Episode Title: "Out of the Fire"
Writer: Craig O'Neill
Director: Marc Roskin
Previously on "Burn Notice":
Michael Westen (Jeffrey Donovan) and Jesse Porter (Coby Bell) decided to use the recovered NOC list (containing the identities of the people who burned Michael) as a way to get their names cleared with the government. Using Jesse's former handler, Marv (Richard Kind) as a go-between, Michael went on the record about his experiences and offered up everything he knew about the organization that tried to enlist him.
However, Marv apparently betrayed Michael and Jesse before he was shot and killed by two armed men who accompanied him to their final meeting. As a car sped off with the NOC list, Michael got a good look at the man in the car who was responsible for the latest turn of events: Tyler Brennen (Jay Karnes), an old enemy who he described to Jesse as "his worst nightmare."
Story:
Later, Jesse mourns his friend's death and constantly plays with his gun, which unnerves Sam Axe (Bruce Campbell). Michael convinces Jesse to stand down for now and to lie to the CIA agents when they come to investigate Marv's death. Michael and Sam then take a meeting with an unbelievably smug Brennen, who admits to having Michael's team under surveillance for months before making his move. With the threat of sending Michael's audio file with Marv to Vaughn, Brennen blackmails Michael into killing the people on the NOC list. And to keep Michael in line, he brings in "Dead" Larry Sizemore (Tim Matheson).
Michael and Sam pretend to have a falling out over Larry's involvement, which allows Sam to slip away. Meanwhile, Jesse feeds his former colleagues at the CIA a story about Marv working a drug case off the books and later tells Madeline (Sharon Gless) that he wants to tell Marv's family the truth. While preparing for his first hit for Brennen, Michael learns that Larry has his own plans for the NOC list. They sneak into a federal courthouse and learn the name of their first target: Albert Machado, Meanwhile, Sam and Fiona Glenanne (Gabrielle Anwar) interrogate a man who sold Brennen his security system for the list.
Larry and Michael come to an understanding that they want to lull Brennen into a comfort zone before escaping his control. But Brennen pulls the rug on both of them by forcing them to put the hit on Albert immediately. Michael successfully lobbies for a kidnapping instead of a murder, but Larry kills Albert and fatally stabs Brennen for good measure. Wanting to restart his partnership with Michael, Larry orders him to say goodbye to Fiona and Sam. Michael agrees, but speaks in code to warn them about what's really happening. As Larry and Michael drive to Brennen's hideout to retrieve the NOC list, Fiona and Jesse beat them to it.
When Michael and Larry arrive, Sam holds Larry at bay with a sniper riffle and allows Michael to escape ahead of the police. Shortly thereafter, the team realizes that they have to prepare for war against Vaughn, since there is no way to stop the audio file from being sent without Brennen. Madeline offers Jesse some small comfort by telling him that she contacted Marv's family and told them that he died a hero. Elsewhere, Fiona expresses her dissatisfaction to Michael about what little they have to live for even if they do survive Vaughn's pending assault. But Michael has no answer for her.
Breakdown:
This was actually the first episode of the season to truly utilize the B-storyline that's played out all year and finally move it to the forefront. No more rescuing little girls from drug dealers or fighting mad bombers, this is the payoff and "Burn Notice" did not disappoint.
The only bad thing to come out of this installment is that Brennen is very, very dead, which means that Jay Karnes can't come back to the series outside of any possible flashbacks. And that is definitely a shame, as he showed a much different side of his personality than his character Dutch on "The Shield" ever let him convey. Brennen was a lot of fun to watch and he was also one or the more formidable recurring adversaries on the show. Even though this is his end, it's somehow fitting that it came at the hands of another classic "Burn Notice" villain; "Dead" Larry.
For all of Michael's protests, he and Larry do actually make a great team. Their courthouse infiltration was sublime and hilarious and they had a really strong chemistry while testing each other's loyalty to Brennen and to each other. Tim Matheson is actually a great TV director (in addition to his role as Larry), so I was a little disappointed that he didn't direct this episode as well. But Marc Roskin's direction was solid and this was one of the best episodes of the season.
The Michael and Fiona relationship is coming to a boil at an interesting time too. I wouldn't have guessed that Fiona had any real desire to plan out her future with Michael. She's more like a bomb first, bomb later kind of woman. Literally. I don't quite buy that she's looking to settle down, but she does have a reason to be pissed at Michael: he doesn't really take her feelings into account most of the time.
With everything else firing on all cylinders, I found the bit with Jesse and Madeline to be somewhat tiresome. Jesse's grief over Marv was at least understandable and believable (although he should have been angry at Marv's betrayal too), but the idea that Madeline called Marv's family was really pushing it. Spy mom really did that?! That's just a bad dramatic decision. Jesse was the only character who really knew Marv, so it should have been him to make that call. And we should have seen that moment. Otherwise, it just came off as a chance to make Madeline look good by comparison. Or it was just something for her to do, which wasn't necessary.
But in the end, the rest of it worked. So, on to the finale!
Crave Online Rating: 9 out of 10.
