An Imp on His Shoulder

Oh, Mozzie! Such a gift the creative minds behind White Collar gave us when they created him. Whether he's devising a con, obsessing about his latest conspiracy theory, unraveling an abstruse code, or misquoting one of the greats, Mozzie is an imaginative genius. In Chapter 9 of The Mirror, he has the opportunity to display his mastery of yet another skill when he assumes the role of a birdwatcher. Speaking from personal knowledge, I can testify to many birders also being known for their obsessive behavior. It's no wonder that Mozzie excels at it.

(Warning: Mild spoilers for Caffrey Conversation, The Woman in Blue, and The Mirror)

The alias of Dante Haversham is one Mozzie bestowed upon himself in the canon episode "Flip of the Coin." Dubbing himself Dante was an inspired choice. In the TV series, he never expanded on his reference to Dante Alighieri, but we're making up for it. In our series, Peter nicknamed him Dante during a brilliantly conceived phone call that Penna wrote for the first story of the series, Caffrey Conversation. Peter feared Mozzie was leading Neal down dangerous and harmful paths like the Circles of Hell described in Dante's Inferno, but Mozzie reminded him that Dante also wrote about Paradise.

Their conversation ties in with the canon portrayal of Mozzie. In the Season 3 episode "Stealing Home," Peter called Mozzie the little devil on Neal's shoulder. Neal countered that he was more of an imp than a devil. Occasionally Mozzie also qualified as an angel, such as in the episode "Point Blank" in Season 2 when he acted to protect Neal even when it meant going against his basic beliefs.

Penna and I aim to maintain Mozzie's unique personality in the Caffrey Conversation AU, but we are also allowing him to evolve just as Neal and Peter are. Mozzie sees some benefits for Neal suspending his career as a con artist to work at the FBI. He appreciates the opportunities—and not just the illegal ones—that Neal will obtain by pursuing a graduate degree. Mozzie has integrated himself into Neal's life at Columbia and has become pals with some of Neal's fellow students.

Mozzie is also slowly developing friendships with members of the White Collar team, a process which has been helped along by a fellow lover of esoteric and arcane codes—the cybercriminal Azathoth. In The Woman in Blue, as Peter works with Mozzie to unravel a coded message in a forged Galileo manuscript, he has an eye-opening opportunity to evaluate the expertise Mozzie brings to the table. In that same story, Mozzie points out a possible connection between Azathoth and Dante Alighieri when he speculates that Azathoth is referencing Dante's Seventh Circle of Hell. Numbers play a key role in the Divine Comedy. Some experts feel that Galileo himself was inspired by Dante. Does Azathoth also feel a kinship with Dante?

The perception that Mozzie is uniquely qualified to understand the mind of Azathoth causes the team at White Collar to have a new appreciation for him. In The Mirror Azathoth presents the team with another coded message, the complexity of which causes a most unlikely partnership to be formed between Mozzie, Diana, and Tricia. As the mystery around Azathoth deepens, will still more references to Dante and the Divine Comedy occur? I'd say that's a safe bet.

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