Quick Thoughts: WHITE COLLAR, "Identity Crisis"

Admittedly, when I saw that "Identity Crisis" was going to be a Storage Wars inspired episode, I started to tune out. Not because I'm anti-Storage Wars, but because it felt a little hokey. Boy, I'm I glad that I stuck it out and finished watching.

For the past couple of weeks, I've been criticizing White Collar for sticking to close to its formula and being afraid of doing anything new. I can say that I was not expecting "Identity Crisis" to turn into a story about conspiracy theories, secret spies, the American Revolution and a treasure hunt. Kudos for the effort. Since I'm a fan of movies that I shouldn't be like National Treasure and The Di Vinci Code, I really appreciated the parts that dealt with the Culper Ring and the hunt for the flag. Plus, we got a bittersweet Mozzie episode that really gave the character some depth and shading. As for the actual case of the episode, I could have done with out it.

I understand why the episode had to include things like murder. Peter needed a legitimate reason for being in on the whole scavenger hunt, but I think it would've been better had it been a stand alone episode that had nothing to do with the FBI. If it had just been about Mozzie and Neal off on a crazy adventure, with Peter chiming in every once in a while, I think it would've been a stronger episode from top to bottom. The investigation just got in the way. Also, I kind of wish it had ended a different way. Part of the episode's charm was the fact that we didn't know whether the Culpers still existed, so that final shot of the secret meeting was a bit much.

So, I ultimately really enjoyed the half of "Identity Crisis" that felt the least White Collar-y while I was a little underwhelmed with the bits that was more in the show's wheelhouse. Regardless, it was a fun episode and I'd definitely like to see more like this one.