Matthew Keller

Matthew Keller
Gender	Male
Profession	Con Artist
Status	Deceased
Portrayed By	Ross McCall
Season(s)	1, 2, 3, 6
First Appearance	Bottlenecked
Last Appearance	Au Revoir
Episode Count	7 episodes
Images of Keller

Matthew Keller was an old friend and partner-turned-opponent of Neal Caffrey. At one point, he was wanted by the Russian mob, Interpol, US Marshals, and the FBI with an additional six-million dollar bounty on his head.

Character Profile

Keller was considered the blue-collar version of Neal Caffrey as he was not afraid to get his hands dirty (ie, killing partners or anyone who got in his way). Interpol's file has him linked to various misdeeds, from arms smuggling to stolen antiquities, but they were never able to catch him because all they had was hearsay.

Keller also loved chess and would think several steps ahead.

Appearances

In "Bottlenecked", Keller challenged Neal to forge a rare bottle of wine (one that supposedly couldn't be forged) to compare it to Keller's own forgery that was already submitted to the Museum of Natural History as part of an auction. Neal takes the bait only to find out that Keller's bottle was the real bottle all along, which only tripled the value of Keller's bottle during the auction. In the end, Keller's plans were foiled by Neal and he was arrested.

In "Payback", Keller orchestrated a successful prison breakout, which involved kidnapping Peter Burke to distract Neal and the FBI while escaping during a prison transfer to a super-max prison, where he would've inevitably been killed by the Russian mob.

In "On The Fence", Keller returned to New York after hearing rumors of the Nazi U-boat treasure and deducing that it's in Neal's possession. Asking Sara Ellis and Mozzie about the treasure get him nowhere, so in "Checkmate", Keller recruited a violent criminal, Leonard Grant, to help kidnap and hold Elizabeth Burke hostage to force Peter and Neal into giving Keller the treasure within 12 hours. Running out of time, Peter, Neal, and Mozzie team up to con Keller in order to buy more time for the FBI to find Elizabeth. While his plans were foiled again, Keller is sentenced to 20 years in a Russian prison but not before admitting to Russian authorities that he stole the treasure to save it and return it to where it belonged, which helped in settling his debt with the Russian mob.

Season 6

Return to Sender

It's revealed that Keller has been working for Interpol and he was tasked to infiltrate the Pink Panthers. However, in lieu of a tracking anklet like Neal, Interpol inserted a chip into Keller's wrist, leaving a constantly itchy and painful scar. After Neal's assignment to steal the rare "Treskilling Yellow" stamp, Keller authenticated and approved it for the Pink Panthers when he saw the word 'INTERPOL' in Neal's forged stamp.

Uncontrolled Variables

Keller and Neal are given an assignment by Woodford to steal something called Exodus from a security tech firm, and Keller convinced Neal that the way in was through Amy Harris, the CEO's Executive Assistant. During the episode, Keller helped Neal get close to Amy but when their heist is discovered by the CEO, Keller planned on planting the Exodus file on Amy and killing her, which Neal stopped. At the end of the episode, Keller told Neal that they're always going to be running from somebody.

Whack-A-Mole

Due to Woodford's suspicion of a mole in the Pink Panthers, Keller removed Interpol's tracking device from his wrist, planted it in Aubrey's pocket, and gave his handler, Luc Renaud, to Woodford in order to frame Aubrey for being the mole and regain Woodford's trust.

Au Revoir

Keller, Neal, and Mozzie worked together to con $30 million from the Pink Panthers. After a seemingly successful heist, the FBI closed in on the Pink Panthers and everyone was arrested. Keller and Neal ditched their handcuffs and reunited with Mozzie in downtown to get the money, but Keller double-crossed them and in the struggle, Neal was shot. As Neal laid on the ground, bleeding out, he showed Keller his tracking anklet, indicating that Peter knew where they were. As soon as Keller left the building, he was spotted by Peter. After a short chase, Peter shot Keller in the forehead, killing him.

Relationships

Neal Caffrey

Keller met Neal at the Grand Casino in Monaco during the World Backgammon Finals. They became friends and started pulling jobs together, even having each other's backs at one point. Keller and Neal also had a shared common interest in Kate Moreau.

Kate Moreau

Keller always mentioned chasing after Kate, but no relationship is ever confirmed and they are never even shown in the same frame.