应是:好吧,我们又被N耍了一次。扑克牌意味着Mozz已经去过了那里,所以M会追随N。我们在拍摄整部剧的过程中都希望让Neal去巴黎,因为巴黎是art thief的天堂。最后终于实现了,很开心。
Q: I couldn’t help but notice that there’s a bit of an open door with this ending. Is there room for continuation? Maybe a TV movie? 问:结局还有发展空间,还有可能继续吗?比如拍个电影? A:You never know. That would be nice. I know the studio is pushing me to try to have viewers mail ties into USA to try to keep the series going. [Laughs] 答:一切皆有可能。工作室希望我把粉丝的邮件大批量地发给USA让这部剧继续。
Q: The scene where Neal is dressed as an airline captain, was that a nod to your original pitch and this being sort of a continuation of Catch Me If You Can? 问:Neal飞行员的造型是向原型致敬吗?能否把它看成一种电影的延续? Yeah. Beyond that, Frank Abagnale, Jr., the real guy [on which the film is based], was a fan of the show. He had been really nice and sent me like a signed poster and things like that and told me how much he liked the show. We were trying very hard to get him to do a cameo in the finale, but the timing didn’t work out with his schedule. So the airline captain was really a nod to Frank Abagnale, Jr., the original Neal. 答:是的。而且Neal的原型Frank Abagnale Jr.是这部剧的粉丝。他给我寄过签名的明信片告诉我他有多喜欢这部剧。本来想让他来结局客串,但时间安排不开。所以飞行员的造型确实是向原型致敬。