Burn Notice 3.10 - A Dark Road

Plot: So Fiona is still in Miami, healing up, and generally being an unpleasant patient for Michael. Maybe he really is that bad at stitching up wounds, I don't know. Fi asks Michael to meet with a client for her, a woman named Calia. Her husband died recently in a car accident, but it appears he may have be convinced to take part in an insurance scam, and the people responsible are pressuring Calia to sue the city. So Michael's going to have to track these guys down and take them apart. But to find them, he needs county medical records, and the lady barring the path is immune to the Sam Axe arsenal. I wasn't aware such a thing was possible, but there you go. Fortunately, Tina (Tyne Daly) just so happens to be more approachable for an older woman. Say, Madeline?

Throughout all this, Sam is trying to track down Diego's killer. Fortunately, American intelligence agencies don't suspect Michael. Strickler's phone had calls from a particular number from a hotel. When Michael arrives there, he's expected by the staff. Then the room he's directed to erupts in flames. They track the cell. . . to an abandoned marina, where Michael receives a call from a mysterious British man, who hasn't decided whether to kill Michael or not. A point he punctuates by shooting several of the seats around Mike. This also serves as a bit of a clue to his identity.

Amidst all this, Michael has gained entry into the insurance scammers' group as a new driver. His attempt to get them busted kind of blows up when they try and put one of his plans in action without him. While Michael's been frustrated that Maddy has started a friendship with Tina, it gets even worse when he forces Maddy to blackmail Tina into giving them more insurance records, which they can plant on the scammers as evidence of their crimes. Maddy has some harsh words for Michael, but he does manage to redeem himself to her by the end. He also, thanks to Sam, knows who the mysterious killer is. Unfortunately, Mason Gilroy also knows who Michael is, and where he lives. So probably best to convince him not to kill you, Mikey.

The Players: Calia (The Client), Ryan (Insurance Scammer), Connor (Big Bad "Businessman")

Quote of the Episode: Sam - 'I think your mom is a little unclear on the proper handling of intelligence assets.'

Does Fiona blow anything up? No. Give her a break, she's still recovering from a gunshot wound to the arm.

Sam Axe Drink Count: 4 (33 overall).

Sam Getting Hit Count: 0 (2 overall). Mike's the one getting hit this week. At least he gets to do a little hitting as well.

Michael's Fake Laugh Count: 2 (4 overall). He played a little more energetic character this week.

Other: Michael's alias this week is "Alex".

I find it funny all the characters we're introduced to in the recap at the beginning (O'Neill, Strickler, Diego) are dead, or gone. "Here are these guys, you might hear their names, but they won't be showing up! Ever."

I'm not sure if it is, but this felt like a very full episode. Maybe because it took time to track down Ryan and his dad, and also because the way they went about that set up another subplot with Maddy and Tina. Throw that in with trying to decipher Gilroy's identity, and there's a lot going on. Fiona is surprisingly peripheral to this episode, considering how Michael's feelings for her drove a lot of "Long Way Back". At least we do see he's glad she's safe, and still in Miami.

The whole Tina subplot is painful to watch, but in a good way. Madeline has some valid complaints about playing on this woman's sympathy so as to deceive her (though we've seen her do that with Michael numerous times), but she understands enough of what Michael's doing to agree to help. Then she finds she likes Tina and they become friends. We don't really see Maddy spend time with her friends. There were the girls over for poker once, and her aquarobics class, but other than that her life mostly seems caught in the chaotic vortex that is Michael's life. So seeing her enjoy herself makes it all the worse when she has to crush Tina. Maddy has to play it like this was the plan all along, or Tina might bluff her out, but it's wrenching for her, at least in part because it makes her understand what Michael does.

We've seen him do this, work an asset without much concern for them. Any concern he does show is to keep them from falling apart and becoming useless. And we're encouraged to go along with it, because Michael's usually trying to help people, and that sort of makes it OK. And he can justify it to himself that way, but he's has years to learn to do so. It's harder for Madeline, even though she's no stranger to tough calls for her family's sake (forging Mike's dad's signature so he could join the army).

The key to it is that Michael goes back at the end, breaks into the county records office, and messes things up to the point no one will be able to tell Tina did anything. We could see his going to Madeline as an attempt to get her to not be mad at him, which is notable enough for Mike caring about that, but I think it's more he wants her to know Tina isn't going to lose her job. It doesn't help Maddy reclaim that friendship, but she can at least feel a little less guilty. Also, it emphasizes that Michael is a good guy. He may do ugly things, but he doesn't enjoy them, he'll avoid doing them if possible, and try to make things right if he can't. It reminds me of the pilot episode, where Michael explains his philosophy about stealing cars. He will fill the gas tank, he won't make a mess, and if you're at work, he'll have it back by 5 p.m. It's a little silly, but it helped establish that Michael cares about people, at least enough to not want to inconvenience them needlessly. That might have been getting lost in his recent tunnel vision about the burn notice.