TV-Reviewed

Remember that crossword puzzle–the one that Sam tried to give Carla pointers on before she blew him off–last week?  Well, it turns out that that crossword puzzle was a means for Carla to give Michael a covert message on where to meet her for his next mission.

Now, of course, Michael Westen, the super-spy that he is, decides that he should probably get a photo of Carla to aid in figuring out who she is, and possibly who her overseer(s) is (are).  So, he hatches a plan to have Fiona nearby with a camera to snap a shot of his new handler.  Only problem is Carla foresaw this action of his. So, Fiona is unceremoniously relieved of her camera.  Oops.

Carla is not amused, either, at Mike’s attempt of getting her picture; she reminds him that “they” know both his friends and family and, most importantly, where to find them.  It definitely would seem that whoever she is and whoever she works for, well, they’re some extremely dangerous (and prepared) adversaries for anyone to deal with, including a CIA-trained spy. This in consideration, Michael Weston decides it’s probably best for him to hear Carla out.

The job–or mission as Carla would rather it be called–is for Michael to get an ultra-high-tech security badge duplicated.  Hmm…a group as powerful as these guys you’d think would be able to have this done without help, right?  Well, it looks like Mike’s their errand-boy. Speaking of which…

Sam got himself a job that he needs Mike’s help with.  Apparently, there’s this woman (Sophia) he just met in cooking class who keeps being hassled by this client of hers, a man named Raul Campos, at her workplace.  She is remiss and just doesn’t know what to do. The only problem is that said man is actually the member of a powerful drug cartel.  And Raul packs a Mac-10–an insanely powerful firearm–to boot to which Sam says, “I didn’t know he had a Mac-10. I thought it was like a regular gun.”

Naturally, Michael has to figure out on his toes what to do.  He’s got to play the apparent part.  But…what exactly?  Ah, yes.  A go-to man that can take care of all the various problems and hassles that may beseech somebody in the import/export business.  Michael Westen puts on his newest cocky-mercenary persona to perfection and is easily able to infiltrate the cartel.  One thing that IS often overlooked, I think, is that Jeffrey Donovan is, indeed, a very versatile actor–and that he pulls off Michael Westen’s various alternate-identity creations better than most probably could.

Meanwhile, Fiona is off meeting with Barry, Mike’s favored Miami money-launderer, to learn of who could possibly duplicate the security badge.  There’s a man, Nefzi, who usually works for the drug cartels that should be able to do it. So, Michael sees Nefzi to negotiate a price for the duplication. The price, however, isn’t the main issue: The time to do a thorough enough duplication will take, at least, three days. Carla calls Michael to put pressure on him right about then; she doesn’t believe it’s the best he could have done under the circumstances.

Also, Michael is informed by his mother that he’s missed the “session” she had setup for the two of them; she wants to understand her son’s feelings toward her.  When Michael arrives at her house later on he’s surprised to learn that some of Carla’s men had entered his mother’s house, replacing her broken coffee maker.  This sort of surprises him, it seems, and shows him that these people will cross any line to get at him, to receive his cooperation.

The cast of Burn Notice

Later at the next session with Michael and his mother, we learn that at age thirteen he had stolen some groceries and when he’d brought them home his mother hadn’t said anything about the black eye he’d had, which the bag boy at the store had given him during his getaway.  He wondered why, too. Wasn’t it obvious that he’d gotten hurt?  Didn’t she care?  Well, she did, but she thought he had looked so proud and that he probably hadn’t wanted her to say anything about the black eye.  When she says she had never liked that bag boy anyway, Michael gives a small smile, which, to me, says everything.  It’s another moment where Jeffrey Donovan shines playing the character.

Michael then checks in with Nefzi and learns that the security badge is ready.  Next, Michael decides to see if Nefzi can find out what and where the card is for.  The man says it’s possible, and Mike gives him some extra money to do just that, however, when Nefzi goes into the back room and Carla calls Mike on his phone, he knows something isn’t right.  He bangs on the door Nefzi disappeared behind, but the man doesn’t answer.  Shooting the electronic lock out, Michael finds that Nefzi is on the floor and unconscious–dead.  The air in the room had been pushed aside by nitrogen.  It’s apparent here that Carla and her associates had planned on killing Nefzi the entire time–silencing him, and what he might know.  How many more people must die?  Apparently as many as are needed.

Next, Michael must finish his business with Raul.  And it’s back to the cocky-crook persona, again.  A little snag comes up in the plan, though.  First, Raul is convinced that his newest client, Michael, had been in bed with his girlfriend, Sophia, who is actually a DEA agent undercover to bust him and the business.  Therefore, Raul threatens to kill Sophia and then Mike. But, Mike uses his expert improvisation skills to convince Raul that he’s sadly mistaken about him and Sophia.  Raul buys it after a minute and everything’s cool.  However, later Raul wants Michael to meet his boss–which wasn’t originally part of the plan, but Raul insists, saying it’s the way he works.

Of course, now Michael has to come up with a Plan B, again.  What’s the easiest angle?  Well, making Raul’s boss think that he’s trying to assassinate him, of course.  Damn, Fiona sure knows her way around a sniper rifle.  While she’s shooting at the crime boss, Sam is in the middle of detonating the bomb he’d attached to the crime boss’s car earlier.  Yeah, I’d say that looks like an assassination attempt if ever I’d seen one.  The boss is convinced, and the DEA then swoop in to clean up by getting Raul to spill his guts–crime bosses don’t take well to people who try to do them in.

With everything taken care of, Michael delivers the security badge to Carla.  Then, Michael, after asking Carla for coffee, learns that she can speak Arabic with a Kurdish accent.  That’s definitely interesting to say the least.  We’ll be finding out more about that soon, I’m sure.

Rating: 8.5

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