White Collar Episode 1-2 Review

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Like the premiere, this episode was fast-paced and unpredictable. Its unique storyline kept the show entertaining for the entire hour. If White Collar can stay at the pace it is at now then I can see it sticking around for awhile.

It’s fashion week in New York City and Agent Burke cannot catch a cab. To further annoy him any cab that does stop  Neal gives to some ladies. What a gentleman! Peter is getting upset that he is now late so Neal gets them a cab by holding up some money.

They are after a criminal named Ghovat who has the nickname The Ghost. A model, Tara,  heard The Ghost arguing with some man and then found the other man dead. She says she can identify him by his voice.

Neal suggests that they have a party full of models to lure Ghovat to them. Peter brings the idea to his supervisor who is hesitant to the idea at first but gives them five grand to set up their party. Five grand for a party in NYC, he must be crazy! Luckily, Peter’s wife Elizabeth is an event planned and can help them set the party up on their budget.

They get their supplies from the FBI seizure locker. In there, Neal eyes a nice watch and suggests it for Peter. He puts it back because it’s a little out of his price range. Elizabeth says that all they need now is a venue. Peter says he has that covered. This should be good.

Peter shows Neal a picture of the place he has in mind, some building seized in a DEA bust. At least he tried but next time just leave it up to Neal because that place is so disgusting that there is even a chalk outline on the floor. In more productive news, Neal already has 65 supermodels lined up for their party. He also found a new place for them to use.

Now that’s the place for a party! Neal’s venue is on the roof of a building with a swimming pool and shrubs for decor. Elizabeth is amazed by the place and Neal lets Peter have the credit of finding it. Neal goes over to a women whom he thinks is one of his models. She’s actually an undercover agent prompting Neal to ask the way over used line “So where do you keep your gun?”.

Neal walks around the party with Tara. They go over to a man who looks suspicious. He says that his name is Demetri and Tara says that he is not Ghovat. When Demetri answers his cell phone and Tara hears him speaking Hebrew she says that he is waiting for Ghovat. Ghovat is watching Demetri and decides to slip his cell phone in another man’s pocket. Neal calls Ghovat’s phone and the police tackle the wrong man. Ghovat sneaks out like the ghost that he is.

Mozzie pays Neal a visit. Neal thinks the guy in the picture with Kate is forcing her to make her give up Neal’s stash that he told her was hidden in San Diego. Mozzie comments on how it cannot be in San Diego because Neal told him that it was in Portland. He quickly figures out that there is nothing in either spot, it was just a test so Neal could see which person he could trust. Neal thinks Kate may have given him a secret message when she came to visit him in prison but was acting to stupid to see it. He wants to check the video footage from that day to confirm but to do that he’ll need to convince Burke to get him a copy.

The party was not a total bust, now they actually have a picture of Ghovat to identify him with. Ghovat was at the party with a model so they want to investigate her a little further. As for Ghovat’s pal Demetri they are keeping a tail on him to see if he will lead to Ghovat. Before Peter leaves for lunch in the park with his wife, Neal decides it’s a good time to ask him about the security tape. Peter agrees to get him the tape when their case is solved.

Peter is finding it hard to relax at his lunch because he is not sure what it is about. Elizabeth tells him that he is not in trouble, she got him a gift. Not surprisingly she got him a new watch. Peter gets a call and has to leave.

Demetri is at a fashion shoot with the model that was seen with Ghovat. Neal gets them in and tries to make Peter look tough. He ends up looking humorously like The Terminator. Neal goes over and talks to Demetri. He gets them kicked out but finds out what Demetri wants with Ghovat.

Demetri’s tail follows him to a hotel. By the time Burke gets there he has been in there for two hours and the guards have not seen anyone go in or out. The police radio goes off saying that two men were heard arguing on the 5oth floor. The same floor that Demetri is on. They rush to the room but it is too late, Demetri is dead and Ghovat is nowhere to be seen.

They know Ghovat did the killing because the knife was the same one he used to kill the other man. Neal looks at a dress on the floor and sees a hole the size of a flash drive cut out of it. Ghovat wants information smuggled in on one of the dresses so Peter wants to know who made that dress.

The designer claims to not know who Ghovat is but looks a bit nervous about something. Burke tells him that whatever he did resulted in the death of two people. The designer cracks and says that if he did not do it Ghovat was going to kill his son, he already had kidnapped him. After he did what he was told his son was returned. He did, however, give Ghovat a fake dress. Whatever information he wanted is still on the other dress. Peter has the designer call Ghovat and tell him that he sold the dress to another person who bought it for his fiance.

Neal brings Tara into a bar with her wearing the dress. Ghovat calls Neal and offers to buy the dress from him for 5 million dollars. Neal tells him he should make it 10. Ghovat asks him if he knows who he is talking to and Neal answers Steve. Annoyed, Ghovat threatens Neal and hangs up.

Back in the office, Burke gets news that Ghovat attacked Tara’s escort and grabbed her. The cell phone they found left behind by Ghovat starts ringing. Neal answers it and Ghovat offers him to trade Tara for the dress. Ghovat also says that he wants to meet with Agent Burke instead of Neal. Since the meet is set for the next day, Neal tells Peter to go home and be with his wife instead of making a plan because it will only change.

Elizabeth tells Peter that she has another gift for him. It’s his old watch back. She says that the new watch just does not suit him the way the old one does.

The FBI has cracked the code on the information Ghovat wants. It contains information about the new European currencies. The boss tells each agent what they will be doing. Neal raises his hand and asks where he will be. He is told on a coffee run because he is not supposed to be there.

Everything is set up in the park, Peter is waiting for further instructions from Ghovat, other agents are positioned around the park, and everything is being observed from a van in the park. Neal does not want to be left out so he gets in the van. Ghovat calls and tells Peter that he has one minute to get to a fountain in the park, if he is not alone the girl will die. Peter runs to it and tells the other agents to stay where they are. Ghovat meets him there and tells him that Tara’s new belt is a bomb that he can detonate with one call. He takes the dress and starts walking away.

Peter’s boss tells him to let him walk because they cannot take the chance. Neal has an idea though and calls Ghovat. He tells the other agents to keep calling Ghovat, as long as they call him he cannot use his phone to detonate the bomb. Peter gets the belt off of Tara and Ghovat is arrested.

Neal is watching the security tape that Peter gave him. He spots Kate taping in Morse Code on her leg. Mozzie translates it to the word BOTTLE. Her bottle might mean something other than goodbye after all, now Neal has to figure out what.