Quick Thoughts: WHITE COLLAR, "Where There's a Will"

Things were almost back to normal this week on White Collar as Peter and Neal put aside their suspicions to solve a case which started out as a treasure hunt but ended up being a kidnapping.

The Case of the Week, Neal having to verify whether or not the two wills in the possession of two feuding brothers were real or not which led to the treasure hunt which led to a kidnapping, had the right amount of good old fashioned fun that reminded me what makes this show so special. Seeing Neal and Peter rib each other was classic White Collar, and seeing Burke geek out about puzzles, hidden loot, and astronomy almost made me forget how much he distrusts his so-called partner. I'm also not going to complain about an episode that has Neal and Mozzie pulling off some old-timey cons like "The Blind Man's Bluff" and "The Traveling Salesman". Such good material coming from everyone.

My only minor gripe had to do with the kidnapping component because it all felt unnecessary and manipulative. I get that having the team just go on a scavenger hunt wouldn't have had the needed drama to fill the entire episode, but having a little girl be taken felt way too serious for this show. Also, I would seriously doubt that the head of the white collar crimes division would be leading the case of a kidnapped child. I'm pretty sure the FBI has a division for those types of crimes, but I digress.

Forced drama aside, "Where There's a Will" was still a strong episode of White Collar that was successful both as a stand alone return to form and an effective way to further along the season's arc.