I love Neal Caffrey so much.
He's a survivor. He grew up with almost nothing - no father, a mentally ill mother who couldn't take care of him. Being a nobody in witness protection, having to hide.
And he makes a life for himself with nothing but his wits. He runs off to New York, learns to pull cons and heists, to fend for himself. Starting with nothing, barely even a name, but becoming quite literally one of the best at what he does, no name, no college degree, just intelligence and nerves of steel that he uses to provide for himself (yes, illegally). Pulls some of the brazen and brilliant cons and heists ever. Gets caught (though he knew he was walking into a trap) and uses nothing but his wits to break out of prison. Again uses his intelligence and skill to get himself out of prison as a consultant for the FBI (and a 2 miles radius is a hell of a lot better than a prison cell). And then, no matter how hard it is, makes a life for himself, with people he calls family.
And one of his core beliefs? There's always another way. He won't resort to violence. He won't physically harm anyone. He also won't allow himself to be backed into a corner. There's always another way. Whatever he needs to accomplish - protecting himself, protecting Mozzie, protecting Peter - he will find a way.
And he doesn't care much about the law, but he also doesn't steal because of greed. It's not about the money. It's about the challenge of it. And he's happy to use those same wits and rise up to the challenge if it involves helping a friend or solving a case for the FBI. He doesn't care about the law, but he's not a bad person. He will always be there for his friends. He won't betray them. You can trust him with your life - but not to tell you the truth. You can trust him to save the life of an innocent - but you can't trust him not to break your heart. He'll go to prison to protect the person he loves - but also steal 2 million dollars without caring too much that it's wrong. He is his own moral universe.
And oh, the tragedy of him. Growing up in witness protection, having to be a nobody, not even allowed his own name. Forced into obscurity. And is it any wonder that he chooses forgery? The area of crime where the idea is to not be yourself? To imitate the greatness of another without leaving your own mark on the world? Or cons, where he takes on the personality of another, but is always hiding. He's a brilliant artist in his own right, and yet he never displays his painting, never shows them off, never tries to be a legitimate artist.
And yet he's so desperate to be seen. He wants to be seen. His heists get bolder, more brazen. He's trying to be noticed by Kate, yes, but perhaps also he wants to leave a mark, be remembered as the guy who broke into the Louvre or the Met or the Uffizi. The criminals you know about are the second-best; the best are those you've never heard of. Neal is okay being second-best as long as he's seen, he's appreciated.
And then Peter Burke spends three years chasing him. Knowing everything there is to know about him. He spends three years being seen. Being known. (To love someone is to known them). Who recognizes his m.o. And when Peter catches him, he almost doesn't seem angry, doesn't seem upset, because Peter gave him what he wanted most: to be seen, to have made a mark on the world.
And then, of course, the tragedy of the end of his story, that he has to disappear again into obscurity. Neal Caffrey has to die, and he has to be reborn as someone else - or perhaps stay in the shadows this time. He can never leave his mark on the world because he needs to protect those he cares about. "There's always another way" - other than death at the Panthers' hands or indentured servitude to the FBI - and he finds that other way, but oh, at what cost?
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