Sunday, November 10, 2013

Burn Notice 6.13 - Over the Line

Plot: Picking up where the least episode ended, Sam rushes in to find Tom Card dead, and he's none too pleased with Mike's decision. But there's no time to kick Mike's butt, because Card's team is on their way up and calling for reinforcements. Those reinforcements quickly close off the building, so Mike and Sam try and get a bit tricky to escape, assuming "Mike drives a car through the wall of a parking garage" can be considered tricky. Sam's attempt to walk out posing as a concerned hotel employee falls apart when it turns out the Agency person running things is well aware of who he is. Say hello to Olivia Riley, Sam.

So now Riley has Sam and is trying to use him to hunt down Mike and the others, even as Mike, Fi, and Jesse are scrambling to escape and get some supplies. Riley's pretty clever, though, and she's close behind. Close enough Michael decides to leave a bug on Fi's car (which they're leaving behind), to see if he can pick up anything useful. Which is how they hear Sam try to buy them some time by suggesting Mike has a boat stashed at a marina. Naturally, Mike decides it would be a better idea to try and ambush Riley's forces there to rescue Sam. Great plan, but Riley outsmart Sam again, and the ambush fails. Riley's called for backup and is willing to wait, until Mike convinces her he has a helicopter on the way (he uses a tapped phone line to call Sugar and gets him to play along), so she has to go now. And while her team is busy chasing Mike, Fi and Jesse can sneak up and capture her, rescuing Sam and enabling Michael to walk right past a lot of very angry CIA guys. Some place far away from there, Mike frees Riley and tries to explain his actions, what Card was up to, etc. Riley either doesn't believe him, or doesn't care. He's a traitor, she's bringing him in, end of discussion. One thing she hasn't counted on is that Madeline's decided to stick around, and assuming she can get the CIA to keep underestimating her, she's going to funnel any information she can pick up to Michael.

The Players: Olivia Riley (CIA Heavy Hitter), Sugar (Michael's Old Neighbor)

Quote of the Episode: Riley - 'I'll never stop, Westen. I'll hunt you down to the ends of the earth if I have to!' Mike - 'Then I'll see you there.'

Does Fiona blow anything up? No, the explosives were found and disarmed. As an aside, I did not approve of Riley busting Agent Fuller's chops. So he didn't want to get close to live explosives. Pardon him for having common sense.

Sam Axe Drink Count: 0 (21 overall). The CIA Battle Van either doesn't have a stocked fridge, or Riley wasn't offering.

Sam Getting Hit Count: 0 (6 overall). At least Riley hasn't resorted to torture. Yet.

Michael's Fake Laugh Count: 0 (1 overall). Man, this is the least laughy season ever.

Other: We might be past the point of aliases, when even Chuck Finley is failing to get by.

I don't have a lot to say about this episode. Riley seems a capable foe. Intelligent, experienced, unmoved by Michael's heartfelt explanations and demonstrations of loyalty. There are times where Burn Notice is almost a shonen manga, with Mike winning people over through the power of friendship and self-sacrifice. Not this time, maybe because Riley was loyal to Card.

And so Mike's really put his friends in hot water this time, especially since there wasn't time for anyone to get out. Sam got caught, and the others were too busy fleeing the cops to try bowing out. Not that they would have, though I think Jesse was having some thoughts about it. And I wouldn't blame him. Of the three of them (Fi, Jesse, Sam), Jesse has the least history with Michael, and the highest proportion of bad history with him. He isn't in love with Mike, and he isn't the guy who would be his best man at the wedding. Plus, I think Mike's admission that he murdered Card in cold blood troubled Jesse as much as it did Sam, though maybe for different reasons. I think Jesse's a little more concerned with laws, and Sam a little more with ideals, honor codes, unspoken lines you don't cross. It ends up in the same place with both of them looking askance at Mike's decisions (or Fi's for that matter), but it isn't quite the same path.

While I'm thinking of it, when they showed Card dying at the beginning of the episode, I'm more convinced Mike always intended to shoot Card, and just wanted to be absolutely clear about why he was doing it. With all the shadows, deceptions and cover-ups that are part and parcel in his life, he wanted this to be unambiguous.

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