Burn Notice: Where There's Smoke by BJ

In "Where There’s Smoke," the women in Michael’s life face danger in very different ways, with somewhat surprising revelations along the way.

When Michael and Jesse need Madeline’s help to infiltrate a bank, they find she’s reluctant to help without a great deal of information. The two men work together to set her at ease, figuring she will only get a slap on the wrist. Madeline’s task is to set up an account at the bank, and the light a cigarette inside the safety deposit area and set the sensors and alarms off, thus giving Michael and Jesse time to acquire vital intel.

While Maddie’s smoking does set the alarm systems off, she is subsequently taken into custody. Michael worries that he might be compromised, but Madeline is able to wiggle out of any potential problems by turning her emotions on. Now that Michael and Jesse have the intel they need, they can put their plan into action.

Fiona and Sam are set to be security at a very exclusive luxury party. Businessman Christian and his wife, Sarah, are distantly professional and the husband explains that he’s worried that his company’s new project might be stolen. Fiona and Sam are tasked with watching over things so that nobody at the party gets near the new item—a very high-end battery.

Things don’t go quite according to plan. As Sam and Fiona are familiarizing themselves with the layout and information, Fiona spies some intruders moving in. She takes Sarah and hides in the bathroom, warning Sam of the impending trouble. But instead of the gunmen going for the battery, they make a beeline for the women, taking first Sarah, and then Fiona, who assures them her husband is quite wealthy.

The gunmen lay down such fire that Sam can only retreat for his own safety.

Sam calls in Jesse and Mike and asks for their help. The men are unsure if this is a targeted attack against Fi or a more generalized kidnapping attempt. In any event, they need more information before they can determine what individuals have the ladies and what they might want.

When a webcam call comes in from Sarah, Fiona is able to get a coded message to Michael and company that after a ransom is paid, the kidnappers plan to kill the ladies. This makes the situation all the more dire.

Fiona uses her cool under pressure to manipulate the kidnappers and gathers some items that could assist in their escape. She also convinces Sarah to role-play along with her and create some angst between them, to further distract the kidnappers.

It becomes clear that Christian has set up payment for his wife’s freedom, going directly against Michael’s orders. Michael and Jesse have a heated exchange, where Jesse learns Christian played him. Christian’s move has put both women in even more danger.

Fiona continues to use ingenuity and thinking outside the box to get the men the information they need to find her. She continues to bond with her captor, getting him to let his guard down. In a tense moment, she asks him to shoot her and get the act over with, but has rigged an explosion to pull his attention away. She gets the upper hand, just as Sam walks in and greets her.

Michael uses one of the kidnappers as leverage to get Sarah’s freedom. When the job is done, and Fiona is home safely, she and Michael share a passionate kiss, a non-verbal declaration of their feelings. Madeline gives Jesse some gentle advice about hiding his feelings for Fiona and explains gently that Michael and Fiona are in each other’s blood.

The episode ends with Jesse and Michael getting into the bank and discovering a Bible with a mysterious message, pointing to a man named Simon. While Jesse has no idea who this is, Michael knows Simon’s identity.

I found this episode to be a bit uneven. The build-up was great, but the episode lost momentum about two-thirds of the way through, and the payoff was quite unsatisfying for me. I felt that Christian and Sarah faded into the background too easily and that the ending was rather rushed.

The notion that Jesse has feelings for Fiona does add an interesting layer to the group dynamic and is not altogether shocking. I’d like to see this dealt with in a mature manner by all parties in future episodes.

I really enjoyed Madeline’s inclusion into the B storyline and loved that she has again been relied upon to think on her feet. Steven Culp as Christian was a delight to see on my TV again, but I felt he was a bit underused.

While "Where There’s Smoke" offered some thrills, it wasn’t one of my favorite episodes of the season.