Guest Star Goodness: White Collar “Gloves Off” 

[WARNING: SPOILERS FOR “GLOVES OFF”]

Ruh roh. Peter’s in trouble. Neal’s not too happy with him. He feels going behind his back to investigate Sam was a no-no and now the one guy that knows anything about anything regarding his father is long gone. Some thoughts on “Gloves Off” before we get to the Guest Star Goodness:

• The tape that featured a young Ellen was such a good find. I teared up when she showed how much she cared about Neal’s safety: “Know this. I will do everything I can to keep you safe.” Neal’s reaction was pretty much the same as mine. Loved that moment so much.

• I warned you about the boxing choreography scene in my preview. It was a great scene in an episode that had some highly charged moments and intense situations. Peter, Mozzie, Jones and Neal were just fun to watch.

• In the boxing ring: In one corner was Neal Caffrey (using his alias Nick Halden) and in the other corner was Peter Burke (using his alias Peter Slauson). Right before Neal entered the ring, he got a call from Sam saying he was outta there, that someone was on to him and it probably had to do with the fact Peter visited and/or investigated him. Neal wasn’t happy and what resulted was a major bout for the White Collar ages. Neal had more than just a game face on, he was out for blood — Peter’s blood. He wouldn’t adhere to the signal to end the fight that Peter gave him, but, ultimately, cooler heads prevailed. Neal went down for the count as was planned. But then he got out of there post-haste leaving Peter to track him over to Sam’s place.

• Oh and I know there was a lot of substance while the boys were trying to pummel each other but there’s no way I was not going to notice the shirtlessness that was going on. It was nice. Just saying. Although, my TV Goodness colleague, Heather M., wisely pointed out to me one glaring absence from this episode: How in the world was it that there were men without shirts and guest star, Victor Webster, wasn’t one of them? Inquiring minds want to know.

• And, of course, there was the very end. Peter and Neal are at Sam’s and it’s clear that he was gone. Neal then made it clear that he’ll do his job but as far as his personal life is concerned, they are done. Neal meant business. And the show continues to deal with the trust issues that are inherent in their friendship. This struggle was bound to happen because Peter’s an FBI Agent who is sworn to uphold the law. And Neal is someone who has always broken the law. Last season, the level of trust between the partners was at almost nil. After the whole fugitive Neal business, I thought the two would work trust back into their lives. But, I guess they have to deal with it again once and for all. At least, I hope it’s once and for all. I want these two to be partners and friends who can trust each other with just about everything. Is that unrealistic of me to think that way?

Guest Star Goodness “Gloves Off”

Treat Williams

White Collar Role: Sam Phelps, an undercover police officer who knows all about Neal’s dad. He’s the trusted man Ellen was telling Neal to find. But the guy is wary of the FBI. He doesn’t want Peter anywhere near his business. Makes you kind of suspicious of what he’s hiding, right?
The Actor: Treat Williams is an actor who has jumped between the world of movies and TV fairly easily. On the big screen, he’s starred in movies like Hair, Once Upon a Time in America and Mulholland Falls. On the small screen, he was Dr. Andy Brown on the WB drama Everwood; he played a love interest to Sally Field on Brothers & Sisters; he starred in a short-lived series called Heartland; and he played the cop dad to a family of police officers on the Lifetime series Against the Wall (I still hate that that show was cancelled after its first season). Plus, he’s recently guest starred on Leverage as well as Law & Order: SVU. Look for Williams to be a part of next week’s White Collar summer finale.

Sprague Grayden

White Collar Role: A younger Ellen — we only see her on tape. It was a brief but memorable appearance. As I said earlier in this article, she managed to make me tear up. Grayden was able to convey her love for Neal and her need to protect him.
The Actress: I knew the name and the face but couldn’t figure out how I knew her name and face. Maybe it was from when she played Anita Miller, Claire’s art school friend and roommate on Six Feet Under. Or maybe it was from her role on Jericho, the show that was cancelled then resurrected then cancelled again. Or it could have been from her run on 24 — where she played Olivia Taylor, the daughter of President Allison Taylor.

Victor Webster

White Collar Role: Eric Dunham, the corrupt CEO bad guy Neal and Peter worked to bring down.
The Actor: We’ve covered the awesomeness that is Victor Webster before on TV Goodness. If you read our Soap Love Notes article, then you’ll know he’s been on everything from Days of our Lives to Mutant X to the redux Melrose Place to Castle (he played Beckett’s doctor boyfriend). Some of his more recent credits include appearances on TV Land’s The Exes and USA Network’s Necessary Roughness. Right now he has a regular role on a Canadian series that has just got the greenlight to air here in the good old USA. It’s called Continuum and is about a police officer and a group of rebels who live in the year 2077. Through time travel, they are transported to 2012. The future cop ends up working with the current Vancouver PD including Webster’s character, Carlos Fonnegra. The Canadian network that airs Continuum has already renewed the show for a second season, which means we’ll have at least two seasons headed our way (hopefully) soon.

The summer finale for White Collar airs Tuesday September 18 @ 9/8c on USA Network.