WHITE COLLAR Recap: Burke’s Seven

Welcome back, White Collar fans! I’m glad to be back, recapping the adventures of our favorite FBI/con artist team. Just like last summer, I’ll split these posts into two main parts: the Case of the Week and the Music Box Mystery. Then it will be your turn to weigh in as we revel in the bromance of Neal and Peter while unraveling the conspiracies and questions surrounding them both.

Let’s get started!

It’s been a long, cold winter while we wait to find out what happened to our beloved Mozzie. Will he make it? And almost as important, will they give his real name at the hospital?

In typical White Collar fashion, we aren’t kept waiting for answers. We see Mozzie rushed to the hospital, briefly flatline (nooooo!) and then recover enough to lie peacefully in a medically induced coma.

Peter is sympathetic and concerned, but he’s not about to let Neal wait around in Mozzie’s hospital room. Peter reminds his friends that “there’s nothing you can do for him here. But there’s something you can do out there”.

Case of the Week
Just moments before Mozzie was shot, Peter and Neal discovered who was behind Fowler’s misdeeds with Kate and that infernal music box. A man named Julian Larson is the new Big Bad, at least for now, and the FBI gang is determined to track him down and make him pay.

Apparently, Mozzie has become one of their own.

Neal explains to Peter that when he was on the run, he stayed ahead of the game – and the FBI – by having lots of aliases, and then making more when those were burned. They decide to force Larson into creating a new alias – one that they have determined – by burning his existing identities and convincing every forger in the city to work with the FBI.
That might not sound plausible until you’re faced with the ever-charming Neal Caffrey and this plea: “It’s not for me; it’s for Mozzie.”

After Larson attempts to enlist Neal’s help in getting out of town (a bizarre strategy, if you ask me), the team tracks Larson down with the new alias they orchestrated, arrest him and uncover the weapon used to shoot Mozzie.

Unfortunately, that weapon is wiped clean except for one fingerprint inside the barrel – Peter’s.

Peter is immediately suspended and Larson is released. Right in front of him. Are law enforcement offices really so small that the smarmy bad guys are really paraded in front of the devoted detectives they’re trying so hard to foil?

As we’ve seen before in Prisoner’s Dilemma, Peter doesn’t take too kindly to being relieved of his badge. And like before, he’s not about to sit back and wait for things to be sorted out.

Neal and Burke decide they need a crew, but it takes some explaining, convincing and calling in of favors to get them all together.

In what I thought was a highly entertaining tribute to Oceans Eleven, Peter finally tells Jones that he and Diana have been working on the Music Box case.
Peter: Thanks for coming, Jones.
Jones: Sure! You’re the one who kept me out of the loop in the first place.

Next, Peter calls in a favor with Neal’s favorite insurance investigator, the lovely and sassy Sara Ellis. As always, I loved her banter with both Peter and Neal.

Neal: Why are you helping us with this?
Sara: I like having Neal Caffrey owe me one. You’re fun to work with. And I like getting inside your head.
Neal: So I’m research?
Sara: Something like that.

Finally, Neal works to get Mozzie back on the job, but in the end, it’s Elizabeth who convinces him to come back from retirement.

The team – Burke’s Seven, of course – puts together a con plan to trap Larson with the man helping him smuggle unknown artifacts out of the country. In typical Oceans style, the plan is complicated and everybody plays a part. From Diana and Jones using their FBI creds and Peter using his horse-racing knowledge to Sara’s voice-altering equipment and Mozzie’s cell phone scrambler, each team member plays along.

And it seems like fun, doesn’t it?

Elizabeth: Good luck with your little con.
Peter: It’s not a con.
Neal: Well, technically it’s a con.
Peter: It’s a sting.
Neal: Sting is just another word for – okay, it’s not a con.

No matter what you call it, the plan it worked. The team flipped the smuggler and pointed the FBI in the right direction just in time to catch Larson red-handed (and latex-fingerprinted).

It doesn’t really feel like a case is closed until Peter saves the day, though. And thanks to a poorly placed pair of tweezers and a conveniently located police horse, Peter rides to the rescue in true cowboy fashion.

Music Box Mystery
While Neal was busy helping Peter put together his renegade crew, Mozzie was busy solving the music box code with bendy straws. As he reveals his creation (“I’ll see your accomplishment and raise you one.”), Neal kind of freaks out. He recognizes the pattern and knows, finally, who’s behind this whole thing.

Neal: We both know who he is, Moz. He’s the man who made me what I am today.

Quotes and Questions
I could go on all day with both quotes and questions, but I’ll try to keep this brief. First, my favorite quotes of the night:

Peter: How’s he doing?
Neal: Well, he quoted Nietzsche to a nurse. He’s okay.

Peter: Every case I’ve closed will be brought into question.
Neal: Maybe I’ll get my anklet off sooner than I thought.

Peter: I don’t need a badge to do good detective work.
Neal (to Sara): He’s like Superman without his powers.

Elizabeth: You know, they do wash the glasses here.
Mozzie: Yeah, next you’ll tell me that Paul McCartney wasn’t replaced by a lookalike in 1966.

Neal: Nice riding, Butch.
Peter: Thanks, Sundance.

And now the questions:

• Do you think Mozzie could really retire? (I hope not!)
• I thought the scene where Larson followed Neal down the alley was more sinister than what we usually see on this show. Did that feel darker than normal to you?
• I love that Neal and Peter have made actual progress in their relationship, as evidenced by Neal going straight to Peter when Larson approached him. (“You aren’t listening to me. You ARE listening to me!” // “That’s why I’m here. This time we do it your way.”) Did you love that, too?
• What did you think of the Oceans Eleven homage?
• Who do you think Vince Adler is? Have we finally reached the end of this shell game, and will we finally learn who killed Kate – and why?

I can’t wait to hear what you thought about this episode. I thought it was a great start to the winter season, and I’m looking forward to spending Tuesday nights with Neal and Peter again!

Mary is embracing her new life as a stay-at-home mom, staying up late to rewatch the second season of Veronica Mars and catching up on How I Met Your Mother during [her daughter’s] naptime. Mary blogs about living an imperfect life at Giving Up on Perfect, writing about family, faith, books, food, celebrity look-alikes and chick flicks. You know, the important stuff.