After a last-minute abduction at the end of Season 5, the White Collar Season 5 Premiere finds Peter, Jones and Barrigan scouring Neal’s apartment for clues about his disappearance, and place Mozzie under arrest when he unwittingly stumbles into the middle of the search. It quickly becomes clear that he, too, is unaware of Neal’s whereabouts.

Neal is being held hostage by one of Rebecca’s associates in an undisclosed location. But when Neal overhears a phone conversation, he quickly formulates a plan to try and get himself out of the situation, and into one of the most coveted crime rings around, the Pink Panthers. Neal’s new partner? His captor.

Meanwhile, Peter tries to convince Rebecca to give up her accomplice, Booth, who was holding Neal hostage. She does the right thing, and the lead eventually allows Peter and Mozzie to get ahead of Neal’s plan in order to catch up with him and his captor. It isn’t long before Neal’s plan to execute a heist at the Kessman building is known, with the FBI right behind him the entire way.

Neal successfully infiltrates his target, but when Booth tries to turn on Neal at the last minute, Neal turns the con into his personal audition for the open Pink Panthers membership. This isn’t all Neal has up his sleeve, however, as he pleads with Peter to make sure he has a solid deal struck for his permanent freedom, and perhaps a whole lot more.

El returns to New York from DC to deliver the news to Peter that she is with child.