he sees her as a fling/friend/partner-in-crime and not as a serious romantic interest, and he's clearly not above using her if it suits his needs
Absolutely, and we got a fine piece of evidence of that in "Point Blank" (I still believe that this was payback, Caffrey-style, for the stunt Alex pulled on him in "Out of the Box") Sure, he was hell-bent on revenge on Fowler, but still, this is proof that Neal can, if necessary, be quite a bastard, and that he can be the same kind of puppet master Mozzie claims to be.
On the other hand, this is my kind of explanation to why we didn't see or hear of Alex in all of Season 3, only to have her suddenly pop up back again in Season 4, with her whole demeanor towards Neal changed - she had to lick her wounds, so to speak, and come out of it stronger.
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he sees her as a fling/friend/partner-in-crime and not as a serious romantic interest, and he's clearly not above using her if it suits his needs
Absolutely, and we got a fine piece of evidence of that in "Point Blank" (I still believe that this was payback, Caffrey-style, for the stunt Alex pulled on him in "Out of the Box") Sure, he was hell-bent on revenge on Fowler, but still, this is proof that Neal can, if necessary, be quite a bastard, and that he can be the same kind of puppet master Mozzie claims to be.
On the other hand, this is my kind of explanation to why we didn't see or hear of Alex in all of Season 3, only to have her suddenly pop up back again in Season 4, with her whole demeanor towards Neal changed - she had to lick her wounds, so to speak, and come out of it stronger.