White Collar – Mrs. Suit makes for a poor agent

This week White Collar went full throttle expanding the core team to its max of four, with Mozzie and Elizabeth joining Peter and Neal in investigating a crime. Unfortunately, it was a bit of a mixed bag.

Mozzie was awesome, as usual. One of the best things that ever happened to the growth of his character was having him meet and befriend Elizabeth Burke. Their relationship is one of the best on the show, and I appreciate the fact that the writers endeavor to put them together as often as possible.

We’ve also gotten to know Mozzie as an “investigator.” As cynical as he is with regard to all things law enforcement, he’s also rather amusing and insightful as a crime fighter. But whereas Elizabeth maybe could have fallen into the same category as Mozzie, she totally failed to succeed at playing federal agent. She seemed awkward the entire time, as if she was wearing clothing that was completely ill-suited for her, and most of the time she seemed nosy more than anything else.

For everyone who doesn’t read Entertainment Weekly, this episode we were paid a special visit by an old school friend of Matt Bomer’s, Mr. Joe Manganiello, who appeared as Ben Ryan, the criminal living next door to the Burkes. Bonus points for anyone who recognized his wife, Rebecca, as Lola Glaudini from back in the day on Criminal Minds. I know it’s coincidental, but Manganiello makes the nearly six foot Bomer look like a midget, which I found to be a good visual distinction between the blue collar Ryan and the white collar Caffrey. I think Ryan would have looked just as weird trying to dress like Neal, but how foreign did Neal look dressed in the blue collar getup, baseball cap and all? Crazy stuff.

Some of the most noteworthy moments:

• Peter trying to hide his profession from the Ryans, both for how absurd his clue was — I like Vikings? Is there even a connection there that the truly astute should get? — as well as how ironic it was that he was hiding his FBI credentials from two criminals without even realizing it.
• No one would install a lock only on the outside of a door to a room that’s in active use. It makes no sense. And Elle successfully picking a lock in that situation? Makes possibly even less sense than the lock.
• Mozzie referring to the mission as “Operation Duffel Bag.” Awesome.
• Neal and Peter’s casual “We’re outgunned” after they got shot at by a couple of automatic weapons. Just a bit.
• Special Agent Haversham
• Elle suggesting that she has spousal immunity. That was an ugh moment.
• But her “they don’t call me Mrs. Suit for nothing” line worked. So go figure.

I’ve really come to like Elizabeth. But her strengths lie in her relationships, and the fact that she is a constant for Peter, Neal, and Mozzie outside of a setting we otherwise always see them in. What’s the purpose in not maintaining that balance?

Clacked by Aryeh S.
on Feb 02, 2012 @ 12:00 EST5EDT