Burn Notice recap: "Bad Blood"

I’m Jimmy Glynn. Mike asked me to talk to you rats about tonight’s episode. There was a wicked awesome monsoon in Phoenix earlier that knocked out satellite coverage, so this is a little later than usual.

The Recap

Mike takes Carla’s crossword puzzle and tracks down his new wrangler, Victor. He looks like a fruit in a flowered shirt, but he pulls a .22 on Mike pretty damn quick. He hands Mike a cellphone and tells him he needs to keep it with him all the time.

Mike knows while he’s working with Victor, things are gonna be dicey for his ma, so he sends Sam to stay with her. When Sam gets there, he thinks some mook’s setting up cameras, but it’s just a friend of the family helping Madeline out with her VCR. A mook who needs help from Mike. That’s where I come in.

The kid, Ricky, is the head accountant at Sweet Valentine, the record label and fashion house owned by a Jay Z/P. Diddy wannabe. Valentine’s financial adviser and original partner stole $2M from a charity account and made it look like Ricky did it. And since Valentine came up from the hood, Ricky figures he’s dead if something don’t give.

Mike breaks in but can’t find proof that Eddie embezzled the money, but he did find prospectuses Eddie’s got. He figures Eddie’s looking for a way to launder the money he stole, so he gets me an intro. I’m a developer from Beantown and I’m happy to take a couple mill from Eddie and wash it clean for him. At least that’s what I tell him.

While I’m trying to get Eddie on my hook, Victor’s getting Mike on his. Tells him there’s a package getting moved soon and they’re gonna steal it. When Valentine goes off on one of his producers and tells Ricky he’s got 48 hours to find the missing cash, I’ve gotta step up the pressure on Eddie. But that’s when Victor shows up and blows my deal, telling Eddie the Feds are swarming all over me.

It takes some persuading, but I convince Eddie the Feds are watching him too. Sam tails him to make him real paranoid, and he comes crawling to me to move his money offshore. But he won’t do it until Ricky’s dead.

He tries once with a hit squad, but I get Fiona over there in Daisy Dukes and a half t-shirt to scare off the goons. Then I push Eddie until he agrees to take a gun and do Ricky himself. That’s all it takes. Sam and Fiona kidnap Valentine, but only to bring him to Ricky’s house to watch and listen. Eddie digs his own grave.

Mike and Victor finally steal their package, and Mike gets an X-ray of it in the trunk of the getaway vehicle. Sometimes I’m just amazed what that guy can do with an old TV and a Taser.

Character Counts

Phew. Sorry about that. For a kid from Amesbury, MA, I wasn’t particularly pleased with Jeffrey Donovan’s Boston accent tonight. I assume he wanted to hit a note more believable than the usual Southie accent, but I thought he pulled a bit too much Brooklyn into it. I’d have been happier if he’d married a bit more northern New England into the tough guy baritone he chose. That’s just me, though.

Anyway, tonight had some nice Fi and Michael moments, it had one very sweet Madeline and Michael moment, and it added a nice touch with a friend from Michael’s youth. But the fireworks tonight were between Michael and guest star Michael Shanks as Carla’s wrangler, Victor.

I’m a big fan of Shanksy. Comes from the years of watching Stargate: SG1, which is only a mildly embarrassing claim for me. I’ve always thought Shanks could break into network-level stardom with the right opportunity; I think he’s got the right mix of charisma and acting ability. While I don’t think his multi-episode turn on Burn Notice is going to set the world on fire, it might be enough to open that last set of doors. Based on what I saw tonight, it should.

Victor’s just a little bit unstable, isn’t he? Unstable, but not incompetent. I was actually a little surprised he didn’t anticipate Michael’s X-ray stunt, but the writers need to give Michael some chance of figuring out who burned him. Regardless, I’m definitely looking forward to some more opportunities for Victor and Michael to match wits.

Chin Bits

Madeline: “He insisted on coming to aqua aerobics with me.”
Michael: “I’m sorry you had to see that.”

Wow. Tonight was a treasure trove for Bruce Campbell fans, wasn’t it?

• “I do a perimeter check once an hour. I just say that I need some alone time to ponder the whole Veronica thing. Works like a charm.
• “I’m hiphoppin now, man! Look at me!
• “I’ve got an appointment to look at a townhouse. Looks right into a yoga studio.”

Sam: “You’re what’s wrong with our country, pal. Oohah oohah oohah. What’s going on there?”
Valentine: “Wait a minute. First of all, what do you listen to, oldtimer?”
Sam: “Barbara Mandrell. Nothing wrong with that. Kenny G. Captain and Tenille.”
Valentine: “Whoa. That’s like too gangster for me right there, man.”
Sam: “I got something for you right here. A melody?”

Important Lessons in Spycraft

• When meeting a covert op first time, a map and photo means they trust you. A place and time means they want to check you out. A cryptic clue just means they have an irritating sense of humor.
• It can pay off when meeting an operative to open with an aggressive move.
• If you use an enhanced GPS on a cellphone you can track them anywhere.
• A fire alarm is useless for clearing a building. A bomb threat in the building next door is better.
• Modern bomb squads come equipped with RF jammers. They’ll kill all radio transmissions nearby, including wireless security cameras.
• Interior locks in offices are lowtech; file cabinet locking bars are more serious, but people have too much faith in padlocks.
• Air ducts are only 18 inches wide, so they’re useless for escape. Better to use the sub-ceiling.
• Sometimes you have to lose a fight intentionally. Seeing an opening and passing on it is the hardest thing in the world.
• 12 gauge incendiary rounds create a small explosion at 3000 degrees. They can burn tires nicely.

Parting Thoughts

A solid episode with a couple things going for it. The new and improved Madeline is a character I actually enjoy seeing this year. Her interactions with Michael and Sam were believable and touching tonight. In addition, again let me praise Michael Shanks.

My one complaint would be that Matt Nix seems to be almost reflexively killing off Michael’s targets this year. It hasn’t been every episode, but we’re running at about an 80% kill rate right now.

What did everyone else think?

R.A. Porter is an aspiring television writer who currently toils away in the software mines. He can be found at his personal blog and stalked on Twitter.