- Title: White Collar – Identity Crisis
- wiki: link
After Mozzie (Willie Garson) discovers clues left by a mysterious spy ring inside a recently purchased storage unit he, Neal (Matt Bomer), and Peter (Tim DeKay) get dragged into a dangerous treasure hunt involving a case of mistaken identity, a mansion with secret passages, spies from the Revolutionary War, and a flag someone is willing to kill for.
Using old spycraft Mozzie attempts to contact an ancestor (Mircea Monroe) of the Culper Spy Ring which they hope will lead them to the flag that George Washington carried with him across the Delaware. Mozzie is able to trade the location of the storage unit for a group of letters from a Culper Spy which leads to threesome to yet another round of clues. (As odd as this all sounds the unfolding of the intricate plot works very well.)
Meanwhile Peter finds the man Mozzie has been mistaken for in a mental institution which punches holes in Mozzie’s conspiracy theory and the team uncovers a Culper-obsessed author (Damian Young) who they’re pretty sure is the villain they’ve been looking for. This gives the team an opportunity to play an unique con to trap the author, and murderer, by having Neal take on the role of George Washington’s descendant. The plan goes somewhat awry when Mozzie chooses the location of the flag over his own safety, but he’s ultimately rewarded when his faith in secret organizations leads to the end of the treasure hunt (and still allows him plenty of room for conspiracy theories).
The mix of treasure hunt and vast conspiracy, with Mozie smack dab in the middle, creates a memorable episode. The final shots may be a little over the top, as the mystery of what happened to the flag would have worked on its own, but in a story set on satisfying Mozzie’s unique view of the world what we get is certainly appropriate.
