My name is Michael Westen. I used to be a spy. Until… Greetings once again Burn Notice fans. It’s another week and time once again for another review of last night’s episode. This week, I’m going to shorten down the recap a bit and go from there. In last night’s episode, we find Michael, Fi, Sam, and Jesse involved in a storyline with the Spetsnaz (the Russian Special Forces) and a former spy played by Burt Reynolds (aka The Bandit). The episode starts out with Jesse, Michael, and Fi at the beach. Jesse is paying attention to a sunbathing woman, who he reveals to be the wife of his former boss. An international conference on intelligence is having it’s annual soiree in Miami, and Jesse’s boss is there. We saw it in season 1 episode 8 when Michael needed help from Anwar (a Libyan spy). After seeing a Spetsnaz “wet-work” team checking into the hotel. After abducting one of them Michael finds out they are there to target an ex-spy named Paul Anderson (played by Reynolds). Fortunately, the Spetsnaz guys have all heard of Michael Westen, and are all a bit afraid of him, even though he is regarded as a myth in Russia. Michael and Sam go to find Paul Anderson, who works at a local bar. After Sam and Michael convince Paul that they are on his side, he agrees to work with them. They take out the Spetsnaz agents at the bar and escape. Meanwhile, Jesse tries to meet with his former boss Marv, but even though he doesn’t believe that Jesse committed the crime that got him burned, he won’t talk to him. Fi uses her feminine power of persuasion to get Marv into a hotel room where Jesse is waiting to talk to him. Marv has a few words with Jesse when Jesse asks him for the bank robbery information that Kendra had mentioned last episode, and leaves. Michael convinces Paul that the best way to protect him is to get him back into the intelligence game so he is on the “do not touch” list. Paul has some damning evidence on a Congressman who covered up a black ops mission in Columbia. Sam convinces Maddie to lure in the Congressman. Paul, Michael, and Sam confront him, but he tells them that a former General took the fall for it, so his hands are clean. Paul ended up punching out the Congressman. Then the Russians showed up. After using their tactics against them, Michael traps them and gets them to surrender. The leader, Vitali, went to pull another gun but got shot by Paul. Michael laid out the possible stories for the Congressman that he could tell the authorities, one was a heroic story, the other would make him look bad. In the end, the Congressman took the heroic story. At the end, Marv came through and gave Fi the information on the botched robbery that Kendra had told Michael and Jesse about. He points out that Jesse could not have done the crime, but the security footage is gone. Fi wads up the timecard after Marv leaves. The episode closes with Fi going off on Michael about all the lies. She says that she doesn’t like what Michael had become, “someone who cared more about the idea of people and didn’t think about the ones who had his back every day.”
First of all, I loved seeing Burt Reynolds on the small screen, especially on my favorite show. Normally, when Burt appears on TV, it’s on airings of “Smokey and the Bandit,” or the crappy remake of his classic “The Longest Yard.” Also guest appearing on last nights episode as Jesse’s former boss Marv, was Richard Kind, who most people know as Paul Lassiter on the now defunct sitcom “Spin City.” I thoroughly enjoyed seeing both of these actors in the same episode of Burn Notice, and their performances did not disappoint me. One thing that I found interesting, was that Burt’s character was named Paul Anderson. 13 years ago, Burt Reynolds played a character name Jack Horner in the film Boogie Nights, which was directed by Paul T. Anderson. I found it to be quite amusing when I heard his name.
It seems that in the build up to the summer season finale of Burn Notice, creator Matt Nix and his writing staff are starting to drive a wedge between Michael and Fiona. It became very apparent last night when Fi slapped Michael and went off on him about the lying and the way he has changed since meeting Vaughn at the beginning of the season. Speaking of Vaughn. Where the hell has he been? Like I stated after we first met his character…I don’t trust him. He is the one responsible for getting Jesse fired (even though Michael was the one who pulled the theoretical trigger). I’m still betting that he is the one that Jesse was getting close to during his investigation. I may be wrong. I may not be. Only Matt Nix knows where this story is going and what methods and events will be used to get the audience to that point. I’m really hoping that the Jesse being burned storyline will reach its climax before or during the summer season finale. I’m betting on it being during the finale and not before, but hey, we won’t know until we get there.
That’s it for me this week everybody. We’ll pick this up again next week as we continue on our journey with Michael, Fi, Sam, Maddie, and Jesse. Until then everyone…Cheers.
