Burn Notice 2.8 - Double Booked

Plot: Michael starts off trying to track down Bill Johnson, the man who had the sniper rifle modified. As there are many Bill Johnsons in the area, this is taking some time. But that's kind of a boring plot, honestly. Just poking through people's trash and pretending to spray toxic chemicals on their lawns so you can break into their home and pull the sideboards off their walls. It does add a bit of levity to the subplot about Madeline wanting to try counseling again, which was nice. That got a little overwrought.

The major focus is on the sudden appearance of Dead Larry (Tim Matheson), an old spy friend of Michael's now in business as an assassin. He's here to a) kill Jeannie at the request of her idiot stepson, Drew, and b) to recruit Michael into his business. By offering him the job of killing Jeannie. Which Michael accepts as a way to thwart it. Which he will have to do without alerting the cops, as that will cause Larry to quote, 'kill everybody'. Which gets much harder when Michael (posing as Larry) finds out Drew also put out the contract through his coke dealer, so there are at least two amateurs out there trying to off Jeannie. Which does not make Larry happy.

It looks like to get Larry out of their hair, Jeannie may have to die after all. . .

The Players: Larry (Undead Spy), Campbell (Fiona's Boyfriend), Jeannie (Dead-ee), Drew (Entitled Punk), Bill Johnson (Sniper). I like it when they have a little fun with the descriptions.

Quote of the Episode: Sam - 'Just checking in? He's got a weird thing for you.' Michael - 'That's 'cause he doesn't have any friends.' Sam - 'That's because he's killed most of them, Mike.'

Does Fiona blow anything up? No. She on intelligence gathering and covert bodyguarding this episode. I emphasize "covert", because otherwise I'm sure Fiona would blow something up. Probably Drew's bed. While he was in it.

Sam Axe Drink Count: 3 (20 overall).

Sam Getting Hit Count: 0 (6 overall). Just as well. It probably would have been Larry doing the hitting, and that could have been fatal.

Michael Fake Laugh Count: 1 (7 overall). Larry makes things a little too tense for even fake laughs. He did get a smile after Sam asked Larry if he was still drinking the blood of children.

Other: Michael's alias for this episode is "Larry Sizemore". Fittingly, when Larry decides to adopt an alias, he uses "Michael Westen". Oh, that Larry.

I guess this episode counts towards the Letting the Bad Guys Do the Work count. Though Larry's really more of a problem than Drew was. The point is, by the end of the episode, one of them is no longer a concern. I think. It occurs to me someone could take the approach the Jeannie having a heart attack was really to give her an alibi while Drew's being killed. Especially when she doesn't show up at a hospital suffering from a heart attack. I suppose they could find Drew's coke dealer and get him arrested, so he might try and turn on Drew (assuming you keep him in the dark about Drew being dead).

I like how much Sam and Larry don't like each other. It's beyond even the hostility Sam and Fiona had when the series began. It makes me wonder if Sam was involved in some of that Balkans work Michael and Larry did, or if he met the guy independently. I'm leaning towards independently, since Larry was surprised to see Sam at Michael's place, but I feel Sam might not have escaped those partnerships alive without Michael as a mediating presence.

Larry really is kind of scary. He's always moving around, pacing, making hand gestures, like he has too much energy, and it shifts from that jovial, big laughs, comradely attitude to the angry, snarling, shouting about killing everyone guy in an instant. It seems like it would be a bad idea to ever let Larry within arm's reach, simply because you couldn't be sure when he'd strike, or if he would.

And he isn't entirely wrong about Michael. He does get angry at people. Clients who won't follow orders. Bad guys who don't know when to quit. It's worth wondering if he restrains himself more now than he might have in the past because he's dealing with civilians. They aren't trained, but more critically, these problems are not usually ones of national security.

Oh, we also got to meet Campbell, Fi's paramedic boyfriend. He seems nice, friendly, naive. Polar opposite of Michael, really.