Burn Notice 2.3 - Trust Me

Plot: As Sam's buddies were unable to unearth anything on Carla (no records of her fingerprints even), Michael needs some other intelligence agency's resources. So he turns to Pakistan. Since they are unlikely to just give him the file, he steals a report on chemical imports from their consulate to encourage their security officer to get him that file. This proves more difficult than he expected, though by this point he should have learned to expect that, don't you think?

In the meantime, he gets roped into helping the son of one of his mother's friends who is in debt to a loan shark to for 200 grand. Andy was tricked out of the money by Zeke and his bogus Cuban nightclub investment scheme. So Michael gets in the club, steals the money back from out of the safe, no big deal. Except the safe was all part of the show to part fools from their money. Which means Michael has to figure out a way to get Zeke to show him where the money really is, before the loan shark gets violent.

On top of all that, Madeline has decided to meddle in the wake of Michael and Fiona's abruptly ended relationship (which Michael insists was not a relationship to anyone who brings it up). So that's distracting.

The Players: Waseem (Pakistani Spy), Andy and Diane (The Clients), Zeke (Con Man), Baranski (The Loan Shark), Zeke's Partners, Barry (Money Launderer).

Quote of the Episode: Andy - 'I'm such an idiot.'

Does Fiona blow anything up? No, other than Michael's free time by getting him roped into saving Andy from his own stupidity.

Sam Axe's Drink Count: 1 (7 overall).

Sam Getting Hit Count: 0 (0 overall). This is actually really impressive since Sam played a really annoying guy that people want to go away from the second straight week. Granted, he was doing so in a consulate lobby this time. Probably look bad if they beat the crap out of him right there.

Michael's Fake Laugh Count: 2 (4 overall). Honestly, I probably missed some. His cover identity was laughing a lot, and I got so sucked into it I forgot those were technically fake laughs.

Other: Michael's cover identity for the episode is Davis Cullen, son of Texan oil man, rich, drunk, aggressive. He was also Rich Franklin of the Miami Herald while sneaking into the consulate.  I'm guessing the British accent Fi was using on Zeke is horribly overdone compared to a really British person, and that this was intentional, because she recognized Zeke was kind of an idiot. A flashy one, but an idiot nonetheless.

I hope it isn't really that easy to get files from a consulate. I also question how effective a rolled up magazine is as a weapon against burly thugs. It might depend on the quality and strength of the paper it's printed on but frankly, I think it'd be more effective if you opened it and took advantage of their less than top-notch literacy.

I love watching Sharon Gless (Madeline) interact with the others. Madeline's so capable of cutting through the bullshit they (especially Michael) throw up around their lives. This doesn't mean she always gets through; Mike can be pretty good at shutting things out when he chooses, but she at least makes it clear what's true and what isn't. Plus, her tendency to view the past through rose-tinted glasses frustrates Michael so (witness the scene at the end where she tells Michael kids make life a little more fun, and he incredulously replies, 'I was fun?'), which is half the reason she does it I think. That, and she's done a better job making peace with the ugly parts of the past than Michael, who ran from them.

So that part was good, Michael's negotiations with Waseem, highlighting that tendency of Mike's to always dig for info, always seek out the angle were a lot of fun. I'd like to see Waseem (Assaf Cohen) again sometime, though I can understand why Michael wouldn't approach him, and he wouldn't be happy to see Michael again, but you can work with that. I wasn't as enamored of the con plot. Zeke's oily enough (and contrary to what Fi says, he is not the same kind of smooth as Sam) it's enjoyable to see his very angry partners literally close the door on Zeke's life at the end. But Andy is such a complete incompetent it's distracting. There's a reason I chose the quote I did., and wrote things like "Damn, Andy's dumb as a post" in my notes. Even the other characters were commenting on it.

On the plus side, Fi got to take her turn roping Michael into a job after Sam did it last week, and Sam got to do the shooting this week. It's nice they take turns.