White Collar follows the familiar USA Network pattern. 1) Fun characters with good chemistry. 2) Standalone crime solving with some mythology/character development in each episode. 3) Intense season finale. 4) A resetting season premiere.
And like clockwork, White Collar picks up the pieces 2 months after the explosive end to the first season finale as if nothing happened, reverting back to the usual FBI cases with Neal tagging along to help. This week, they take down a brazen bank robber, self-nicknamed The Architect. The only differences are that Neal is slightly off his game and they're going for Fowler instead of Kate.
A huge problem with the overarching mythology is that it is so shrouded in mystery and innuendo that it's already as convoluted as Burn Notice's, which has dragged on far too long already in its fourth season. But White Collar, only in its second season, has cracks all over the Fowler/Operation Mentor story to the point where I don't care much for it.
Conspicuously absent was Lauren Cruz, played by Natalie Morales, who didn't do much anyway and is now on Park and Recreation. As we saw on The Middleman, she definitely has the spunk for the show, but the writers focused on Neal and Peter. Cruz is written off in a throwaway sentence about keeping her safe.
Score: 8.8/10
