That uneasiness doesn't fade any when they enter Michael's loft and find a dead man. And Dead Larry. Larry claims the man was there to kill Michael, which is true. Of course, he's there because Larry approached a cartel posing as Michael, offering to use his skills as a burned spy to help them safely move their money. Then he stole it. You can see why the cartel might be unhappy. Larry, being the swell guy he is, offers to help Michael get a new identity and run, just as soon as they tie up some loose ends, including Jack Fleetwood, the amateur magician he used as part of the whole thing. Somehow. I'm still not clear on what Jack did, but the cartel knows about him too. Michael would like to avoid bloodshed, so he tries to convince the boss that it's the dead guy who stole the money, and they'll kill him (again) and get the money back. Well, the "killing" worked, but Larry switched the money. Big surprise there. And between making Sam steal the flight data, and giving Larry access to Fi's place, since she was storing the corpse and Jack, Mike's pissed off his entire support network.
Except Nate, who happens to be in town with his new wife. She's annoying Maddy badly enough as it is, but add in Nate's desire that Madeline move to Vegas with them, and that's a volatile situation. No wonder Nate came to visit Mike. Anything to get out of that war zone. Mike gets Carlos off his back, makes sure Carlos will get arrested, and manages to screw over Larry in the process. He still hasn't figured out what Gilroy wants the flight data for. Other than it isn't about a plane carrying a plague and the vaccine for it. That's good, I think?
The Players: Gilroy (Black Ops Sociopath), Larry (Undead Spy), Carlos (The Guy that Wants Michael Dead). Jack Fleetwood aka Jack Yablonski aka The Client, Fake Justino (The Impostor)
Quote of the Episode: Larry - 'Seriously pal, we did 20 missions on 3 continents and this is how you greet me?' Mike - 'To be fair, that was before you faked your death and came back without a soul.' We have to do another here, like a bookend, so. . . Mike - 'You don't think I'd end you to save my life?' Larry - 'Oh, I know you would kid. And that's what I love about you.'
Does Fiona blow anything up? No.
Sam Axe Drink Count: 0 (35 overall). Sam spends most of the episode pissed at Mike or wary of Larry. Neither is conducive to drinking. That is one thing about Sam. He doesn't drink when he gets angry, which seems like a good thing.
Sam Getting Hit Count: 0 (2 overall).
Michael Fake Laugh Count: 0 (4 overall).
Other: Michael doesn't use an alias this week. Larry uses two. He used Michael's name, and Larry Garber is sort of an alias, in the sense it isn't really his name, since he killed the man that had the name and stole his identity.
Mike told Jack that if he ever hears the name Fleetwood again, he'll kill him. So for Jack's sake, we better hope Michael never meets Stevie Nicks.
I love that Michael can't speak Spanish at all. I can't speak Spanish either (I took German), but even I know pendejo. And both Fi and Larry give him grief about it. I think that would disturb Fi, after the conversation Larry had with her about their similarities.
I like how things fall apart rapidly for Michael. I know it was Larry's plan, but it must have worked even better than he thought, because he probably didn't know how steamed Sam was about the flight data, just that Sam is never happy when Larry's around. Larry did turn the screws on Fi, but he had no idea about all the tension at Maddy's house. So you get this stretch where Mike goes from having to manage Carlos, to Larry messing with Fiona (who should have just shot him when he poked his head in the door), to Mike having an awkward conversation with a pissed off Maddy, then an even more awkward conversation with an even more pissed off Fiona, to getting a brief happy moment when Sam shows how he figured out the flight Gilroy wants, to distress when Sam declares that's all Gilroy gets and storms out. It's this perfect cascade that makes it that much easier for Mike to believe everyone did turn on him. I've had times like that. Not someone trying to make me believe I'm alone, but those stretches where things keep going wrong and before I know it there are five major problems that need to be dealt with at once.
It's nice Nate is the one who helps Mike get it together. Larry would never think to try and deal with him. Whether that's because he knows going after Mike's family would be a bad move, or because they're beneath his notice, I don't know. But it's indisputable that Nate has been there for Mike repeatedly since he was burned, even though Nate isn't a trained operative, even though he has a host of problems of his own. When Mike asks him to take a gun to safeguard Maddy, Nate isn't happy, but he does it. He understands the seriousness of the situation.
Tim Matheson as Larry is always fun. How his default response to every problem is "Kill it". He dismisses Justino's six kills, saying he's not a pro, that it's only a promising start. Which is true. By the time we actually see Larry in this episode, he's already killed 6 people, if you count the original Larry Garber. The two quotes I used, where Larry is still focused on all the times they worked together, while Mike's more concerned with what he's become. I think the point is that from Larry's perspective, he's never changed. Circumstances may have changed, he works for himself now, but he sees himself as the same. It's only that the people who once approved of his actions when it served their purposes, now disapprove. And Larry truly believes Michael is the same as him, he's just chosen to hide it for some reason. I wonder what Larry thinks the reason is. Michael's afraid of himself, that he simply isn't thinking clearly? Maybe Michael is just deluding himself, is trying to convince himself he was different in the old days than he really is (from Larry's perspective).
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