I have a hard time believing that Neal truly destroyed the documents and all the evidence against Hagen. I'm sure he's playing an angle. Neal has never done anything so blatantly immoral ever and he hates murderers, didn't waste a moment reminding Hagan that he was one.
I can't wait for the big reveal…

A very good point and a delicate balancing act. By "serious" I meant the treatment of characters. For instance, Diana, Jones, Mozzie, Neal (Peter and El not so much) they all became a bit real and deeper for me this past episode. But the characteristic WC playfulness of the plot was still there. Not an easy task but…

I'm sure Neal's OTT nonchalant behavior had something to do with the irony of Peter getting a promotion and Neal getting a new anklet (and a reminder that he is a criminal). I think he was demonstrating that he is not "one of them".

While Neal is still bound by the anklet his choice is a moot point. Right now he is tethered to the FBI and lured by the forbidden game of con. The time for him to truly question will be when he truly has that choice. That time will be when he gets out of the anklet and is not treated as a criminal any more. My guess…

interesting! thanks for the info. Ancienty History happens to be one of my absolute favorites and not just because of the awesome Alex:) Hope we have some more coming from him.

LOL;

I agree, that's how I saw Diana/Peter exchange too. I doubt Diana is going to let this one go easily. But it was totally IC for her that she did, atleast for now.

Except for Peter's crush on Neal, lol! Like Neal said, he's been following Neal for 10 years, that's probably as long as he's been with El…just sayin';)

I think you are right about that. The moment he saw Mozzie, I knew this one was a goner.

This episode already has set the bar quite high imo. I'm curious to see how they are going to match this one, let alone top it.

I have to agree. It was one of the best directed, written, and edited episodes for me. If you look at some of the worse episodes imo ("pulling strings" anyone?) have B ratings. This one was definitely in the vicinity of A for me.

good point. The use of music, the photography, the direction and Neal/Peter distrust did have a season 1 feel. But there is something more. It's as though the writers decided that they are going to make a serious attempt at storytelling. Season 1, my favorite of all, as awesome as it was, was mostly fluff (a brilliant…

absolutely!! the use of music was brilliant. For that reason alone this episode deserves an A+.

Is it me or is White Collar changing big time? Not that I'm not loving it! Seems like they are really digging deeper and I'm happy about that. After 4 years being on air, this is a welcome change imo. I love the new handler.
Neal reminded me so much of season1 Neal. I'm loving him. Who'd have thought Mozzie and Diana…

yes, I totally got that. it was cool

The universe of White Collar, has a Black Hole! That's where they all went..haha.
Sorry for the bad joke. Couldn't resist it!
Honestly speaking after 4 seasons, one knows not to expect that kind of consistency from WC. The show is awesome for many reasons, but consistency in plots(s), and meticulous storytelling ain't…

He does not doubt Neal's good intentions. Infact, he says it in those words to Elizabeth. But he is still not happy with Neal doing anything illegal even if his intentions are good. He really doesn't want Neal to go back in prison.

I felt bad for Peter as well. He was as much in pain as he caused Neal. It was a classic bromance moment for me. But yes I wanted to cuddle Neal. Peter has Elizabeth, Neal needs someone too. If only, Mozzie was the beautiful brunette Neal was painting….lol.

A voicemail evidence will never fly in the court enough to set the Peter free. The only reason it works is because of Hagen's connections. Hagen only wanted Neal to forge some evidence that the prosecutor can "claim" as being acceptable.

I can see what they were trying to do here. It's kind of like a prologue to a book. In their hurried attempt to set a stage for the rest of the season, the plot and many of the dialogs seemed contrived. I also wasn't too impressed with the editing, seemed a bit choppy..
But what made the episode meaningful were the…