TV Review: White Collar [2009-2011]

White Collar premiered Friday, October 23, 2009 on the USA Network introducing con artist Neal Caffrey and FBI Agent Peter Burke to American audiences. The show resembles Steven Spielberg’s movie Catch Me If You Can about a white collar criminal on the run from the law. Neal Caffrey is the charming criminal mastermind that knows the cons and keeps the resilient Agent Burke on his toes. Matt Boomer plays a believable con artist by dressing and looking clean cut. The series focuses on Caffrey working for the FBI after his capture by using all of his expertise as an art and securities thief, counterfeiter, and racketeer.

The first season brought a fresh perspective like a one man A-Team. However the subplot of the series is not compelling enough to keep watching the series. The series would be interesting if it was decompressed to focus on only one deception per season rather than solving each case at the end of each episode.

MAIN CAST

Matthew Bomer (Traveler, Chuck)

Tim DeKay

SUPPORTING CHARACTERS

Willie Garson (Sex In The City)

Tiffani Thiessen (Saved By The Bell)

Marsha Thomason (Lost)

Noah Emmerich (Cop Land)

Diahann Carroll

Gloria Votsis

CELEBRITY APPEARANCES

Tim Matheson (Burn Notice)

John Larroquette (Night Court)

Joe Morton (Executive Decision)

Andrew McCarthy (Mannequin)

Billy Dee Williams (Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back)

SEASON 2 EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS

01 – Peter and Neal catch a clever bank robber called the Architect

02 – Neal goes undercover as a political fixer

03 – FBI investigates an art theft using Neal’s M.O

04 – Mozzie asks for help from Neal on a kidnapping

05 – Insurance investigator has a price on her head

06 – An adoption scam is headed by a lawyer who is a compulsive gambler

07 – Peter involves himself with someone selling trial witness locations

08 – Head researcher of a tech company is murdered

09 – Neal cons the FBI into helping him find Fowler

10 – Neal uses his contacts to track down the person who shot Mozzie

11 – Neal reveals the how he met Vincent Alder who targeted both Kate and Mozzie

12 – Neal and Peter free the son of a diplomat framed for a crime he didn’t commit

13 – Neal helps his landlady June investigate a known associate of her late husband

14 – Matthew Keller kidnaps Peter and uses Neal to pay off his debt to the Russians

15 – Neal and Peter switch identities to catch an electric company responsible for a blackout

16 – Season Finale: Vincent Alder uses Neal to discover the contents of a WWII U-Boat

NEEDS IMPROVEMENT – 3 OUT OF 5