Burn Notice: Fast Friends by BJ

At the end of “Friends and Enemies” Michael learned that he’d inadvertently contributed to the burning of another agent—Jesse. Working with Jesse brings Michael deeper into Vaughn’s web, but Michael has no choice. How can he live with the consequences of knowing he helped burn another operative?

Sam and Michael are clearly at odds over Michael’s working relationship with Vaughn. When Michael explains that he is compelled to work with Vaughn, Sam reluctantly comes on board.

When Michael meets with Vaughn, he learns that Jesse was released by the FBI. Michael is in possession of Jesse’s files. He is stunned when Vaughn casually mentions that Jesse will be sent some place remote. Michael insists that he be put in charge of Jesse and Vaughn agrees.

Fiona is as reluctant as Sam, warning Michael of the dangers involved. Fiona proves she, too, is on board when she helps Michael stage a break in so that Michael can track phone records and discover who Jesse has been calling. Fiona stages an explosion, pulling the security guard away from their scent.

Michael, Sam, and Fiona track Jesse to a meeting and help him to escape a trap. They break up the meeting by engineering an explosion, and Jesse gets away. When Michael approaches Vaughn for help, he tersely tells Michael to handle the Vaughn situation on his own. He doesn’t have long to wait. Jesse appears, asking Michael for help.

And so their adventure together begins…

When Jesse and Michael have partnered up, Jesse confesses that there is someone after him, a character named Kahn. They agree to try to set Kahn up, with Michael using Jesse as a leverage point. Kahn isn’t easily swayed and Michael needs to use Jesse again to gain Kahn’s trust. In a dramatic shootout, Michael manages to sway Kahn when he “saves the day.” and Kahn’s life.

After this stunt, Kahn agrees to work with Michael to transport some weapons and eventually to eliminate Jesse. Kahn falls easily into line, though his lieutenant is a bit more skeptical. Soon, the lieutenant is under control and everything seems to go according to plan.

There is a high-speed chase and Kahn and his cronies are arrested. They seem to be taken care of, and the case has ended. Or has it?

The next day, Michael is unable to reach Jesse, and he and Fiona realize that things don’t seem to be adding up. Then, Michael realizes that Kahn is out of jail and Jesse is being tortured. Fiona and Michael put their heads together and devise a way to save Jesse, relying on his intellect and instincts, and hoping Jesse’s instincts will serve them all well. Jesse performs more than admirably and Kahn and his lieutenant helpfully eliminate each other.

Vaughn offers to help Michael get information out of Jesse, and the implication is clear that the timeline is tight. Michael won’t have any problem finding Jesse—he’s Madeline’s new renter. And he isn’t giving up his quest to find out who burned him. When Jesse finds who burned him, he’s vowed to kill him.

This was another absorbing and very intriguing episode. The idea of the threesome becoming a four-person team changes the dynamics in all sorts of ways, and I’m very interested to see where the show goes with this new development. The episode was another strong one, full of character development and tense action.

The tension was broken with a great comic scene. Madeline has texted Michael and Sam, sending them a message that she needs help. When they arrive, they find her slumped unmoving in a chair, but she is only listening to headphones. There is no actual danger, she is just converting the garage into an apartment.

By Michael taking some initiative with Jesse, he can control the situation with Jesse and help him, much as Fiona and Sam did with Michael in the early days of his burning. The parallels between the two situations are handled deftly.

Seeing the newly burned Jesse brought interesting character development to Michael. I couldn’t help but hearken back to the early days of the series and the constant adrenaline rush of “what now” that we saw in the very early episodes. The contrast of Michael having friends nearby when he was burned and Jesse having to seek out help added an interesting layer to the story.

Sam and Michael are on opposite ends of the scale here; Michael’s responsibility warring with Sam’s desire to guard the status quo. I have a feeling we may see Sam’s reticence show up in later episodes.

We don’t know how, or even if, Jesse will fit into the team. That is all left very much up in the air. There is an interesting connection and chemistry between Fiona and Jesse, Jesse and Madeline, and Jesse and Michael and Sam.

Is it Thursday yet? I’m ready to return to Miami!