White Collar, S4, E06: “Identity Crisis”

Airdate: Tuesday, August 21, 2012, 9/8c on USA

Rating: ★★★★★

 “His faith, however limited, is all that separates a man with a conscience from a man without one.” – Neal

It is a true measure of a show’s quality, I think, when it can tell the story of a quirky romp with a multitude of golden one-liners and grin-worthy inside jokes and still manage to keep the sentimental back-beat of the season-long theme going at its core. “Identity Crisis” is, at first glance, a story of a treasure hunt. Through a series of seemingly unconnected events, Mozzie (Willie Garson) discovers a potentially priceless piece of American history and elicits help from Neal (Matt Bomer) and Peter (Tim DeKay) to find it. But it’s more than that, really.

Mozzie on the hunt.

The clever overlay of the Revolutionary War era and a secret spy organization called the Culper Ring – apparently a real thing (thank you, Google) – only serves to enhance this season’s theme. The question of identity – of who one is, and what made them the person they are – so far has been primarily focused on Neal. But with the exception of a clue about an open email account and the possibility of setting up a meet with the mysterious Sam, “Identity Crisis” focuses instead on one of the quirkier members of our group.

I’ve come to expect Mozzie’s constant suspicions and theories, but was touched by the innocence hidden under his idiosyncratic exterior. Neal revealing Mozzie’s method for coping, along with the fact that he’s an orphan, peels back a layer of this character I didn’t even know was there for me. When Mozzie shows Neal the puppets he made as a young child to tell his version of his story, an ultra-serious Neal comments, “I might need to see that immediately,” showing just how important this friendship is to the con man.

Friends are the family you choose.

Neal of all people knows, “how hard it is to lose faith in your family.” The storyline cleverly ties back to the mystery surrounding Neal’s family with subtle comments and glimpses of sorrow on Neal’s face, never letting us forget there’s more to come. The expression in Neal’s eyes as Mozzie confesses to the pain of accepting that his parents didn’t want him is one of empathetic recognition, not pity. Willie Garson really plucked the heartstrings with his performance.

I appreciate how protective Neal is of Mozzie and how, despite Peter’s good-natured protests, he gently encourages Mozzie’s hunt for the treasure. He sees the reason behind actions and reactions the team of FBI agents just finds strange. Not only that, but recent revelations of his own past have apparently left Neal very self-aware. He astutely points out to Peter that Mozzie’s story of parents who were spies is actually healthier than the self-fulfilling prophesy Neal has lived after learning his father was a corrupt cop.

Peter, for all his bluster and sarcastic side comments to Mozzie, the likes of, “You’re the last person who should quote ‘Common Sense,’” is, at times, giddy with the prospect of the treasure hunt and more than willing to stick with Neal and Mozzie to the very end. He does so seemingly under the guise of locating a missing person, but the energy with which he explains the Culper code to Elle (Tiffani Thiessen) is nothing short of adorable.

Peter and Neal rush to save Mozzie.

Employing a little National Treasure action, Neal and Mozzie follow clues originating in a storage unit Mozzie purchased at a “market of lost treasures” – or auction reminiscent of Storage Wars – and not only locate a possible descendant of one of the Culper spies, but also the coordinates for what appears to be the flag General George Washington carried with him across the Delaware River. Nicholas Cage would be doing cartwheels over this.

As merely following clues to a treasure isn’t really an FBI-sanctioned effort, Peter and team justify their involvement by searching for the murderer of a modern-day Culper spy who was involved in an “unorthodox game of capture the flag,” as Peter puts it. One of my favorite scenes has to be Neal impersonating the descendant of George Washington with Jones (Sharif Atkins) at his shoulder, claiming Thomas Jefferson as his ancestor. When confronted by the murderer, Jones’ cool, “The General doesn’t like guns,” is perfectly delivered.

Is it possible? Nah….

“Identity Crisis” entertainingly picks up speed as the clues to the flag’s location continue to be revealed and it ends up being a scavenger hunt across New York to both find the treasure and save Mozzie from the murderous author of a book about the spies. I enjoyed the open-ended question of is it possible there really are descendants of the original Culper spies still working in the States? Is it possible that those spies found the priceless piece of American history? Mozzie is happy to think so. As for Neal and Peter….

Next week looks to further the theme of identity and discovery, continuing to test the bonds of friendship so tenuously forged with cautious trust.

Tune in to White Collar, Tuesdays at 9/8c, only on the USA Network. For more on the show, visit the official website at http://www.usanetwork.com/series/whitecollar/.

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