White Collar Season Three Review
The premise of White Collar is rather basic. Convicted conman Neal Caffrey (Matthew Bomer) convinces FBI Agent Peter Burke (Tim DeKay) to release him from prison in exchange for Caffrey’s assistance in solving the various “white collar” crimes that erupt within New York City. Caffrey is hindered by an ankle bracelet that allows Burke to keep tabs on the former fugitive, while one-time mentor Mozzie (Willie Garson) serves as a link to Caffrey’s duplicity-filled past. Peter Burke was the man who arrested Neal Caffrey years earlier, meanwhile, and the relationship between the two is marked with both mutual respect and mistrust as they attempt to form a working partnership that is beneficial to all involved.
While the foundation of White Collar may appear simple on the surface, the USA Network drama is able to more fully flesh out its narrative by playing upon the internal conflict inside the persona of Neal Caffrey. While Caffrey was motivated in season one of the series by the disappearance of his former girlfriend Kate Moreau and season two served as the conclusion to the conspiracy that resulted in her death, the third installment of White Collar allows Neal Caffrey to examine his life free from the emotional bonds of his past. Is Caffrey the same conman that he was before? Does he still long for the criminal days of old? Or has he found himself reformed and on the cusp of a different life than previously imagined?
White Collar incorporates the classic plot device of figuratively placing both an angel and devil on the shoulders of Neal Caffrey—in the forms of Peter Burke and Mozzie—as he faces the question of which future to embrace. At the end of season two, Mozzie was able to pilfer a treasure of lost Nazi art under the pretext that he and Caffrey could escape their present predicament with the financial bounty of one last score. “We finally got our white whale,” he tells a smiling Caffrey. Unfortunately, Mozzie’s efforts do not go undetected by Peter Burke, who immediately suspects Neal Caffrey as the true culprit in the theft.
As the trust that has slowly been building between the FBI agent and convicted conman evaporates in the aftermath, a similar divide develops between Neal Caffrey and Mozzie. Caffrey’s reluctance to immediately leave New York City frustrates Mozzie, and the gulf only grows wider when the former lies to the latter about obtaining key information regarding Peter Burke’s investigation into the still undisclosed crime. The differences separating the characters, however, are temporarily set aside when Burke’s wife Elizabeth (Tiffani Thiessen) is kidnapped by Caffrey nemesis and White Collar villain Matthew Keller (Ross McCall).
Not only does the sharing of a common enemy—as well as a mutual fondness for Elizabeth—unite the central White Collar protagonists, it also offers the opportunity to pin the Nazi art theft on Keller. Freed from one internal conflict and temptation, Neal Caffrey immediately faces another when the Board of Corrections recommends the commutation of Caffrey’s prison sentence. Would a newly liberated Neal Caffrey fall back on the ways of his past, or would he embark on a different path of gainful employment, family and friends? “While he is never going to be a model citizen, he’s also not the brazen thief he was six years ago,” love interest Sara Ellis (Hilarie Burton), an insurance investigator that testified against Caffrey at his trial, confides to Peter Burke.
Despite these serial-style threads running through the season, White Collar still manages to weave entertaining “mystery of the week” storylines into its episodes. The childhood dreams of Peter Burke, for instance, come to the forefront of two installment—“Where There’s a Will,” in which the entire group embarks on a literal treasure hunt replete with secret clues and cryptic messages, and “Stealing Home,” which centers on the potential theft of a Babe Ruth autographed baseball from famed Yankee Stadium. Supporting cast members Diana Berrigan (Marsha Thomason) and Clinton Jones (Sharif Atkins) are also given moments in the spotlight as the two FBI assistants take turns as the central focus of various season three episodes as well. Even the conspiracy-loving shyster Mozzie is further developed in the installment “The Dentist of Detroit,” in which his backstory is more fully fleshed out.
“You,” Neal Caffrey tells Peter Burke in regards to why he did not simply take the Nazi treasure and run when he had the opportunity. “Elizabeth, Sara. The view out that window, stepping off the elevator Monday morning. All of it. I have a life here.” The ability to embrace such a different lifestyle becomes a potential reality as White Collar nears the end of its third season. While Caffrey may have been able to convince Burke of his true intentions, however, freedom from his prison sentence is not so clear cut. Burke’s FBI mentor Philip Kramer (Beau Bridges) has doubts as to whether Neal Caffrey has truly reformed himself, and is even able to cause second thoughts about Caffrey’s potential release within the minds of the convicted felon’s allies. “By the end of the conversation, he had me thinking twice whether or not we’d be doing the Bureau or Caffrey any favors by letting him out early,” Clinton Jones tells Peter Burke about his own interaction with Kramer.
It is an ironic statement, suggesting that the freedom which Neal Caffrey craves actually lies in the ankle bracelet that keeps him shackled from liberation. Despite such limitations, Caffrey has discovered a more fulfilling existence working for the FBI, through his romantic involvement with Sara Ellis and even his friendship with Peter Burke. Neal Caffrey may not be a free man, but the path his life has taken over the course of three seasons on White Collar has released him from his past and made him a better person nonetheless.
No matter what the future might hold.
Anthony Letizia (March 5, 2012)
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