To sort through the information Michael obtained in last week’s season premiere, Michael’s new handler Vaughn (Robert Wisdom) needs help from Jesse Porter (Coby Bell), the counterspy Michael inadvertently burned while getting the information. First, though, Michael had to find Jesse.
Vaughn was in a hurry, and his methods of eliciting Jesse’s help weren’t as friendly as his attitude with Michael last week. Michael, on the other hand, was determined to help Jesse through the experience of being burned, but the more contact they had, the closer Jesse might come to discovering Michael burned him.
The most interesting aspect of this episode was how similar Jesse’s situation was to Michael’s from the first season of Burn Notice. Like Michael, Jesse was confused and angry and determined to get back at whoever burned him. The difference is, in Jesse’s case, we know who burned him. We get to see the situation from the other side. What if the people who burned Michael had intentions as good as Michael’s in burning Jesse? If we believe Vaughn from last week, they did.
Once Michael found Jesse, he had to help him escape from an old enemy, Khan, who believed Jesse had stolen $2 million from him. Michael, Fiona, and Sam planned to trick Khan into seeking Michael’s help to capture Jesse. Jesse, meanwhile, tried to carry out his own plan of attack against Khan, throwing a wrench into the familiar Burn Notice formula.
In the course of this case, Fiona and Maddie took a liking to Jesse. Sam was still the voice of caution against letting Jesse get too close to the truth. To underscore this closeness, Jesse wound up moving into Maddie’s garage. As they continue to work together, it will be interesting to see how much information Michael gives away each week.
