Burn Notice Review: Kickboxing Shadows and A Father’s Love

On this week’s episode of Burn Notice, Mike exercises his superhuman strength by not only finding the guy who helped frame him for Max’s murder and not popping him one, but by finding the guy who helped frame him, not popping him one, protecting him from the bad guy employer who wants to kill him, and giving the poor hapless fool a clean getaway from the guy who actually does want to kill him.

We start off this week with Fi and Sam on a stakeout of fake Michael from the video at Jacob’s place where the two are bored out of their minds. Because in spite of Jacob hanging out on seedy streets last week and buying handguns from strangers in cars, this Jake’s kind of a bore. Both Sam and Fi realize that Jake can’t be the brains behind the set-up Mike operation; he’s just a hired hand. And while Fi’s all for just running in there and having a little chat with Jake, Sam says that the two should remain circumspect and keep up their boring watch. But the decision’s decided for them after a while when guys with big guns and sledgehammers show up at Jake’s place for what I’m guessing is not afternoon tea.

Sam and Fi decide on how to best to save Jake and Sam goes in to warn him about the men coming to kill him. Sam then sends Jake and his lovely dog Mr. Pickles out the back door to Fi and the waiting car while Sam takes Jake’s car and hat and barrels out of the garage sending the gunned men on the chase of the fake Jake. When Mike gets home it’s to find that Fi has brought their stray home, oh yeah and the dog too.

It turns out that Jake is well, kind of an idiot. And by idiot I mean he makes his living doing odd jobs for nameless men on the Internet with no knowledge of what in the world he is getting himself into. Before to long, the gang figures out that not only is Jake unwittingly involved in a murder investigation, but he’s a drug mule as well. Well, isn’t that fabulous.

The gang decides that they need to get in touch with Jake’s boss. After going back to Jake’s house (at which the would be assassins are napping) they steal Jake’s phone and have him contact his employer who is quick to set up a meeting. Now of course Jake isn’t going to that meeting, Mike is. What Jake’s going to do is high tail it out of town on the fast thing going.

On the case this week, because there is an actual case this week, Mike and company help out a friend of Sam’s lady friend in order to score Sam some extra brownie points. The client’s name is Denise and her son’s been taken by her estranged husband. After a scheduled visitation, Denise tells Mike and Sam, John (the husband) went AWOL and refused to bring the kid back. Denise tells Mike and Sam that John lost his brother, an army ranger, and has since been obsessed with protecting the family. She asks that they go easy on John because he’s been through a lot.

Whatever Mike and Sam were expecting this job to be, it isn’t. John’s house is loaded down like any well armed safe house with bars on the windows and doors. Mike approaches the door to have that chat with John while Sam focuses on Plan B, planting a lo-jack on his car. Mike gets in John’s house with no trouble by telling John that he’s been sent by Denise to check on their son. Once Mike steps inside a decidedly less cooperative John pulls a) gun on Mike and b) tells him he’s not giving up his son who’s safely hidden at a place which is none of Mike’s business. (Psst, the kid’s in the back room.) But Mike only learns this after a snooping Sam sets off an alarm and sends John and Tommy (the kid) running out the door because this location is no longer safe. Luckily Sam has already planted the tracker so now it’s just wait and see.

And what they see is that John has taken Tommy to an anti-government army camp run by a guy named Zechariah, who Sam affectionately names the ENIC: Extremist Nutbag in Charge. Mike calls John and tells him that he’s outside the compound with Tommy’s inhaler; he’ll trade the inhaler for John letting Mike see the boy. John works to get the pow-wow approved while Mike and Sam come up with a plan to sabotage the compound’s fuel tank thereby creating the chance for them to sneak a man on the inside, or a woman.

When the fuel tank comes to refill the compound’s sabotaged gas tank, Fi is strapped on to the bottom of the truck with Mike, Jessie, and Sam looking on. Mike tells Fi, via cell phone, that Tommy can be found in the room with garbage bags over the walls. And she needs to get him out quick. But before Fi even gets near the compound’s gates the cavalry is riding to meet the fuel truck with guns loaded. They know Fi’s on board, so Mike tells Fi to abandon the mission and drop from under the truck, which she does and while she hides out behind a dirt heap a shoot out breaks out ending with Mike blowing up the fuel truck to make an escape for Fi.

Looking back at the compound the gang notice satellites at the gates, and it doesn’t take too long for them to figure out that the compound has this signal boosting software and were listening in on the phone call between Mike and Fi. They decide to use this knowledge to their advantage and stage a phone call where they pretend to call an army in to some shack not too far away in order to take out the anti-militia squad. Promising to bring Armageddon down on their unsuspecting heads Mike stirs up the anti-army army and sends them guns blazing out to the shack and away from the compound where he and the team are just waiting to get in.

Getting in the compound now is easy enough, as Zechariah has only left one man as guard over the whole compound. With quick work, the team sneaks in, knocks out the guard and runs to the only building with garbage bags over the windows. But as Mike and Sam prepare to go in they are surprised that Tommy’s not alone, sitting on the floor beside his bed is his father John.

Mike goes in alone hoping to talk John into giving up Tommy, when Mike notices that since their last meeting John’s been beat up a little. When Mike asks, John tells him that when Zechariah gave the order for everyone to ride out John refused because Tommy was having an asthma attack. John refused to leave him, and as punishment, got his leg broken. Seeing this, Tommy got scared and passed out which explains why they both are there. Mike talks to John and tells him that it’s clear he loves his son, and now he has to do what’s best for Tommy. John agrees; all along he’s been trying to keep Tommy safe. Zechariah promised John that he could do that, but now John says that he doubts that. Mike tells John that there are many things that are worth believing in but Zechariah isn’t one of them. John gives up Tommy to Mike’s care after a few loving words. This is heartbreaking and so sweet to see because this guy really loves his son, he’d just sort of snapped somewhere in showing it.

In the end, we’re back to the meeting with Jake’s former employer. Mike and Sam meet up at the marina where this meeting is supposed to take place. They assume that Mr. Unknown is waiting on the boat to kill Jake/Mike and dump his body in the ocean. With alarms raised, Mike approaches the boat only to find it empty with a note for Jake to take the boat and meet Mr. Unknown at the Bahamas. He’s never expected to get there because under the floorboards is a bomb just waiting for the boat to go out into deeper waters. In order to get Mr. Unknown to think Jake’s out of the picture he starts up the boat and then hops out as it heads into open waters where it explodes. Back on the deck Mike and Sam look over the picture Mike took of the bomb as well as the piece of bomb Mike cut off before he set it off. So, Jake’s gone, Mr. Unknown’s still hidden in the shadows, and the only clue they have is the chemical composition of the bomb which they hope will lead them to find it’s maker.

Next week on Burn Notice: Mike gets a little help from Fiona’s ex-boyfriend. And what do you know Gavin Rossdale’s an actor, or at least acting.

Season 5, Episode 7: “Besieged” (original airdate August 4, 2011.)

Burn Notice airs Thursdays at 9/8c on USA Network.

Images courtesy of Barbara Nitke/USA Network.