Grade: B+
Another summer series you should be watching is White Collar and not just as a blow off series to kill time but because it is actually that damn fun. White Collar brings a sort of 1960’s Manhattan chic style to its story about a con artist now working as a C.I. for the FBI’s white collar crimes division. The shows lead of Neal Caffrey, played by Matt Bomer who was seen as Bryce Larkin in Chuck, brings so much fun to the role that it is hard not to watch the show on him alone. The real fun comes from his relationship with his FBI handler Peter Burke, played by Tim DeKay, and the constant checks & balances they pull on each other. Another fun addition to the show is Peter’s wife Elizabeth played by the ever still gorgeous Kelly Kapowski, I mean Tiffani Thiessen of Saved by the Bell fame. Now on its third season the series still remains fresh and ever on its toes as it continues to evolve, develop, & challenge its characters. Now on its third season we see the character of Neal being tested more than ever on who he is deep down and who he has become. As we enter episode 8 “As You Were” we have just passed the boiling point hit by the end of the previous episode. Neal’s girlfriend, & art insurance investigator, Sarah has found out that Neal made away with Nazi art from last season and she cannot stand by him down the road it seems he is going to take. We open the episode right where it was left of and this is seemingly the last we see of Sarah where she will not be part of what Neal is going to do and is not only leaving back to her now renovated apartment but also leaving his life as it seems. This posses great for Mozzie, Neal’s best friend played by Willie Garson, who has been trying to get Neal ready for the big move out and to get rid of his recent attachments.
The reach meat of the episode comes from its season arc overtones. We have hit the boiling point and like with milk this episode we have that building froth and its only a matter of time until it really starts boiling over. The main A story of the episode focus on the character of Jones who we really haven’t learned much about besides being a side character with some good quips. Here we get to learn more about his back story in the Navy and the people that were part of his life before joining the FBI. One of his friends, Jimmy, from his past has been doing some contract work for a group that makes Black Water look like kids basically and he has gotten in deep. Jones cant help but go in full force not only for his old friend but for his old love who is now married to his friend. The real twists and turns come from the fact that Jimmy was part of the take that the group was making. The general gist is that they were contracted with mining of palladium going on in South Africa and they were dodging tariffs when selling it to countries like China who have a high demand for it.
In that A story we get some great development from a character that has been with us from the start of the series. We also get to see Neal in some formal whites at the end and then running from his life from our episodes villain, VanHorn, who is chasing down Neal with a high tech bow & arrow set. The great balance of this episode is from the good amount of development in the season arc that we receive from the B storyline. Neal knows that there have been some more developments with the partial ship manifest of the Nazi art. This forces Neal to dig deeper into what Peter knows and if he still posses a copy of said manifest. This involves some great end of the episode work with Neal breaking into Peter’s house and into his newly acquired safe to protect the list. As soon as he gets into the safe and finds the manifest he also finds a picture of the whole FBI group including himself and Peter housed inside the safe. If this didn’t add to the huge weight that Neal was already feeling Peter happens to call as well trying to console Neal about his recent breakup with Sarah. As soon as he gets off the phone with Peter, Neal also gets a call from Mozzie about the status of their break in mission. Here we see a turn from Neal who lies to Mozzie that he did not find the list in Peters safe.
The final scene really is a testament to the depth that Matt Bomer has established with his character of Neal Caffrey. Not only is the scene well written and a good setup for the final two episodes before the mid season break but Neals conflict brought to life by Bomer puts us right in the same seat as him. After three season it has become a joy to watch Peter & Neal work together and this season has had them overtly complimenting themselves on how well they do. It would be a pain to see them broken up but at the same time its hard not to want to see the chase that could ensue from Neal running off. I just hope that the break doesn’t keep us in this same spot and has the show make a decisive move on what Neal is going to do. Grade: B+
