White Collar, S4, E01: “Wanted”

Airdate: Tuesday, July 10, 2012, 10/9c on USA

Rating: ★★★★★

“As long as we treat him like a criminal, he’ll always think he is one.” – Peter Burke.

Peter Burke (Tim DeKay) laid it all on the line at the end of last season with his testimony that Neal Caffery (Matt Bomer) should be free – that Neal’s four-year sentence as Agent Burke’s CI should be commuted and the anklet that had kept him tethered to a small radius in New York City be removed. Unfortunately for both Neal and Peter, Agent Kramer (Beau Bridges) – Peter’s former boss and mentor, and the man who held Neal’s freedom in his hands – had too many suspicions about the heists Neal had ‘allegedly’ pulled. He was determined to trap Neal in a lie and force the conman to either return to prison or be with Kramer as his CI…in D.C., with the anklet permanently attached.

The man with the hat is back.

Peter chooses to warn Neal with a subtle, practically unnoticeable shake of the head allowing Neal to disappear – and it has a ripple effect through Peter’s life and career. When Season 4 begins, it’s six weeks since Neal escaped and in that time all hasn’t been wine and roses for Peter. As he puts it, “The Bureau beat me up a little.” He’s still an agent, but he’s been busted back to the minors handling mundane cases. Though advised to forget about Neal, Peter can’t. He feels responsible for Neal; it’s because of him that Neal was caught in the first place and that Neal’s talents gained so much attention at the Bureau.

Not only that, Peter considers Neal a very real friend. I was touched by the extent of Peter’s loyalty to the conman. The map in his house, the lines of concern etched on his face, the way he talks about Neal to Elizabeth (Tiffani Thiessen) – who is, as always, the best wife in the world – all point to how much he misses Neal.

Neal is wanted: dead or alive by Agent Collins.

Enter the new nemesis: Agent Collins (Mekhi Pfifer). He has a laser focus on finding Neal and bringing him in – and he doesn’t much care how he does it or what condition Neal is in, for that matter. Peter smoothly attempts to deflect Collins’ attention by explaining that Neal disappears through re-invention; the man in Collins’ files doesn’t exist anymore. And on some level, Peter is right.

Tucked away on a non-extradition island with Mozzie (Willie Garson) by his side, Neal has assumed a new alias, a new persona, and a whole new look. And I have to say, island living looks good on our favorite fedora-wearing conman. Neal’s outwardly relaxed appearance is an interesting juxtaposition to Peter’s tightly-wound anxiety. He says he misses New York—that it was the best years of his life, but it’s clear Neal has accepted that he can never go back there, that he has to make his new reality his only reality. It’s a testament to Bomer’s acting that the only real evidence of his sorrow is an occasional flinch of his eyes.

Real-life game of hide and seek.

However, Peter’s trust and friendship have left imprints on Neal’s naturally suspicious nature. To woo the local barista, Mia (Mia Maestro), Neal builds her a sandcastlescape of New York and allows her to ask him 20 questions about his time there, promising to be honest with her. Throughout the course of ”Wanted,” I think we find out more about the real Neal Caffery than we have in the previous three years combined. Some long-held suspicions on my part are validated, some erased, but mostly the teasing tidbits only heighten my curiosity about the enigma that is Neal.

One of the more interesting aspects – and one that I think will continue to play out through the course of this season – is Neal’s connection to Ellen Parker (Judith Ivey), who’s “in WitSec for a reason.”  It’s through her that Peter is able to speak to Neal for the first time in six months (and the relief on Peter’s face transposed with the regret and nostalgia on Neal’s had me rubbing my heart), as well as gain his best clue in finding Neal, telling her, “If anything were to happen to him, I don’t think I could live with it.”

I loved Ellen’s send-off to Peter: “Protect our boy.”

We’ve got company….

Unfortunately, Collins tag-teams Peter’s investigation. This new agent gives me a bad feeling all around. He’s not just committed, he’s obsessed and angry. Nobody gives Agent Collins the slip. I usually like Pfifer as an actor; he can be intense or loose, depending on what a scene calls for. The drive he brings to the character of Agent Collins is a little over the top initially — almost as if there is something other than the need to apprehend Neal behind his efforts. I think the fact that he’s an Agent – and therefore, presumably, one of the “good guys” – could deliciously complicate matters for both Neal and Peter, if done right.

Despite Peter’s warning about Collins, Neal feels as though he and Mozzie are safe enough – plus he’s finally getting somewhere with Mia (as we get a shirtless Bomer scene, thank you very much). But he underestimates Collins’ fervor. I love how Agent Hughes (James Rebhorn) gives Peter permission to follow Collins to the island to try to save Neal.

I felt like the episode ended too soon, leaving Neal in a very precarious situation, having trusted the wrong man, with Peter and Mozzie waiting for him to join them in their escape from Collins. Neal has some serious trouble in paradise, and I’m not sure he’s going to be able to smooth talk his way out of this one.

Peter wanted Neal to be free. But will the cost of that freedom be too high?

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