Threads is the second episode of Season 1 of White Collar and the second produced episode.
Synopsis
It's Fashion Week, and while Neal is enjoying himself, Peter is less enthusiastic about the legion of beautiful women that has descended on Manhattan. Things get worse when one of those beautiful women is witness to a murder.
Peter and Neal interview a model named Tara, who watched as the notorious Israeli counterfeiter Ghovat killed one of his business associates. Peter thinks Ghovat is in town with something to sell, and fashion week gives him the perfect cover. But how to find this man they call "The Ghost?" Neal has an unorthodox suggestion: throw a party. Judging by Ghovat's proclivity for gorgeous women and glamorous scenes, it's only a matter of time before he shows up. With Elizabeth's event planning expertise, Peter and Neal plan a lavish affair designed to catch the eye of the counterfeiter. Neal and Tara work the party, keeping an eye out for Ghovat, while Lauren Cruz, a beautiful, whip-smart agent transferred from the Violent Crimes Unit, keeps an eye on Neal. The trap is set, but the wary Ghovat slips through the FBI's fingers. Back at square one, the team shifts focus to Ghovat's buyer, Dmitri.
Meanwhile, Neal worries that the mystery man who took Kate to San Diego has also switched focus - to Neal! Neal doesn't know what he's after, but he's convinced that Kate tried to warn him through a secret message on her final prison visit. The problem is, Peter is the one with the security footage from that day, and Neal doesn't think his new partner will be too keen on letting him have the tape. But it's the former con man's turn to be surprised when Peter agrees to let Neal have the tape...just as soon as they wrap up the Ghovat case.
Unfortunately, that's going to be easier said than done, as Dmitri winds up dead by Ghovat's hand. "The Ghost" may be slipping away again, this time for good.
Recap
Quotes
[Peter trying to hail a cab. Neal walking beside him.]
Peter: I hate this. Every year. Every year, it's like this. Finally squeezed into a train at Union Square. Couldn't fall down if you were shot. Come on. It's impossible to catch a cab. Ah, thank you.
Neal:[letting some women take the cab they just hailed] Peter, Peter, Peter, Peter. Yes. Enjoy your day. It's Fashion Week, Peter. Embrace it.
Peter: Yeah. Here we go, excellent. Good. All right. [A group of women get to the cab first.] Oh no. Oh. Yes. All right. Let me help you here. Squeeze. [Peter closes the door, frustrated.] We are supposed to be interviewing our witness right now.
Neal:[takes a bill out of his pocket] Here. All right. Relax. [Holds the bill out on the street.]
Peter: That's not going to do it.
[A quickly cab comes to a screeching halt in front of them. Neal smugly helps Peter into the backseat.]
Neal: We ID the dead guy?
Peter: Foreign national out of Turkey, known associate of Ghovat.
Neal: Falling out over business?
Peter: Yeah, that's what I'm thinking. My working theory: this has something do with fashion week.
Neal: Well, assuming our ghost's got something to sell, Fashion Week's a great cover.
Peter: He's got all his buyers in New York this week with no bells going off. Unfortunately, we've got thirty thousand buyers.
Neal: We've also got someone who can identify his voice! [Realizes something.] Oh-ho!
Peter: Care to share?
Neal: You're going to think I'm crazy.
Peter: That's never stopped you before.
Neal: We throw a party.
Peter: Is it your birthday?
Neal: No.
Peter: Then you're crazy.
Hughes: A party?
Peter: The witness is confident she can identify him by his voice.
Hughes: How do you know he'll show up?
Neal: We fill it with beautiful women.
Peter: Looking at his M.O. he has a thing for models.
Hughes: Yeah, well, me too. [Sees Jones walking by.] Hey, Jones, you like models?
Jones: Love 'em.
Hughes: Jones likes 'em too. Is there a plan in here somewhere? Call me when one shows up.
Peter: Look, Caffrey, Ghovat, these guys are cut from the same cloth. Neal's convinced that our ghost will show up. I say we trust his instincts on this one. We've never been this close to Ghovat.
Hughes:[signals Neal to come closer] I'll authorize five grand for this party.
Neal: You know, fifteen would be better.
Peter: We'll make five work.
Neal: We'll get Elizabeth to help us.
Peter: My wife?
Neal:[explains to Hughes] She's an event planner. Best in the business.
Hughes: She'll work with us on the price?
Peter: My wife?
Neal: Your wife. [Looks at Hughes.] His wife [Hughes leaves. Neal grins and smacks Peter's shoulder excitedly.]
Peter: Don't.
Neal: I’m sorry.
Elizabeth: Wow. Royal Osetra Caviar. Ah! This is going to be perfect. Ooh! Neal, I just found Spring Bank.
Neal: Whiskey, perfect. Got a Garioch scotch over here.
Elizabeth: '65?
Neal: No, '58.
Elizabeth: Ooh, grab the case!
Peter: All right, come on, we've got to itemize all this.
Neal: Twelve bottles of scotch.
Elizabeth: Thirty-six tins of Osetra.
Peter: Booze and fish eggs, you got that?
Peter:[sees Neal with a gold watch] Whoa, drop the watch, convict. We're not on a shopping spree.
Neal: There's nothing wrong with enjoying the good things in life.
Peter: Mmm. Then why do they always seem to end up in here?
Peter: Aren't you supposed to be lining up super models?
Neal, picking up his beeping phone: Oh, sixty-four and counting.
Peter: Oh, Neal Caffrey throws a party and sixty-four super models show up.
Neal: Oh, no, sorry, my mistake, my mistake. Sixty-five, actually. [Grins.] These two are twins.
Jones:[from the surveillance van] Damn, Caffrey knows how to throw a party. Hey. Hey, hey, Agent Burke. Hey, is that Miss March?
Peter: Jones, pull it together. [Glances over at the screen.] Sports Illustrated, not Playboy.
[Jones snaps a picture with his phone.]
Neal: Any luck getting this thing off me?
Mozzie: I'm working on it. You're lucky, they have you on a two mile tether. That’s a lot in New York. Remember Jimmy Dimaco. The feds had his anklet set at twenty-two feet. He had to take a shower with one foot out of the tub.
Neal: That's not true.
Mozzie: Okay, maybe thirty feet. But you have it better.
Neal: Two miles isn't enough, Moz. I need to find Kate. The man with the ring was with Kate in California. You tell me what he wants from her, because he didn't find what he was looking for in San Diego.
Mozzie: How do you know what he was looking for?
Neal: Because I told Kate I kept everything, the money, the bonds, the art, all of it in San Diego.
Mozzie: Well, clearly that's not the truth, because you told me it was all hidden in Portland, isn't it? Isn't it?
Neal: Here. [He hands Mozzie a [[Kate's Clues#Letter|letter.]
Mozzie: Weep for me my love, I'll miss you more- what is this?
Neal: It's just an old love letter, it doesn't mean anything, okay but- [he folds up the letter. It now reads: WE ARE BEING WATCHED.] The FBI was closing in on us, we started taking precautions. We started passing codes.
Mozzie: That could be cracked by anyone who's ever seen the back of mad magazine?
Mozzie: So you think when Kate came to see you in prison, she left you a code?
Neal: I need to see that security tape.
Mozzie: Your friend at the FBI has access, he's seen it.
Neal: Well, yeah, he's not just going to hand it over.
Mozzie: You could ask?
Neal: I need a favor.
Peter: Yeah.
Neal: The last time Kate visited me in prison before she disappeared. You saw that security tape?
Peter: Yeah.
Neal: I'd like to see it.
Peter: You think that's a good idea?
Neal: It's the last time I saw her. I just want some closure.
Peter: Help me wrap up this case and I'll see what I can do about that tape.
Neal: Want to go check it out?
Peter: No, I can't. I start flashing by badge, they'll scatter like rats.
Neal:[looking at a bodyguard, gets an idea] You trust me?
Peter: Nope.
Neal:[rephrases] Do you trust me to talk to Dmitri?
Peter: What are you thinking?
Neal: Stand there and look menacing.
Peter:[confused] What?
Neal: Stand there and look menacing. [Peter makes a face.] No. Peter, menacing. You look like your kid just struck out.
Peter:[insulted] What? This is menacing.
Neal: No, it's not.
Peter: What are you ta-
Neal:[talks over Peter's hushed whispers that he's menacing, goading] No, it's not, that's not it.
Peter:[angry] This is menacing!
Neal:[pleased] Yeah, that's it right there! Cross your arms. [He adjusts Peter's jacket.]
Peter: What are you doing?
Neal: I want to let him know you're packing. [He puts a pair of sunglasses on Peter.] Yep. Now say I'll be back.
Peter: No.
Cast
- Matt Bomer as Neal Caffrey
- Tim DeKay as Peter Burke
- Willie Garson as Mozzie
- Tiffani Thiessen as Elizabeth Burke
Guest Starring
- Natalie Morales as Lauren Cruz
- Sharif Atkins as Clinton Jones
- James Rebhorn as Reese Hughes
- Donnie Keshawarz as Dmitri
- Carlo Rota as Ghovat
Co-Starring
- Alexandra Daddario as Kate
- Carmel Amit as Tara
- Arian Moaye as Avet
- Adi Hanash as Foreign Diplomat
- Tim Burke as Waiter
Filming Locations
See Also
| Season 1 | ||
|---|---|---|
Pilot · Threads · Book of Hours · Flip of the Coin · The Portrait · All In · Free Fall · Hard Sell · Bad Judgement · Vital Signs · Home Invasion · Bottlenecked · Front Man · Out of the Box |