White Collar Review: Coloring Outside the Lines

After a jaw-dropping midseason finale last summer, Neal Caffrey and the rest of the White Collar crew finally returned last night in the season 2.5 opener “Burke’s Seven.” Is it just me, or is anyone else over these huge midseason hiatuses? Season 2 kicked off last July with Matthew Bomer’s Neal, a con artist turned FBI collaborator, mourning his girlfriend Kate. She had boarded a plane set to take the two out of New York City when he watched it explode and was left looking for a way to avenge her apparent murder. FBI Agent Peter Burke (Tim DeKay) and Neal’s friend Mozzie (Willie Garson) hope to keep him out of danger and away from his quest to discover the secrets of the all important music box Kate’s ransomer (and apparently many other underworld figures) are after.

The midseason premiere kicks off with a bang, that is, a recap of the events from the last episode which culminated in Mozzie being shot out in the open. Everyone’s favorite enigmatic character clearly isn’t losing his place on the show, and is quickly rushed to the hospital and where doctors put him in a medically induced coma. Meanwhile, Peter and Neal initiate a plan to take down their one suspect, Julian Larson (guest star Paul Blackthorne, The Dresden Files). The plan—burn all of Larson’s aliases and make sure the next one he buys is a plant they can trace.

While Peter and Co. are tracking down all known aliases for Larson, Neal calls a meeting of all the forgers he knows in the greater New York City area. While reluctant to aid an FBI collaborator, they’re more than willing to help catch the guy who shot Mozzie. They assist by setting him up with the pre-selected alias of Justin Springer. Back at the hospital, Mozzie comes out of his coma and is immediately concerned his presence there means he’s “in the system” now. To his delight, Neal informs him he’s registered under an alias. Mozzie also tells Neal he has no memory of the shooter.

Neal is being followed by Larson, and when the two come face to face in an alley, Neal refuses to help Larson escape the city. Larson offers him the identity of the big bad, who both ordered Mozzie’s shooting and the bomb on Kate’s plane. Neal informs Peter and his wife Elizabeth (Tiffani Thiessen), who’s hard at work on a care package for Mozzie, and says he wants this handled through legal means. The FBI tracks Larson to an apartment and grabs him and the gun. Back at the hospital, Mozzie tells Neal that he regrets telling Peter that Neal was tracking Fowler, which Neal forgives, and that he knows he was shot for the code inside the music box, which “builds something.”

Peter’s questioning of Larson is interrupted when he’s informed his print was found on the gun they recovered from Larson’s apartment. The FBI suspends him while an investigation is set in motion. Peter quickly informs Neal a mug has gone missing from his desk and he thinks that must be how Larson stole his prints. Diana (Marsha Thomason) and Jones (Sharif Atkins) review surveillance footage and see a figure avoiding cameras did enter Peter’s office and remove said mug, and also that he used Peter’s computer while in the office.

Peter tells Neal that Larson erased the name of Nigerian Prince Frederick Bilal, who oversees importing and exporting in NYC, from his records. Thus returns Sara (guest star Hilarie Burton, One Tree Hill), super insurance agent, who just so happens to insure a member of the yacht club where Bilal spends most of his time. She gets Neal and Peter into the club, where Peter and Bilal bond over horse racing. Peter discovers the prince may be willing to bend certain rules in exchange for favors while Neal uncovers one of Larson’s aliases on his shipping logs and enacts his own plan to bring the two down.

Sara, Mozzie and Jones get onboard with Neal, using Sara’s software that allows Neal to speak in Larson’s voice to trick Bilal after scaring him into making a call from a redirected payphone. After learning Bilal is involved in smuggling, they use that leverage to bring Larson in again. Diana and Peter agree to take part, forming the Burke Six, with Elizabeth eventually stepping in and saving the operation, rounding out the episode’s titular Burke Seven. Bilal is eventually caught in possession of antique Nazi china and sets up a meeting with Larson. Meanwhile, Sara heads to the Department of Justice to inform them a client of hers is being harassed by Peter, leading the DOJ to an apartment where Larson is showing Bilal how he fabricated Peter’s prints and is placing them on weapons about to be exported.

While being escorted from the scene, Larson manages to break free of his cuffs and grab one of the DOJ agents’ guns and run off. Peter commandeers a nearby police officer’s horse, chases him down, knocks him out, and gets him back into custody. In the episode wrap up, Mozzie tells Neal he’s built the equation. Peter can’t figure out why the Nazi china was being moved and Sara offers to go to Argentina to investigate. Simultaneously, Larson tries to make a deal with Peter for the name of the big bad while Mozzie explains the equation to Neal. Larson says he’s just the bullet and they should be looking for the man who pulled the trigger. Peter tells him the only deal on the table is protection from that man, who Larson says is Vincent Adler. Meanwhile, Neal recognizes the design and says he knows who’s behind it all, “He’s the man who made me who I am today.”

A solid episode marked by what makes this show great, the interaction between the diverse cast of characters. Almost everyone on White Collar seems to have their own angle to play, and I’m still not sold that Elizabeth isn’t somehow involved in the bigger picture of either the current plotline or Neal’s past. I’ve got my eye on you, Tiffani Thiessen. DeKay and Bomer’s chemistry, particularly in moments like the Butch/Sundance one in the final act, keep this buddy dramedy moving at a faster-than-steady pace. I’ve always loved White Collar’s supporting players and was glad to see Jones FINALLY out of the van and to show some suspicion over the secrets shared between Peter and Diana. The real treat for me was the return of Sara; Hilarie Burton sure has come a long way from her days as an MTV VJ. During Season 1, I always wanted a female foil for Neal to show up and was very pleased by Burton’s guest spots in the first half of Season 2. I hope her promise of return means that she’s on her way to becoming a series regular, or at least recurring.

Last night’s episode leaves us with a few new questions to add to the unanswered stack. Who is Vincent Adler? Is he the same man Neal was referring to? What does the code in the music box build? And why are so many people desperate to get it? Hopefully some of these will be answered sooner rather than later. In the meantime, I’m eagerly awaiting next week’s flashback episode, which the Jeffs (producers Jeff Eastin and Jeff King) teased all the way back at San Diego Comic-Con. Is it Tuesday yet?

For another opinion on “Burke’s Seven,” read “Back in the Saddle Again” by Allison Toner.

Season 2, Episode 10: Burke’s Seven (originally aired January 18, 2011)

Tuesdays at 10/9c on USA Network

Images courtesy of Will Hart and USA Network.