The penultimate episode. I knew this was going to be a cliffhanger episode and I did consider doing the two as one post, but I figure I may have a bit to say about the final one, so I decided to post them separately.
Michael wasn't shot by Sonya, she didn't even wound him, although she did slap him hard enough to give him a cut on his nose. He was held in the dungeon in James' house in Mexico. It was probably a wine cellar or a basement of some sort, but it really does look like a dungeon. Sonya asks Michael how much of what he felt for her was real, was any of it? He gives her a rather cryptic answer that says that for some part of him, the part that believed in what she and James were doing, that was real. I find it hard to take Alona Tal really seriously in the role. She looks too much like all American cheerleader Meg Lanning from Veronica Mars for me to see her as Russian killer and stone cold terrorist Sonya.
James wants to know why Michael did it and how he managed to fool him so completely, and then he comes up with a plan, once Michael confirms that he has switched sides. He'll give himself up, let Michael take the credit for the capture, and hand over leadership of his organisation to he and Sonya. What could be better than having a trusted leader inside the CIA itself?
Strong's hauled over the coals by his superiors at Langley and Michael steps in to help him out and guarantees that he can deliver James to them. No one there knows who he's really working for, at this stage I wasn't even sure what game Michael was playing. It's a good job by the writers and Jeffrey Donovan to sell it this well.
Fiona can see what others can't, Michael's drunk the kool-aid, he's on James' side. She has a meeting with Sam and Jesse. They decide to effectively kidnap Michael and deprogram him. They'll take Maddy and Charlie too. She's not happy about it, but she'll do it. Fiona torches Madeline's house (I was sad to see the old place go, it has so many happy memories for viewers), that brings James' minders running from their car. Fiona pulls up beside it in her zippy red Hyundai, throws a molotov cocktail out the window and takes off.
Sam and Jesse tail Michael to Fort Lauderdale and see him meeting with James. They now know he's lied to them and to the CIA. Sonya tells Michael that Fiona is a problem and has to be neutralised once the news about how she's spirited Maddy and Charlie out of their grasp reaches her. Michael says he'll deal with Fiona and warns Sonya off.
Sam tries to get Michael to the intervention. Michael works it out on the bridge and takes the wheel, making Sam pull over to the side of the bridge. I noticed that it was raining during this confrontation. Having experienced Florida's sudden tropical downpours it's amazing that they filmed as much of the show as they did without this becoming a factor before.
Sam and Michael fight, and Sam knows that his best chance of taking Michael Westen, who is younger, fitter and better trained, in a fight is to go to his element of the water. Being an ex Navy SEAL, water is where Sam can get the upper hand. If he'd been a current SEAL and in shape, he may have had a chance, but he's been out of the game and he's not all that fit now. Michael does escape.
Just when James is choppering in and the plan is about to come off, Fiona arrives. Sonya is there too. This could be the straw that breaks the camel's back. Michael won't kill Fiona, but will he kill Sonya?
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