White Collar Review: Who’s Conning Whom?

Remember these shocking White Collar scenes…Peter wearing the ring. The plane explosion with Kate inside. Mozzie getting shot. We’ve already had our share of cliffhangers in two and a half seasons of White Collar, but Jeff Eastin & Co. are at it again. We can now add another mind-boggling cliffhanger to the list, which left me wondering just who’s conning whom. But before we discuss that, let’s jump into the recap.

We see Neal and Peter as they are returning to the FBI office with seized evidence, fake Rolexes, where they find Sara, who has new information about Vincent Adler. Sara reveals Adler has been searching for a German U-boat, which sank with unknown contents after WWII. Peter’s plan is twofold —find a paper trail to Adler and the submarine while Diana and Jones track down Alex. Afterwards, Sara and Neal discuss their hot makeout session and admit to having feelings for each other. Neal tells Sara his relationship with Alex is over, and they agree to lunch the next day.

Back at Neal’s apartment, Mozzie tinkers with the antenna he built while Peter compliments Neal’s recent painting. Neal tries calling Alex’s cell again and Adler answers—Neal says he isn’t going to stop searching for him.

Through Mozzie’s backchannel sources, he discovered Alex was last seen with a lower level criminal, Teddy Eames, trying to pawn off more silver. Neal, Mozzie and Peter stage a little production to trick Eames into providing Neal with information about Alex. Peter busts the trio with fake merchandise—Mozzie comically runs away, pursued by Jones. Neal and Eames smoothly hide a watch from Peter. Because of Neal’s help, Eames tells him Alex was heading to the conservatory garden. Peter and Neal decide to separate in the garden and retrace Alex’s steps. Unfortunately, this lands both of them in Adler’s limo being held at gunpoint. Adler forces Peter to remove Neal’s anklet before they both drink a cocktail that knocks them out.

Neal wakes up with a little help—a slap from Alex, who was also drugged and kept in a warehouse. Adler cockily appears to show the hostage trio the U-boat, which he found scuttled off the coast. Adler explains the U-boat is rigged with explosives and he needs Neal, since he’s the best, to open the boat without setting it off. Neal, with Peter’s assistance, begin to safecrack the submarine and uncover an enigma machine with TNT attached.

An unsure Neal decides they must cut the silver and black wires at the same time, which only sets off a timer connected to the explosives. Alex comes to the rescue with the password, Midas, for the enigma machine. She explains her grandfather was the radio operator who received the last SOS signal from the u-boat and told her to always remember the Midas story. Luckily, the password is correct and stops the timer.

Meanwhile, Sara showed up at Neal’s place for their lunch date to find only Mozzie. They both grow concerned about Neal, and Diana also begins to worry when she discovers Peter removed Neal’s anklet. The unlikely foursome of Sara, Mozzie, Diana and Jones, with plenty of sniping between Diana and Moz, begin to search for Neal and Peter.

At the U-boat, Neal and Peter have made their way inside to find a magnificent collection of treasure, paintings, jewels, gold and precious artifacts the Nazis collected from all over Europe. The collection is easily worth billions. Neal and Peter quickly brainstorm ways to stop Adler, soon finding what looks like their fractal. If they connect it to a power source in the limo, they hope that Mozzie can locate them with his antenna. Adler, who now doesn’t need Peter and Neal, enters the U-boat with his goons to get rid of Neal, Peter and Alex.

Back in the van with Diana, Jones, Sara and Moz, (who travels delicately), the antenna finally begins to pick up a signal. Mozzie tries (diagonal instead of left or right) to navigate and find Neal and Peter. Next, we see Neal, Peter and Alex with hands tied behind their backs in a dry dock and Adler’s men opening valves to let water in. Luckily, Alex conveniently has a knife hidden in her shirt, which Neal retrieves, and they are able to free themselves. However, Adler’s men discover them and begin to shoot, but Jones and Diana come to the rescue. Neal and Alex share a moment and a kiss, which unfortunately Sara sees.

In a meeting back at the FBI, Alex reveals Adler plans to ship the art to Europe at the end of the week. Sara introduces herself to Alex but Neal interrupts their conversation. Alex explains that she has known about the “greatest treasure in the world” since she was a little girl because of her grandfather. He planned on building the receiver to find the submarine but lost the music box after the war. On his deathbed, her grandfather gave her the key to prove that it was real, telling her to find the treasure. Peter invites Sara and Neal over for dinner because Elizabeth is making the “little chickens” that Neal likes.

At dinner, Peter and Elizabeth are ridiculously cute together. Sara questions Elizabeth about her opinion on Neal and El defends Neal saying, “Neal is a lot of things but when it counts, you can trust him.” This convinces Sara to give Neal another shot—she kisses him and tells him he owes her a lunch.

The FBI has narrowed the treasure’s location down to fifteen warehouses. Neal separates from the group during the search and finds the warehouse, plus Adler, who offers Neal half the treasure to help him escape. Neal adamantly questions Adler about Kate’s death. Adler explains the explosions were Kate’s idea but when Peter showed up, Adler blew the plane early. Adler says Neal was like a son, prompting him to say, “there’s nothing sadder than a conman conning himself.” The conversation ends with the warehouse exploding.

Peter sees the explosion and heads toward it. Adler picks up a gun and is about to shoot Neal, but Peter arrives just in time and shoots Adler. However, Peter sees a piece of artwork burning that looks exactly like one he saw in Neal’s apartment. A furious Peter confronts Neal, accusing him of finally pulling off the long con. Neal, equally angry, tells Peter to prove it and walks away.

When Neal returns to his apartment he finds a key and a piece of paper with an address and “you’ll thank me” on it. Next, we see Neal walking into a warehouse with all of the treasure from the U-boat. The episode closes with Neal looking around and then smiling mischievously.

Woah! What did you do, Neal? I’m not so sure he was involved, despite the smile and Peter’s immediate blame. I do understand Neal and Peter’s tentative partnership must have some ebb and flow, but I really hope their relationship doesn’t revert back to square one. I was enjoying the growing camaraderie and friendly dynamic between Neal and Peter. It’d be a shame if it completely disappeared. I think Elizabeth should tell Peter what she told Sara, “Neal is a lot of things but when it counts, you can trust him.

So, the question remains, who done it? There are many possible options—Neal, Mozzie, Eames, Sara. But my money is on Alex. There is no way she would suddenly give up this lifelong crusade for the treasure on her grandfather’s behalf. I also wonder if Adler’s father and Alex’s grandfather knew one another or worked together. Plus, she definitely has a history with Adler, which was alluded to in the flashback episode.

What do my fellow Collars think…did Neal revert to his conman ways or did someone else steal the treasure? Let the speculating begin. White Collar returns with its third season in June.

For another take on the season finale, read “Spoils of War” by Josh Hatala.

Season 2, Episode 16 “Under the Radar” (original air date March 8, 2011)

White Collar airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on the USA Network.

Images courtesy of David Giesbrecht and USA Network.