My name is Michael Westen. I used to be a spy. Until… Well fans, it’s another week and time for another review of the show. I’ve decided this week to give a small review and more opinion this time, so here we go.
Thursdays’s episode focused on the retrieval of a chemical weapon in Miami by our favorite trio plus Jesse, as well as the continuing search for the Bible owned by Simon. It starts out with Michael breaking into a police station to gather information on the person who has the Bible. Obviously he escapes with Sam’s help. We move to Fi being hired for a job, and she recruits Jesse to help. The client’s sister, he says, is being held against her will by a South American diplomat in the U.S. After surveilling the diplomat’s home, the team determines that the diplomat is not holding a woman, but are protecting something valuable on the premises. This is evident by the security system, man power and weaponry they have on hand. Returning from season 3 was Natalie, the thief who had stolen Barry’s client ledger in episode 8. This time she came back to get help from the trio with the chemical weapon. She stole it for them, found out it was a chemical weapon, and now she wants to steal it back from them so they can’t do any damage with it. Natalie also has Fi’s gun, which she (Natalie) used to shoot the original client. The team agrees to help her. It’s revealed later that Natalie intends to sell the weapon off to someone else who will pay a lot of money for it.
Also in the episode, Jesse semi-blackmails his former handler Marv (played by Richard Kind) to get information from the files Michael stole from the police. Marv reluctantly agrees to help, and by the end of the episode, they have the location and date of the auction where the Bible will be sold off. In the end, Michael, Fi, Sam, and Jesse stop Natalie from selling off the chemical weapon, and it is implied that Natalie will be spending a lot of time in prison. During the episode, Maddy has determined to get Michael and Jesse together to settle this whole thing between them. In the end, they shake hands and appear to put the past behind them.
For me, the two best things about this episode was the end sequence between Michael, Maddy, and Jesse, and a line Sam says early in the episode. After Michael escapes the police station, Sam says to him, “I ever tell you, you’re the reason I drink Mikey?” I nearly fell off my couch when Sam delivered that line. At the end during the meeting between Michael, Jesse, and Maddy, Jesse starts to protest about being there and Maddy tells him to shut up and sit down, which he does immediately. It’s kind of funny that 2 former spies get put in their place by Maddy. Of course, Maddy is one hell of a tough cookie. She may play blind, naive, or ignorant to some things, but when push comes to shove, she can completely dominate the room or situation. Even Jesse comments to Michael after Maddy is done talking and leaves, that she is good.
According to the preview for the next episode, it seems that we get a week off before the show returns. This is one of the reasons why I hate this 6 episodes in the 2nd half of the season garbage. They have to give us a break in between episodes, so that they can extend out the due date for the season finale. If they had simply given us 10 or 11 episodes in the first half of the season, there would be no need for this week off. Of course, I haven’t checked the TV schedule to see what is pre-empting Burn Notice next week. Ironically enough, the storyline is following the TV schedule. The auction Michael and Jesse need to crash is 2 weeks from the end of this episode, and in 2 weeks, the show comes back. Coincidence? I highly doubt it.
Another thing I found interesting about this episode is that Jesse has no issue with Fi. He told her that he was hurt she lied to him, but he can respect that she did it because of her loyalty to Michael. I will say that was a huge step for Jesse in showing maturity, which his character has somewhat been lacking in during his tenure on the show. It seems that Matt Nix & Co. want him to develop more and be more professional than he has been in the past. I can’t argue with Jesse being angry with Michael for getting him burned, but I find it odd that Michael has yet to sell out Vaughn to Jesse. He’s never told Jesse that it was Vaughn who gave him the information and the assignment that resulted in Jesse being burned. Through everything that Vaughn has brought down upon him, Michael still refuses to divulge the Vaughn information to Jesse. Oh, well.
That’s it for me this week everyone. I hope you all enjoyed last night’s episode as much as I did. See you in 2 weeks, when Burn Notice returns.
