Figuring there’s no point in conning John Barrett (Robert Patrick), Michael calls Barrett using his and Jesse’s real names and invites him to Miami to talk about Simon’s bible cipher. Meanwhile, Fiona and Sam try to help Emily (Jean Louisa Kelly), a young widow, recover her life savings from suave and dangerous womanizer Charles Archer (Jamison Jones).
Sam first approached Archer as a fellow womanizer trying to scam Fiona out of her money. When Archer proved reluctant to help, Fiona wanted to take a more direct, violent approach. Sam warned her that Archer would be prepared for that. Instead, they drugged Archer’s drinks, causing him to black out and believe he’d gone on a spending spree. They didn’t count on Archer’s money being controlled by another man, who sent killers after Emily instead of releasing Charles’s money to him.
Despite his initial failure to win Charles over, Sam had better success after Charles’s first blackout. It was fun to watch Charles slowly trust Sam as deeply as Charles’s women trusted him. I had a bit of trouble believing the second time Sam drugged Charles, especially with Charles swearing off alcohol until he fled Miami. I suppose a true alcoholic can always be tempted to drink, though.
In the season-long story arc, Maddie has grown tired of Michael’s deceiving Jesse. In this episode, she told Michael she was going to Tampa until he could sort it all out. Meanwhile, Jesse contacted his old boss, Marv, and saw footage of Michael’s involvement in the operation that got Jesse burned. Just as the sexual tension between Fiona and Jesse was resurfacing, Jesse confronted Fiona with what he’d found out. I honestly thought the episode would end with Jesse shooting Fiona, but he left her and went after Michael. I suppose that’s enough proof that Jesse has bonded with Michael and friends; he couldn’t just kill them as he said he would from the start.
Going into next week’s summer finale, Michael will have to contend with being hunted by both John Barrett and Jesse. I thought—and clearly viewers were supposed to think—Michael and Jesse stood a chance against Barrett together. On their own, it’s anybody’s guess. I can’t wait to see what happens.
Well, killing Fiona unarmed would land him in prison so there is that to consider. Assuming, of course, that Michael didn’t kill him first. The idea of Michael dealing with both Barrett AND Jesse is intriguing! I swear, I’d be on a boat off Tahiti by now. The stress, oy! It will be one bang-up mid-season finale and then we have to wait until November for the end. The stress, oy!
I loved the B plot. I thought it was very entertaining. I hope in Season 5, the overall BN arc becomes their B plot and the COTW becomes the A plot. This season was dark and brooding and menacing and now it’s time for breezy and stylish and fun. Really turn it around instead of the same thing again. These guys do humor so well it’s a shame to not see more of it. I watch the gag reels just to see everybody – including Jeff Donovan – laugh! Sometimes I forget that he actually knows how!