In the aftermath of Kate's murder investigation, Peter and Neal make a pact granting Neal temporary immunity in exchange for sharing his intelligence. As part of the deal, Neal reveals his past involving Kate to Peter, allowing him to gain a deeper understanding of Neal's history.
Tropes:
- Artistic License – Physics: Fractal antennas are used all over the place, but they're not good at a specific frequency. Just the opposite; a regular antenna has to be cut to a specific frequency and is only good there. Fractal antennas are good wideband receivers capable of operating over a wide range of frequencies, hence why they're used all over the place.
- Chekhov's Gun: The fountain statue of the baby playing a violin will show up in a later episode as a hiding place for one of Neal's thefts.
- Double-Meaning Title: Forging Bonds refers to how Peter caught Neal, the bond forgery case. It also refers to Mozzie, Neal, and Kate becoming a team in their backstory.
- Foreshadowing:
- "I wouldn't worry. Often the things we try to hide are the most obvious to the people around us." Adler knew Neal was running a long con the whole time.
- Neal and Kate fantasize about running away to France. Neal ends the series standing in front of the Eiffel Tower.
- Funny Flashback Haircut: "Mozzie had a goatee?" "Only to distract from his toupee." And we get to see Peter with a mustache!
- How We Got Here: Series-wide. We see Neal as a young, not-quite-hardened con man who's desperately in love with Kate but... she's got a boyfriend. So he ends up with Alex, but only for a little while, hence the bad blood between them. Clinton also joins Peter's new white collar team.
- Impersonating an Officer: The basis for one of Neal and Kate's cons. Mozzie takes off with an folder of valuable manuscripts. Neal and Kate chase him down while wearing police uniforms. They take the manuscripts as evidence and Neal gives the mark a worthless receipt.
- Internal Reveal: Kate fell in love with Nick Halden, only to learn he was Neal Caffrey. He told her who he really was and she joined his con-man lifestyle.
- Irony: "I don't know if I'm really a suit guy."
- Love at First Sight: Neal is instantly smitten with Kate. Even when they're talking art, he's lost.Kate: Stunning, isn't it?
Neal: What? Oh, yes. - The One That Got Away: Kate and Neal broke up in the backstory when he tried to trick her into doing a job with Alex in Copenhagen.
- Significant Anagram: The password Adler gives Neal is "ANCIENTLYRE", or "NICE TRY NEAL".
