White Collar Recap: "Most Wanted"

White Collar picked up where the season premiere left off with this week’s episode, “Most Wanted.” When we last saw Neal, he was being held at gunpoint by Collins while Peter and Mozzie waited for him to show up on the docks. As amazing as the premiere was, this episode was even better.

It was the next morning as Peter and Mozzie argued about where to look for Neal and who knew him better. Peter said that the key was to always start with the girl, so they went to the café to talk to Maya (I caught her name this time). She told them that Neal had planned to ask Dobbs for help, but she seemed surprised that he’d been gone all night, which sent up red flags for Peter and Mozzie. Meanwhile, Neal was handcuffed to a chair and gagged in a makeshift prison cell. Neal managed to pick the lock and he was in the process of taking the bolts off the cage when Dobbs and Collins returned. Collins noticed one of the bolts on the floor and said as long as Neal had two good legs, he was going to try to run and then he proceeded to shoot him in the thigh (not cool).

After staking out Dobbs’ place, Peter and Mozzie saw Dobbs and Collins together and figured Dobbs had turned Neal in. Peter knew Collins would have to bring Neal out at some point to get him to the airport (the island they’re on doesn’t have an extradition treaty) so they decided to make their move then. Mozzie got Hector and some of the other kids to block traffic with some spilled fruit and forced Collins to get out and help. Peter rescued Neal, but his leg hampered their escape plan so Mozzie had to stall a little longer. Peter got Neal to the car and Neal told him that he’d stolen the keys to Dobbs’ yacht so they had a way off the island.

Unfortunately, they didn’t know which boat was Dobbs’. Neal mentioned that all of his glass boats were named after women and he rattled off a few names. Peter started singing a song with all the women’s names and Neal and Mozzie just looked at him like he’d lost his mind. Mozzie asked if he’d gotten into the rum and Peter told them he might have figured out a way to get Neal back to New York. He suspected that Dobbs was actually an alias for a man who was high on the FBI’s most wanted list. He called his boss and offered a deal: if Neal could bring in Dobbs, he wanted Neal to be reinstated as a consultant, get his ankle monitor back and start working for him again. Once the FBI confirmed Dobbs was their fugitive, Peter, Neal and Mozzie had to come up with a plan to get him off the island.

Dobbs was hosting a party for all the people that he took bribes from and they were going to use that to their advantage. Mozzie started spreading the word that Dobbs was planning on taking all the money and running away. They set Peter up to be the bartender at the party and Neal and Mozzie were going to break in and make it look like Dobbs had cleaned out his safe to turn everyone against him. As they toasted their plan, a glass fell off the table and broke and Mozzie said they were not going to see that as an omen.

Collins showed up at Neal and Mozzie’s place, but Peter was there alone. He told Collins that he was done. He’d offered Neal a way home and Neal had turned him down. He said he was on the next flight out and then he left a glass on the table with the name of the café where Maya worked. Peter headed for Dobbs’ house where he posed as Kevin, the bartender, and made a point of gossiping with the locals about Dobbs’ gassing up his boat and taking his money so he could leave town. People were starting to talk as Mozzie showed up, pretending to be there to fix a window that Hector had broken earlier. Neal was hiding in the van and while Mozzie distracted the security, Neal (bullet wound and all) climbed a tree so Mozzie could let him in the window.

Since the safe couldn’t be cracked, Neal and Mozzie were using the mirror and a painting to make it look like the safe was empty so that when Dobbs came into the room with the sheriff, they would get the wrong idea. But a breeze knocked over one of Dobbs’ bottle ships and the mirror broke so they had to go to plan b. Collins showed up at Maya’s and offered her the $500,000 reward money if she’d tell him where Neal was so she did. People were getting restless with Dobbs and he brought some of them inside, only to see what looked like a packed up room. Neal shouted from the courtyard that Dobbs had used him as a scapegoat and told everyone that he was a fugitive too, just as Collins came to arrest Neal.

As they passed Maya, Neal told her that he hoped she got what she deserved and she told him that she’d think of him every time she spent a penny of the money. The two shared a look in the side view mirror when Collins was getting in the car and Peter and Mozzie said goodbye since Mozzie didn’t want to go back to New York. He told Peter that Neal was counting on him to keep his word. Dobbs arrived at the airport and got on the chartered flight as Collins pulled up with Neal. Peter explained to Collins who Dobbs was and how Neal had caught him. Collins wasn’t thrilled about being played, but he was quick to pull his gun when Dobbs tried to get off the plane. (This is what I love about this show. I went from cursing Collins’ existence to cheering for him).

Neal and Peter returned to New York and Jones and Diana were glad to have them both back. Neal was grumpy and Peter told the others it was because he wouldn’t let Neal have the reward money. Neal said that he should at least get a medal and Peter told him that he could have one and then proceeded to have Jones put his ankle monitor back on. Later, Neal was back at June’s and Ellen came to see him. She mentioned that she was being moved in a few days and she promised to tell him the story of his father before she left.

Back at the FBI the next day, Hughes told Peter that the higher ups were not happy with him for tracking down Neal on his own. Collins had gotten the credit for bringing in Dobbs and Peter promised that he would keep Neal in line from this point on. But things were not that simple. Neal was in the middle of telling Jones and Diana about his great escape when Peter came out and informed them that he had been reassigned and he was no longer going to be part of the white collar division.

That is just unacceptable. I love this show, but the cliffhangers are a lot harder to take when I have to wait an entire week and not just cue up the next episode. This episode was fantastic from start to finish. There’s nothing I love more than a little teamwork and scheming and Neal, Peter and Mozzie executed their plan brilliantly. I’m sure Mozzie will be back in New York in no time, but I’m wondering how long they’re planning on keeping Peter benched. Judging by the scenes for next week with Neal calling and asking for his help on a case, I’m guessing it won’t be too long.

Did you enjoy the episode? Were you surprised that Peter was reassigned or did you see that coming since he hasn’t exactly been a model FBI agent lately? More importantly, how amazing are the bromances on this show? Sound off below and let us know what you think.