Burn Notice – Episode 4-6 Review

My name is Michael Westen. I used to be a spy. Until…Well Burn Notice fans, after a week off with no episode to keep us fulfilled, our favorite burned spy returned last night for another exciting undertaking. When last we left, Michael had apprehended Kendra (the assassin with the “banging body” as Jesse put it) and was tossing her into his trunk. We started out this week with Michael and Jesse interrogating her about the people she works for. Michael wants to try a threat of rendition approach since Kendra knows they aren’t government agents. Obviously Kendra won’t give anything up, and to prove just how tough she is, she slams her head into the metal table in front of her several times. Michael and Jesse leave the room while Kendra laughs as blood runs down her forehead. Michael decides to change his approach and needs to Jesse to play a softie interrogator. He recruits Sam to come in and yell at Jesse so Kendra will be under the impression that Jesse is stressed to get the information. Meanwhile, Fi and Michael meet with Buddy (the client of the week) who makes knock-offs of famous label accessories. He says someone is trying to kill him after he took a job and made a leather band with two onyx pieces in it. He has the address where the anonymous calls came from. Michael and Fi go there, and then the building blows up. Michael calls the Fire Department to put the flames out before all evidence is washed away. Sam and Jesse do their yelling show for Kendra. She offers to tell Jesse who she works for if he tells her who they (Michael and Jesse) are. She tells him the Bahamas job was a paid kill.

Back at the building that exploded, Michael fakes being an arson investigator so he can inspect the building. He finds something to fit the pieces that Buddy forged. After researching it, they discover that the design is for a sword belonging to Alexander the Great. Sam finds information on antiquities thieves, but of two in the world, only one has a file and he’s in a Russian prison. Michael and Fi then approach Kent Bocklage, the owner of Alexander’s sword, and try to convince him that the sword will be stolen, and he should use their help. Bocklage and his head of security don’t bite, so Michael and Fi break into the Human Resources office and steal some files. There they find Andrew Deans. Fi and Michael go to Deans’s home, where they find evidence that points to him as the thief. Fi sees a missed call from Buddy, whose voicemail tells her that he’s late for their meeting. Fi never setup a meeting. Michael and Fi race to find Buddy. They see him heading towards a small building on the waterfront that is lined with explosives. Fi shoots a warning shot, but Buddy flees towards the building. Fi has no choice but to shoot Buddy in the arm. Michael then set off the explosion by throwing a shoe at the door.

Michael and Fi head back to Bocklage’s to tell him what the thief’s plan is. They walk him through the plan by showing him the infrared paint they found at Deans’s home. Bocklage agrees to let them help. Meanwhile, Kendra offers Jesse $300,000 to help her escape. He plays the part and agrees, which gets him the account number that Kendra’s money was sent through. Bocklage receives the sword, but then Sam calls. Deans’s car just blew up. Michael realizes that the sword has already been stolen. The head of security is nowhere to be found. Buddy and Michael have to escape, because Bocklage believes that Michael is responsible. Just then, several explosions go off in the room they are in. Fi is watching outside. Michael figures the thief will escape dressed as a firefighter, since they are all wearing masks. When Michael gets outside, he yells “Help” several times, noting the reactions of the firemen. The only one that doesn’t look at him is walking away from the fire. Michael gives chase, until Fi picks him up in the car and they chase the thief who is fleeing in a car. Using Fi’s bag and a bit of explosives, Michael blows it up, disabling the car. He pulls out Bocklage’s aide Selena, and finds the sword. At the end of the episode, Sam had Barry (our favorite money launderer) trace the account, which is a dead end. Instead, they use Barry to make the account look empty to use against Kendra. Kendra tells them that she was sent there to clean up a botched bank robbery by taking out the people responsible. It’s now up to Michael and Company to figure out what bank they tried to rob…and who these targets are.

As far as I know, this was the last episode to feature Navi Rawat’s character Kendra. From what I hear, not too many people are very fond of her (the actress, not the character), but that doesn’t matter to me in the least. She came, she looked good to a lot of people, and she left. This was the first episode that I can remember where Madeline did not appear in it. Of course, given the storyline for this episode, working Maddie in would have been pointless. On that same note, I’d like to give props to Sharon Gless for earning an Emmy nomination for her portrayal of Mrs. Westen. She has some competition for the award once the Emmy’s roll around in August, but I’ll still pull for her. We’re now 6 episodes into the 4th season, and we are rapidly approaching the first half of the season finale. Of course we know that the season will pick up in December and conclude in January, but even still…I hate waiting to see what will happen next. There are still several burning questions left to be answered though. How long will Jesse be around? Will Jesse find out the truth about his own “burning?” Will Sam find a new lady friend? And last but not least…will Fiona ever put a bra on? Until next week fans…take care and if anyone asks you for something, just say to them, “I’ll see what I can do.”