Sunday, December 08, 2013

Burn Notice 6.17 - You Can Run

Plot: The person who left the note and flowers at Nate's grave was. . . Jason Bly! I was going to say he hadn't appeared since midway through Season 2. Then I remembered he was the one who tried to convince Fi to implicate Michael to save herself at the start of this season. I was more focused on the Anson-punching in that episode. Bly explains there's been enough nosing around since Card's death to reveal he was up to something, and if Michael turns himself into Bly, they might just be able to expose it. Also, Michael being in custody might get the others off the hook, which sorely tempts Michael. Fiona is having none of it, naturally. Which means they're stuck relying on those passports and hoping for the best as they try to get hired on as crew on a cargo ship. Problem: Riley thought of that, and all the ports in the area are on the lookout, so they aren't escaping that way. Given Riley's tactical team, Mike and Sam are lucky to escape at all.

Too bad Jesse had gone with them, and now he's Riley's prisoner. And too bad Sam's gut shot. But Michael captured the guy who did it, so they have a prisoner. Hooray?

The middle of the episode is a series of races. Michael tries to get the location where Riley has Jesse out of his prisoner, Dean. At the same time, Riley's trying to get Michael's location out of Jesse, first with beatings, then by offering him what she thinks he desires most - a look at the closed police file to his mother's murder. The third race is Campbell and Maddy working to keep Sam from bleeding to death. The Mike beats Riley in their race, and Campbell stalled the Reaper, for now. Off Mike and Fi go to rescue Jesse, gassing everyone in the safe house with some medical sedative Campbell gave them. he didn't do so happily, but Fi basically told him that if they couldn't knock everyone out to rescue Jesse, they'd have to use explosives and firearms, which would mean dead people. Poor Campbell. But they rescued Jesse without anyone dying, though Bly was not pleased to hear Michael attacked a CIA safe house.

It's the least of his problems, because Sam needs a real doctor, if it isn't already too late.

The Players: Olivia Riley (CIA Heavy Hitter), Jason Bly (CSS Agent/Not A Friend), John Campbell (Fiona's Ex-Boyfriend)

Quote of the Episode: Sam - 'You've got good reasons for things, but you do enough bad things. . . you become the bad guy.'

Does Fiona blow anything up? No. She gassed a building full of people, though.

Sam Axe Drink Count: 0 (26 overall). Don't think liquor is the best thing when you're gut shot. Though I suppose it might help with infection, if it's high enough proof.

Sam Getting Hit Count: 1 (8 overall). I think being shot counts as a hit.

Michael Fake Laugh Count: 0 (2 overall).

Other: It's funny that Fiona is now the one insisting nobody goes to jail to save everyone else. It's the same as last season, only she and Michael have switched sides on the debate. Oh, and Fiona didn't actually kill the people she was accused of killing, while Michael absolutely did shoot Tom Card. But it's more about the sentiments than the details. When you boil it down, Michael is contemplating throwing himself on the pyre before his friends die or do something they shouldn't have to while trying to help him. Which is why Fi turned herself in, to keep Michael from going too far helping Anson.

Does this mean people would prefer to sacrifice themselves, than see their loved ones suffer? That isn't exactly a surprise, but the flipside to it is that said loved ones still suffer, because they lose you. Michael was clearly not in a good frame of mind that whole time he was trying to get Fi out of prison. He was right on the line, stepping over sometimes, managing to pull himself back other times. Being a martyr sounds wonderfully self-sacrificing, but I wonder if it isn't also to protect themselves a little. This way, they don't have to deal with being hurt by losing that loved one, because they make the sacrifice. The loved one is left to pick up the pieces and deal with the loss, seeing as they were not given a say in the matter. Is it a matter of doing the right thing for the wrong reasons, or the wrong thing for the right reasons?

I feel really bad for Campbell. He's a genuinely nice guy, wants to help people, still cares about Fiona. He's just not meant to be in the middle of stuff like this. Like Nate, but in a different way. Nate had a shitty life at times, and the problem was that (combined with his super-cool big brother) made him either indifferent to danger, or just really bad at assessing how much danger there was. I think Campbell has a pretty good life, pretty clear cut. See person sick or injured, help that person as much as possible until you can get them to a hospital. Be nice, treat people well. He's not cut out for all this stuff with guns and threats, and "We can't involve the police". And I really didn't like Fi basically saying that if he didn't get them the sedatives, lots of people would die. It's true, but it's a shitty guilt trip, precisely because I know Campbell can't withstand it. Of course he's going to help, even though I imagine there will be inquiries into why he needed that much of those drugs.

Kudos to Jesse, holding as he did. It doesn't always come up, but that undercurrent of Jesse wanting resolution on his mother's murder, is always there. For Riley to dangle that carrot in front of him, I wondered if he would talk. And if he had, I wouldn't have blamed him. He's never been quite as deep in the group as Sam, Fi, and Mike. It's inevitable, they've known each other a lot longer, even if FI and Sam hated each other at the start. Jesse's always going to be a little bit outside (though he's more in than Maddy in some ways). He's not a fool, he probably senses it. And this is a chance to find his mother's killer, something that means a lot to him. I would have understood his decision, but he held out. I actually think Riley made the mistake, when she presumed to speak for his mother. She tried a little too hard, and I think it triggered the alarms in his head. The reminder of what exactly Riley wanted in exchange for this offering. If she let the promise of the file speak for itself, it might have been too much for him to resist.

I want to get on Riley's case about some of her recent tactics - having Jesse beaten, arresting Sugar, lying to Jesse about the file - but she's using the same playbook Michael has since the beginning of the show. Michael lies to people so they'll do what he wants, gets them to betray people. He abducts people and interrogates them. The difference is Riley's using it against the protagonists, rather than for them. I am a little disappointed. I had hoped Riley would be this straight-shooter, honestly determined to bring Michael in, but not willing to do anything to do it. Michael is guilty of killing Tom Card. There are extenuating circumstances we know about, sure, but at the end of the day, Michael shot a man who had holstered his weapon. Riley isn't wrong about that, but I think it weakens her position to use these kinds of tactics. Kind of damages her moral credibility.

I guess one key difference between her and Michael is, when Michael uses these techniques to help a client, he's usually operating from a position of weakness. He has no official standing, limited firepower and manpower. The people he's dealing with often have lots of all of those things. Weapons, money, political connections, police protection, etc. Michael uses the tricks he does to compensate for the stacked deck. Riley has the entire government on her side. She has immense resources, is not the underdog by any stretch of the imagination. So it feels cheap, like she has to cheat to win, even though the deck is stacked for her. But she's a spy, she's used to fighting dirty, and old habits are hard to break. Just ask Michael. But that line Sam delivered to Mike, the one I used above? That could easily apply to Riley as well.

And it's only going to get worse in the season finale.

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