'Burn Notice' recap: 'Good Soldier'

They said this thing: ‘As iron sharpens iron, so man sharpens another man.’ And I realized, Proverbs 27:17? That’s you and me. You showed me the way. – Michael Westen

You might wonder how I got there, you know? I’ve been down for so long, with my ex and everyone against me, I never thought I’d find a way out of this hole. But thanks to Michael and this job he got me involved in, I couldn’t sleep. So I came downstairs to watch TV and I there was a bible program on. It was like they were talking right to me. Like God was telling me everything’s going to be okay.

These angels sent to try me, and the ones sent to try Michael, all they do is make our conviction stronger.

Recap

Fiona’s new boyfriend Campbell, he’s got a big heart. He takes his job home with him, so when he patches up Henry, he wants to do more than just fix his wounds. He wants to help Henry out of his jam. And Henry, he’s in deep.

Henry works for a security company and got beat up pretty bad by Lesher and his Muscle. Lesher wants Henry to help him kidnap Isabella Arroyo so his client can muscle in on the Arroyo’s oil business in Venezuela. But Henry’s a good man. He won’t stand for it.

Michael and Fiona make sure Lesher will pick me as his patsy, not that they have to do much to make that happen. Recently divorced, money problems, and too much drink. I’d pick me too. At least I would have before. Lesher approaches me and I let him pull me in so I can convince him it’s not worth the effort to kidnap Isabella, but the job’s too big; he’s going to do it no matter what.

But when I have my revelation and refuse to help him, it puts him in a bind. He tries to bully me, but I don’t listen. Then he tries to have me killed, but that doesn’t take. I realize he’s never going to see the light, so I have to make sure the world sees his sins. I crash into his car, trapping him and the Muscle, and leave a list of his sins on the windshield for the police.

While I’m busy with Lesher, trying to stop a kidnapping, Michael is trying to stop his own crime. He breaks into the office building where Carla’s sniper has been going and realizes it’s a perch. The sniper is targeting someone on a ferry, but there’s no way to figure out who or when. Carla pulls up on a motorcycle while Michael’s inside and Sam gets a tracker on the bike. That leads them to Carla’s hotel and extended surveillance.

Michael manages to break into Carla’s room and find her hidden records on all the players in the plot, but that doesn’t bring him any closer to solving it. It does give him one new face to look out for, though.

Carla, of course, is just as smart and capable as Michael, so when she realizes he’d used the keycard and been to the sniper’s perch, she lashes back at his family. Nate is arrested on trumped up charges that his new limo company is a front for money laundering which company was built with a big loan from Madeline. With one move, all of Michael’s family is in jeopardy.

Carla heads to the waterfront and Michael, Fiona, and Sam follow her. Michael realizes it’s a setup and they split up: Sam heads to the sniper’s house to try to cut him off; Michael heads to the loft to retrieve the keycard, hoping to get to the perch in time; and Fiona runs interference in her car. Michael steals a motorcycle, and thanks to Fiona loses the cars tailing him, but Carla stays on him on her bike.

Sliding under a semi, Michael manages to get away and make it to the loft in one piece. Sam calls when Michael arrives and tells him the sniper’s dead. As Michael goes to open the door, Sam tells him the sniper’s front door was booby trapped. Michael dives off his balcony as the bomb goes off.

Character Counts

Typically, Michael manages to be a wet blanket to both his mother and Nate on the same day. But this time he gets them both with one sentence and a look: “You let mom take a loan out on the house?” Impressive. A moment of celebration turned to recrimination as Nate leaves and Madeline’s joy turns to bitterness.

Michael does a bit better – but only a bit – with Fiona. She’s inordinately happy with Campbell and wants Michael to be happy for her, so she keeps asking what he thinks of Campbell. Michael’s only response is that Campbell is “nice”. Then with every chance he gets Michael demonstrates how much he doesn’t like Campbell. Like running out to get more yogurt to avoid eating the tuna tahini he prepared. (Okay, I’ve got to say, “tuna tahini” would normally be served cold. “Tuna tagine” would be hot but would not be pronounced like that. I really don’t know what was in that oven. Better to just get yogurt after all.)

The most emotional scene of the episode was Michael’s late-night confession to Lesher. Intended to pull his cover identity out from under Lesher’s control and show that he could no longer be threatened with death, the confession served a larger purpose as it was directed at Fi. As she stood eating his yogurt, her spoon froze in midair as Michael quoted Proverbs.

But it’s not the verse Michael quoted that was directed at Fi, it was the unspoken Proverbs 27:16 that was intended for her: “Restraining her is like restraining the wind or grasping oil with the hand.”

Finally, Fiona got her answer about Campbell. Michael might be cool to him, but he won’t stand in the way of her happiness. He won’t hold her back.

Chin Bits

• “Hey Mike, what are you seeing up there? A mastermind petting a Persian cat?”
• “Your burn notice lady just showed up.”
• “Always be prepared. Navy Seal motto.”
• Michael: “Sam, I could kiss you.” Sam: “Get in line.”
• “She’s got a hell of a breast stroke, Mike. I mean the woman can swim. She’s a machine.”

Lessons in Spycraft

• Getting intel on an enemy position can be done slowly from a distance, or quickly from inside, but that can be fatal.
• The best sniper locales are inside rooms through open windows. It hides the shooter, the muzzle flash, and the supersonic report.
• Any hiding place is a tradeoff between access and security.
• To recruit someone, you dress like someone, talk like them, and act like them, but let the potential recruit make the first move.
• “When selling yourself as a traitor, you can’t be too eager.”
• Facial recognition systems can’t tell the difference between a photcopy of a face and a face.
• When searching a spy’s room, assume they’re as creative as you are.
• To drink without getting drunk, start with a lot of ice, order new drinks before finishing the old, and spill.
• A cover ID that involves drinking gives you some big tactical advantages, like having an excuse to get in your target’s vehicle and leave a bug.
• When someone turns you, their main weapon is fear. Their worst nightmare is an asset without fear.
• Motorcycles don’t have an aftermarket in stolen parts, so anti-theft measures are pretty outdated and the steering lock on a smaller bike breaks pretty easily.

Final Thoughts

An interesting episode to end the summer half of the season. Like everyone else, I hate the split seasons the cable nets give us, but then again, as least they give us shows we want to watch in the summer. I can’t complain too much.

It’s still not clear what game Carla’s playing with Michael, neither is it clear who’s winning. It’s completely possible – and likely – she’s aware of his every move and is just giving him enough rope for his own hanging, but then I wonder about the booby trapped door. Would Carla risk Michael *actually* blowing himself up if he didn’t find out about the sniper until a minute later? Or does she want him dead at this point?

What did everyone else think?