Burn Notice Review: All For One

at .

With Sam and Jesse helping Michael, we got two of the three missing teammates back in the action on Burn Notice this week. I think we can all agree that ain't bad. 

Besides, one of the best parts of "Down Range" was watching Fiona teach Madeline how to blow a hole in a wall. Madeline was a quick study and her conversation with the bookie at the very end of the episode will go down as one of my all-time favorites. 

But I’m getting ahead of myself. I need to start with the freshly shaven Michael recruiting Jesse and Sam to come down to help him in the Dominican Republic. Ah... the Three Musketeers are back together, now we just need Milady de Winter to come to her senses and forgive Michael and all will be right with the world. 

Maybe "right with the world" is a bit strong. Michael has gotten himself wedge pretty good between a rock and a hard place.

Burke Handling Things

On one side we have Burke, whose style I'm beginning to admire. The guy casual laughed when truck thief Mechoso wanted an increase from $5,000 to $12.5 million for the job.

Okay, we all knew the guy was dead at that point, but I was expecting Burke to go “cool detached” and kill the guy. What I didn't expect was for him to wait for the guy to try and attack... then turn his own knife on him. 

Then, on the other side we have Jesse, Sam (and Strong). Let's not overlook the fact that withing 24 hours of teaming up with Michael, Sam had to kill a guy to keep him safe. Watching Sam shoot that guard actually shocked me; I had just said last week that Michael was different from Gamble because he didn't kill indiscriminately and now Sam had to kill against his will. 

I’m actually curious how this will affect Sam in the long run. He is a former Navy SEAL so I have to imagine he’s killed someone before, even if it wasn't a mercenary guard about to attack Michael. But, at the same time, Sam's spent a lot of energy not killing people in the past. 

Then you have Agent Strong. If anyone is going to lose it, my bet is on Strong first. He's wound so tightly and following the books so closely, he’s going to snap! At least Sam and Jesse convinced him to let them stay and help.  

Speaking of convinced, we are back to my favorite part: when Fiona convinced Madeline not to pay the bookie. I was even more thrilled when she decided to teach Madeline how to blow a hole in the wall. Madeline reminded me where Michael got some of his skills as she faced off with the guy and gave her demands; resulting in the guy to cower in his seat. 

In conclusion, I've got no idea where we are heading with Burke, but I’m happy to ride along. Pasdar put the perfect mix of charming and scary into Burke and I find myself wanting Michael to trust him. I know he’s a bad guy but, he’s not outwardly evil like Anson Fullterton was. The result is that it makes him a bit of a wild card on which way he may go. Finding out that he has a boss has me totally intrigued as to who they may be. 

My guess is that some portion of The Management has survived and Burke is their Michael. In my fevered dreams they have rebuilt without Michael knowing. Then, Michael and the CIA are able to finally end them once and for all. 

Who do you think Burke’s boss is? Someone we met before or someone brand new? Sound off below!

Down Range Review

Editor Rating: 4.7 / 5.0
  • 4.7 / 5.0
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
User Rating:

Rating: 4.7 / 5.0 (40 Votes)

Jim G. is a TV Fanatic Staff Writer. Follow him on Twitter.

Show Comments
Tags: ,

Burn Notice Season 7 Episode 3 Quotes

Burke: The first guy I talked to about this job had a plan taking out the guard's front gate and pulling the truck out bloody. Is that pretty much what you're thinking?
Jesse: Any idiot can throw a rock at a wasp's nest. We're finesse guys. We'll get you truck make a much smaller mess.

Jesse: Look Sam, you know I want to help Mike out, but I got clients to answer to. I can't just go running off to the DR on a random Thursday.
Sam: Tell me about it. I was supposed to go have some extra special Sammy time with Elsa this weekend but that ain't happening