Burn Notice 4.2 - Fast Friends

Plot: Michael has all those files he stole at the end of last week, but it translates into a few thousand pages of stuff. What's more, Jesse Porter, the man those files belonged to, and the one Michael got burned, is trying to learn who burned him. Michael keeps Vaughn from having Jesse killed or thrown in a secret prison by saying he'll befriend Jesse and use him as an asset. It takes a bit of breaking and entering - and then a lot more breaking once they've entered - to accomplish that, but they find Jesse. Unfortunately, an old enemy of Jesse's found him, too, and Jesse's bolts before they can approach.

Good news, Jesse found Mike in hopes of getting some help with his problem. Seems Jesse helped a criminal by the name of Ming Khan move himself and his money to America in exchange for certain information, and couple million dollars went missing along the way. Michael adopts the, "get Khan busted doing something illegal" strategy, and presents himself as another person with a grudge against Porter. He can get them weapons, if Khan's willing to pay. After some initial reluctance (and an off-script mock attack by Jesse on Khan's home), Khan ignores his right-hand man's advice and goes for it. And promptly gets busted with a grenade launcher. Good thing he has friends in the DEA. Too bad Jesse didn't know about that before he went back to his apartment. It's going to take a little magic from Barry, and Jesse actually following the script for once to get Porter out of this one alive.

There's also a subplot about Madeline taking in a boarder in the garage, out of a desire to have more stable people around her. You can imagine how long that lasts. Well, the boarder part is gonna stick, the stable part depends on what you think of Jesse, I suppose.

The Players: Vaughn (Michael's New Pal), Jesse (The Spy Michael Burned/The Client), Khan (The Psycho Hunting Jesse), Lee (Khan's Number Two)

Quote of the Episode: Lee - 'So when we find Jesse,, we're just supposed to what, share him?' "Turner" - 'That's what we learned in kindergarten.'

Does Fiona blow anything up? An office in that financial center service.

Sam Axe Drink Count: 1 (2 overall).

Sam Getting Hit Count: 0 (1 overall).

Michael's Fake Laugh Count: 0 (0 overall)

Other: Michael's alias this week is Turner. The voice is kind of interesting, it sounds like he has a throat cold. Kind of congested, but not with a runny nose. I also like the ill-fitting suit. Less high-end than his usual outfits.

Chalk up Khan as another case of the bad guys taking care of each other.

Jesse's a bit of a cowboy. Does what he thinks is right, regardless of the consequences, and does it his way. No wonder he and Fiona hit it off so well. Given Jesse's similarities with Fiona, it isn't surprising he and Sam would butt heads. Fi is more inclined to stick to plans than Jesse. She does have more experience with Sam's tactical sense, though, so it works.

I laughed when Maddy referred to her sun room as a 'solarium', especially since she was busting Sam's chops about blowing it up. I also laughed at Jesse's dive over the hedges at the end of his attack on Khan's place. It looked like he would just belly flop on the other side.

I like a lot of the parts of this episode, but they don't fit together well somehow. Maybe if they'd given the subplot about Maddy and her boarder more time to breathe before they stuck Jesse at her place. As it is, it comes off a seriously contrived way to put Jesse there for awhile without having to explain it further.