Neal needs to talk to Alex, so he puts Peter on her trail by faking an old case file with Mozzie. She has no idea how to break the music box's code, but he gets Alex to steal the music box and return it to the Russians. That will get the target off her back so that whoever wants the box will shift their focus to the Russians.
Tropes:
- Batman Grabs a Gun: Neal steals a break top revolver from Mozzie's code guy. He wants Fowler dead.
- Bilingual Conversation: Mozzie's code guy only speaks Japanese, Mozzie sticks to English.
- Break Out the Museum Piece: Neal steals a break top revolver to go after Fowler. Though they once dominated the field for revolver designs, they were made obsolete by modern smokeless powder, which operates at too high a pressure for top break, which involves a separated frame. In other words, Neal broke into a museum with a museum piece. Appropriate.
- Chekhov's Gun: Neal finally uses the key he stole from Deckard back in "Prisoner's Dilemma".
- Cliffhanger: The second season mid-season finale. It ends with Mozz getting shot in the chest by Larson and collapsing on a park bench.
- Faking the Dead: Turns out the explosives were Kate's idea. She wanted to fake her and Neal's deaths or they'd never be safe. Whoever was pulling the strings set the explosives off early so she couldn't talk to Peter.
- Oh, Crap!: Mozzie and Peter are both freaked out when they learn that Neal's off his anklet... and he has a gun.
- The Reveal:
- Sad Clown: Neal desperately tries to hide it after Peter lets him know that Fowler's the one who bought the explosives that killed Kate, but it is killing him.
- Trapped in Villainy: Turns out Fowler has been forced to work for the real Big Bad for years.
