History Series / WhiteCollar

* SpiritualSuccessor: This is basically what happened during those bits in ''Film/CatchMeIfYouCan'' when Frank was working for the FBI. Also has pretty much the exact premise of ''Series/{{It Takes a Thief|1968}}''.
** In the finale, [[spoiler:Neal actually dresses up as a pilot, much like Abagnale famously once did.]]

* PunnyName

* RealityIsUnrealistic: InUniverse example. In "Hard Sell" Peter, while undercover as a CorruptCorporateExecutive, plays as if to expose Neal who is also undercover. He tells the corrupt Wall Street brokerage group that they've infiltrated that Neal's bugged pen is too high end for the FBI to afford and that he's actually a corporate spy. In reality, the pen was given to Neal by the FBI.

** And even further... In ''Deadline'', Mozzie refers Diana's girlfriend Christie as "Ms. Lady Suit," and is promptly corrected to "''Dr.'' Lady Suit" by Neal.

--> '''Mozzie:''' I brought a lightsaber to a knife fight.\\

* SaveTheVillain: in ''Company Man'', [[spoiler: Peter and]] the murder suspect have been poisoned, and [[spoiler: a barely-conscious]] Peter insists that Neal get the suspect to the medics as well, stating it's not "[Peter's] call who lives or dies".

* ShipperOnDeck: As of "Scott Free", Peter seems to be this for Neal and Sara. He singsongs ''"romance is in the air..."'' and then comes this exchange:
-->'''Peter:''' I like the two of you together. She's a good influence on you.\\

-->'''Neal:''' [[Film/TheKarateKid I swept the leg]], he went down.

-->'''Neal:''' You know, I was expecting more ''Series/MagnumPI'' and less ''[[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Super Mario]]''!"

*** From the same episode, Neal poses as a substitute teacher teaching romantic poetry and all the girls in the class fall for him. As Peter tells Elizabeth later,
--> "I walk in the classroom and the girls were all glassy-eyed, like they saw that kid from those [[Literature/TheTwilightSaga vampire movies]].

-->'''Mozzie:''' Now, you go into the office as the courier and pick up the tape. Then you use this. ''(holds up a refrigerator magnet)''\\

** Kramer believes that Neal is this to Peter, and that he's looking out for Peter by removing Neal to DC.

* LivingLegend

* LoopholeAbuse: Neal uses this to nail the perp in the pilot episode. The FBI knows ''exactly'' where his counterfeiting operation is, but they can't go in without a warrant... unless they were pursuing a fugitive who just happened to wander into the criminal's hideout.
-->'''Neal:''' You know the secret to living with rules?\\

--> '''Peter:''' "I love how you two think that law was designed as a loophole."
* LovableRogue: Neal

* ManipulativeBastard: Kate, at times. Mozzie, at other times.

* MeaningfulName

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: At the end of "As You Were", Neal breaks into Burke's house to steal the Nazi cargo manifest when he receives a call from Burke, who tries to cheer him up over his recent breakup with Sara. Neal then breaks down when he realizes the gravity of the deed he has just done.

* {{Nerdgasm}}: Diana when she sees the suitcase [=MP5s=] in "Countdown".

-->"There are many things of which a wise man might wish to be ignorant."
* NoodleIncident: The many jobs Neal has 'allegedly' pulled only get vaguely alluded to, letting the audience take their best guess.

--> '''Mozzie:''' How about... a Cannonball?\\

* NoSympathy: {{Averted}} with Elizabeth, who never seems to mind (too much) when Peter's work gets in the way of their personal life. When a fugitive FBI agent inadvertently hijacks Peter and Elizabeth's date night, she acts more like he's stuck in traffic than anything. To be fair, she asks Mozzie for Peter's safe word to make sure he's okay first. When she found out he spent an afternoon flirting with another woman, her response was to laugh hysterically, knowing how ''awful'' Peter is at that and how much he must have hated it. Of course, when she finds out he was posing as a chiropractor and the other woman refers to his "magic hands"...

* OddCouple: Neal and Peter are basically polar opposites; and in "Home Invasion" they get all [[Theatre/TheOddCouple Felix and Oscar]] when they're forced to share an apartment. Somewhat of an inversion too as the by-the-book cop is the sloppy one and the break-the-rules criminal is the uptight and tidy one.
** although one could argue this is the more logical alignment, as Con men often Thrive on a mark being disorderly, Neal keeping order in his personal life is a defense mechanism; and Peter while restrained by the rules of being a Government Employee would let himself relax when free of oversight

* ParentalSubstitute

* PassThePopcorn: In 2x15

* PetTheDog

** And Scottish-born Ross [=McCall=] gets to use his native accent when Matthew Keller impersonates an Interpol agent in 'On the Fence'.

* {{Hypocrite}}: Peter repeatedly berates Neal for looking for Kate and assuming she was in danger, and never apologizes to Neal for his part in [[spoiler: her death]]. But when Peter's wife is kidnapped, he loses all composure and immediately blames Neal for the entire ordeal.

* IncrediblyLamePun: Halfway through season three.
--> '''Mozzie:''' The feds only have a partial list; the odds are minuscule that the Degas is even on it!\\

--> '''Peter:''' Looks like we found our widow of opportunity.\\

* INeedAFreakingDrink: Mozzie in "Countdown" as Neal is about to reveal his plan to [[spoiler:switch in a fake Degas for the real one.]] He at first looks like he'll fill a short glass with wine...then he half-fills a tall one...and then seems to say, "screw it" and fill the tall one nearly full.

-->'''Neal:''' [[spoiler:Damn it. I've never been a gun guy.]]

* HideYourPregnancy: Tiffani Thiessen's pregnancy has been hidden very badly during season 2, with highly awkward use of warped green screens. They didn't bother with Marsha Thomson's pregnancy a few seasons later and just wrote it in.

-->'''Burke''': ''[[LetMeGetThisStraight Oh, you're alleging that]] a thief broke into your office to crack an uncrackable safe to give you millions of dollars in diamonds?''

* GiveMeBackMyWallet

* GoodWithNumbers

-->'''Mozzie:''' ''M'' is the 13th letter of the alphabet. 13 is a prime number.\\

* GratuitousGerman: The label on the dynamite in the U-boot reads "Gefabrlicher Exploeavstoff" and "Halten sie trocken", "gefaehrlicher Explosivstoff" and "trocken halten" would be correct.
* GuileHero: Neal. A BatmanGambit here, a XantosGamit there, the occaional IndyPloy when things go pear-shaped... Neal spends six years living under the constant scrutiny of the FBI, and manages to effortlessly steal hundreds of millions of dollars (with Mozzie's perfectly competent, albeit weirdly conspiritorial, assistance) and ''never gets caught''. Also, all the bad guys he takes down.

-->'''Elizabeth:''' The last thing I said to him was "have a wonderful day."\\

* FollowTheLeader: With the success of ''Series/BurnNotice'', USA seems to like the motif of an exiled protagonist returning to his usual lifestyle. Also includes using terminology frequently used on ''{{Series/NCIS}}'' (such as "Probie" and BOLO), which is ''frequently'' replayed on USA. However, to be fair, those are real phrases used by law enforcment. Other similarities are evident between Neal Caffrey's and Michal Westons' M.O.s - conning a bad guy to reveal his plans/hiding place/incriminating evidence and figuring out a "that's what I'd do" plan when trying to get inside the mind of an antagonist.

* FakeOutMakeOut

-->'''Neal:''' What are you doing?\\

* FalseReassurance

-->'''Neal:''' I'm not working on anything.\\

* {{Fanservice}}

-->'''Peter:''' "This is what gets you into trouble. This is the start of those something-for-nothing schemes that lead to the frauds that get you locked up."\\
'''Neal:''' "I think it's... some sort of Italian roast."

-->'''Peter:''' For the last time, Mozzie, the government is not conducting mind-control experiments.\\

-->'''Peter:''' Let's see what they said behind the back of the bumbling FBI agent.

-->'''Diana:''' [[spoiler:''(after Peter shoots Fowler)'' How did you know he was wearing a vest?]]\\

* DamselInDistress

-->''Mozzie:'' I deeply resent your judgment, and your misguided misunderstanding of the things that you do not understand.

* EvenEvilHasStandards
** Peter manages to convince a Chechen mob boss to help him take down an adoption agent who was running an extortion racket using Chechen orphans.
-->"What kind of sick animal takes advantage of innocent Chechen children?"
** As he seems to care more about the fact that they are Chechen then the fact that they are children, an AlternativeCharacterInterpretation is that this is more EvenEvilHasLovedOnes extended to a national level.

*** Diana later breaks the news about Pratt's [[spoiler: death at the hands of James(self-defense).]] Neal falls into resignation; addressing him calmly.
--> '''Neal:''' ''What'd you do,'' Dad?

* TheCharmer: Neal

* TheCastShowoff: In "Countermeasures", Diahann Carroll and Matt Bomer doing a lovely rendition of "One for My Baby (and One More for the Road)", accompanied by Creator/BillyDeeWilliams on the piano.

* BornLucky

-->'''Peter:''' How is it that you always get the penthouse suite with the girl and I end up with the sweaty bald-headed guy in a warehouse in Queens?

-->'''Peter:''' It is a pattern. Neal misbehaves but because he's Neal he doesn't face the consequences and gets a gold star for it.

* BrickJoke
** At the end of "Need to Know", Neal comments that he expected Peter's mustache to be more ''Series/MagnumPI'' and less [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Mario]] and was thus disappointed. Guess what he calls Peter when [[spoiler: he goes on the run.]]
*** Actually, that second reference to "Mario" was probably [[ItMakesSenseInContext Mario Andretti]].

-->'''Neal:''' Cryptic postcards from old friends mean trouble. ... In my experience. [See: Keller]

-->'''Neal''': I'm gonna go rummage through your drawers and steal your most precious belongings.
--> -''[Peter glares disapprovingly]''
-->'''Neal''': I'm kidding. I need to go to the bathroom. (''leaves, Peter reminding him to leave the seat down for Elizabeth'')

* BondVillainStupidity: In "Under the Radar", where Adler leaves a tied up Peter, Neal, and Alex to drown in a slowly filling drydock. Once they escape they Lampshade how Adler is trying too hard to act like a cartoon supervillain.
** Actually, Adler wasn't there, his henchmen were, and it is not revealed who came up with the idea. However, once Peter et al escape, the henchmen simply open up with guns.
* BookSafe

* AlwaysGetsHisMan: Peter
** Though to be fair, every time Peter catches Neal, it is part of Neal's plan.
** Except the first time...face it. Neal knows Peter WILL catch him, so he just factors that inevitability into his plans now.

* PornStache: In "Need to Know", it's revealed that Peter once had a mustache. Luckily for Neal (and the audience) [[http://twitpic.com/277kdh there is photographic evidence]], which prompts Neal to comment that he was expecting something more ''Series/MagnumPI'' and less [[VideoGame/SuperMarioBros Mario]].

-->'''Neal:''' You know, I was expecting more ''Series/MagnumPI'' and less ''[[VideoGame/SuperMarioBros Super Mario]]''!"

--> "I walk in the classroom and the girls were all glassy-eyed, like they saw that kid from those [[{{Literature/Twilight}} vampire movies]].

-->'''Neal:''' How many men do you have?\\

* TheThingThatGoesDoink: Mozzie has one in one of his safe houses.

%%* GuileHero: Neal
* GunStruggle: Peter, with the guy who shot Mozzie.

** In another episode, Elizabeth makes a few passing mentions of how Peter wooed her. And she's right; Peter flirting is hilarious since when wooing her, Peter did things straight out of romantic comedies. Him flirting doesn't mean anything to her since she knows if he really meant it, he'd be doing much more romantic things.

* HideYourPregnancy: Tiffani Thiessen's pregnancy has been hidden very badly during season 2, with highly awkward use of warped green screens.

* HollywoodDensity: A briefcase full of Krugerrands was quite easily passed around in one episode, while in reality that much gold would have weighed about a hundred pounds.

** [[spoiler:Matthew Keller in season six has a deal similar to Neal's with Interpol.]]

%%* FoolForLove: Neal to Kate

%%
%% Please do not add a "Hey, It's That Guy" trope to the page. It belongs in Trivia/WhiteCollar.
%%

%%** Keller pulls off an impressive one to [[spoiler: successfully break out of jail.]]
** [[spoiler: In "Honor Among Thieves," Peter thinks Neal pulled one in order to get everything he wants. In summary, Neal managed to catch the criminal of the week, escape legal punishment for stealing a piece of artwork, avoid taking the rap for the stolen files from the US Marshals' database despite Abigail planting his hairs in their offices, obtain the files on Ellen that the Marshals weren't going to give up, and perhaps most importantly, retained Peter's trust despite not telling him about all the stuff he should have. It gets to the point where Peter isn't even sure if Neal pulled a long con on him, and doesn't know whether he was right to believe Neal when Neal said that Peter's trust was more important to him than Ellen's files on the flash drive were.]]
** [[spoiler: Neal's final con in the series completely relied on knowing Keller would betray him. He even admits that is is utterly predictable.]]

* DeliveryGuy: [[spoiler:When Diana, after climbing down a 10ft-15ft tall metal ladder, is so stressed her water breaks and cannot go back up Mozzie, who she was there to arrest, starts to run but returns to help Diana birth her child. When Neal finds them, Mozzie exclaims he's a midwife.]]

* ArgentinaIsNaziland: A U-boat filled with treasure was on the way there with NaziGold when it sank.

* BatmanGrabsAGun: [[ConMenHateGuns Neal]] snaps in this manner when he has a chance to encounter and kill the man who [[spoiler:he believes]] killed [[spoiler:Kate]]. All of his friends are so worried about him being in this state that when Mozzie finds out he's got a gun, [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness he immediately calls]] Peter.

* BeardlessProtectionProgram: In the pilot, Neal grows a beard in prison, and then shaves it off the day he escapes so he won't be recognized. He doesn't look all that different, but he ''does'' look just different enough to fool the facial recognition on the prison security cameras.

* INeedAFreakingDrink: Mozzie in "Countdown" after Neal reveals his plan to [[spoiler:switch in a fake Degas for the real one.]] He at first looks like he'll fill a short glass with wine...then he half-fills a tall one...and then seems to say, "screw it" and fill the tall one nearly full.