Episode Title: "Friends and Enemies"
Writer: Matt Nix
Director: Tim Matheson
Previously on "Burn Notice":
Michael Westen (Jeffrey Donovan) was on the run from the Miami-Dade Police and the FBI. He was later confronted by a rogue agent named Simon (Garret Dillahunt), who threatened to destroy Miami if Michael didn't help him trap Management (John Mahoney). Fiona (Gabrielle Anwar) and Sam (Bruce Campbell) rallied around Michael after determining that Simon would follow through on his threat. However, Michael's mother, Madeline Westen (Sharon Gless) was in FBI custody and confronted with the crimes that Michael was falsely accused of before he was burned.
Simon was successfully able to kidnap Management, casually killing several people along the way. Michael caught up to him and managed to defeat him, but he was unable to flee before the police arrived. After being told by Management that he had "a bright future ahead," Michael was taken to a secret facility and found himself in an intricately decorated living room.
Story:
Immediately following last season's cliffhanger, Michael is briefed by Vaughn (Robert Wisdom), a representative of Management who seems grateful for his aid in apprehending Simon. He attempts to recruit Michael to their organization and shows him an intelligence report that gives him an indication of a threat that is behind a series of assassinations, crop burnings and several small wars around the world. Intrigued, Michael goes on a mission with Vaughn in the jungle to track down a weapons supplier named Gregory Hart (Michael Ironside). However, before he can offer any information, Hart is killed by an unmanned Drone that wounds Vaughn, who narrowly escapes with Michael.
After returning to Miami, Vaughn once again makes his case for Michael's assistance. Michael seems to agree, but demands that the investigation be done his way. Released by Vaughn, Michael visits his mother and then Fiona. While Fiona is happy to see Michael, she immediately drags him into a case that she and Sam are working on: a lawyer named Winston (Rich Sommer) has run afoul of a motorcycle gang and is about to be killed. Michael calmly threatens the bikers surrounding Winston's home and gets them to leave.
Back at the loft, Michael and Fiona have a more heartfelt reunion, but she seems upset that he has agreed to work with Management. Realizing that Winston will be killed unless the bikers have a reason to let him live, Michael arranges for Winston's finances to be tied into the biker gang's resources. For her part, Fiona goes undercover at the biker's favorite bar and escapes with their financial records.
Armed with fake proof, Michael, Sam and Winston confront the leader of the biker gang, Big Ed (Andrew Bryniarski) who is convinced to deal. However, some of his subordinates in the gang try to kill him when he attempts to pardon Winston. Fiona lures the rest of the gang to Michael after an extended chase, where Big Ed stomps the men who turned on him and officially makes Winston a member of the gang. Winston is later seen getting the gang's symbol tattooed on his arm.
In the aftermath, Michael returns to his new primary investigation. He infiltrates a counter-intelligence facility and steels information on the group backing Hart. He manages to elude the FBI, but another spy named Jesse Porter (Coby Bell) receives the blame and is quickly arrested. Michael is stunned to learn that he has inadvertently burned another spy...
Breakdown:
Thank God "Burn Notice" is back.
There aren't enough good action shows on TV and this summer was getting pretty dull...
The new setup for this season's storyline is intriguing, as Michael seems to be getting deeper into the camp of Management. Robert Wisdom's Vaughn may turn out to be another villain down the line, but he's very likable here. Wisdom is able to make his character both sincere and slippery at the same time.
The opening sequence in the jungle was also a standout moment and may be a hint of a larger scale to come. Likewise, Michael Ironside's cameo was welcome, but it felt kind of wasted when he was killed barely a minute after appearing for the first time. Watching this sequence reminded me that Michael is a very classically defined hero. He can't even let Vaughn die in the shootout even though he could have escaped without him. That's not a Jack Bauer mentality.
The A plot with Management was so interesting, that the B plot with the biker gang was kind of tedious by comparison. I appreciate that the show has a budget and can't go global all of the time, but it seemed so small compared to the rest of the episode. There were some fun moments with Fiona undercover in the bar and Winston's reluctant acceptance of his newfound biker status. But it just wasn't as exciting as the opening minutes of the show.
However, the episode did a great job of bringing up the emotional stakes between Michael and his friends. His first reunion with Fiona is comically underplayed, while the second one was more forceful and actually dealt with their mutual anger over what happened. Michael's last scene with his mother also broke some new ground in their relationship, as all of his secrets are out now. She knows what he does and that he's scared that he will turn into someone like Simon.
The ending of the episode was also well done, as it basically places Michael in the opposite position from his place in the pilot. Being responsible for burning another spy is one of the worst things that Michael could have done to anyone, so it will be interesting to see how he will respond to this in the weeks to come.
Aside from the opening sequence, Michael's best scene in the episode came when he stared down the bikers outside of Winston's home. With a few shots and some effective bluffing, Michael demonstrated that he's finally back in the game.
And I wouldn't have it any other way.
Crave Online Rating: 8 out of 10
