What I’m Watching: Burn Notice

Burn Notice: Season 4, Episode 2 “Fast Friends” (B+)

I like the idea of Michael working with another spy who is just as prone to shows of heroism as he is, both for the way that they clash and also the way that they truly do work together well. It’s a shame that Jesse will likely end up trying to kill Michael eventually, once he figures out that Michael, however manipulated by Vaughn he was, was the one who burned him. I’m enjoying Fiona’s attraction to Jesse and the way she flaunts it in front of Michael. I also love that Jesse came to Michael because he’s the go-to guy for burned spies, at the same time that Michael was keeping an eye on Jesse. He’s a good, albeit temporary, addition to the team. Having him board with Madeline should help him become even more intricately involved with the day-to-day operations and cases taken on by Michael and crew, and that should be fun. Michael’s explanation of how to make sure that bad guys who don’t trust you ride around with illegal weapons in their trunks was entertaining and clever, and it’s always nice to see Michael put on a really terrible accent to deceive some villains. Among the most fascinating of his helpful tips was the cautionary statement about the trickiness of passing a message to someone in plain sight of your enemy. Michael telling Jesse to read the number right off of the page and pointing with his finger was certainly daring, and as is typical for Mr. Westen, extraordinarily effective.