Yet another great episode of White Collar. Really except for a few nitpicks here and there, I’ve had nothing bad to say about the first season of this show If they can continue to write such interesting plots with just the right amount of humor in them this show could go on for a very long time.
So in this episode we get the answer to whose been playing the game of chess with Neal through all those mysterious postcards. It is some long time rival of Neal’s named Matthew Keller (Ross McCall). They have some competition to create a forgery of a wine bottle once owned by Benjamin Franklin and Keller has returned to challenge Neal. Neal tells Peter that this bottle is impossible to forge because any copy would fail a cesium test.
Interestingly enough, today there is a big problem with wine forgeries. It is not something that most fans need to concern themselves about but I’d be pretty upset if I spent $100, 000 on a bottle of wine only to find out it is worth almost nothing. As you could see by this episode $100,000 is not even close to what serious collectors are willing to dish out for a bottle. But hey if your a millionaire money means nothing to you.
Anyways, this Keller guy mows down a thief that he hired to steal the supplies for his forgery while Neal and Peter watch. Peter actually helps Neal obtain a few items for his forgery because he wants to bring Keller in for murder. Like always, Mozzie is the one to do most of the work putting the forgery together. Seriously, Neal might be able to seduce women but it’s Mozzie who gets stuff done.
My favorite part of this episode was seeing Peter helping Neal steal the wax. It’s always funny seeing Peter out of his comfort zone and this one was way out. Not only does he feel guilty for stealing something, he has to be a wine aficionado. Peter is more of a beer guy, he thinks wine tastes “soupy”. He pulls it off because the lady is flirting with him. Peter might have to rethink his flirting abilities, he is quite the lady’s man.
I wasn’t that surprised to find out that Keller had the real Franklin bottle all along. Having Mozzie win the auction and giving Keller no choice but to go in with the FBI was a suitable ending though. That is what you get for provoking Neal and Peter.
Coming up… Neal volunteers to help when the daughter of an old friend of his is kidnapped. However, the kidnapper is an old enemy of his who is leading him into a trap.
