What I’m Watching: White Collar

White Collar: Season 1, Episode 13 “Front Man” (B+)

We’re almost to the end of the season now which means things should be heating up, and Neal getting abducted by a man who despises him certainly counts as turning up the heat. Of course Neal can’t die because he’s so good at talking his way out of any situation, even though that does get him tazed a few times, but the situation here was still more starkly serious because someone actually got abducted and nearly killed. There was still a good amount of comedy throughout the episode, starting with much from Neal and then a whole lot from Mozzie. When Peter started speaking like he was going to accuse Neal of something, he immediately came back with “whatever I did, I have proof that I didn’t do it.” It seems like he says something like that multiple times per episode, but it still remains fresh every time. When Neal was forced to work with a different handler, he made sure to give her plenty of attitude, most memorably saying “what if I have a question” when told he wasn’t allowed to speak unless directed by her. Mozzie is such a weird guy, answering June’s question about who Dante was with “it’s me – I have to go!” He wasn’t impressed with Neal’s plan of action for holding the guy up, and then he switched glasses to another pair that looked almost identical to get into character. He really is such a strange guy. I liked the final encounter between Neal and Peter from this episode, which took a starker tone. Neal: “is that a threat?” Peter: “That’s just the way it is.” After all, Peter still is the law.