Normally I don't let anything slide. I criticize, nitpick and critique, lamenting that the episode in question was either terrible or good -- just not as good as it should have been.
But this week I'm not going to do those things and I'm not going to let the debatable plausibility of that episode put a damper on what was a pretty great 40 minutes.
It was fantastic to see the show explore Neal under the microscope by a psychiatrist and not like the results, it was beautiful to see Mozzie re-coup some of his losses in a shady way (Neal owed him after it was Mozzie who stole the Nazi U-Boat treasure for him) and it gave us a few neat little gems: RMT, Goodnight Cinderella, Neal's manipulating number trick, some great quotes and Neal being his shady self.
Peter always knows that Neal is up to no good, but somehow can never really prove it so once again he'll suspect Neal was involved in the missing $2,000,000 but fail to prove it. Once again, Mozzie finds a way to escape paying for his crimes. The guy is more impressive than Houdini. So far in four episodes, he evaded Seigel's capture because of Neal's police sketch shenanigans, he dodged an arrest because Diana went into labor one second before she was going to slap cuffs on him and now again this week.
Not much doing this week regarding the Siegel murder, but now Peter knows that Neal is hiding something and is involved in some way. I'm sure they'll drag that out and Neal won't get busted either once he admits to doing shady dealings with Mark Sheppard.
This show never changes, but I've loved it from the start so USA Network knows that I'll continue to watch because of it.
QUOTES OF NOTE:
--DR. SUMMERS: "Your pathological assumption that you need to be the smartest person in the room at all times."
--DR. SUMMERS: "Just because someone starts doing good things doesn't mean they want to stop doing bad things."
--MOZZIE: "No, of course not, I'd have to make it for you."
--NEAL: "She was right, I'm not reformed. I like doing the things I do, I like working with the FBI. But I also like working against them -- I like doing things I shouldn't and I don't feel guilty, I don't feel remorse, I don't feel anything..."
--NEAL: "You are smart, you are resourceful -- you can do anything without a height requirement."
--NEAL: "No meat loaf, though, I'm not a fan."
--MOZZIE: "For the love of Thoreau, you can't just go wondering off in the woods like that."
--MOZZIE (via Jack Kerouac): "One day I'll find the right words and they will be simple."
RANDOM RAMBLINGS:
--I'm surprised we haven't heard Mozzie's Federal Bureau of Invasion before.
--The type of stuff Neal can pull of is just awe-inspiring. This week's gem: the impromptu glue and fake ID. (OF COURSE Neal has wallet-sized headshots of himself.)
--I really wonder how often Neal's number/mind tricks would actually work. I remember he did something similar in episode 4.3 last season (involving a blue diamond). I want you all to try doing EXACTLY what he did this week and see how many people pick #9. I'm going to try on a few people and report back next week on the results. Post yours on the comments below.
--Yup, the "Goodnight Cinderella" in a real thing. Drink responsibly!
--Recovered Memory Therapy (RMT) is pretty fascinating, but I find it to be far-fetched. But matters of the mind are truly remarkable and there's really no limit on what people can do.
--Mozzie steps out to compose himself for 5-10 seconds and can't catch up to Neal? Now that's far-fetched.
THE GRADE: A-
