Burn Notice is back for it’s final season and things kick off more darkly than any other season, with Michael in deep cover in the Dominican Republic.
Following the events of the season 6 finale, Michael had seemingly made a deal with the CIA that would put him back in active duty and allow the rest of the team to be cleared of the charges against them. We learn this episode that things are not as good as they seem, with Michael’s new CIA handler, Strong (played by Jack Coleman), telling him he needs the “old Michael” for this mission, as it is dangerous and dirty and the only way Michael can hope to clear killing one CIA agent and blackmailing another. An ex-CIA operative named Burke (played by Adrian Pasdar) is planning some big terrorist attack in the Dominican Republic and Michael goes deep undercover for nine months, posing as himself but depressed, alcoholic and getting into bar fights to pay the bills. Burke finally approaches Michael and tells him that he wants him for a job assisting his man, Pablo, break into a security firm and destroy some equipment.
Meanwhile, back in Miami, the gang has seemingly moved on without Michael. Jessie has moved even higher at his private security firm, Sam is back with Elsa, Fi is out bounty hunting with her new boyfriend, Carlos, and Maddie is trying to get custody of her grandson, Charlie. Red flags go up with Sam when a man claiming to be from French intelligence starts asking about Michael and Jessie confirms that the same guy, with an Australian accent, was asking as well and may have hacked the company’s network. This mystery man (played smarmily by Nick Tarabay aka Ashur from Spartacus) finally gets the info he needs from Maddie by posing as a higher up with the child custody department and passes it along to his man in the Dominican Republic, Pablo. Michael escapes Pablo by crashing through a police roadblock and getting Pablo killed. Michael manages to convince Burke it was Pablo panicking and Burke says that the sabotage at the security firm was just the beginning of their work. At a rendezvous with Strong later, Michael finds out about the mystery man in Miami, and he and Strong are headed there, covertly, to take him out. Strong makes it clear that Michael is to not have any contact with the rest of the gang, but obviously that is going to happen sooner rather than later.
Dark, depressed Michael is not the funnest character to follow but the overarching plot for the season seems pretty interesting and I think both recurring villains have a ton of potential. As usual, the Maddie subplot is a little annoying and overbearing but it will be interesting to see how long Michael manages to stay hidden from the gang and what the reunion will be like, especially with Fi and the pairing of Jessie and Sam in Michael’s absence is great, with lots of back and forth quipping.
Spy Tip of the Week: You can jerry rig a block C-4 to explode if you don’t have a spare detonator by using objects on a common janitor’s cart, like a mop and cleaning solution, and a bullet.
Who Am I?: No alternate cover ID for Michael this week but he’s a depressed, alcoholic, washed up version of himself.
Sam Axeism of the Week: “He held a knife to a very sensitive area of Sam Axe that only Elsa and Sandino get to touch” (Sandino is Sam’s masseuse btw)