Burn Notice 4.18 - Last Stand

Plot: Vaughn's in Miami. He wants to list, he knows Michael has it. Mike, Fi, and Jesse plan to hide it in a nuclear facility, where presumably even Vaughn can't get it, but he's using every law enforcement agency in the country to hunt for them. Which is how they wind up in a half-finished hotel, trying to hold off a heavily armed team. Oh, and Jesse took a piece of rebar through the leg.

Sam and Maddy are trying to convince Congressman Bill Cowley (last seen 4.7, "Past and Future Tense") to believe them and get them some help. That's not going well, at least until Cowley makes a call. Suddenly, the authorities are looking for him. For his protection, you understand. So Cowley's on board. By then, Mike and Fi have devised a plan to lure Vaughn and his boys in, the blow them to hell. About time you went with lethal force, guys. Too bad Vaughn's guys captured Maddy, which kind of short-circuits that plan. At that point, Mike decides to play kamikaze decoy so Jesse and Fi can escape with the list. Like Fiona was going to let Michael do that alone. Fortunately, the Army (or somebody in desert camo) shows up just in time to keep them from having to explode themselves. Vaughn gets arrested, Jesse and Maddy get medical attention, Jesse slips the list back to Michael, who promptly gets escorted away by guys in suits.

Who interrogate him for a week before dumping him off in front of an office building in Washington D.C., to be met by some guy he knows, but I've never seen before.

The Players: Vaughn (Guy Who Burned Michael/Not Michael's Pal)

Quote of the Episode: Vaughn - 'I gave you the chance to be my friend. Time after time, but that's over. Now you're gonna see what it's like to have me for an enemy.'

Does Fiona blow anything up? Kinda sorta. She made a charge to damage a water main, but Mike ended up using to to turn the Charger into a roadblock. That poor car, he treats it so badly.

Sam Axe Drink Count: 0 (41 overall).

Sam Getting Hit Count: 0 (9 overall).

Michael's Fake Laugh Count: 0 (5 overall). He did genuinely laugh, though. Right as he and Fi were about to blow themselves up.

Other: Sam didn't get to shoot Larry last week, which I had mixed feelings about. I like Dead Larry, but it it's hardly fair the Fi got to shoot Carla, and Jesse got to shoot (through) Mike, but Sam never gets to shoot people he hates. Anyway, this week he got to punch Vaughn's lights out, which was pretty satisfying.

I'm not sure about Vaughn as a suddenly imposing enemy. Part of the problem is that, as he said, he's tried to be Mike's friend this season. Carla tried to demonstrate her power by actively making Mike's life difficult. Disrupting his other work, siccing Victor on him, throwing Nate in jail. Management went the other way, showing his power by letting Mike struggle without it as support. Now the cops would come calling about explosions, now his old enemies could find him. It's actually occurred to me that might be how Simon was able to tell Gilroy where to find him.

Neither of those tactics worked, as Mike just kept on doing as he pleased. So Vaughn tried to buddy up to him, make them allies, rather than adversaries. It makes sense, but the problem is, it keeps Vaughn from appearing like a credible threat until suddenly, the plot demands he be one. The were two times prior to this we've really seen Vaughn flex his muscle. In the first episode of Season 4, when he and Mike traveled to the jungle to interrogate Michael Ironside. Vaughn's tactics accomplished nothing, it was Michael's attention to detail that saw important paperwork, and kept them from being killed by the lousy CGI drone. The second time was when Vaughn tried crashing the Bible trade with Barrett. For all his alleged power, he and his guys couldn't get past a dozen or so of Barrett's men. All he did was screw things up, leading to the situation where Jesse gets to shoot Michael to save him.

Now all of the sudden, he's decided to get serious, and he's actually almost effective. Maybe it's because he's had time to study his predecessors' mistakes, or maybe he's just smarter than Carla and Management, but he's a bit more wise to Michael's tricks. Not wise enough, or he'd have kept better tabs on Sam, but still better. It's a curious blind spot the antagonists seem to have. They all focus on Michael so much they forget his friends are running around working to thwart them as well. They wouldn't run with Michael Westen if they couldn't keep up, bad guys. Brennen and Larry got that, especially Brennen, maybe because they're used to dealing with things on a more personal level. They have to take care of their own details, they don't have people to do it for them. They just lacked the resources to completely neutralize these particular details.

Vaughn gave it a good try at any rate. Even had one of his boys hit Maddy. It's funny that I guess he was supposed to hit her on the back of the head, but he really whacked her on the neck/upper back. Then again, who feels good about hitting the elderly? Even Vaughn's guys have families.

Which reminds me, I liked the poor guy on the roof who served as Mike's counterweight. He knew when to fold 'em, so he copped to having zip ties rather than get shot in the leg. He didn't try anything while bound, just because Mike was preoccupied with the sniper. Unless you count telling Mike what he was up against and why he should pack it in. He's no wild fanatic or true believer, just a guy who had a job, to stop Michael Westen. He failed, it happens, live to do soldiering for hire another day.