Forging Bonds!!!

[doctor_fangeek]

So I still don't use this journal all that much - mostly just for the fic I've been writing lately, and I've only done one episode commentary so far, but I just had to had to say something about how much fun this week's episode was, and how amazed I was at the amount of backstory and explanations of/references to things we've seen in the present that Jeff Eastin & Co. managed to pack into an hour. 

We had Mozzie putting wine in an empty bottle, we had Neal getting a hat, Alex's origami, the music box, the Raphael, Jones & Diana, puppy Satchmo (adorable!), the rise and fall of the mustache, Neal & Kate eating pizza and pretending to be in the cote d'azure, and even the truth behind Neal and Mozzie's conversation in By the Book where Neal says that when Peter caught him he wasn't running away, he was running toward something - Kate.  Plus the aesthetic value of Neal painting in the wife beater, Neal wearing that lovely green shirt (and the lovely blue he gets arrested in, and the adorable naked dance + hat.

Honestly, there was so much backstory in there that I think I'll have to watch at least another time or two to make sure I didn't miss anything.  And despite everything we learned, it felt organic, and not just hey, exposition.  Other random thoughts:

- Loved the moment right *before* Neal dancing in the buff - it was a sweet moment between Neal and Kate, and utterly believable

- Because it's worth saying again, Puppy!Satchmo - so cute!

- Neal meeting his Fed.  And giving him the 'sucker.'

- Diana being smart and competent, even back then

- Neal's conversation with Adler after Neal switches the name tags on the table.

- Peter actually getting to arrest Neal, and Neal thanking him because he wouldn't have found Kate otherwise. Nice character moment for both of them.

- Peter and Neal, together, at the end of the episode, figuring out the next move to try to find Adler.

I'm sure there's probably other bits I'm forgetting to mention. 

So...what did everyone else  think?  Friends??