Recap – White Collar 2.07: “Prisoner’s Dilemma”

First things first: yay, Elizabeth Burke is back! Without a green screen! How awesome is that? You know what else is awesome? A great guest cast: Joe Morton as Hughes’boss and The Unit‘s Max Martini (fresh off last night’s Lie To Me) as a U.S. Marshal. (Unfortunately, Tim Olyphant is nowhere to be found.)

It’s a typical morning in the Burke household, even for a Saturday: Peter and Elizabeth hardly have time to talk to each other because they’re too consumed with their jobs. He realizes this is insane, and decides they’re having a date night that night. Neal has plans, except they’re out of his radius, so he’s trying to convince Diana to escort him to no avail. Not too bad, right? Then the U.S. Marshals, led by a man named Deckard (Martini in his best tough-guy mode) turn up looking for a rogue FBI agent named Franklin. Peter is determined to get to their man before the Marshals do, lest something bad happen to him.

Their first stop is the former car thief and CI with whom Franklin had been having an affair, who now works at a high-end car dealership. While Peter chats her up during a dubious test drive, Neal does what he usually does: poke around where he’s not supposed to. While Peter actually admits that Peter is ‘the one I turn to when I need help,’Neal gets into the woman’s computer and gets the log of all her test drives, which proves she borrowed a Porsche for an hour and a half. They use the GPS to find out where she went.

Diana uncovers more information: Franklin had a file on an anti-trust case locked up in his office, which also contained photos of the U.S. Marshals now looking for him. Peter slips out with the file, having no choice but to take it home and read it there…while also trying to make pot roast. However, once he gets home, he realizes he’s not alone. The missing agent has turned up on his doorstep. Obviously, Peter Burke is very highly regarded at the Bureau. Franklin, of course, spins a story that Deckard is after him because the Marshal was working with the defense in the anti-trust case. Peter is willing to work with his old colleague to find out the truth, because Peter is not a bonehead.

When they get to the lawyer’s office, Deckard is there and armed. Shooting ensues, and Peter picks Franklin’s side. His side also comes with a Lamborghini. This leads to a hilarious scene where both Franklin and Peter call their CI’s to try and hotwire the cars and see whose can do it faster. Of course, Neal wins. Yet they’re going to need a better plan than running away, and they get some help in Neal and Jones. Neal enjoys teasing Peter about his fugitive status, though he does say, ‘Be careful, Mario.'(Nice reference to ‘˜Need To Know’there.)

Neal returns to the FBI and tries to plead Peter’s case to Joe Morton, who is not impressed. ‘You want me to authorize you to mislead the U.S. Marshals?’he says, and doesn’t even want to know about the stolen sports car. Peter, meanwhile, has contacted Mozzie to find a place to lay low — meaning we get the first glimpse at one of Mozzie’s safehouses. It’s a good thing Peter isn’t home, because Deckard has sent Neal and Jones to stake out the Burke house. Who is home is Elizabeth, who finds the remains of the pot roast, only to be greeted by…Mozzie?

Mozzie leaves the Burke house, leading Deckard, Jones and Neal directly to Franklin’s CI. Also there are Diana and the corrupt attorney. At the same time, Neal gets a phone call from Peter, with Joe Morton on the line. Everyone is playing everyone off of everyone else, with Neal telling Deckard that the attorney just cut a deal to sell him out. The Marshal pulls a gun, but Peter gets the jump on him. He even leaves a little practical joke for Mozzie back at the safehouse.

In our token clue toward the ongoing saga, Mozzie tells Neal that he traced the number Kate called on the plane to a burner phone. She was calling none other than Fowler. Huh, that seems too easy. Then again, I’m more worried about next week’s episode and Peter’s apparent collapse…?!

All in all, it’s another fine episode for White Collar, which goes back to relying on good, solid writing and great casting. The episode isn’t particularly flashy, but the plot is solid and interesting, and while the ending isn’t anything that you haven’t seen on Law & Order, it’s nonetheless fulfilling to watch. You also can’t go wrong when you cast good guest stars. Joe Morton is always reliable, and it’s good to see Max Martini still getting steady work after his show-stealing on The Unit. He plays the tough-guy type so well. I’d not heard of Jeremy Davidson, who plays Franklin, before this but he did an admirable job (although I briefly confused him with Dollhouse alum Tahmoh Penikett on looks alone). This episode goes to show that when you do a consistently good job, you don’t need fireworks to be worthwhile.