White Collar is back! - Hard Sell

White Collar, (USA Network) is back and this episode is as good as all the others. Before the winter hiatus we were left wondering about which side Peter was on. The last scene we saw was Kate meeting with Peter in a hotel room. Peter was wearing the same ring that was on the hand in the photo of Kate.

The episode centers on a group of stock brokers who are falsely driving up the price of stocks by getting lots of people to invest in them and then selling out their own holdings just before everyone else realized that it was a sham. Neil is tasked to break into the group by posing as a stock broker looking for a job. Of course in Neil fashion he nails the interview, a hard sell to Peter on a redirected phone call, and starts making connections.

While discussing the case at Peter's, Neil goes upstairs to use the bathroom and discovers a picture with Peter wearing the ring assumed to be worn by Kate's captor. He confronts Peter and Elizabeth where they explain that it's a 10 year ring that all FBI agents get. Neil apologizes for doubting Peter and leaves. Elizabeth asks Peter when he's going to tell Neil about his meeting with Kate. He replies "after this case is over, then I'll decide".

Peter goes undercover as well this episode for reasons that aren't all that important. What is important is that both he and Neil are at Avery's (one of the partners in the brokerage) when goons show up with the mole in the organization, one of the secretaries. Both Neil and Peter realize that things are going to end badly for her so Peter outs Neil as they mole. They sell it by claiming that Neil was hired by Avery's business partner. Neil then goes to Avery's partner (Reid) and claims that Avery hired him as a spy. It's a big game of pointing fingers to get information.

Reid tells Neil that Avery holds all his incriminating information in a ledger book. The task now is to find where the ledger is hidden. Avery has a state of the art vault to protect his comic book collection and that is where Neil and Peter assume he must keep the ledger. There's one problem, getting the ledger without activating the security system - a system that includes sucking all the air out of the room to suppress a fire.

Neil sneaks into the vault only moments before Reid shows up and starts letting Avery have it. After a few moments they both realize that they have been played against each other and Avery grabs a shotgun to go after Neil. Peter runs ahead of Avery and gets in the vault just as Neil grabs the ledger to activate the bullet proof door, protecting them from Avery's shotgun discharge. Neil gives Peter his 5 minute air tank and they both look for the kill switch. Neil finds it and passes out. Peter has the choice to let Neil die and hope the cavalry comes to save him or open the door and risk getting shot by Avery. He pulls a pistol from his waistband and hits the switch. With impeccable timing the FBI show up and he isn't forced to shoot Avery.

Neil is fine and Peter tells him about the meeting with Kate. We see the flashback and discover that Kate is just using Neil to get something, it appears, for both her and Fowler. Neil is dumbfounded and doesn't want to believe it. He tells Peter that he will get what Kate/Fowler wants: a music box. The episode ends with Morris talking to Neil about the music box. Neil tells him that he never had the music box.
Neil - "Everyone assumed that I took it and I never corrected them".
Morris - "It did make you appear super human."
Neil - "Image is everything"
Morris - "Now what?"
Neil - "Now I find the music box."
Morris - "And steal it?" (Neil smiles) "Welcome back"