- Title: White Collar – Controlling Interest
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After sitting it out for two weeks following the death of Special Agent David Seigel (Warren Kole), Neal (Matt Bomer) returns to work with Peter (Tim DeKay) re-assuming his responsibilities as the con man’s handler. First up, the odd case of a confused former bank robber on the straight-and-narrow (David Call) who turns himself into the FBI after realizing he broke into a vault and stole a large sum of (already stolen) money against his will. With the bank unhelpful and refusing to admit a robbery even took place, Peter and Neal perform a two-man con which lead the pair to a psychiatrist (Elizabeth Marvel) of both the criminal who committed the robbery and the criminal who was robbed.
Going in undercover as himself, the overconfident Neal is a bit shaken when the psychiatrist is able to sum up his failings so succinctly in less than a full session in which the psychiatrist also drugs the con man to get to the truth of what really brought Neal to her office. On the verge of consciousness, and compliant for several minutes, Neal is unsure what he told the doctor about the FBI’s case or any number of his personal secrets. In order to discover what happened, Mozzie (Willie Garson) suggests leading Neal back down the rabbit hole by recreating his drugged state which leads to an incredibly honest, and still quite drugged, Neal paying Peter and Elizabeth (Tiffani Thiessen) a visit.
Although Neal doesn’t let anything slip with either the psychiatrist or Peter that would put him in hot water, and he manages to turn the table on the shrink to get a confession, the entire experience makes the con man reexamine the status quo and regain a bit of the edge of the old Neal. After offering Mozzie a peace offering for the things he said while drugs about how his friend had lost his edge, Neal begins his own quest to reassert himself and break free of everyone who has been pulling his strings. We’ll have to wait and see just how big a shift in personality Neal truly has made, and just what kind of plans the con man has in store for The Dutchman (Mark Sheppard) and possibly even the FBI.
