Burn Notice 2.7 - Rough Seas

Plot: Virgil (last seen in "Unpaid Debts") has returned from Bermuda looking for Michael's help. An acquaintance of his had a shipment of pharmaceuticals worth 1 million dollars hijacked on its way to Latin America to help some children. Virgil needs help tracking down those drugs, and he thought of Mike. And, this gives him a chance to see Madeline again, a development Michael is less than pleased with. Which means Mikey spends the episode playing Anti-Cupid, to Maddy's consternation. That's when he isn't playing a nervous, asthmatic chemist who will be needed to rip off a shipment of designer performance enhancing drugs. Yep, to find where the drugs are stashed, they have to convince Gerard to go for another heist. No suave and debonair rich guy, or dangerous crook role for Michael this week.

In other developments, Fiona puts Michael in touch with a gun runner she knows named Seymour to try and learn more about the sniper rifle Mike helped steal last week. This is made slightly difficult by the fact Seymour is kind of an idiot with no attention span. Eventually he does track down a store that made some modifications on a Dragunov rifle, but it was mysteriously torched. Uh-oh. Seymour does get the name of the customer, at least. The whole situation is also made slightly awkward because Fiona has met another guy, and Michael isn't quite sure how to feel about this.

The Players: Seymour (Arms Dealer), Virgil (Former Client), Marcela (The Client), Feldman (Drug Dealer), Gerard (The Thief).

Quote of the Episode: "Jackson" - 'Guys with guns, violence. That's why I got out of meth! I mean, it's just not my thing. It makes my chest tight.'

Does Fiona blow anything up? I don't know. That truck blew up at the end of the episode, but strapping something to a gas tank that Michael can set off with a bullet seems kind of simple for Fiona. But I guess it's more likely she set it up than any of the others, so sure.

Sam Axe Drink Count: 5 (17 overall). He'd been cutting down recently, perhaps as fallout from the Harvey Gunderson debacle. Clearly Virgil is a bad influence on him.

Sam Getting Hit Count: 0 (6 overall). Sam got to trip someone planning to use a bottle in a bar fight instead. I think he's less likely to get hit when he plays someone cool and mysterious than some Annoying Guy.

Michael's Fake Laugh Count: 2 (6 overall). Being around Virgil, and lying to Madeline, brings out the awkward laughter in Michael.

Other: Michael's cover identity for this week is Jackson, formerly in meth, not a chemist making drugs for Armenians. Mentioning Armenians always makes me think of The Shield and that "money train" Vic and the guys ripped off. I ought to buy that one of these days, though I wonder if I have the stomach for it anymore.

I'm not sure who had it worse from that whole boxers incident: Michael, who will have to burn the pair Virgil squeezed into, or Sam, who had to see the squeezing happen. I'm going with Sam. Mike can always buy more shorts.

Out of curiosity, what do you think the Ukra- sorry, the Bulgarians were buying from Seymour? It cost them 100 grand, but it fits in a duffel bag you can carry with one arm (and Seymour does not look unusually strong). I know one would go to an arms dealer for things they can't acquire legally, and so must expect to pay a little more for that (and for privacy and discretion), but it couldn't have been that many guns, so they must have been super pricey.

I'm not sure what reaction Fiona was hoping for from Michael about her date. She clearly wants him to at least show an interest in the fact she's dating, but I'm not sure why. She broke things off with him, and I think her reasons were valid. Given that, I don't think she ought to be playing this game about it with him. Unless she's just playing with Michael's desire to know everything going on in people's lives, in which she's basically petard hoisting, and I'm almost always in favor of that. But it feels a little like she wants to make him jealous so he'll admit his feelings and put her ahead of his burn notice, which would be fine, except it means she's using this paramedic fellow as a prop, essentially.

In a more typical episode, I could see Seymour being highly irritating and jarring. So I guess it's good the writers made the episode as a whole a little more silly. Virgil is sort of like Sam, only minus any hint of smooth, and less careful with his words. He's just a goofy old boy. Then you have Michael trying to keep him away from Madeline, plus Michael's whole "Jackson" identity which is very different from his usual cover stories. It's impressive, how different his voice is, the way he carries himself, with the shoulders hunched, the watery eyes and sort of sickly, sweaty look., and in general, just how incredibly irritating he is. When they go to hijack the "shipment", I was impressed Gerard didn't simply throw him off the boat for all his whining about wanting a gun. I guess you don't get to be boss without a modicum of impulse control. Anyway, with all that, and I almost forgot the bit about Michael's fridge, Seymour really doesn't stand out so much. I do wonder how a guy seemingly so incapable of remembering what his clients want, or even their names, can be as successful as he apparently is, but success is not always bestowed upon those that have earned it. Hardly ever is, actually.

Anyway, Michael has at least learned who will be using the sniper rifle - though he had to get shot at, and get hit repeatedly with a bat to do it - and that whoever is meant to be killed, the people behind the scenes want proof. That still leaves the question of who the target is, why they're the target, and where and when they'll be hit. Keep hunting, Mikey.