White Collar is a captivating show, the many moving plot points and story lines are what make it so addicting and entertaining, however, those same plot points are also what make it hard to distill four seasons down to short summaries and an understandable working knowledge of the show. So forgive us if we forget to mention a small detail that is crucial to the overall story line. If you have any questions about this please email the writer at [email protected].
Synopsis: Season one
The first season of White Collar is largely centered around Neal’s inner conflict between wanting to stay loyal to the men (well, man – he’s shown he holds Peter to a higher regard than he does the FBI as a whole) who freed him from jail and wanting to find his girlfriend, Kate. After a complex scavenger hunt of sorts, he realizes she is being held captive by baddie ex-government agent Garrett Fower. When Neal finds her in an airplane jet, waiting to take off, he realizes that he could run away from the FBI. As he turns to say goodbye to Peter, Kate’s jet explodes behind him.
Synopsis: Season two
Still reeling from Kate’s death, Neal spends much of the second season trying to fit the pieces of the puzzle together, which ultimately leads to the uncovering that Fowler was not Kate’s killer, he was merely being used by Vincent Adler (Andrew McCarthy) Kate’s former boss and a conman himself. This was cleverly revealed once Neal secures the location of a mysterious and very valuable music box – a relic from Neal and Kate’s con days.
Much like season one, White Collar’s season two ends not with a fizzle, but with a bang. A face off between Adler and Peter and Neal results in Adler shooting Neal, and Peter shooting, and eventually killing Adler.
Synopsis: Season three
Building on the first two seasons, the show moves away from Neal’s past and focuses on his present and future. This season, Peter and Neal are forced to go up against Agent Kramer (Beau Bridges), a D.C. FBI agent who is an expert at art. While Neal’s anklet could be legally removed after a hearing about it and he could walk free, Kramer wishes to transfer him to D.C. and keep him for himself, with the anklet on him. Peter learns of this and warns Neal, as they both know Neal cannot be under Kramer’s constant watch.
The ultimate question during this finale was whether or not Neal would run, leave Peter and his life in New York City behind, and return to his criminal and financially lucrative ways. Instead of an explosive finale, this season’s final moments put Neal to the ultimate morality test. While the verdict reveals that the anklet can be legally removed, viewers see the tracker lying on a table in his apartment, forcibly removed, something that would have major repercussions should he be caught.
Synopsis: Season four (so far)
Season four opens with Neal and Mozzie living comfortably on Cape Verde, six weeks removed from the season three finale. Through a new character, Agent Kyle Collins (Mekhi Phifer) viewers learn that the FBI is searching high and low for Neal, who is once again a criminal on the FBI’s Most Wanted list. With a $500,000 bounty on Neal’s head, Peter attempts to send a message to him to go deeper into hiding, however eventually both Peter and Collins end up on Cape Verde, both looking to get Neal back to New York before the other does. Peter is eventually the one who is able to bring him back, but not without repercussions (he is reassigned to the lowly Evidence room).
This season introduces Ellen Parker (Judith Ivey) who was a longtime partner of Neal’s father, until she was the one to arrest him when it’s realized he was a “dirty cop.” She then enters the witness protection program with Neal’s mother and ultimately raised Neal. She is shot and killed before being able to reveal key pieces of information, namely that James Bennett (Treat Williams), a former cop, is really Sam Phelps, Neal’s biological father.
White Collar premieres Tuesday, January 22, at 10PM Est. on USA Network.
If you want to watch the previous seasons, Netflix has the first three seasons available on Instant Streaming, and you can find season four on sites such as iTunes and Amazon.
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