I'm on the roof

escaped a supermax prison (without using violence)

stolen a precious artwork from under the nose of his FBI handler during a raid, twice

disarmed and gotten into a booby-trapped Nazi submarine full of looted art

robbed the Italian consulate

robbed multiple banks

swapped a real Degas for a fake Degas right under the nose of his FBI handler and then parachuted off a building roof in Manhattan to get away with it

helped steal half a billion dollars from the Federal Reserve

stolen art and gems from dozens of famous museums

forged everything from a dinosaur egg to a map of Vinland

taken down one of the most famous and dangerous gangs of thieves in the world

successfully faked his own death multiple times

https://web.archive.org/web/20260515113210/https://www.vulture.com/article/social-media-feeds-chaotic-good-projects-clipping.html

character: NO

But by this point in the series he's watched the system that he believes in take advantage of his friend with no regard for how it hurt him or the people he cared about. He watched the system fail him when James framed him and he only got out of that because of Neal breaking the rules. Its been proven to him time and time again that the problem is bigger than a few rogue agents.

His faith in the system is being tested and when that happens people dont just immediately abandon it and change their minds. Especially not when they've made the kind of sacrifices he has and when those sacrifices have paid off in other ways (Elizabeth). So of course he doubles down on Neal. Either Neal is wrong or everything Peter has ever worked for, the better life he gave up, was wrong. Thats a hard thing to accept. And its so easy to blame Neal, hes a criminal of course he's wrong.

If the series had continued from there the fbi would have had to go back on the deal to release Neal, something Peter already said he didn't agree with. Which would put Peter in the position of either defending the fbi and losing the respect and trust of his friend. Or defending Neal, putting his career on the line to defend a convicted felon, which is a risky thing for someone in his position to do in any circumstance but especially with a new baby on the way.

The worst part of it is that the new king takes at least part of his harem with him everywhere and it’s so embarrassing. The Counselors of War have never once met with His Divine Majesty without that hulking battle-scarred consort interrupting with muttered growls or scornful snorts. And the Ministers of Finance all flinch at the sight of that fox-faced one, rumored to have been rescued from the gallows because His Augustness took a fancy to his eyes or some such nonsense. General petition days are even worse, with practically the entire harem drifting in and out of the Grand Hall in turns, insouciant and smug like granary cats who know they’ve been given full run of the courtyards and barns.

It will, eventually, and at least a few people are going to be embarrassed it didn’t occur to them sooner.