White Collar

Meet Neal Caffrey, arguably the best forger on the planet, not just on paper but in multiple mediums that fool even the most qualified experts. On top of his talents of replication he is also a world-class thief and con man. The series opens with Neil breaking out of prison with a James Bond level of suaveness, which you will come to know him for throughout the series. Once he has escaped the camera cuts to Special Agent Peter Burke, incidentally the man who arrested Neal in the first place. It shows him and a bunch of other FBI agents pursuing “The Dutchman” in a bank vault which blows up along with the evidence inside. It is then that he is informed of Neal’s escape and goes back on the hunt for him. His pursuit doesn’t take long and goes to his old apartment where Neal’s girlfriend had moved from just days before. He had three months left on a four-year sentence but upon learning that the love of his life Kate was moving away he decided to escape from a Super-max penitentiary.

 Once Peter catches him he is sent back to prison with an extended sentence; where Neal tries to get released as a criminal informant into Peter’s custody. Before long they accept his deal and recruit him to help them catch “The Dutchman” who is so named due to the fact that every time the FBI gets close he disappears. He is given a radius within New York where he is to wear a tracking anklet and they provided him with a fleabag hotel and money to get clothes at a thrift store. As he is looking for new clothes he meets June who is a wealthy older woman that offers him a guest room and her husbands old wardrobe of vintage rat pack suits. Her husband was also a criminal before he died so she is sympathetic to his situation. 

I know I’ve been saying that many of these series are “new and interesting approaches” to procedural crime dramas but this one definitely still fits that category. Neal uses his knowledge and talents to take down white-collar criminals and usually ends up having to forge or steal something off the books. Even though most episodes will be based around a new case there are many story arcs that involve higher stakes criminal or personal situations. Neal constantly has to suppress his urges to return to his life as a criminal and has many opportunities to pull off a score and run away for good. Despite turning “suit” Neal still has many allies, the most important being “Mozzie” his best friend and partner in crime. Mozzie is the guy behind the scenes that helps with all of the preparation and intel needed to pull cons and commit crimes; which they now use to catch criminals for the FBI (to Mozzie’s dismay). Overall this show has a very intriguing storyline, which will keep you interested through the five seasons available on Netflix.