Kate: No Longer in the Clouds

While Neal and his friends thought they were starring in a pirate adventure, for Kate Harlequin's Shadow has been more of a roller coaster.

Warning for spoilers to Harlequin's Shadow

In Albania, she felt like she was living in a dreamworld. She was able to indulge in a luxurious lifestyle with Vincent Adler. She could travel and shop in Europe as she wished. Finding the hidden message in the Braque painting was an unexpected thrill. There was even the possibility that Neal would accept Adler's offer and continue to work with them. When Neal was captured, Kate's elation intensified. It seemed like old times to be helping him uncover the secret to the lost treasure.

For the moment, she shoved into the background her fears about what Adler's true intentions were with regard to Neal. I left it unclear if she believed Adler would actually harm Neal. She may have thought he was simply trying to intimidate Neal to make him behave. Then disaster struck. Just as she was on the point of having her dream achieve full fruition, it shattered in front of her eyes. Toward the end of the story, Kate was arrested along with Adler and they were both led off in handcuffs.

White Collar fans have mixed reactions to Kate, both in canon and in our series. Some view her as self-serving and caring little about Neal. Others believe Peter misunderstood her in canon, and she was working all along to secure a future where she and Neal could be happy together. Penna wrote about our ambivalence to Kate in an earlier post, Unraveling Kate. There she describes the rationale behind Kate's appearances in our series.

As in canon, Kate's fate was linked to the hoard of plundered art. In the TV series, Adler manipulated her as part of his attempt to acquire the music box. In Caffrey Conversation, she worked with Adler to deceive Henry in Argentina. They hoped to trick Henry to make him an unwitting ally in their hunt for the art. The plan backfired, and now Kate and Adler are heading for prison.

In some respects, Kate's capture mirrors Neal's fate in canon. This time it's Neal who is responsible for her arrest. As for Kate's future, that's open-ended. She's about the age Neal was when he was arrested. Will a sympathetic court decide she was coerced by Adler and give her a reduced sentence? Will she emerge from prison a changed woman? Will she manage to escape? I'd love to hear your thoughts on Kate's future path.

Harlequin's Shadow on Archive of Our Own
Harlequin's Shadow on FanFiction