Recap / White Collar S05 E13 "Diamond Exchange"

Neal and Peter have to find the Hope Diamond and deliver it to Rebecca in exchange for an antidote to save Mozzie’s life.

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Tropes:

• Absence of Evidence: Diana and Jones investigate the type of poison Rebecca used to increase Mozzie's chances of getting the antidote. Reviewing the security footage and examining the greenhouse, they discover that Rebecca misled them by creating footprints around other plants. However, there are no footprints around deadly nightshade, which turns out to be the poison she used on Mozzie.
• Anti-Interference Lock Up: Rebecca locks up Neal and Peter in a cell in Fort Totten, so that she can flee with the diamond without them stopping her.
• Betrayal Insurance: Rebecca sets up a meeting location to exchange the antidote for the diamond, but she anticipates a setup. Her suspicion proves to be correct when Peter arranges for multiple FBI agents to surround the perimeter. Consequently, she reveals that she is already at Fort Totten and takes the diamond from them on the spot.
• Book Safe: When Rebecca calls Neal in his apartment, the ringing phone is hidden in the book about the Hope Diamond that Rebecca left behind in Neal's bookshelf.
• Cliffhanger: The episode ends with Neal being kidnapped and taken away in a van by a group of unknown men.
• Declining Promotion: Peter decides not to go to Washington with Elizabeth. The catalyst is Neal's refused appeal, but Peter admits that he never wanted an office job in the first place, finding it too bureaucratic and detached from people's lives.
  Peter: It's all bureaucracy, El. I mean, guys sitting behind desks, making decisions about other people's lives without being a part of those lives on a daily basis. It's not me.
• Emergency Stash: Rebecca has a second to-go bag hidden in a locker somewhere, anticipating that she might lose access to the one in her apartment.
• Exact Words: When Neal questions Mozzie about drinking alcohol so soon after being poisoned:
  Mozzie: I was instructed to drink a lot of liquids.
• Fakin' MacGuffin: Neal switches the diamond in the bag with a rock he picked up. Rebecca does not notice it until he points it out to her to make her stay behind and get arrested when she attempts to flee off the island.
• Hope Spot: It appears that Neal might finally be free of his anklet when Peter asks Bruce to appeal for his release from the FBI. However, Neal's appeal is rejected by the board because he is considered too valuable to the bureau for solving cases. And then Neal is kidnapped.
• Hostage Situation: Rebecca briefly considers threatening to shoot Neal in exchange for the diamond, but she refrains from doing so, due to her conflicting emotions.
• I Just Want to Be Free:
  • When Mozzie tries to convince Neal to take the diamond for himself, Neal rejects it, expressing his desire to be free from a life of crime.
    Neal: My freedom is worth more than anything that diamond could buy.
  • After his appeal is rejected, Neal contemplates fleeing again:
    Mozzie: I cracked your old anklet. I can crack this one. But the real question remains, do you want me to?
    Neal: I want my freedom. Any way I can get it.
• Irony: Neal tells Mozzie that he wants nothing more than to be free. Then he gets kidnapped.
• I Will Find You: Half-jokingly said by Peter when discussing Neal being off his electronic anklet:
  Peter: And if you don't keep your promise, if I find out you've pulled even one caper, I'm gonna leave my cushy desk job and hunt you down.
  Neal: Just like old times.
  Peter: With the same outcome.
• Linked List Clue Methodology: Neal and Peter follow a series of clues to find the hidden diamond at Fort Totten.
• Man Hug: Peter and Neal share a hug after Peter assures him of his eventual freedom and ask him to visit him and Elizabeth in Washington a lot.
• Non Sequitur, *Thud*: Subverted. Mozzie seems to talk nonsense before collapsing, but Neal and Peter later realize he was actually giving them a clue he found on the ceiling.
• Obviously Not Fine: Mozzie repeatedly insists he is fine after being poisoned, but his shaky and rambling behavior indicates otherwise.
• "Open!" Says Me: Unable to pick the handcuffs that Rebecca used to lock them in a cell in Fort Totten, Neal and Peter kick in the cell door together.
• Poison and Cure Gambit: Mozzie needs an antidote after being injected with deadly nightshade by Rebecca, and she offers it in exchange for the diamond.
• Slipped the Ropes: Discussed, when Neal struggles to crack the handcuffs on the lock:
  Neal: There's an old escape artist trick I use when they're being put on.
  Peter: Pump the veins and muscles in your wrists and hands, and when you relax them, they're smaller and you can slide off the cuffs.
  Neal: I've given you way too much insight into my world.
• The Thing That Would Not Leave: Neal jokes that he will be this when Peter asks Neal to visit him and Elizabeth in Washington a lot:
  Neal: I will be the house guest that never leaves!
• Truth Serums: When Mozzie notices a needle mark in his arm, the group considers the possibility of him being injected with a truth serum:
  Peter: Break any laws recently?
  Mozzie: Absolutely none.
  Peter: Definitely not truth serum.
• Vehicular Kidnapping: The episode concludes with Neal being dragged into a van by several men.
• You Called Me "X"; It Must Be Serious: When Mozzie calls Peter by his name instead of "suit" after being poisoned:
  Peter: Okay, maybe he's worse than I thought.