Burn Notice Besieged by Recurring Themes

Denise O’Lear (Michele Nordin) goes to Sam and Michael for help when her ex-husband, John, fails to drop off their asthmatic son as scheduled. With family issues at stake, Michael decides to approach John directly, telling him the truth about who he is and that Denise sent him.

A former soldier, John was suspicious of Michael right away. He pulled a gun on Michael and fled with Tommy to a well fortified militia compound. Michael tried to set up another meeting with John, but he was rebuffed by the militia’s more radical leader, Zechariah (W. Earl Brown). Next, having sabotaged the compound’s fuel supply, Fiona tried to hide under a new fuel truck headed into the compound. Unfortunately, the compound was equipped with satellite technology that allowed the militia men to learn Michael and friends’ plans by listening in on their cell phone conversations.

There seems to be an unintentional recurring theme this season of Michael and friends facing off against superior numbers and technology. After all, how else can the writers justify involving Michael, Sam, Fiona, and Jesse–super-competent individuals and even better as a team–each week? The dynamic of an estranged husband and wife with a son caught in the middle was the sort of scenario that has hit home with Michael in the past. The only new angle here was Michael’s direct approach, which ultimately cost the team the element of surprise when they tried to infiltrate the compound.

I also didn’t quite believe John as a genuinely concerned father but also a man who thought it a good idea to bring his son to an armed compound. When Michael and John finally talked, John said he loved both his son and ex-wife. If so, why hadn’t he just dropped off his son as scheduled?

Though the main plot of “Besieged” was a snoozer, Michael made significant progress dealing with his impersonator, Jacob Starkey. Having successfully used Starkey to frame Michael for murder, whoever hired Starkey (via Internet ad) now wanted him dead. Sam and Fiona got Jacob out of his house, and Michael took Jacob’s place to meet the man who hired him.

As Michael climbed aboard the boat where the meeting was to happen, the man who hired Jacob called things off via text message, instructing Jacob to meet him in the Bahamas instead. Michael found twenty pounds of plastic explosive hidden aboard the boat, wired to a depth meter, so when the boat went into deep enough waters, it would explode. Michael decided to rig the boat to make the mysterious boss believe Jacob had died in the explosion. This should give Michael the advantage as the first half of Season 5 comes to a head.