Burn Notice 5.8 - Hard Out

Plot: Michael needs information on the man who set the bomb. Fiona knows someone who can help, an arms dealer named Armand. But he'll want something in return. The "something" is for Fi to steal him a truck full of armor piercing rounds, which she does with an assist from Sam and Maddy. Armand gives her the name, but twists the knife by telling her those rounds were purchased by a rival of his, and already promised to a Mexican cartel. So that guy died ugly because of Fi. Armand's a real swell guy, as you can see.

Where was Michael during all this? Off with Agent Pearce to track down a dweeb named Cahill. Cahill stole some files with the locations of Agency safe houses, and he's selling them to an oil group that will use mercenaries to wipe those locations out, so they can quietly move in and do their thing. I feel as though I missed something about the plan. Wouldn't the Agency simply establish a new safe house somewhere nearby, if the area is so relevant to their interests?

Regardless, Cahill's already handed the files over to the chief merc by the time they catch him, and there's no way off the island past the private army. Except for Michael to convince the private army he's on their side, and that they have a serious security breach. Which he does, and he rides that lie all the way back home, with the files and the chief merc. Course, he's completely oblivious to how bad Fi is feeling throughout their dinner with Maddy's new boyfriend(?!), which means we may be moving into those relationship trouble waters again. Put on your severe weather gear.

The Players: Armand ("Friend" To Those In Need), Agent Pearce (Michael's CIA Handler), Steve Cahill (Target For Extraction), Miles Vanderwaal (Sadistic Mercenary)

Quote of the Episode: Armand - 'No price. My help is free. All I ask is one small favor.'

Does Fiona blow anything up? She triggers the sprinklers in an office with a smoke bomb, which triggers a sodium bomb hidden in a gift basket, which blows up said office.

Sam Axe Drink Count: 1 (11 overall).

Sam Getting Hit Count: 0 (7 overall). Upon reflection, I should have made this the Michael Gets Hit Count. It happens to him a lot more often, though Sam tends to get pummeled in flurries.

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

Other: Once again, no alias for Michael. He's simply stopped using fake names.

Armand looks like a bad guy out of a '90s action flick. I think it's the ponytail combined with the Pat Riley, slicked back hair look. I'm not sure why he would try to convince Fiona to come with, while having her do something that gets a man killed. I suppose he thinks if she went with him, she'd never need to know about that, and if she doesn't, well, it's a little something he can savor. Vanderwaal wasn't the only sadist in this episode.

"To supportive partners" is the worst toast ever, Michael.

Off the top of your head, can you think of a story where someone says, "If you're going to shoot me, then shoot me" (or something to that effect), and is then shot? It seems to be a tactic that doesn't backfire as often as it should. Kind of like the "act willing to walk away" strategy (which Sam employed in this episode). It only has to backfire once to ensure you never use it again, though, so maybe that's why it works. If it does, you keep using it. If it doesn't, you're probably dead and won't be using any tactics again ever. Still not the best idea to dare Vanderwaal to do it three times within a limited span.

That being said, this was a nice bit: "One of two things will happen now. Version 1: You will take over for Commander Sticky Fingers here, and my boss will shower you with cash. Version 2: You will eat a bullet right after I do!"

There was a point where Michael, Pearce, and Jesse are observing Cahill hand over the files, and I'm pretty sure Pearce's dialogue was shot at an entirely different place than the other two. For one thing, the lighting is completely different. For another so are the plants. It looks like hers was shot indoors, which is kind of funny. Did her schedule just not work out, or was she allergic to something they were supposed to crouch in?

I have a feeling Ben (Maddy's new guy) is gonna be hard to deal with. He's too much good old boy, with the bad jokes and all. Maybe he's supposed to be trying hard to make a good impression.