White Collar - Out of the Box

Network: USA
Time: Tuesdays, 10:00-11:00pm
Cast: Matt Bomer, Tim DeKay, Natalie Morales, Willie Garson, Tiffani Thiessen, Sharif Atkins

Summary: Neal and Alex pair up to go after the elusive music box at the Italian consulate. Meanwhile, Peter asks Diana to help him get rid of Fowler.

Review: Wow.  That's the only word I had left after the first season finale of White Collar.  Just wow.
There have been a few rocky episodes since White Collar returned after the winter hiatus.  The story has focused so much on Neal finding Kate and rescuing her and, as a result, there's been a ton of tension between Neal and Peter.  At no point did the show ever get bad per se, just rocky.

But not anymore.

While this episode obviously focused on Neal and Kate, it no longer creates the same kind of tension between Neal and Peter.  Neal clearly trusts Peter again, so much so that he lets him in on his plan to steal the music box.  And Peter seems to finally understand why Neal is doing what he's doing.  There's a really nice moment where you see the pieces finally click into place for Peter, when he realizes Neal really loves Kate.

Let's talk for a minute about some familiar faces that reappeared in this episode.  I, for one, would like to give Marsha Thomason a hearty welcome back to the show.  She's changed a bit since she was Peter's underling.  For one thing, she has her own identity, which she really hadn't developed in episode one.  Also, she's tough as nails and really, really cool.  And with the White Collar producers promising that she'll be a full cast member next season, I'm looking forward to seeing how she'll mesh with Jones and Cruz (particularly Cruz, since Natalie Morales basically replaces Thomason in the series).

Also back was Gloria Votsis, reprising her role as Neal's con-artist buddy Alex.  She's another character I'd like to see have more screen time next season.  She's another spunky, strong female character, and her sometimes-friend-sometimes-adversary relationship with Neal is always fun to watch.

So this whole episode basically centers around Neal and Alex (and Mozzie) plotting and attempting to steal the music box from the Italian consulate.  The scheme they come up with is amazing (to those of us who have absolutely no conning abilities whatsoever).  It was possibly my favorite scene of the entire season to watch.

Except, perhaps, the scene where Neal is shirtless and forging a statue.  But we won't go there.

Everything clicked in this episode.  Everyone's timing was good, the bad guys were bad in all the right ways, the plot was well-developed, and the ending was jaw-dropping.  Literally. 

I cannot wait for next season.

Rating:
[5] Excellent
[4] Good
[3] Average
[2] OK
[1] Bad

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