Plot: We start in prison, where the warden would like to place Fi in protective custody. Solitary, essentially. Fiona declines, apparently preferring to stay where there are more witnesses. She does not, however, decline Michael's request to come visit. She still needs to learn who's trying to kill her, so she turns to Ayn (short for Anything You Need). Ayn agrees to help if Fi will ensure that the door into the cell block is kept locked at just the time the guard shifts change. After some reservations about what she might be a party to, Fi agrees.
Out in the world, Pearce is having some problems. Anson did some digging into her file, and he's found the man who killed her fiance. Well that was nice of him, maybe he's right when says Michael tells lies about him. Oh, Mr. Ahmed Damour is a protected CIA asset, precisely because of the information he stole from the man he killed. As long as the Agency doesn't have that info, Pearce can't touch him. Not without risking being fired. As Michael needs her help to a) catch Anson, and b) get Fi out of prison, he needs her to not get in trouble. Which means convincing Ahmed to spill where he's hiding the the hard drive, so they can steal it, thus removing the only thing protecting him.
What this translates to is Mike, Pearce, and Jesse following Ahmed onto a cruise ship and convincing him he's dying of meningitis, then slipping a bugged sat phone to him so he can contact his son. This does provide Pearce with some possible enjoyment from watching Ahmed come to grips with his alleged impending death, but it also forces her to behave as though she's concerned for him and his son, which is harder. In the meantime, Sam is stuck dealing with the son with only Maddy and Nate for backup. Mostly Nate. Remarkably, even throwing some Russians into the mix, things work out. Hard drive recovered, Ahmed's going to prison, and Pearce even got to have some face-to-face closure with him. Glorious, glorious closure.
The episode ends with Michael getting to see Fi, and nearly breaking down crying. On the plus side (I guess), one of Ayn's associates is able to pass Michael a note giving him the name of the guard out to kill Fiona, as it was too risky for Fi to tell him directly.
The Players: Ayn (Anything You Need), Ahmed Damour (Target/Murderer), Sharif Damour (Son of a Murderer)
Quote of the Episode: Jesse - 'It's an eye for an eye now? C'mon Pearce, that's not you.'
Does Fiona blow anything up? Kinda sorta? It was a very small explosion, mostly heat, to fuse a door shut.
Sam Axe Drink Count: 0 (1 overall). Though I'm sure working with Nate makes him want to drink.
Sam Getting Hit Count: 0 (2 overall).
Michael's Fake Laugh Count: 0 (0 overall).
Other: Michael is Dr. George Penderson, C.D.C. this week.
If I were Sam, I might have opted to bring Maddy along when I went to relieve Sharif of the hard drive, rather than Nate. Maddy would be more scared, and less likely to shoot someone if you needed her to, but she'd also be less dangerously gung-ho about it. As Sam noted, Nate doesn't really seem to think or worry about how dangerous what he's doing is. I don't know if it's because he's bored, or feels at loose ends after Ruth left with the baby. I think he wants to prove something, that whatever it was Ruth thought was lacking in him, is there after all. So he's only too willing to help. He didn't question Mike's need for their help at all, while Maddy was the one with a barrage of questions until Pearce explained why they were after Ahmed.
At least Maddy had the sense to be chagrined.
I find Anson a lot more tolerably when he's working off-screen. It suits the guy who was supposed to stay out of sight, provide evaluation and insight of possible agents for Management to use. Also, I don't find myself asking why Anson isn't being shot in the face if he isn't on-screen. I like his strategy here. There's little chance Pearce will completely change her opinion of him based on this, and thus stop helping Michael. However, there is the chance she'd go for bloody revenge and be ousted from the CIA, depriving Michael of one of his few vocal allies. Most everyone else at the Agency seems to be like Tom Card: Averting their eyes from the unclean, unless they can use him for their own purposes. More likely, she does exactly what she did: informs Michael of what Anson's up to. Because Pearce (unlike Michael) believes in keeping her allies informed. Once she's done that, though, it's a given Michael will help. Because he needs Pearce, and because he's compelled to help people. Which Anson knows, he commented on it constantly for the last third of Season 5. And if Michael's busy with Ahmed Damour, he isn't looking for Anson Fullerton.
Which makes you wonder what Anson's up to while Michael's distracted.
I like how Jesse was the one to bolster Pearce's confidence. It makes a lot of sense. Michael's lousy at this sort of thing. Jesse, as he pointed out, knows what it's like to lose someone important and think he'd never have a chance to find the person responsible. He helps keep Pearce's eye on the prize. That was deeply satisfying to watch, as the light dawns on Ahmed, and Pearce spits everything out at him through those gritted teeth. Lauren Stamile's performance in general was really good. She got the strain across well, made smiling look like an immense physical effort. Normally, she gives Pearce a clipped tone, but she relaxed that to play Dr. Penderson's wife and partner. Which makes her seem a little softer, someone who would genuinely try to help Ahmed get things in order before the end.
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