Burn Notice – Episode 4-8 Review

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My name is Michael Westen. I used to be a spy. Until…Well Burn Notice fans, it’s another week and time now for another weekly review. Last night’s episode focused on Sam and Fi working security for a party being thrown by the inventor of a new lithium-ion battery, and Michael and Jesse focusing on retrieving the contents of the safety deposit box that had been the subject of an attempted robbery. Michael and Jesse use Maddie to test the security in the bank. They send her into the bank to rent a deposit box, and then light up a cigarette to trigger security. Jesse is in the security office disguised as a food deliveryman to see the response. He hears the security guard say something about Maddie going to jail. Maddie talks her way out of jail with a story about being nervous (which was why she needed to smoke) because she was putting pictures of her dead husband into a deposit box. Over at the party, Sam and Fi arrive early to check the house’s security. The inventor states that his car had been broken into the day before and that his laptop was stolen. While checking the house, Fi sees armed men approaching the house. They break in and take the inventor’s wife hostage. Fi pretends that her “husband” is wealthy, so they kidnap her as well. After gathering together, Michael, Jesse, Sam, and Christian (the husband/inventor) receive a video call from Sarah (the kidnapped wife), Fi, and the kidnapper. Michael acts as negotiator and gets 24 hours to pay $10 million per woman. Michael re-watches the video afterwards and sees Fi sending a Morse code message via eye blinks. The message is “No.” Using her powers of persuasion, Fi gets Jacob (the main kidnapper) to leave her and Sarah unwatched. Fi then breaks into a closet and starts gathering materials to make a bomb. Fi and Sarah faked a fight so that Fi could get ahold of one of the kidnapper’s cellphone and get taken upstairs. She calls Michael and overhears Sarah asking where she’s being taken. Apparently, Christian made a deal to pay her ransom, while Jesse had his back turned. After being confronted by both Jesse and Maddie, Christian agrees to go along with the original plan. Back at the house, Fi used materials to set a fire in the AC ducts so that thick smoke would rise in the air, so Michael and Sam could find them. They see the smoke and go to help. Fi calls Michael and tells him to go to the Cape Florida lighthouse to help Sarah. Using chewing gum, a lightbulb, and vodka, Fi devises a way to escape. After her diversion, Sam bursts in and gets Fi. They also take Jacob hostage. At the lighthouse, Michael shows a picture of Jacob with a bomb between his legs to Eddy (Jacob’s brother), and gets him to surrender. At the loft, Fi comes in looking beat to hell. She sees Michael. He sees her, goes to her and embraces her in a pretty passionate kiss. Jesse looks dejected, and leaves the loft. Maddie tells him later that Michael and Fi love each other and hate each other, but it’s always each other. We conclude the episode with Michael and Jesse breaking into the safety deposit box and stealing what’s inside. It’s a copy of the Bible to be used as a code. Jesse asks about the owner’s name of the Bible that is on the inside of the front cover, and if Michael has ever heard of him. Michael says no. The owner’s name is…Simon!

First thing’s first. In this episode, it is alluded to that Jesse has developed feelings for Fiona, which is displayed when he argues with Christian about breaking the plan they came up with. When the hell did Jesse develop these feelings? There has never been any indication that this was going on. Jesse once made a flirty comment about Fi, but that’s it. I mean, did the writer’s just decide to throw this in at the last moment? Nowhere in the story arc did Fi and Jesse have any sort of moment or moments that would lead to what the writer’s threw in there last night. Is this a ploy to help shake things up for when Jesse finds out that Michael burned him? Are they trying to go the soap opera or Grey’s Anatomy route by developing a love triangle? I mean come on. That defeats the purpose of this show. Fi has never shown any romantic interest in Jesse. Granted, she’s not too thrilled with Michael right now, but when she comes into the loft, she never glances at Jesse…she only sees Michael. Sometimes these writers irk the hell out of me when they throw these things in. I know that it could lead to a confrontation, and that tension can help drive ratings, but damn, this isn’t one of those shows. Burn Notice has been plenty successful with their story lines, without needing to use the love triangle story, and I don’t think that they need to go there. There’s going to be enough tension when Jesse finds out about Michael being the one who burned him, that a love triangle won’t be given that much attention by the audience, and if it is given a lot of attention by the writers, it will detract from the Michael burning Jesse story arc that has been building all season.

Well Burn Notice lovers. That’s it for this week. I’ll see you again next week after next week’s episode (which I assume will not be the summer season finale due to the lack of that heading on the preview for next week’s episode). I assume that we will get 10 episodes before the break, so I’m guessing that we have 2 episodes before the break, but I’m not 100% certain about that, so don’t quote me. Enjoy your weekend, and I’ll see you again next week.