Burn Notice 5.2 - Bloodlines

Plot: Mike and Fi took a vacation! To a military training facility in Costa Rica. Not ideal, but it still counts. When they return to Miami, Mike has a new assignment. He's to babysit a British physicist and make sure he doesn't get compromised. Doesn't sound too hard, except Carson is a drunken lecher. Think Sam with none of the wit, charm, or self-control.

In the meantime, Jesse has brought the group a client. Ryoko believes her cousin and many other girls were abducted by a slavery ring, but they're somewhere in Miami, based on a brief call her cousin managed to make off a stolen phone. Jesse's company tracked the phone to a Yakuza named Takeda. They catch Takeda, but he's a tough nut to crack, a guy who cut off his own finger because he feel asleep on sentry duty once. Torture isn't gonna work, which means someone has to be his friend. Jesse, Fi, and Sam are out since they caught him, and Michael's playing the big bad boss, so that leaves Maddy to play the terrified nurse.

And Mike really lays into her, dredges up some ugly and uncomfortable history to make her seem like someone Takeda could trust. And it works. Maddy helps him escape, he tells her where to find his compatriots, the girls are saved. While all this was going on, Fiona has been keeping busy scaring Carson into being a faithful husband again. No telling how long that'll last, but if it sticks until the end of the conference, that's good enough.

The episode ends on Michael asking Fiona to move into the loft with him. Well that's a surprise.

The Players: Max (Michael's Agency Contact), Carson Huxley (Valuable Asset), Ryoko (The Client), Takeda (Yakuza Gangster). Is "Yakuza Gangster" redundant? Aren't the Yakuza the Japanese equivalent, like manga means comics so you don't say "manga comics"?

Quote of the Episode: Sam - 'Oh no - no, the blouse will sell.' Maddy - 'A punch will sell it better.' Mike - 'I'm not gonna hit you, Mom.'

Does Fiona blow anything up? No.

Sam Axe Drink Count: 0 (2 overall). Really seems to be cutting back.

Sam getting Hit Count: 0 (0 overall).

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

Other: Even though he played two different characters, I'm not sure we heard Mike's alias either time.

Jesse cleans up really well. I should have noticed that last year, since he worse suits occasionally, but he was usually dressed kind of like Sam, baggy shirts and shorts. Plus, i was probably distracted by his strange accents.

I was very surprised to Fiona chase Takeda on foot. Usually she left that to Mike or Jesse, while she used a car. This time Jesse was the wheelman.

I like that, since this episode is a reprise of "Comrades" (episode 2.4), they didn't ignore that. Maddy wants to know how Mike would get Takeda to lead him to the girls, and Sam explains how he staged an escape. He doesn't directly mention Ivan, but if you've been following the show, you know what they're referencing.

It was strange to see Takeda offering Maddy comfort and support. Obviously he's doing it because he needs her to pull it together and get him out of here, but it's still a strange contrast to Michael's verbal abuse. And physical, let's not forget the slap. I don't think Maddy turned her head. Either her reflexes weren't fast enough, or she really wanted to sell it.

I had never considered whether Frank hit Madeline. We know he hit Michael and Nate, because we heard the story of the Christmas family portrait, where Michael picked a fight with Frank to protect Nate. So I shouldn't be surprised abusive behavior would extend to Maddy as well. I simply hadn't thought about it, but it would explain a lot about her cavalier attitude towards Frank's death (her joke once that using his death to get insurance files was the first time he'd been helpful in 30 years).

The way everyone else was really uncomfortable during those scenes helped sell how awkward it was. Nobody wants to look at Mike or Maddy, nobody says anything. Considering Mike was apparently channeling his father, it makes sense it felt like an ugly family moment. One where nobody else knows what to say, so they all just wait and hope it blows over. I expected Fiona to intervene at one point, if only for Maddy to have to tell them to stop coddling her. They do that a lot for how often she helps them. She's chipped in more often than Nate, but they always feel it necessary to extra explain everything to her. Trust her, people. She's a tough old bird.

The Carson subplot was uninteresting, just sort of there. Mostly it made me wonder if Mike was happy he was on his way to getting his old job back, if this is what it entails. His personal cases are much more interesting.