White Collar – “Uncontrolled Variables” Retrospective. A conman’s quandary.

Season 6, Episode 3

Air Date: Thursday, November 20, 2014, 9/8c on USA

Rating: ★★★★★

“Looks like I brought a lightsaber to a knife fight.” – Mozzie

Working together but for how long?

The Pink Panthers task Neal (Matt Bomer) and Keller (Ross McCall) with teaming up to copy the information contained on a data disk kept in a security firm’s office. But when an innocent assistant at the firm gets caught in the middle, Neal starts to second guess himself.

“Uncontrolled Variables” brings to mind a recent conference call I participated in with Willie Garson who plays Mozzie on the show, the transcript of which can be found here. One of the things that stood out in that conversation was how Garson described White Collar’s final season, “…it came too quickly and we were not prepared for the show to end so we just went to work and quickly summed it up.”

It isn’t that “Uncontrolled Variables” is a bad episode but the pacing is all off. It seems as if the episode is a casualty of the shortened season as parts of it seem rushed to fit into what should have been a multiple episode arc rather than a single episode. Every aspect I enjoyed about “Uncontrolled Variables” is cut short. So while I enjoyed several parts of the episode, it left me unfulfilled.

I already miss Amy.

I’m usually not one to focus on romance but I thoroughly enjoyed how the writers introduce Amy (Laura Ramsey), an unsuspecting mark Neal is forced to con. Not to mention, Ramsey is adorably cute. The chemistry between Bomer and Ramsey is so convincing, many of her scenes are difficult to watch because you know she is being set up to have her heart broken. It’s also one of the few times we have seen Neal express real concern about pulling a con on a true innocent. Everything, from the set up to the con, works perfectly and is very entertaining to watch. Sadly, this is another short-lived story line due to time restraints. I would have welcomed seeing a few more episodes with Amy.

Keller is a criminal mastermind and it’s facinating how his situation now mirrors Neal and Peter’s (Tim Dekay) arrangement, especially given Keller’s past with Peter and Elizabeth Burke (Tiffani Thiessen). Added to the mix is Interpol’s Luc Renaud (Issach de Bankole), Keller’s handler, or as Diana (Marsha Thomason) puts it, “Euro Peter.”

Elizabeth meeting Euro Peter

My interest in the Renaud/Peter dynamic quickly faded when it becomes clear there can only be one Peter. Unfortunately, the Renaud character doesn’t work for me at all and creates more of a distraction rather than furthering the story line. At times, I found myself wondering whether Renaud is actually an Interpol agent. Frankly, I hope Peter finds a way to get rid of him.

Even with my dislike of Renaud, I was put off by how Mozzie treats him. I know Mozzie mistrusts agents of any kind but I can’t remember a time when he has been disrespectful towards anyone. Mozzie’s dialogue, which is usually sharp and witty, comes across as mean-spirited and hurtful.

Keller has always viewed himself as an equal to, if not better than, Neal. Yet in “Uncontrolled Variables,” we see glimpses of jealousy from Keller towards Neal when it comes to human connections. While Keller may think he and Neal are similar, there is no question who is the better man when watching the two work side by side. Keller’s resentment for Neal quickly turns Keller into a thug and it’s only a matter of time before he turns on Neal.

While some scenes this season have been very emotional, other scenes that should have been emotional are brushed aside, like Peter coming face to face with Keller. However, the biggest example in “Uncontrolled Variables” is when Elizabeth meets Renaud for the first time and merely comments sarcastically, “Oh, the man who let my kidnapper go free. Welcome.” That’s it? Again, I found myself wanting more out of this scene. The Burkes have such a dangerous history with Keller and I remember wondering, when I first screened “Return to Sender,” how Elizabeth would react when she finds out Neal and Peter are working with Keller. Sadly, we’re not getting those emotional character driven scenes we’re so used to seeing because there simply isn’t enough time.

As much as I love White Collar, some of the product placement in the show, especially when it comes to cars, can be too much. Watching the stakeout scene, I wasn’t sure whether I was watching a GoPro/BMW commercial or an episode of White Collar. This isn’t the first time a unique car feature has been highlighted on the show but what bothers me about it this time is with only six episodes in this final season, every scene is precious. I already feel like I’m being cheated out of episodes and the last thing I want is to see the remaining moments being filled with not so subliminal car ads.

“Uncontrolled Variables” should have been the first of an entertaining multi-episode story line. But because of the sprint to the end of the series, the story and character development are being sacrificed. The excitement from the first two episodes has been diminished by the need to cram too much into the final episodes. The writers didn’t give us enough time to enjoy this episode because they were too busy rushing through it. Quite simply, the ingredients that went into “Uncontrolled Variables” were perfect but the episode was pulled out of the oven before it had time to fully bake.

Let me know what you think of “Uncontrolled Variables” Leave your comments below or tweet me @StaffaRoadTrip.

White Collar returns Thursday, December 4 at 9/8c, only on USA.

For more on the show, visit the official website at http://www.usanetwork.com/series/whitecollar/.

Follow the show on Twitter @WhiteCollarUSA.

LIKE White Collar on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/whitecollar.

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Greg Staffa

I provide testosterone to the site. You won’t be reading about how nice a actress looks in a dress or how much of a hunk Matt Bomer is in my reviews. I describe colors using words like brown, not taupe. My twitter name is @staffaroadtrip because I love road trips and have done two different 48-state road trips since 2008. My favorite show is White Collar.