Peter is charged with murder and is in prison, and all the evidence regarding Senator Pratt's death by gunshots points to him. Neal must make a deal with the devil to try to clear Peter's name. Any means necessary will be taken to ensure Peter's release, even if it leads to a huge debt with potential repercussions down the road.
Tropes:
- All Lesbians Want Kids: It is revealed that Diana has been pregnant for some time via artificial insemination.
- The Bus Came Back: Hagen, the forger from the pilot and Neal and Peter’s first case, returns offering Neal to help him clear Peter’s name.
- Blackmail: At the end it is revealed that Hagen never needed the coins to pay off a debt. Instead, he planted a camera at the office filming Neal stealing the coins and blackmails Neal to help him clear his charges, or otherwise Hagen would send the video to the FBI.
- Clear Their Name: Neal wants to clear Peter’s name of the murder charge and surprisingly gets help from Hagen. Hagen pays off a prosecutor while Neal and Mozzie fake a confession by Neal’s father, which makes the prosecution drop all charges against Peter.
- Come Alone: Hagen sends Neal an anonymous text message with a meeting, setting up a meeting and asking him to come alone.
- Conspiracy Theorist: Neal cautions Mozzie to not talk about any conspiracy theories when faking to be a jumper lest the whole thing can be tracked down to them. Unfortunately, the police officer trying to talk down Mozzie brings up several conspiracy theories asking Mozzie if this is the reason why he wants to jump. Mozzie really has to pull himself together to not respond to it.
- The Convenient Store Next Door: Neal steals the gold coins by axing a hole through the office wall from the neighboring building.
- Crime-Concealing Hobby: Neal sits down and paints right where the hacked tracking anklet indicated his location for serval hours so that Peter, who is visiting Neal, believes that this is what Neal was doing during that time.
- For Your Own Good: Peter vows to make sure that Neal’s next handler is someone who sees him as what he is: a criminal. While Neal is visibly hurt by this, Peter assures him that it is for his own good because he does not want Neal to get imprisoned again.
- Framing the Guilty Party: Neal has no way to find his father in time for Peter’s hearing and even if he did, he would likely not confess to killing Senator Pratt. So, Neal and Mozzie fake James’s confession with the help of a voice changer.
- Great Escape: Neal and Mozzie briefly discuss breaking Peter out of prison but they decide against it because they don’t want Peter having to be on the run.
- Hired to Hunt Yourself: Hagen has Neal steal valuable Welsh gold coins in exchange for him helping Neal clear Peter’s name. Unfortunately, Peter and Neal’s next case is to find the persons who stole the coins.
- Ignorant About Fire: The firefighter probie struggles to put out the grease fire that Neal started, among others throwing Peter’s suit jacket on it which does nothing. His supervisor is not amused.
- Irony: Lampshades by Peter when Neal visits him in prison:Peter: The irony of this is not lost on me.
- It's All My Fault: When visiting Peter in prison, Neal tells him that he blames himself because it is his father’s fault that Peter is imprisoned.
- Justice Will Prevail: Neal says this to Peter word for word when he visits him in prison, hoping that the charges against Peter will be dropped.
- Match Cut:
- The camera cuts from Neal recording the forged confession to Peter listening to it during his hearing, with their faces momentarily overlapping.
- The dot marking the location of Neal’s tracking anklet briefly overlaps with Neal sitting in his room painting, providing the fake explanation why his location was stationary in the middle of his apartment for four hours.
- Nepotism: The only reason the rather incompetent firefighter probie, who struggles to put out the grease fire that Neal started as a distraction, got hired is that he is the nephew of the fire chief, who laments the decision.
- Rank Up: Peter gets promoted to ASAC of the White Collar Division, which means that he won't go on any field missions together with Neal anymore. His promotion could also lead to a transfer to Washington in the future.
- So Proud of You: Peter tells Neal that he is proud of him, especially for the fact that Neal cleared his name without doing something illegal.
- Talking Down the Suicidal: A police officer tries to talk down Mozzie when he fakes to attempt to jump off the building as a distraction.
- Understatement: Neal hides the coins in the oxygen tank of his firefighter uniform and a probie takes it from him, citing regulations. Mozzie calls Neal out, and Neal promises to take it back once the lieutenant’s back is turned. Then, the entire truck drives away:Mozzie: I think his back is now turned.
- Vertigo Effect: There is a Dolly Zoom on Neal’s face after Peter tells him that their next case is to catch the guy who stole the Welsh gold coins, which is Neal himself.
- We Need a Distraction:
- Mozzie pretends to attempt to jump from a building, leading it to be evacuated. This allows Neal, disguised as a firefighter, to break out the gold coins through the wall while everyone is distracted.
- Neal starts a grease fire at the fire station so that he can take back the gold coins from the oxygen tank he hid them in.
