"Point Blank" wraps up White Collar for the summer with a lot more excitement than we're used to--Neal sailing through the air through a window, Neal having Fowler at gunpoint, etc--and the mythology, literally, inched forward. We learn that Fowler was blackmailed into going after Kate, Mozzie's cool Japanese friend (The token Japanese character on any show has to be super chill.) has a break through on the music box but is killed, and that Kate herself wired the plane to exploded, though scheduled much later.
The fact that Fowler has someone above him is nothing new since he was being directed on the phone by someone else in the first season finale. Now we know why Fowler was in OPR and carrying out Mentor, and he's a non-factor now, a small pawn in a grand game of chess. Actually, he's a semi-decent guy, buying the explosives for Kate and Neal to make their escape. Like Burn Notice, White Collar probably has layers and layers of enemies for Peter and Neal to tackle.
Matt Bomer does a great job with the angst and disconnect from logic, but without understanding more about Kate, it's hard not to feel a certain disconnect. We've seen Kate about three times total, and never anything meaningful between her and Neal. What about Kate drives Neal crazy? The writers never give us a clue and we've left wondering why Neal is acting the way he is.
As for Mozzie being shot, there's almost no chance he's dead. The winter finale last year ended with Peter looking like the big bad guy and he turned out to be the same. Mozzie's a well-liked character, and there's no way the writers would kill him unless they want to change things up drastically. Even then, it's a terrible idea to kill off someone like Mozzie on a procedural. My guess is that he had a bulletproof vest and blood bag.
"Point Blank" felt like all glitz and no substance--a whole lot of increasing the tension towards nothing. We'll have to see if the late developments in the episode pays when White Collar returns. However, despite Neal's wildly erratic behavior, it'll probably be business as usual.
Score: 8.6/10
