You know why I think your father wired the car the way he did? Because I think he thought if he was the only one who could fix it that we’d always need him. Be more useful, you know. Part of the family.

After the incredible highs of last week, we could expect this week’s episode to let up on the gas a little, but what Burn Notice does so well is mix more introspective episodes with the ones that go boom. An episode where the CotW revolves around a father seeking vengeance for his murdered daughter is a good time to step back, examine relationships, and add resonance to all the characters. In counterpoint, Madeline shows she can be self-sufficient, changing the dynamic of her relationship with Michael in interesting ways.

The Recap

This one was pretty straight forward. In the A-story, Michael is approached by Claude le Rond to bring his daughter’s killer – Jean-Pierre Duman – to Haiti for trial. As a former Haitian official, Duman had imprisoned and eventually killed Claude’s daughter Veronique for speaking out against the corrupt government. Now in exile, he lives under an assumed identity, but Claude’s tracked him down.

Posing as a contractor working with former executives of Flintridge Industries – a company deeply in bed wth Duman and his father – Michael offers to help Duman completely erase all traces of his former life. The goal of this is to obtain the evidence necessary to prove to American authorities that he is Duman and should be extradited. But the plan goes south when Duman’s father turns out to be alive ((Linc!)) and easily ascertains that Michael is an independent operator.

A quick shot of Fi’s French accent, a quick shot of concentrated allergy meds, and a quick shot of Duman falling, unconscious, from a hotel balcony into the back of a truck with Sam at the wheel resolve the problem of Duman.

Claude: My daughter, she would have liked you. She was very brave.
Michael: Like her father.

In the B-story, Michael meets with Gustavo, a manager from the bank in the Caymans that was hiding the money for the mad bomber what bombs at midnight. Except it’s not Gustavo. It’s a knife-wielding…nah. I was going to boost him up, but it takes all of about 20 seconds for Michael to break his arm and send him tumbling to his death. Not worth it, Mr. Stabby. You weren’t worth the money it cost to smuggle you into the country.

Fi goes digging around her underworld contacts while Sam hits up his police buddies. They bicker a bit about who is more useful in getting information from their friends, and I think Fi wins this round. Sam found out Gustavo was killed back home, but Fi finds the smuggler who brought Fake-Gustavo to kill Michael. And through him, she finds Fake-Gustavo’s storage locker. Michael has her set him up as bait and the two of them try to find out who’s trying to kill Michael. Although we shouldn’t forget that it was Sam who got the Feds to keep the USCG away from the boat smuggling Duman and Claude back to Haiti, so maybe this round is a draw.

It’s Victor. ((Shanksy!))

Hmm. Maybe the rogue spy re-rogued? He’s doubly rogue? He’s turned against the people who burned him? A burn-turning, re-roguing killer spy? That, or Carla’s been playing a very complex game on Michael.

Character

The C-story tonight, a trifle involving Madeline’s tape deck getting stolen from her car, might pack the most emotional heft. She tries to get Michael to help her track down the kids who’ve been robbing cars in the neighborhood, but there is none of the desperation or nagging we’ve come to expect. Even with the obvious undercurrent, whereby Madeline is looking for an excuse to spend time with Michael, this is a new Madeline. She doesn’t plead; she asks. She doesn’t mope; she fixes her problems herself.

She finds the original wiring diagram for the car – now a rats’ nest of cables thanks to Michael’s father’s unusual approach to installing the stereo – and restores it to its factory spec. She spots the teenagers who’ve been breaking into cars in the neighborhood and calls the police. She lets Michael know, in one of the subtlest scenes I’ve ever seen Sharon Gless play, that even if he doesn’t have to resolve every problem in her life, that he’s needed.

Fiona also had a nice, quiet moment, though Michael missed this one. In response to Michael’s comment that he needs his attempted assasin alive, she says sotto voce, “I need you alive.” Fiona’s concern for Michael and the way in which he’s tracking down the man who tried to kill him shines through all during the episode.

Chin Bits

• “Mike, nothing worth doing is easy. Nobody loves easy more than me, but it’s true.”
• “Because that’s the kind of guy he is. He’s an honorable man, just like they told you. He’s just a little slow sometimes.”
• “What is she, like 80? Did she steal somebody’s dentures?”
• “You should check the film speed in that camera. At the rate she’s moving, you don’t want to miss anything.”
• Bruce Campbell at the loft after the partner stretch with Madeline, walking like he’s just returned from a vasectomy. Y’all know I think the man can do no wrong, but that was just brilliant.
• “This body was not built for the hip adductor stretch.”
• With cold beer in crotch: “What? I’ve got an inflamed bursal sac. I’ve got to ice it down.”

Important Lessons in Spycraft

• When you bribe someone, you can’t comparison shop or negotiate much. You overpay with no money back guarantees. And you must remember that in the end, you’re handing your money to a thief and liar.
• “When someone’s asking for sensitive information, it’s basic security to make sure that the person you’re dealing with is who he says he is. An easy way is to change details that the other pperson would know.”
• People far from home will let their guard down when they hear someone speaking their mother tongue.
• Staying hidden isn’t always about the shadows. If enemy’s eyes are adjusted to the dark, the best place to hide is behind a bright light.
• Government agents might hate you, but if you can get them out of a worse assignment they’ll be a ready ally.
• Don’t approach fugitive as hunter, but as someone helping him run.
• True believers don’t have weaknesses to exploit.
• Usually, it’s better to be unknown as a spy, but having a reputation can come in handy.
• It takes about five seconds to pull a gun.
• The hard part of abducting someone is figuring out how to get them into the back of the truck. Letting gravity do the work for you is easier than dragging them.
• A lot of self-pitying whiners become despots. ((Even more of them become pointy haired bosses. I know. Very little difference between Strongman and PHB.))
• If you suspect an ambush, searching for your foes will make it too easy for them to kill you. Better to make it so they have nowhere to hide.
• The key to foot pursuit is to keep visual contact with your prey and wait for them to tire themselves out.

What did everyone else think?