After a string of cancellations — R.I.P “Manhattan Love Story” and “Selfie” — I thought it might be best to take a brief hiatus from writing about new series and take a moment to focus on one show going into its final season.

I have been with “White Collar” from its very humble beginnings. A time when all that needed to be worried about was whether or not Neal, played by Matt Bomer, a gift, would be reunited with his girlfriend and if he would need to run from federal custody in order to do it. When that blew up in the end of season one, I stuck around as the show juggled with a music box, a submarine full of treasure, parental issues and more than a handful of love interests.

Please keep in mind: This is supposed to be a show about a conman who works with the FBI.

Bomer, a relative unknown at the time of the show’s launch, is now in high demand these days. From his work on “Magic Mike” to his highly praised role in “The Normal Heart,” he has been staying pretty busy over the past couple years. His schedule may or may not have something to do with why “White Collar” is only getting six episodes to wrap up five years of methodology. However, if the first episode of the season is any indication, creator Jeff Eastin and crew are going to do everything in their power to make sure each episode is used to its full potential.

The final season seems to already be taking on a mini-series feel. The villains are not the case-of-a-week type. Neal, Peter, played by Tim DeKay, and the team will be taking on the Pink Panthers, a group of thieves who are actually not fictional. Neal infiltrates the group by the end of the first episode and makes a deal with Peter: If he is able to bring the organization down, Neal gets his freedom for real this time, unlike the other seventeen times the writers have used this plot point during various points in the series.

However, the audience is left in the dark as to Neal’s true intentions. His cat-and-mouse game with Peter is the highlight of the series, thanks mostly to Bomer and DeKay’s easy-going chemistry. The end of the episode leaves Neal’s motives in question. Does he want to be free so that he can rejoin society, or does he no longer want the government looking over his shoulder so that he can return to his criminal roots, wiser on how to work the system? Chances are this will not be revealed until the last five minutes of the final episode, but it is fun to guess.

Bottom Line: Already off to a promising start, “White Collar” is going to be a twisted ride to the end.

4/5