My name is Jesse Porter. I used to be a spy. Until…Michael Westen burned me. Well Burn Notice fans, it’s another week as we continue on our journey with Michael, Sam, Fi, Maddy…and Jesse. We now officially have a quartet as opposed to the regular trio of do-gooders we’ve come to love over the past 3 seasons. So far, so good as far as I’m concerned. So, on we go to last night.
We start this week’s episode at the Carlito, where Mike, Sam, and Fi are all sitting around waiting for Jesse to show up for a meeting. Even though he’s running late to the meeting, when he does show up, he brings gifts…in the form of drinks for the gang. Jesse starts by laying out some information about his investigation into “Cobra.” Apparently “Cobra” is shipping guns from Algeria through Miami, which is why Jesse is in Miami. He had a lead with a dock worker who is on the inside of the operation. The gang heads to the docks, where Jesse ends up involving himself in a shakedown between a dock security guard and a couple of Mob guys. After a talk, Michael agrees to see what he can do to help out Hank. After digging around, they find out that the Mob boss named Tony has been investigated for several murders, but has never been convicted. Michael decides that they can find a way to put some dirt on him. Meanwhile, Maddy gets to know Jesse somewhat. Michael then poses as an FBI agent and meets with Tony.While there, Michael drops a bug so that they can have ears on Tony. Tony tells Michael to meet him later and never come back to the bar he uses for his base. At the meeting, Tony never shows, but two of his guys do, and they call Michael out on not being with the FBI and proceed to beat Michael up. In the end, Michael takes them both out and leaves. Apparently Tony has an insider at the FBI that Sam overheard from the bug Michael planted. They decide to focus on another route. Gio, a wiseguy from New York, is in town to collect money from Tony, but currently Tony is a bit short. They decide to make Tony desperate, and desperate people make mistakes. Meanwhile, Jesse has convinced dock worker Hank that the gang are a government security group needing information on all shipments from Algeria, so Hank gives it to them. Sam and Jesse then abduct Tony from a club he’s at so that they can proceed with their plan. Tony then meets Chuck Finley, who is in town to take care of Tony for the “Family.” Tony tries to buy his way out and offers Sam $1 million. He can steal a shipment from the dock and make $5 million. Mr. Finley tells Tony not to use his guys because they work for Gio. In order to sell the story, Fi does what she does best…she blows up Tony’s car. Tony asks Sam to get together a crew for the job. As they plan it out, Tony says that he will not take part in the actual job. Jesse puts Sam on the spot by making him tell Tony about a mission from his S.E.A.L. days, which doesn’t sit well with Sam. The moral of the story, “no man left behind.” Back at the house, Jesse tells Maddy what Michael did for him when he got “fired.” He tells Maddy that she raised “a good man.” Michael and Jesse break into a hangar where they find a plane with the same tail number that Jesse was looking into. Michael finds a cleaned up blood stain. They determine that a body was most likely dropped out when the landing gear came down. The day of the heist comes. Sam, Fi, Jesse, and Tony break in to steal a truck of microprocessors. They plan to have Tony apprehended after stealing the truck. Sam will force Hank to open the gate, and then Hank will take Sam’s gun and turn the tables. Unfortunately, Tony took Sam’s “no man left behind” story to heart and refuses to leave without him. In the end, the gang sets it up so that Tony confronts Gio (while thinking he has an entire security detail at his disposal). Tony confronts Gio, as Sam and the “security detail” skip out on him. Tony opens fore on Gio and his men. All we know is that Tony is in the prison hospital awaiting several murder charges. Sam finds that the plane Michael and Jesse were looking at last landed in the Bahamas. Fi agrees to help Jesse get into the cargo bay on a cigarette boat. In the closing of the episode, Michael returns to his loft to find Maddy waiting for him. She’s figured out that he was involved in Jesse losing his job. She’s upset that Michael is lying to Jesse. “Take it from me, lies get out,” she said. “Thirty years with your father taught me that.” Then she walked off, leaving Michael alone (and probably a bit bewildered).
In some regards, this has been my favorite episode this season. I know we’re only 3 episodes in, but that’s the way I feel. The whole ending between Michael and Maddy was awesome. It’s really the first time we’ve seen them at odds like this, and it’s only going to get more interesting as the story progresses. It was good not having an episode with Vaughn in it. As I said last week…I don’t trust him. It was nice seeing Nestor Serrano (Tony) back on TV in a decent role. As always, I’m curious to see where they take this Michael/Jesse/Vaughn story and how long it will be until Jesse finds out the truth about being burned. Until next week people. See you then.
