White Collar – Note to self: lose the hide-a-key

We got a fun episode of White Collar last night. First of all welcome back to Tiffani Thiessen, who despite being in the first few episodes of the season was actually not back on set until the shoot of this episode post-giving birth. It had taken me a while to warm up to her Elizabeth in season one (while I’d loved Kelly Kapowski, I kind of hated the more recent Valerie Malone), and I’ve been looking forward to seeing more, not less, of her … something we should get going forward.

Funny for Neal to be on the opposite side of a Federal manhunt for once. The US Marshals and the FBI were tracking former FBI agent Jack Franklin (Army Wives‘ Jeremy Davidson … good seeing you Chase!), and Neal had the opportunity to study the process from the inside. If, you know, he ever needs to flee again.

I kind of felt it coming, yet it was still awesome watching Neal impersonate a car salesman and sell a certified browser a crazy expensive automobile. Those cars are ugly as hell, but I know it’s all a taste thing. Rebecca should have been a lot more (how about even slightly?) grateful for the commission.

I got excited seeing “Burke on the run” … or rather, I got excited at the prospect of it. I was on a conference call last season with Matthew Bomer (Neal) and Tim DeKay (Peter) where DeKay was asked whether he imagined Peter ever getting the chance to be “the con man” in the relationship.

We’ve gotten hints of that in both seasons, with Peter briefly going undercover here and there, and I thought that Peter being “on the run” would be more of that theme. If it was meant to be, it was kind of half-hearted; he and Franklin weren’t exactly being pursued by the full force of the FBI and the Marshals service. Just a dirty agent (Max Martini as Deckard) trying to keep his gravy train rolling.

Peter calling Neal for an impromptu guide to hot-wiring a Lamborghini was funny. Even better was the fact that Neal pointing out the hide-a-key was a lot more symbolic of the type of strategic thinker we know him to be. I liked how the writers kept him in-character there.

Good to see Joe Morton as Agent Bancroft. Although, while I’m used to seeing actors from cable series doing guest spots on other cable series (like Davidson here), I’m always a little more thrown when working network actors (Morton plays Peter Florrick’s attorney Daniel Golden on The Good Wife) pop up on other series. I know there’s no reason for them not too … I’m just saying.

Mozzie’s safe house was cool, as was the little message that Peter left for him in his over-sized litter box. I would have preferred the episode to have ended on Mozzie’s face after finding it, but whatever.

A million times more awesome was Mozzie showing up at Peter and Elizabeth’s door for date night. And he and Elizabeth had an actual date night. Hilarious!

The episode did end on a down note, however. Not a fan of this season’s Kate mystery, I’m even less a fan of the Fowler Chronicles. Should we be surprised it was he that Kate was calling, considering the fact that he was behind the whole thing in the first place? I’m not.

That doesn’t mean I care to see him again.

Clacked by Aryeh S.
on Aug 25, 2010 @ 14:00 EST5EDT