Burn Notice 4.17 - Out of the Fire

Plot: Marv's dead, Brennen has the list, Jesse very badly wants to kill Brennen. So Mike sends him off to talk to his old agency, and lie about what Marv was up to, so they stay out of the way. Jesse does not love this plan, especially since it means Marv's family can't know the truth. Maddy ultimately takes care of that with an anonymous phone call.

In the meantime, Mike's got problems. Brennen wants Mike to kill the people on the list, and make Brennen lots of cash. If Mike doesn't comply, Brennen also has Mike's interview with Marv, which he will send to Vaughn. And just to make sure Mike doesn't pull anything, Brennen's hired Dead Larry to watch over him.

While Larry and Mike learn the identity of their first deadee - one Albert Machado - by breaking into a courthouse, Sam and Fi try to track Brennan with his phone. Except he has some doohickus that makes this impossible. Upside, only a man named Alfred could have hooked him up with it, and after some prodding from Fi (following a surprise visit through a skylight), he reveals he installed a safe for Brennen as well. Great! Bad news, it has a biometric lock, so you ain't getting in without Brennen.

Good thing Larry's there after all. See Brennen's management style needs a little work, and while he's busy not giving Michael time to make plans, he's ignoring the ones Larry makes. Like, reverting to the original plan to kill Machado (Michael had convinced Brennen to go with kidnapping instead), or getting Michael to tell what he's got planned. Oh, and killing Brennen. Which means Vaughn's gonna get that conversation, which means Mike has to go to war with Larry at his side, right? Well, Mike thought about it, and he'd rather fight alongside his friends and Larry can go straight to jail.

The Players: Tyler Brennen (Very Interested in Michael), Larry (Michael's Biggest Fan/Spy with Nine Lives), Albert Machado (Dirty IMF Official/Part of the Organization that Burned Michael)

Quote of the Episode: Brennen - '$122,654.37. That's how much I've spent in the last year keeping tabs on my favorite burned spy.' Michael - 'Thanks?'

Does Fiona blow anything up? She blasts the wall the safe was set in so they can steal it.

Sam Axe Drink Count: 1 (41 overall)

Sam Getting Hit Count: 0 (9 overall). He had a little scuffle with Mike, but it was a ploy, and nothing but shoving, anyway.

Michael's Fake Laugh Count: 2 (5 overall).

Other: Mike used no alias, but Larry was briefly Tom Nickerson.

I assume Jesse was being rhetorical when he said he would get Brennen to tell how he made Marv flip. Marv admitted Brennen threatened him and his family right before he was shot.

I question Michael leaving Larry for the police. No, Larry doesn't want to die in a hail of gunfire, but you'd need a lot of cops - say, two dozen - before I'd peg Larry as the underdog.

Even when he lets Larry drive his car, Mike still won't wear a seat belt.

I like that Maddy is less convinced of the magic healing powers of the truth than Jesse. There's been a lot of ugliness in her life that it wouldn't help anyone to have aired. At the same time, she sees it means a lot to Jesse, so regardless of her misgivings, she helps out. Because maybe he's right, and it will bring some comfort to Marv's family.

Michael's angry look, the one Larry was so happy to see, is ridiculous. He looks more pouty than anything else.

I like how, after Larry says he'd kill for a bone saw, there's a beat where Mike looks at him. With Larry, it always pays to confirm whether he's serious or not.

I'm disappointed the Super Villain Team-Up didn't last longer. Not surprised, I mean, Larry wasn't going to leave Brennen alive if he managed his double cross, and I doubt Brennen would have spared Larry when the time came. I wonder if Brennen's mistake wasn't getting too invested in Michael. The advantage he's always had is that his battles with Westen weren't personal. Mike was a potentially useful asset, or he was an obstacle, but nothing critical either way. Brennen could have just taken the list, hired Larry to do the killing, and left it at that. Worst case scenario, if Mike gets wind of it that Larry's around, use the debriefing to keep him at bay. But once he specifically decided Michael would carry out the killings, he had to start concentrating on not letting Michael pull a fast one on him. And while Brennen may believe in compartmentalization, he failed to put someone in charge of watching Larry, while Brennen was busy watching Michael.

Sorry to see Brennen go. I loved the smarmy attitude Jay Karnes brought to that role. He even sent Nate a Christmas card! I would love to see Nate's reaction to getting that in the mail.

Now it's time to prepare for the Wrath of Vaughn. As far as it goes, I'd be more concerned about a woman scorned, or Montezuma's Revenge, but that's me.