White Collar Review: Rubies, Hard Drives, and Videotape

Let’s be honest with each other right away; last night’s episode of White Collar, “What Happens in Burma,” delivered two things that I’m sure delighted a lot of female viewers and probably a few of the male ones too. First, shirtless Bomer in his apartment, then sweaty Bomer making fake jewels.  This episode departed from the quest for the music box and what Vincent Adler (Andrew McCarthy) may or may not want with it. Instead, it brought Diana (Marsha Thomason) back to the front lines of the story while Neal (Matthew Bomer) and Peter (Tim DeKay) try not to start an international incident. We also scratch the surface of what I hope to be some promising daddy issues.

The episode picks up with a meeting between Peter, Neal and the State Department’s Undersecretary of Asian Affairs, Wilson. A man named Christopher Harlow has been charged with stealing a ruby from Burma. State thinks he’s innocent, so our team must set out to prove Christopher didn’t do it by finding the jewel thief who did. Peter briefs everyone on the stolen item, a 237-carat pigeon blood jewel taken from a secure vault in the jungle.

Peter and Neal pay a visit to the Burmese ambassador, who shows them Christopher’s taped confession. He says the sentencing is in a week and Neal informs Peter than if found guilty there will be no overturning the decision. They watch the video with the State agent and Neal thinks it will be hard to refute. Wilson refers to Christopher by his first name, leading Peter to guess he is in fact Christopher’s father. He shares that he is estranged from his son and doesn’t want the Burmese made aware of the connection. Peter asks Neal about his father and Neal shares that he was a cop.

Back at his apartment, Mozzie (Willie Garson) is upset that Neal is using a source other than him, a man named Randy, to gather info on the ruby. Peter and Neal go undercover to meet Randy, but Peter hastily blows their cover with threats of prosecution. Randy claims he doesn’t know the thief, but helps the two plan a trunk show of flawless gems as a trap. After this, we learn that the FBI keeps a stolen jewel locker, which is unimpressive to someone like Neal, who decides to make his own synthetic ruby with the help of Mozzie and a giant oven.

Diana gets assigned the undercover role of a runway model set to wear Neal’s ruby. Neal approaches an admirer of his jewel, who admits to having stolen the Burmese ruby. Neal suggests they work together and the man pulls out a gun before being taken down by the rest of the team. They get the man to sign a statement owning up to the theft, and to tell Peter he’s never seen Christopher before. At this point Wilson confesses it’s been eight years since he last saw his son, which seems to upset Neal. The thief later recants his whole story after being questioned by the Burmese government, who appear to have offered him political asylum.

Peter questions Neal about his father again, whom Neal says died in the line of duty when he was only two. Diana obtains a feed of Christopher’s confession and the group decipher a series of gestures to letters on his shirt, leading them to “Rocker,” Christopher’s girlfriend. She tells the team her apartment was broken into by someone in the Burmese car, and that they stole her hard drive, an allegation verified by an ATM camera across the street. She produces a flash drive and shows the team videos of a documentary Christopher was shooting about Burmese rebels, explaining how the government dislikes any press given to this group.  They discern that the Burmese government faked the ruby theft to get at Christopher, who they learn greatly admires his father.

Wilson comes to Neal and asks for help that only he can provide, and soon Peter and Diana realize this is why he came to the white collar unit to begin with. Neal and Mozzie plan to return the fake ruby to the Burmese rigged to start smoking when they place it in the Ambassador assistant’s diplomatically protected bag. The smoke will cause her to dump out the contents, revealing the stolen hard drive before she can sneak it out of the country. Peter arrives at the Burmese embassy, and Neal asks him to stall because the smoke isn’t happening as quickly as they hoped. Peter reads off a series of parking tickets to the Ambassador until his assistant sees the smoke and things transpire according to plan. Peter collects the hard drive as stolen evidence.

In the next scene, Christopher is returned by the new Burmese Ambassador, who apologizes for the misunderstanding. He and Wilson embrace while Neal and Peter watch. Neal tells Peter he’s sure his mother told him what any child would want to hear about their absent father, that he was a hero, and that his dad was actually a dirty cop. Neal also says he fears being his father’s son. Peter reassures him the work he did on the last case shows he’s someone different.

Next week I’m hoping we’ll get back on track with the search for Adler and the ever present mystery of the music box. There are a lot of questions still unanswered, and I for one am interested to see where the show will go after this mystery comes to a close. Or have we maybe got ourselves an Alias situation, where the quest for similar devices won’t ever quite end? My guess would be somewhere in the middle. Is anyone else excited to potentially meet one or both of Neal’s parents? I’m personally hoping for some serious casting. I’m hoping next week’s episode, guest starring Billy Dee Williams, will be when we finally get to see Matt showcase his vocal talents on screen. Didn’t you know he could sing too? It’s like Zachary Levi once said…God gave with both hands the day he made Matthew Bomer.

For another take on this week’s episode, check out “Daddy Issues” by Allison Toner.

Season 2, Episode 12: What Happens in Burma (original air date Feb. 1, 2011)

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

Images courtesy of Myles Aronowitz and USA Network.