This felt like a classic episode of “Burn Notice”: a few nuggets of the season arc strewn throughout a case related to someone’s friend. In this case, it’s a friend of Sam’s, and a disturbing custody case with a radical militia twist.
I still don’t buy the notion that Jacob looks similar enough to Michael to use in a frame job, but I suppose that ship has long since sailed. At least the writers have made it very clear that Michael’s real enemy is not a minor threat. The trick will once again be selling the notion that Team Westen can survive in inevitable confrontation.
The case itself was a bit more extreme than usual, considering that a kid and a few dozen insane militiamen were involved. Sure, the kid was a classic bit of audience manipulation, but it would have been just as problematic if they were just trying to get the father out of the camp. While we all know that Team Westen is highly unlikely to lose anyone on a routine mission, I think this put them in more collective peril than usual, particularly during Fiona’s failed infiltration.
Still, there were two moments that didn’t quite ring true. The first was the ruse with the cabin in the woods. I’m not so convinced that the militia leader wouldn’t have figured out that Michael knew about the cell transmission capture. After all, if Michael had the resources to attempt that infiltration, doesn’t that suggest he has the resources to figure out why it failed? So the resolution was a little too convenient.
The second moment was a minor issue. Jacob was supposed to be taken out en route to the Bahamas, in the middle of nowhere, so it couldn’t be realistically investigated. Michael works this out, and proceeds to rig the boat to go out to sea and explode as planned. So where does it explode? Right in the middle of the harbor! It didn’t make any sense, given the logic behind the bomb in the first place.
But those are two relatively minor nitpicks in what was otherwise a solid, bread-and-butter episode of “Burn Notice”. It didn’t break much new ground, but it progressed the overall season arc and posed a significant and engrossing challenge for Team Westen.
Writing: 2/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 1/4
Final Rating: 7/10
