This week on White Collar, Peter and Neal both went undercover at a Manhattan Prep School. But they’re not just trying to see what’s cool in uniform wear this year, they’re trying to catch an embezzler. (Note: Not an Embedazzler, although I almost typed that by mistake. Shiny!)

White Collar Review “Upper West Side Story”

Cause She’s a Tramp (Not Really)

Diana (Marsha Thomason) stepped in as Peter’s girlfriend, “Danielle.” Peter’s alias had a wife named Linda, making Danielle a very risky treat. Even though there wasn’t a ton of Diana in this episode, what we saw from her only confirmed what we know to be true of her: she. kicks. ass. Seriously. She’s so quick on her feet, and she is able to get things done because she BELIEVES she can. “No” isn’t an option.

When told Peter she was going to get the bodyguard away from the door he was guarding, half the reason she was able to do it was because she was certain that she could. It’d be great to see more episodes about Diana and learn about what situations can really shake her confidence. In the meantime, gotta love the modern day heroine she represents! A strong black woman on TV? Yes, please!

Everyone Needs a Hobby

Mozzie (Willie Garson) is beside himself with anxiety, and he needs to channel that into a project. So, what does he decide to do? It’s not yoga, folks. He decides to help Evan the prep schooler with his unrequited love. (Question: Is it unrequited if the girl doesn’t know you even exist yet?) Always willing to go the extra mile when he damn well feels like it, Mozzie’s particular skill set helps Evan win over Chloe.

Bonus points: The entire Romeo and Juliet theme in the title, wordplay, and later the vial!

Play to Your Strengths

Matt Bomer is an attractive dude. You can’t even legally call him a “dude” (sorry frat boys) you have to call him a “gentleman”! And teenage girls definitely notice him, a point that was played up in this episode. Neal pretends to be a substitute, and learns pretty quickly how much those ladies love him. It actually reminded me of a Saved By the Bell episode where a similar situation happened. But, I digress. The point is that only on TV do teachers this attractive come into your classroom, and that’s kind of a shame. Jeff Eastin and the writers get major bonus points for throwing in the obvious “Dead Poets Society” reference I was holding my breath and waiting for them to make. And there’s even more bonus points there because the young actor playing Evan is also on The Good Wife, where one of the leads was one of the young boys in the movie DPS!

Peter the Saint

Peter (Tim Dekay) decided not to tell the FBI about how Neal had known about the stolen treasure (whew!) His justification was, “What you did on this case, how you carried yourself, makes me believe this partnership can work.”  Of course, Elizabeth mentioning that the right guy was behind bars, probably helped too.

White Collar airs Tuesdays at 10/9c on USA Network.

Photo: David Giesbrecht and USA Network.

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