No attacking the hosts. No leaving early. No calling the police. I see one cop, I kill three of you. I see two cops, six people die. You can do the math. Now, mess up my party by breaking one of my rules and you can expect me to overreact.

Jason Bly, how I’ve missed you. Don’t get me wrong: Tricia Helfer has been a fun foil ((And, she’s not so bad to look at, either.)) for Michael, but I thought season one really sparked once Bly came on the scene and that they got rid of him too quickly. Alex Carter has a particular blend of sly wit and intensity that – for my money – pairs up especially well with Jeffrey Donovan’s.

But tonight, especially after last week’s so-so outing, was a fan’s wetdream come true. I mean, let’s take a look:

• Barry reappears, with oddly black hair. Barry’s always good for a few laughs, and he doesn’t disappoint tonight with his hilarious attempt at extracting information while wearing a wire.
• Bly shows up with enough ammunition, thanks to Barry’s efforts to track down the owner of the bank account, to threaten Michael with mutually assured destruction.
• Mark frakin’ Sheppard is the big bad bank robber, Prescott! SciFi’s promo department could learn a lot from their corporate cousins at USA. From last week’s scenes and ads during the week, I knew Bly was going to be on tonight. But I had no idea Sheppard was. And since I glanced away during the opening credits…well, that was the kind of awesome, pleasant surprise I don’t get very often.
• As Prescott’s right hand man: Rodney Rowland. That’s not likely a name anyone will recognize, but Liam Fitzpatrick is.

While last week threw two pretty big guest stars into the episode, the feel was off. Partly that was because it followed the two brilliant episodes which had led off season 2.5, but mostly it was just a so-so CotW. Well, Michael and Bly trapped in the middle of a bank robbery is not so-so.

The Recap

There isn’t very much to tell you that you couldn’t just see for yourself, is there? I don’t have a lot of time to waste, walking you step by step through the episode. Not if you expect people to live, at least. But since you’re just standing there, gape-jawed, I’ll explain it all quickly. But make yourself useful and find me some towels while I’m doing it.

Michael’s nemesis Jason Bly is back in town, using Barry’s illegal activities as a kudgel to force Michael to hand over the documentation he put together blackmailing Bly. He begins his campaign of psychological warfare by condemning the loft and continues it by following Michael. It’s when he follows him into Paula’s bank that things become interesting.

Prescott and his team blitz the bank and quickly corral everyone in a conference room. They’re very fast and very professional and very deadly. With bravado but not much thought, Bly disarms one of the henchman and gets himself shot in the arm for the efforts. From that point, this will be handled as a covert operation and not a frontal assault.

Michael contacts Sam by using the bank’s network as an antenna for a cellphone and then begins his careful campaign. One robber is hobbled when a sabotaged airhammer misfires. Another is drugged. Prescott’s hand is shredded when he attempts to shoot Bly and his tampered gun explodes.

By the time the robbers are finished and ready to move the hostages to the vault for slow death by suffocation, Michael has taken one robber off the board completely and has his weapon. However, with only one round remaining, he won’t be shooting his way out. Instead, he tells Sam to find the boat he’s overheard Prescott’s team mention.

Sam and Fiona can’t listen to the encrypted conversation over the walkie-talkies, but Sam can track down a nearby boat broadcasting on that frequency. He overpowers the accomplice and initiates his own little Operation Quicksilver. One of the largest and most famous military deceptions in history, Quicksilver utilized double agents, radio transmissions, night lighting, and some bombing runs on Pas-de-Calais to lead the Germans to believe that was the primary target for the Allied invasion. Sam’s small scale version involved having the accomplice scream over the radio that the boat had been stormed by armed men.

Sam then explained that the bank was his. Any money missing, any hostages hurt, and he would kill Prescott. He also, of course, knew Prescott’s name. With an assist from Michael, telling Prescott he’d heard the man’s voice before and had a run-in with him, and from Fiona blowing up the getaway vehicle, Prescott’s two remaining thugs turned on him. He shot them and ran out of the bank, but was quickly apprehended.

Character

One of the reasons this episode was better, beyond the action and tense plotting, was the presence of Madeline. It doesn’t even take much. Just a few scenes and Sharon Gless can deliver humor and pathos enough for an episode. Tonight, her smile when Michael agreed to stay for dinner put a nice cap on the episode.

I also quite liked the changes in the relationship between Michael and Bly over the course of the episode. Bly was smart enough to know that Michael knew what he was doing and never questioned him. Michael was smart enough to know Bly would do his part when the time came. The grudging respect grew into something more by the end. I don’t think we’ve seen the last of Jason Bly, but next time I think he’ll prove to be a willing ally.

Chin Bits

• “Squeaky wheel gets the surf & turf.”
• “Not that good. This is iced tea.”
• “She made millions as a beer distributor. The woman of my dreams!”
• “That’s four kegs of beer at 33 degrees, baby!”
• “What are you going to do, you know? Being Mike’s first call is a big responsibility.”
• “Let’s get Mike and the hostages killed because you have the attention span of a three-year old.”
• “You bastard! you ruined something special!”

Important Lessons in Spycraft

• The best way to get information is with a free lunch. ((True in spycraft; true in real life.))
• “When someone starts acting like there’s an extra person in the conversation, it’s a pretty good bet they’re wearing a wire.” ((Or, there’s a six-foot tall invisible rabbit in the room.))
• “Fighting like a spy means disguising attacks as attempts to help. It means making acts of man seem like acts of God.”
• Cutting through a wall with scissors isn’t that hard once you cut through the paper layer on the top of the drywall.
• A cellphone jammer isn’t strong enough to block an ethernet network used as an antenna. ((Actually, I’m going to jump in and say that’s almost certainly wrong. Unless the network reaches outside the range of the jammer, without increasing the power on the phone, this isn’t going to help.))
• There’s massive air pressure on an air hammer. The slightest tampering with the coupling can turn it into a very inaccurate gun with a single bullet.
• Anxiety and allergy meds are scary when mixed together, especially when combined with caffeine.
• Elevators are easy to sabotage because they have so many safety features.
• In a weakened state, pressure to the carotid artery can quickly cause you to pass out in seconds.

Final Thoughts

Wow. I can’t say enough how much fun this episode was for me. Great guest stars, my favorite foil for Michael, ((Even more than Michael Shanks’ crazy spy, Victor.)) and a really tightly plotted hour. And there were some really, really funny lines passed around amongst the characters. Some of my favorites:

• “Sunshine, beaches, those little Cuban pastries.”
• “I hope you’re not bringing toxic mold into my house.”
• “I want every piece of paper you own that mentions me. Files, phone records, the page in your diary where you drew little hearts around my name.”
• “Next time, we’ll have a signal. If you’re wired, tip me off by offering to pay for lunch.”

Add to that all the bickering between Sam and Fi – always comedy gold – about who was more helpful, who Michael called first, who *Fi* would call first…a top-five episode.

What did everyone else think?