The slickness is improved and I did feel that the show had a bit more confidence to it. So what of the week-to-week cases? Well mostly these are quite enjoyable and deliver some distractingly entertaining stories which are merged well in with the bigger picture thread to mean that there is plenty going on. I'm not sure of the direction for the third season (ie I'm not sure I like what it appears to be) but, as much as they improved integrating in this season, there is a lot of room for improvement to make it actually work as a thread, not a filler. To me it did feel like I was not watching a story that anyone wanted to tell so much as watching one that is being told for the sake of keeping things going as long as ratings stand up. This impression is more or less confirmed at the end of the season where everything is rapidly, illogically and pointlessly brought to an end just for the sake of creating another 'big picture' thread for the third season. Problem is that this is just what is still being done – the bigger picture is only there to give the show momentum, it never feels like it is a 'proper' story being told.

Season 2 does do a better job of covering the 'big picture' thread so that it doesn't feel like it is only tacked on at the end of each episode or wheeled out for mid-season finales etc. So, essentially we have the same structure as last season and the same structure as many of this type of show – a story for the week plus a little bit to move the overall season (or series) long thread along and keep viewers feeling like they are watching something that is going somewhere beyond the day-to-day stories that start and end in 45 minutes. Of course on the side he has his own investigation going on but from week-to-week he has cases to help solve. We return to this world to find Caffrey agreeing to let the FBI lead on the investigation into the events that ended season 1, while continuing to 'assist' them as a consultant (albeit a consultant who has to wear a tracking bracelet on his leg).

What I found was a show that had stepped up its game in some regards but has not been able to shake off the core weaknesses that comes with this sort of show. I wasn't overly taken by the first season of White Collar (a fact that many fans have taken issue with me over – few politely) because I felt that it wasn't quite firing as it could do but, my girlfriend being a fan of easy television and a fan of the 'case a week' genre, I ended up returning for the second season.

Imdb white collar season 3 episode 2