Sunday, August 15, 2010

No Lie to Me this week, Burn Notice Review

by Jonathan Bredemeyer

In this week's episode, we're expecting to get up close and personal with Simon...

We begin with Michael studying up on the psycho in preparation for the meeting set up by Vaughn. Simon's obviously taken a beating in Vaughn's secret prison. Simon attacks Michael and takes him through a window to get out of range of the camera long enough to tell him to dig up some old treasures of his that Michael will find interesting. Michael keeps this from Vaughn and heads off to dig them up. (For a one-on-one combat specialist, Michael's not that cut...). Sam takes a job for an old buddy in the Dade prison who thinks his live is in danger. His buddy Juan knows he's going to get shanked by a prison gang member who he helped steal money so he asks Sam to care for his family. Sam ditches the guys who follow him leaving the prison and goes to ask Jesse and Michael for help... breaking INTO prison. Michael agrees to do it and his new FBI friends (I hope these tools don't become regulars) get him 'checked-in' as a prisoner.

Michael meets up with his new roommate Juan, explains the situation, and immediately gets threatened by the gang member who's after Juan, making this the most efficient first 5 minutes in prison since Shawshank Redemption. Meanwhile, Sam and Fi are digging up the grave where Simon directed Michael to find his items. Good thing Fiona is there, as she spots the bomb contained in the airtight casket. Back in prison, Michael and Juan suit up with law casebook-covers as body armor against potential shivs.

As Michael repeats advice from previous episodes on fighting groups in close spaces, he fends off the 2 gang members while the bookcover armor does its job and prevents a shiv from entering Michael's kidney area. Michael and Juan deduce that Cruz(the guy after Juan) is going to start a riot to get them out of their cell for an open attack. Good thing Michael's newfound FBI allies left a phone in his bunk. After explaining the situation to Sam, Michael asks him to blackmail the guard into helping them escape prison. Jesse makes his second appearance of the episode as he tags along with Sam to pay the guard a visit. They blackmail the guard to get the riot procedures and workup a plan to smuggle the two out of prison via a meds locker. Sam and Jesse are supposed to be the guards moving the locker. Fiona gives Michael a lock pick via a white trash kiss on her way out. Back on the farm (and by farm we of course mean graveyard), Michael's mom is enlisted to help Fiona submerge the bomb (triggered by moisture as Michael explains, which is supposedly high school chemistry...) in oil so the top can be destroyed and Simon's tape removed safely.

As the festivities begin in prison, Michael and Juan are taken by the guards to the 'barber', which really ends up being Cruz's cell block. For some reason, Cruz's lackies take out the guards when they get there which seems unnecessary. As the riot starts, Michael easily takes down the 2 gang members assigned to him and saves Juan just after Cruz breaks his leg. Juan claims he wants Michael to go on as he can't make it to the infirmary, so Michael changes the plan to get Cruz out instead of them.

As Sam gets the message to Cruz to head to the infirmary to find Mike and Juan, Michael employs the spy's first rule of defense: make a bomb (cause it wouldn't be a Burn Notice without a bomb). It must be some amazing stuff they use to clean wounds in prison, but when Michael lights his 'fuse' of alcohol, it lights up like gasoline. After incapacitating the gang members, Jesse and Sam show up to haul Cruz out in the locker. They give him a gun and turn him in to the cops. Presumably, it's then a flash-forward as Sam returns Juan to his family.

Fi, Sam, and Michael finally open Simon's chest and listen to the tape from 2007. On it is Vaughn claiming to have Michael targeted to be burned, which of course he claimed to have nothing to do with. He stops the tape right after this is said which I think was a bad idea...

In Michael's last conversation with Simon, we learn way too much. Simon was also burned by Vaughn and then betrayed. The person after the Bible is the CEO of a multi-billion dollar company and whatever is in it would allow him to destroy Vaughn and his organization(whatever that might be), which is Simon's real goal apparently. Despite what appears to be good sense, Michael tells Vaughn everything except the part about Simon's tape and convinces Vaughn he's still on his team (which he might be). It seems like Michael is going to go along with Vaughn to eliminate this new enemy and worry about Vaughn later...

New rules to remember: "In Russia, you never refuse vodka. In Pakistan, you always clear your dinner plate, and in prison you're careful about making eye contact...".

Joke of the episode: "What are you going to do with that?" "Fight them off." "With a hand towel?" "Why? Do you have a gun?"

Spy lessons rating: Interesting.
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