With Gilroy dead and the authorities scrambling to get him, Michael tries to avoid capture and track down the mysterious Simon. It turns out that Simon gets to him first, threatening to detonate a bomb unless Michael brings him Management. While Sam and Fi try to locate and dispose of the bomb, Michael calls Management and tries to stay one step ahead of Simon. Meanwhile, Madeline gets stopped by the FBI and interrogated about her son.

!Tropes

* AreYouSureYouWantToDoThat: One of the FBI agents finds Michael's assorted gear and equipment in the garage, all of which looks bad to law enforcement. Maddie says that material belongs to her, but Callahan warns such a claim could land her in federal prison for years.
* AxCrazy: Simon.
* BatmanGambit: Simon rigs up a bomb in the hotel to force Michael's compliance. He also booby-trapped the helipad that Management was landing at and distracts the Organization's attention with a low-rent team of operatives.
* BetterTheDevilYouKnow: The point of the episode. He despises Management, but the guy is preferable to Simon. Michael's narration lampshades this by mentioning Churchill and Stalin putting their differences aside in the face of the Nazis marching on the Soviet Union.
* BloodKnight: Simon relishes the chance to kill anyone for any reason.
* CallBack:
** [[Recap/BurnNoticeS3E1FriendsAndFamily The greeting card]] is finally used.
** Just like [[Recap/BurnNoticeS2E16LesserEvil the end of the second season]], Michael has the opportunity to kill a former agent of the Organization, who would rather die than be taken in alive. This time, though, Michael chooses not to fire.
* CallItKarma: Maddie feels getting arrested by the FBI is a case of this.
-->'''Callahan:''' Do you really wanna pay for your son's mistakes?\\
'''Maddie:''' He paid for mine.
* CarFu: Simon escapes with Management in an ambulance. Michael goes after him in a truck and ends up deliberately crashing into the side of the ambulance.
* ChekhovsGun: As the team hashes out their next move, Sam hands out combat knives. It later proves instrumental when Michael is pinned by Simon.
* {{Cliffhanger}}: Michael is taken by the Organization.
* DarkestHour: Michael is faced with an evil version of himself threatening to kill thousands of innocent people.
* {{Demonization}}: The Organization transplanted Simon's record and crimes to Michael's file, which was how he got forced out of the CIA.
* DontMakeMeDestroyYou: While trying to get the first cop that catches up to him to pass out, Michael insists he doesn't want to hurt him.
* EnemyMine: Simon forces this on Michael, who in turns works out a more sincere one with Management. Lampshaded in Michael's narration:
-->'''Michael:''' To be a spy, you need physical fitness, a facility with languages, a tolerance for exotic foods and the bugs that come with them. But ultimately, there's no greater qualification than to look someone who ruined your life in the eye and say, "Let's work together."
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Keith is the guy that made the bomb for Simon and planted it in the hotel. When subdued, he tells Fiona and Sam everything and that he only took the job out of fear of what Simon would do if rejected.
* EvilCannotComprehendGood: Averted. Simon knows the bomb threat will force Michael's compliance. He also keeps him at arm's length ahead of Management's arrival to prevent any last-minute heroics.
* EvilCounterpart: Simon to Michael. In a way, he's also one to Victor--being a former agent that bucked the Organization's control, but far less sympathetic and not well-meaning at all.
* EvilOldFolks: Management reminds Michael that he is not the kindly old figure he appears to be.
-->'''Management''': Let's be clear about one thing before this begins. I might look like a nice old man, but I assure you, Michael, I'm not.
* EvilerThanThou: Simon to the Organization.
* ExactWords: After the helipad is blown up, Simon is poised to kill Michael. He stresses that Michael will get his reputation back as promised; he just never promised anything about Mike getting to live to enjoy it.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: Simon warns that it's only a matter of time before Michael becomes just like him. This warning highlights some of the morally ambiguous things Michael does next season, as well as pays off in full towards the end of Season 7.
* HeroWithBadPublicity: Between the end of the last episode and what he does here, Michael is branded a criminal and actively pursued by law enforcement.
* IfIWantedYouDead: While trying to reason with Maddie, Callahan cites how Michael took a shot at him at the start of the episode and claims Mike tried to kill him.
-->'''Maddie:''' If Michael wanted to kill you, you'd be dead.
* {{Irony}}:
** Management felt Simon was uncontrollable, so they pinned his crimes on Michael. Michael got burned (recruited) and Simon got stuck in a hole. Michael has said and now Simon says "I want my life back".
** Simon refers to himself as "an instrument of justice" for the things that Management has done. Given Simon's history and personality, Michael admits he can't really process such a claim.
* ItHasBeenAnHonor: Right before they try to disarm Simon's bomb:
-->'''Sam:''' Well, Fi, it's been real.
-->'''Fiona:''' Yes, it has.
* ItsPersonal: Simon kills indiscriminately, but he really wants to make Management suffer.
* LetsSplitUpGang: Justified. Michael's only option to rescue Management, stop Simon, and keep his team safe is to go alone. He tells Sam and Fi to tell the police where he is, so that they'll be right behind during the confrontation.
-->'''Michael:''' You can't follow me this time, Fi. I gotta do this one on my own.
* NeverSplitTheParty: Zig Zagged. Early on, Fi and Sam argue that Michael has to stop the lone wolf stuff and work with them every step of the way. Michael agrees. The group does have to split up to deal with Simon's bomb, but the real split comes when Michael has to go after him alone (which Fi objects to).
* NiceJobFixingItVillain: Simon could've simply killed Michael, but he took the time to gloat to Management about his superiority. Doing so gave Michael the opportunity to stick him with a knife and get away.
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: You know things are bad when Michael agrees with Fiona about shooting someone.
-->'''Fiona:''' We got the bomb. He's lost his leverage. We should shoot the bastard.
-->'''Michael:''' Yeah, if he shows himself, that's exactly what we should do. ''(Sam and Fiona look at him in surprise)''
-->'''Sam:''' Alrighty then. It's that kind of thing?
-->'''Michael:''' Yeah. It's definitely that kind of thing.
* OhCrap:
** Management when told that Simon is loose.
** Michael when he realizes that Simon knew where Management would be landing.
* {{Outgambitted}}: Simon knew Michael would cut a deal with Management and booby-trapped the helipad. Michael realizes it at the last moment.
* OvershadowedByAwesome: Part of the backstory is the Organization replacing Simon with Michael after he became uncontrollable. While Simon doesn't focus on it, he takes the time to gloat after he captures Management.
-->"I guess your new little pet didn't work out so well."
* PublicSecretMessage: With the FBI in her house, Maddie calls Michael and simply tells him, "Come home right now." Mike explains that's the code she used to warn him about Frank being completely out of control. After a little while, Callahan realizes the trick Maddie pulled.
* SadisticChoice: In the end, Michael can either shoot Simon dead or stand down and be taken in by the Organization.
* SaveTheVillain: In the climax, Michael must save Management from Simon's clutches.
* ThisIsGonnaSuck: Sam over the FBI getting to Maddie before the team could.
* UnPerson: Simon in a way. All of the things he did were pinned on Michael, while he was left to rot in a secret prison.
* UnderestimatingBadassery: Management thinks the worst is over when Simon's local team is taken care of.
* VillainBall: Management knows the location for the intended meeting and comes in by helicopter, not taking into account the lack of other helipads in the area would mean Simon knows exactly where he would have to land to make the meeting on time.
* VillainHasAPoint: Michael is prepared to put a bullet in Simon's head when this is all over. Management warns him how damaging that will be, especially with police on the way.
* WhamEpisode: The Organization has its hooks in Michael again.
* WhamLine: When Simon starts listing the various alleged crimes Michael did to end up on the blacklist:
-->'''Michael''': I didn't do any of these things.
-->'''Simon''': I know that! ''I'' did.
* WhamShot: The episode ends by suggesting that Michael is in some hellhole of a secret prison, but the final shot shows him instead in a lavish office.
* WildCard: Simon's subtitle reads as "?".
* YouWouldntShootMe: After the messy high-speed chase, Michael grabs the gun and threatens to shoot Simon should such a thing ever happen again. Simon is unconcerned, due to his bomb leverage, and is well-aware that only one of them is fine with a hotel full of people getting blown up.