White Collar Review: Lando Strikes Back

This week’s White Collar, “Countermeasures,” keeps Vincent Adler (Andrew McCarthy) out of the picture again, focusing instead on a plot from June’s (Diahann Carroll) past.

After a progress report from Mozzie (Willie Garson) regarding the fractal, Neal (Matt Bomer)meets Ford, an old friend of June’s (guest star Billiy Dee Williams). He’s come to reminisce and collect a few old things of June’s husbands, which clearly irritates Neal. Neal asks Diana (Marsha Thomason) to fingerprint a coin Ford tossed him. She calls Peter (Tim DeKay), who’s just returned home from the vet’s office with Elizabeth (Tiffani Thiessen) and their dog,  with the report.

The fingerprint belongs to a career criminal and wanted murder suspect named Jonas Ganz. Neal gets a look at the picture, and it’s clearly not Ford. The white collar team learns Ford and Ganz shared a cell in prison, and that 20 years earlier Ford and June’s husband did time together for running a rooftop casino out of what is now Neal’s apartment.

Neal comes home and finds June looking through old photo albums. She tells Neal that Ford has been asking about a suit her husband wore years ago, and she takes the album to show him. Neal quickly moves to his walk-in closet of endlessly tailored perfection and finds the suit in question, removing a dry cleaning slip from its pocket. Ford knocks and tells Neal he hopes he’ll be understanding of a fellow ex-con trying to reconnect.

Later, Mozzie tells Neal he thinks Ford is trying to con June and, using his book club with her as cover, will stay around the house and keep an eye on things. Peter calls Neal with information that Ganz is building a crew for an unspecified job. He wants to question Ford about their association, but Neal has a better plan. He invites Peter to bring Elizabeth over for dinner with he, June and Ford. Peter declines, so Neal hangs up and immediately calls and invites Elizabeth, who agrees.

At dinner, Neal presents Peter as a former associate from his con artist past. DVR Rewind Alert: This is where we get to hear Matt Bomer and Diahann share a brief duet. Neal gets a call from Mozzie telling him the receipt says some custom work was done on a coffee table of June’s. Peter, Ford, June and Elizabeth start to look through old photo albums together while Neal runs upstairs and opens a secret compartment in the table, discovering plates for making counterfeit $100 bills. When Neal brings Peter up to see them, the plates are missing, and so is Ford. Neal and Peter discuss what else Ford would need to make the bills—paper. They assume that’s what Ganz was building a crew to steal. Diana calls and informs Peter  that Ford was picked up outside of Ganz’ place.

In custody, Ford tells the team he first told Ganz about the plates in exchange for protection while in prison, and June’s husband stole the plates from Ford to shield him from further trouble. Ford claims all he planned to do was give the plates to Ganz to keep him from going after June. He also told Ganz what he’d need to print the bills, and lets Neal know the reason he didn’t leave a print on the coin is because he uses a pumice stone on his fingertips every morning. I’m not sure how well that trick will work at home. Not that I’m fingerprinted all that often.

Peter and Neal are unsure about Ford, but decide Neal should go undercover as a replacement forger to meet with Ganz. Peter and Neal think Ganz’s next move will be to get the paper, so they hunt for the spot he’ll take it from.

Mozzie and Neal don’t think Ford can resist one last big score. Diana calls Peter and tells him both Ganz and Ford are off the grid, while Neal is grabbed from his apartment by Ganz. Ganz and Neal get to the counterfeiting warehouse, the back room of a former speakeasy, where Ford is waiting. He confirms he’s been in on the plot from the beginning, and orders Neal to start making the money.

Peter and Mozzie determine their likely location from a photograph that previously made Ford uncomfortable. A police car shows up at the warehouse and Ganz leaves. Ford confesses he called the cops to scare off Ganz, who is apprehended by Diana’s team. Neal tells Ford it’s not too late, but he leaves with the case of money and asks him to tell June he’s sorry.

Ford opens the case in a nearby alley to find it only contains paper. Back at home, June tells Neal she knew what kind of man Ford was and that she just wanted to be reminded of the past. Neal and Mozzie talk about the fractal’s progress and Neal confesses the plates might have actually found there way back into the table.

Sadly, we’re no closer to solving the mystery of Adler and the fractal than we’ve ever been. There are just a few episodes left in the second season, and as Tiffani Thiessen said on her conference call last week, the cast starts shooting the third season soon. But it feels like we just got White Collar back, right? On a parting note, Executive Producer Jeff Eastin does promise that the full song performance between Neal and June will be featured on the forthcoming Season Two DVD.

For a second opinion on this week’s episode, see “Criminese” by Allison Toner.

Season 2, Episode 13 “Countermeasures” (original air date February 8, 2011)

White Collar airs Tuesdays at 10/9c  on USA.

Images courtesy of Will Hart and USA Network.