White Collar is a USA Network crime comedy-drama television series created by Jeff Eastin, starring Matt Bomer as con-man Neal Caffrey and Tim DeKay as Special Agent Peter Burke. It premiered on October 23, 2009. In December, 2009 White Collar was renewed for a second season beginning in summer 2010; USA Network did not announce the number of episodes ordered

Overview

Neal Caffrey is a con-man who was captured after a three-year game of cat and mouse. With four months left while serving a four-year sentence, he escapes from a maximum security federal prison to find Kate, his ex-girlfriend. Peter Burke, the FBI agent who initially captured Caffrey, catches him again. This time, Caffrey gives Burke information about evidence in another case; however, this information comes with a price: Burke must have a meeting with Caffrey. At this meeting, Caffrey proposes a deal: he will help Burke catch other criminals as part of a work-release program. Burke agrees, after some hesitation. Within a day of being released from prison, Caffrey already lives in one of the most expensive houses in Manhattan, after persuading an elderly widow to rent him her guest room. After catching the elusive Dutchman, Caffrey has proven to Burke that he will help him, and that he will not try to escape again. However, at the same time, Caffrey is still looking for Kate, whom he believes is in trouble. He Continues working with Agent Burke but while doing this he runs into Agent Fowler from Washington D.C. After looking into it Neal discovers that he has Kate and wants Neil to give him a music box worth a lot of money to for Kate. Neal had let everyone believe that he had stolen this music box but never himself actually had it. So he has to work with his friend Alex to fiend the music box. After looking into it he discovers that the music box is in the possession of the Italian Embassy. So they have to break in and steal it but Alex won't work with him unless he can remove his tracking anklet so he gets Agent Fowler to disable it so that he can roam free and steal the box for him. Fowler, is actually working an operation called Mentor which requires the music box but no more is said about Operation Mentor in season one. Neal, Mozzie, and Alex steal the music box and Neil gives it to Fowler. In return, Neil and Kate get new identities. At the end of the season one finale, Kate is sitting in a plane ready to take off and Neal is going to join her so that they can start their new life together with their new identities. Agent Burke figures out about it and he can't do anything to legally stop it but since he has ended up being friends with Neal he goes to the Airport to try and talk Neal out of it. While they are talking the plane explodes in the background and that was the end of season one. Season two will premiere on USA in the summer of 2010.

Characters

Main characters

• Neal Caffrey (Matt Bomer): Neal Caffrey is a skilled forger and thief who was imprisoned after being captured by FBI Agent Peter Burke. After his girlfriend visits him in jail and ends their relationship, Neal escapes from prison in order to find her, but Peter quickly recaptures him in their now-empty apartment. Back in prison, Neal proposes he become an FBI consultant, but Peter declines, then changes his mind, leading to Neal's release with an ankle bracelet monitoring his movements. Now free on a limited basis, Neal has one chance to prove himself to the FBI or return to prison. Neal's charm and street-smarts soon gain him both the guest room in a wealthy woman's home, and a position as a confidential informant for the FBI, working with Peter to catch white-collar criminals. However, Neal also uses his new position with the FBI to search for Kate, whom he believes is in trouble. He must now follow a series of clues that leads him to believe she is being held by someone who wants something he has. The only clue Neal has on the man's identity is a picture of his right hand on Kate's shoulder, wearing a distinctive ring.
• Special Agent Peter Burke (Tim DeKay): Agent Peter Burke is brilliant at what he does due to his knack for getting into the criminal mind. He caught Neal Caffrey and is the only one to have ever accomplished this feat. In the pilot, when Caffrey escapes with three months left on his sentence, Burke knows that something happened. He apprehends Caffrey and, in return for Caffrey helping him on a difficult case, he later has him released to assist him in catching white-collar criminals. Peter must keep Neal on a short leash as well as make sure Neal doesn't slip into his old ways.
• Elizabeth Burke (Tiffani Thiessen): An event planner and the wife of Peter Burke. She is supportive and understanding of his work and long hours away. An intelligent woman herself, Elizabeth is able to discuss Peter's cases with him, and at times makes a meaningful contribution to them. She has, on occasion, been shown to be supportive of Neal and willing to listen to his ideas as well as reprimanding him for going to his old ways.
• Mozzie (Willie Garson): A con-man himself, Mozzie, often called Moz, is Neal's friend, informant and confidante. He helps Neal in a variety of ways, supplying information, analyzing evidence and impersonating various law enforcement agents. Mozzie is the only other person who knows the whole story of Kate's current situation and the clues leading to her. He appears to be a jack of all trades and performs a variety of tasks for Neal.

Supporting characters

• Kate Moreau (Alexandra Daddario): Neal's ex-girlfriend, who appears to be acting under the direction of a mysterious man, identifiable only by his 10-year commemorative FBI ring. Kate broke up with Neal while he was still in prison, precipitating his break-out. She provides Neal with cryptic clues when she wants to communicate with him, but is not in as much danger as Neal believes. At the end of Season One, she is seen aboard a private jet that explodes soon after; it is not known whether she survived.
• Special Agent Clinton Jones (Sharif Atkins): A junior agent on Peter's team. He is responsible for carrying out a variety of tasks during the team's investigations, including surveillance.
• Special Agent Lauren Cruz (Natalie Morales): A junior agent who requested a transfer to Peter's team. She has admired Peter Burke since college and wrote a paper about Neal while a student at the FBI Academy in Quantico.
• Special Agent Reese Hughes (James Rebhorn): Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Manhattan White Collar Crime Unit. Hughes is supportive of Peter's goals with Neal, although dubious about the wisdom of using Neal as a confidential informant. In Season One, Hughes risks his career in order to warn Peter of an OPR investigation on him.
• June (Diahann Carroll): The elderly widow of Byron, who ran with the Rat Pack and owned a wardrobe of clothing designed by Sy Devore. She meets Neal at a thrift store. A quick judge of character, she soon offers Neal her guest room. She has two granddaughters: a 22-year-old college art student and an 8-year-old currently in need of a kidney transplant. She is protective of Neal and doesn't care that he is a convicted felon.
• Special Agent Garrett Fowler (Noah Emmerich): An agent from the Office of Professional Responsibility. Both Neal and Peter believe he is the man with "the ring". He heads a task force carrying out the undefined Operation: Mentor.
• Alex (Gloria Votsis): A friend of Neal. She later helps him steal the music box in order to free Kate. She also works as a black-market fence.