Burn Notice 5.16 - Depth Perception

Plot: Mike didn't attend Benny's funeral, but that's OK. He'll get plenty of emotional fallout from explaining to Madeline that hes' known for awhile Anson had been her substitute therapist. He also explains that Anson used what he learned there to coach Benny to be the perfect boyfriend. Way to shatter her illusions. No time to worry about that, because Michael has another meeting with Anson, who completely denies any responsibility for Benny's death. Anson wants his money, which is stashed in a flagged Cayman Islands account. Since Mike can't travel without the CIA noticing, it falls to Jesse and Fiona. Not much difficulty, they have the banker's - George Anders - entire client list, so it's a simple matter to threaten to reveal those names to convince him to make the transfer. Fi and Jesse even help George disappear (with a healthy pile of his other clients' money).

Mike's not sitting around idle. Beatriz, the young journalist Sam met in the Fall of Sam Axe is in town and one the run. One of her articles on Russian oil companies in Colombia outed a Russian spy, and now he's out for blood. Sam's hellbent on protecting her, which means Mike is, too. But for once, Michael is incapable of predicting his opponent's movements. So he calls in Anson, initially using Anson's need for Michael to be alive as a lure. Unfortunately, it doesn't take long for Anson to turn things around, and before you know it, he's doing a ride along, pestering Michael with questions about his motivations and justifications. Not that I haven't wondered if Michael feels guilt for the innocent people whose careers are ruined by his chicanery, but I damn well don't want to hear Anson bring it up.

Mike gets stonewalled by the local FSB bunch, who are well aware of who he is, and his attempt to trap Oscar fails miserably. Fortunately, Anson holds the key to bringing Oscar in, and the head FSB guy proves a little more receptive by this point. Of course, Anson had his reasons. His solution was to have Beatriz declared a Russian agent herself, which means Sam is a close friend of a Russian agent, which blows his meeting with the deputy director of the FBI all to hell, which saves Anson's bacon. Which leaves Fiona contemplating going on the run again, and Michael really doesn't have any plan at this stage.

The Players: Anson (The Man Who Framed Michael), George Anders (Scummy Banker), Agent Harris (Sam's FBI "Buddy"), Beatriz (Sam's Old Friend), Oscar (Russian Spy Hunting Beatriz)

Quote of the Episode: Anson - 'You're done by the end of the month, Michael. I promise. In the meantime, remember actions have consequences. Just ask your mother.'

Does Fiona blow anything up? Nope. Gets to light a car on fire, though.

Sam Axe Drink Count: 3 (23 overall).

Sam Getting Hit Count: 0 (7 overall)

Michael's Fake Laugh Count: 0 (11 overall). There was a laugh in there, but it wasn't fake, so much as slightly hysterical.

Other: Michael passes himself off as Dmitri Malkin for a good three minutes.

This episode had a lot of Anson in it, so no, I didn't enjoy it. He's such an incredibly smug dick about everything, that every moment he's not getting punched or shot is an irritation. Unfortunately, that's all the moments he's on screen. I guess it's a credit to Fiona's confidence in Michael that she doesn't go ahead and shoot Anson. She trusts Michael will find the way out, because he always does.

She really ought to shoot Anson, though. His arrogance practically demands it. Or let Maddy do it. I don't care.

Seriously, though, at least Brennan and Larry accepted responsibility for their killing. Anson tries to act as though he had nothing to do with the bomb that killed Benny, as though Michael sent it. One more thing for me to hate about him.

I find it strange that Michael, who has gone up against any number of trained agents over the course of this series, it consistently flummoxed by this guy. I could accept Mike having trouble deducing his identity, but after that, no. I mean, how hard is it to find the guy? He's after Beatriz. If you go where she is, you will find him. And frankly, Oscar is a lousy sniper. All those shots he fired and the best he could do was get Beatriz with a little shrapnel. Pardon me for not being impressed. For that matter, what does killing Beatriz even accomplish? The story is already published. He's outed, killing her gets him nowhere. I guess it's revenge, but if that's the case, why bother trying to touch base with Ivan? He'd only do that if he thought he could get back in, and killing a reporter is hardly going to help.

And given all that, the solution is pretty ugly. Tell Oscar all's forgiven, come on home, then shoot him in the head. That wasn't even Anson's suggestion, it was Mike's. Not happy with anyone in this episode.