Michael Westen's new semi-restored status as a CIA operative was absolutely NO help to him in negotiating the FBI bureaucracy surrounding the killing of his brother Nate and Anson Fullerton. It had been a month and Agent Sexton had completely ignored his many calls so Mike went to "visit" him after hours in a bar outside its restroom. Sexton said he knew who Mike was and clamed up; until Mike merely held his gun in his hand pointing at the floor. He then revealed that "the case was closed… no explanation… brass just said 'end the thing.'" Now being stonewalled at least as effectively as he was when he was burned, Fiona suggested that they start their own investigation. Sam said he had an FBI agent who had agreed to give them a copy of the file, IF they would help on another case he was failing at. Pearce offered to follow up the file leads with Jesse while Mike helped the agent with the case and Fi suffered Michael's wrath when she demanded to come along. "Since when has it (not knowing completely the risks) ever mattered?" she asked, and he yelled back "Since Nate Died!" That was the crux of it. 'Twice burned,' they say. As far as he was concerned, he was taking no chances again with her. But, since when has Fiona listened to much of anything that Michael ever told her? She reminded him that Nate had chosen to help of his own free will and her working on jobs like this is "who I am." And, that was that - "I'll meet you in the car." A mob boss, Brian (the butcher) Quinn who ran the Dorchester Hill Gang in Boston, had gone under ground when the FBI had obtained a former gang member as a witness, Kelly Duke. Unfortunately, the witness was dying in a Miami hospital and they needed help in coercing Quinn's location out of James (Jimmy Boy) Leary, Quinn's right-hand man, who they had recently located in Miami. The plan with Woods, the FBI agent, was to arrest Mike along with Leary then let them escape (with a tracker) and follow them back to Quinn.
You could tell that Woods, was way over his head with an operation like this so Sam and Mike had to hold his hand all the way through it. Mike told Leary that he was
Robbie Doyle, a
"snitch but for our side," and that he could tell Quinn where the FBI was holding Duke. Fiona did a cut-off on their police car, causing it to flip end-over-end, then she blew off the door. They escaped to a motel room, which was bugged, so Leary could arrange the meet. Quinn did agree to see them but, unfortunately, he had once been busted by a fed with a bug in his shoe so had Leary take them to a garage (with a short stop to burn the car after escaping a police roadblock), switch cars, split up and Mike had to completely change clothes. Leary dumped Mikes clothes in a garbage can – along with the GPS tracker in his belt which they were counting on. Fiona had to stay with two thugs and asked Mike to try and find some way to give her a signal when they were ready to fight their way out so they could do it at the same time. Meanwhile Sam had to continually argue with the weeny Woods to keep him from
"pulling the plug" and probably getting Mike and Fiona killed. Quinn kept Mike tied to a cot in a basement for hours (watching if they were followed) then came and bullied him by having a goon slug Fiona while he was listening on the phone. Mike told Quinn where Duke was, through clenched teeth, and it did check out. Then, when he was untied, he insisted on getting out of the basement to discuss
"employment." That gave him an opportunity to scout where they were and get Fiona on the phone. He was able to give her, in code, the location of Quinn's house and that it would be
"on fire" as a signal. They pretended they were going to hang up at the same time and counted to three. Then, they both attacked their guards simultaneously; Fiona with a flying leap and something heavy inside a pillowcase, and Michael – well, with what Michael does. Fiona was able to get completely free and call Sam; Michael had to barricade inside a room after he had set a cabana on fire. Quinn told his men, through the door, to go ahead and kill them both because he would rather be dead than go back to prison. Fortunately, for Michael, just as Leary was breaking through the door, Woods and Sam shot him. Michael came out with Quinn zip-tied and asked Woods:
"what took you so long?" Of course, Sam replied (what else?):
"Easy Peasy!"
The FBI file that Pearce and
Jesse received almost had no information except that the sniper rifle was made by Meyerson Industries. The only way they could think of, to find out who it had been sold to, was to blackmail the playboy VP of sales,
Wayne Meyerson, who was the son of a founder. Despite the risk of being found out by the CIA, Pearce said she remembered how Mike had helped her and demanded to assist with the blackmail. Jesse approached Meyerson in a bar as
Mark Thompson, a buyer for the pentagon, then got him drunk (and drugged) at a stripper bar. However, when he tried to use the compromising photographs they had taken for blackmail, Meyerson said he had been threatened like this before and his father was so connected, with the police and politicians which he had personally bankrolled, that it didn't work. As he was trying to exit the door, Pearce stepped in and threatened that she would anonymously arrange a full investigation into his fathers hidden bank accounts and pay-offs to his friends (just guessing) which changed his mind. Jesse was upset that she had shown her face because she now couldn't explain it to her bosses if they found out; but, she said she did what she had to do. When everyone was done with their "jobs," Jesse showed Mike the records that the gun had been
"purchased by the Pryon Group, a private security firm upstate." Now they had a lead on who it was that killed Nate.
The next morning Pearce knocked on the door of the loft and both Fi and Mike cocked and readied their guns out of a dead sleep. A timid voice came from outside:
"If you're thinking of shooting through the door, please don't – it's me, Pearce." She said she had come to say goodbye because she had been found out by the CIA. Meyerson had been acting squirrely at home, came clean to his wife, who had reported it and it got back to her boss. She said that she told her boss she had been moonlighting for one of Meyerson's competitors and now had been transferred to Mumbai to work in counterfeiting. As her "last act" she ordered Mike to not interfere, and asked:
"Just promise me that this won't be for nothing, Michael!" He did.
A great episode which showcased everyone's character strengths. Absolutely no one whined or argued with Mike the whole episode. Jesse just did his job, was grateful that it wasn't as hard as what Michael had to go through and offered to help again – wow, what a change. But, the greatest change for good was Fiona. She stood her ground without whining like a spoiled adolescent; but, still got in a dig or two in a respectful, adult manner. Sam had less action this episode but was full of wisdom and kept things on tract with the (as usual) timid and weak-minded FBI agent. Michael was, well… Michael is as Michael does!
I do have to take issue with a couple of inconsistencies the writers seem to be misdirected on. We all saw Nate getting shot. He looked stunned then staggered back to reveal a well demarcated hole in a metal sign that definitely wasn't the size of a sniper rifle! Unless it had a 50-cal head taped to its tip! Additionally, the writers had Fiona tell Mike that Nate had volunteered for the job due to a deep seated desire to help the world. "That's who we are," she claimed. Rubbish! That's not what watching 87 previous episodes of Burn Notice have taught us. If Nate volunteered, it was because he saw his brother doing something that he wanted to be involved in. His deep-seated "need," if he had one, was to prove something to Michael; something that his mother, Madeline, has already told us in the last episode.
