White Collar Season 3 Midseason Premiere: Checkmate
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Episode Spoilers Will Occur, You Have Been Warned
White Collar returned to USA network tonight and unlike a healthy amount of other shows that have been making their return to the air, White Collar did it right. They returned knowing that if you want to capture your fan base, and thank them for returning to your show, you have to address the cliffhanger, and do it in style. Well White Collar never has any problem with style, and Lord knows tonight they weren't short on it.
In the midseason finale we saw Peter's wife Elizabeth kidnapped by Keller, who is the "anti-neil" of the show. As we returned this week, Peter and Neil go to get the treasure in exchange for Peter's wife. Problem is Mozzie has already taken the treasure and moved it, and Neil and Mozzie weren't exactly talking, and Mozzie was off the grid. Neil is never one to be stopped though, and where there's a will there's a carrier pigeon. When Mozzie gets word what happened he comes back and joins Neil and Peter to take down Keller.
They had the treasure, but if they just handed it to Keller there was nothing stopping him from just killing Elizabeth, so they had to figure out a way to stall him. They had to take him to the treasure, but in order to delay giving it to him they set up some crooked contacts Mozzie knew. Mean while the FBI was doing what they could to locate where Elizabeth was being held. Jones and Diana figured out the general area where she was and it was just a matter of narrowing it down. Neil and Keller work a con to get the cops who were now in the warehouse to help them load the treasure, unknowingly, onto the truck. After loading the truck Keller knocks out Neil and stores him in the truck. We cut to Elizabeth who has been working on an escape plan of her own, finally manages to break free. She runs into her capture on the street, when he pulls a gun however, he gets a bullet of his own because Diana and Jones have tracked her down. When Neil gets off the truck Keller and Neil have a shown down, which Keller wins, by sacrificing a Raphael painting. When Keller goes for the kill strike, though, Peter shows up and makes a save of his own. Peter and Keller have a show down, but with no leverage against him, Peter soon takes control of the fight. That is until Keller pulls a knife that was in one of the boxes, he tries his best to stab Peter, but Neil took a brilliant shot with Keller's gun and puts a bullet in Keller's leg.
Later Neil tells Peter he's going to make a full confession so they can put Keller away for good. Peter then shows Neil a video of Keller confessing to stealing the treasure, alone. It is a move he makes to get the Russians who are chasing him off his back. This means Neil won't get into trouble, but he also doesn't get the credit for stealing the treasure. Neil tells Peter he is ok with that. Diana shows up and gives Peter a piece of paper. He tells Neil that because of his services and good behavior in 3 months, Neil will be cleared of his charges and will be a free man.
A couple of things I liked about this episode. I liked that they left a little teaser in there about how Neil was such a good shot with a gun. We've gotten a tease about Neil being a good shot before and about his father. I liked that Peter was understanding about Mozzie and Neil, even though I have a feeling there may be lost trust in the coming episodes. That said Peter was really understanding and we got to flow right back into our normal dynamic.
The chemistry between the characters is just fantastic and I can't say enough. It is really like have been working together for years and years when really the show is still relatively new. Tim DeKay and Matt Bomer have an incredible gelling together that you only see in special occasions.
I was extremely happy with this episode, and as sad as it is to say, this is why USA shows reign supreme. They really know how to work a season, the breaks, the characters, everything is just done perfectly. White Collar came back from break with the classic con/fbi style, but they addressed the mid-season finale. They also set up the rest of the season hook with Neil having the chance to earn his freedom in 3 months. Just long enough for the rest of the season wouldn't you say? Well done White Collar, you're the best return from the mid-season break I've seen this year, and it didn't even seem like you broke a sweat doing it. Bravo.
