Burn Notice, Season 7, Episode 6

 Now that Michael's mission has moved back to Miami, Michael has in many ways returned to his old life. Even down to moving back into the loft and tucking Sonya away there. When they were on the run last season I thought that they torched the loft, I even saw them set it on fire. However it didn't actually get burned to the ground, it just looks a little bit charred from the outside. Michael tells Fiona that a few of her snow globes survived if she wants them, when she comes around to face him down and let him know that she's been forced into working with him. She also sees Sonya there and sparks fly. The two ladies don't come to blows, but they clearly don't like each other, and the reason is Michael Westen. I actually find it a little churlish of Fiona to feel this way toward Sonya. She's repeatedly rejected Michael and made it quite clear that she wants as little to do with him as possible, she's flaunted her relationship with Carlos in front of him, so why shouldn't he take up with Sonya? Not that he has at this point. Fiona's behaviour smacks of I don't want you, but I don't want anyone else to have you. It's not only disrespectful towards Michael and Sonya, it's also an insult to Carlos.

The plan is to go after the hackers that outed Sonya. Exactly how this helps the mission I don't really understand, although I think it may prove to Sonya that Michael is really on her side and get him to take him into the organisation that she's part of.

To get into the hackers group they need the assistance of someone else and that someone else is Barry. I had been wondering about Barry. However Barry is not all that disposed to helping Michael, because his association with the former spy had him locked up for 4 months, during which time he lost his girlfriend, his house and played havoc with his client list. The hackers also have a certain reputation for taking down anyone who crosses them and they've stolen some of his clients. Sam and Jesse can't do much about his house or his business, but they can at least help him track down his girlfriend. Because Barry really does like Michael and his friends he agrees to let that stand as payment, besides if Michael performs his usual bang up job on the hackers that will remove them from the board.

So, we had two stories running again. One is the take down of the hackers, which mainly utilises Michael and Fiona masquerading as a pair of hackers, with Sonya running outside interference for them. The other was Sam and Jesse helping Barry with his relationship issues.

The second of those was a little sad. They managed to find the girlfriend because of a bright orange Lamborghini that turned up at a dodgy car dealership (an orange Lamborghini, that is so Barry). Unfortunately she'd moved on and had another boyfriend. She liked Barry, but his lifestyle bothered her and she wasn't heartbroken to have an out.

Michael and Fiona establish themselves as the real deal with help from the rest of the group outside. The hackers were an interesting bunch. They ran the operation like a corporation, with the hackers sitting in an office, working away and being closely monitored by one of the guys behind it. Even going out for a smoke break seemed to be a major issue, admittedly Michael was doing it so that he could get on the roof, abseil down the side of the building and drill through the wall.

The whole operation was overseen by a menacing moustached character wearing a sharp suit. This was Frakes, played by Charles Mesure. The accent was rather like an English one mixed with Australan. This makes sense as Mesure was born in England, but grew up in Australia. I remember him from V, and he does play a heavy quite well, which is what he does here. Fiona and Michael throw his underling under the bus, and then the whole operation gets broken up by the authorities. As a bonus Barry gets the information that they stole from him back.

Back in the loft Michael convinces Sonya that she and her operation is all he has left. He's convincing, because in many ways he is telling the truth. He has lost Fiona, but he does still have his mother and the friendship of Sam and Jesse, which he makes her believe is not the case. I found it interesting that he said his relationship with Maddy was irreparably damaged due to what happened to Nate, because while she doesn't give a lot of outward signs that she still blames him for the death, he may think that.

Michael and Sonya sleep together and he knows he's in. Again this was interesting and an idea of how far Michael has turned. He's come to the point of having to do something in the course of his work on a few occasions, such as kill an innocent or sleep with someone other than Fiona, and he's always found a way out at the 11th hour, but this time he went through with it, and I don't think he cares for Sonya overall, she's just a means to an end. Michael could be on a very slippery slope here.

Burn Notice, Season 3, Episode 3

And Detective Paxson continues to be a pain in the arse.

She interrupts Michael's very rare down time, but getting Nate to knock on the door, and once he answers it she and her off sider barge on him and start hassling Michael.

She's shown that she will bother his family by bringing Nate in. Fortunately Nate is experienced at not giving a straight answer to questions from the police, and so won't 'flip' on his brother. Maddie doesn't have the experience, but she's one 'tough old broad' and would never rat on either of her boys. Fiona and Sam, being an ex terrorist and Navy SEAL respectively also aren't about to be cracked by some uptight detective. However others friends and family might.

I don't think Michael has family outside of his mother and Nate, but people like Seymour the arms dealer and Barry the money launderer could be easy targets. Barry's already been heavied into wearing a wire once by Bly. So they have to give Paxson a headache of her own, like setting up a fake financial partnership with someone at the Mayor's office.

Enter Barry. While Sam and Fiona are doing that with Barry, at Maddie's house, apparently Sam is living there full time now, Maddie is getting to know Barry and Michael's waiting to see what happens, in walks Brennen.

Brennen was the unscrupulous black marketeer who strapped a bomb to Michael's ex-fiance in the last season. He's still unpleasant and this time he's got Nate in his pocket. The younger Westen had started a limousine business, he's just got a mysterious new investor, which is Brennen. The deal is that Michael does what he wants and Nate lives, if he doesn't Brennen will have his hired gun kill Nate slowly and painfully.

Barry comes in handy again, the entire time Michael is dancing on the end of Brennen's string he's got Barry with Fiona and Sam investigating his life via his financial records.

Barry impersonates a British banker (despite him saying he doesn't do a good British accent, it's better than Michael's Irish one and he went undercover with that) and makes Brennen believe Michael has managed to siphon in excess of 200,000 British pounds out of an account. That still doesn't get the gun removed from Nate's temple, and he's already been shot in the arm. What does is when Michael gambles on Brennen's daughter's name and where she goes to school.

That threat freaks Brennen out. He lets Nate and Michael go. He also tells Michael that if anything happens to his daughter he will end him. Michael sold that well, Brennen did initially say that isn't Michael and it isn't, but where his family is concerned he can get very nasty.

There were two nice little post scripts to this episode. One is Maddie's growing friendship with Barry. The two of them did become very close over the course of the show's run.

The other was Paxson turning up again at Michael's loft, sans her partner, who had gotten suspended when he attempted to investigate the deputy Mayor over a financial partnership she appeared to have with Michael. Score another point for Barry. Paxson claims she's only getting started, but Michael is under her skin in a big way and she still has no idea what she's getting herself into.