Just as Mike, Sam and Fi are preparing to try and get Victor to help Mike fight Carla, Mike's ex-fiancee Samantha shows up. She's a thief and recently stole dangerous military technology for Tyler Brennan who kidnapped her son Charlie.
Mike and Fi agree to help her get it back but when they go to trade Charlie for the chip, Brennan has strapped a bomb to Charlie's arm in a cast as an insurance policy.
The next attempt involves Mike and Fi trying to persuade Brennan that they are betraying Samantha by offering intel that she is going to steal the chip back. They tell him she took a small component out as insurance. Brennan doesn't appear to trust them and takes them to get the chip tested at the hangar where the chip will be sold to his buyers. The chip naturally is fine but before Brennan can shoot them Victor shows up to spy on Michael.
Michael comes up with a story that Victor is working for Samantha and so Brennan shoots at him. Victor fires back and then leaves but there's enough doubt for Brennan to agree to let Mike and Fi do the security for the exchange. Mike and Fi have sneaked Samantha and Sam into the hangar to help steal the truck. However when the exchange goes down Brennan simply locks the hangar ruining Mike and Fi's plan to steal the chip back.
Sam and Samantha manage to improvise an escape and scare off the buyers by shooting at them. Sam is careful to let Brennan see her driving them away. Mike tells Brennan that now his buyer is gone, the only safe thing to do is return the chip to the company it was stolen from. Brennan is clearly both suspicious and unhappy about this turn of events but ultimately gives up the chip.
Then Samantha and Mike do a kind of reverse heist and put the chip back so that she won't have to take Charlie and go on the run. They succeed and Mike warns Samantha to quit her life of crime while she's ahead. She leaves Miami.
Victor agrees to meet Michael in the county hall men's room. He offers Michael a deal. If Michael keeps his mouth shut about Victor being the bomber, Victor will leave him alone. Mike isn't satisfied and wants answers. He subdues Victor with a makeshift taser and carries him off unconscious in a wheelchair wondering if he can go through with betraying Victor to get his old job back.
Tropes
- Batman Gambit: Samantha leaves Charlie's parentage ambiguous enough to get Michael invested. He calls her on it later.
- Blatant Lies: At the very end of the episode...
- Everyone Has Standards: Fiona doesn't care much for Samantha, but she's itching for an armed assault after Brennan strapped a bomb to Charlie.
- Green-Eyed Monster: Fiona is absolutely not stewing with jealousy and annoyance over learning Michael was previously engaged.Fiona: Don't be absurd. I'm not jealous.
Michael: You think you could pretend to be? - Hidden in Plain Sight: Brennan has a background in intelligence and is so good at what he does that Michael doesn't even bother to assume an alias this time. Instead, he lets his and Fiona's reputations speak for themselves while trying to put one over on Brennan.
- Mama's Baby, Papa's Maybe: Samantha lets Michael think that her son might be his. When they meet, Michael immediately realizes the boy's too young.
- The Missus and the Ex: Michael has to deal with both his current girlfriend and his ex being in the same room. He finds the situation so awkward that he admits he's looking forward to leaving and talking to Carla.
- Nothing Personal: Victor was watching Michael and Fiona with Brennan. When the con was going south, Michael pointed to Victor and said he must be working on Samantha's behalf. Michael later explains himself and Victor finds the situation rather amusing.
- One-Steve Limit: Downplayed with Samantha, who is occasionally referred to by the shorthand. When she first appears on Michael's doorstep, Michael calls her "Sam" and prompts some confusion from our regular.Sam: So, uh, another Sam. This is gonna be confusing, huh?
Maddie: Have you ever been secretly engaged to my son?
Sam: No.
Maddie: Then I think we'll be able to tell you apart.
Sam: Fair enough. - Previously on…: Given a unique twist. The episode opens with Michael Breaking the Fourth Wall and explaining some of the major events of the season. It's revealed he's been talking to Carla.
- Properly Paranoid:
- After Sam delivers Maddy to the loft, everyone hears a noise outside. Then they grab their guns.
- When Michael and Fiona first approach, Brennan openly suspects what their real game is (pretending to be helping him but looking to steal the goods out from under him). He's also pretty certain Michael is responsible for his reversal of fortune in the end.
- A Riddle Wrapped in a Mystery Inside an Enigma: After Michael instigates a shootout between Brennan and Victor at the airport to cover for Victor spying on him, Victor remarks, "You are an enigma wrapped in a schizophrenic, Michael. First you don't shoot at me, and then you arrange a little firing squad."Michael: I needed help selling a cover ID. Nothing Personal.
- Shutting Up Now: Sam's attempts to mollify Fiona and Maddie over this latest revelation about Michael's past go poorly, so he opts to just step away and get a drink.
- Sticky Fingers: Samantha grabs Michael's wallet as a joke at lunch. She also grabs a spool of platinum wire on the way out at the end because, "Hey, 10 grand". Michael has to throw it away.
- Smokescreen Crime: Michael breaks into a high-security lab to put back a certain item. To "explain" the breach (without implicating the person who'd stolen the item in the first place), he grabbed some expensive-looking items and tossed them in the trash, making it look like they'd stolen something else.
- Take a Third Option: Victor says Michael can either leave him alone or be killed. Michael instead subdues him.
- We Will Meet Again: Brennan warns Michael that he'll be seeing him again.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Maddie is openly vocal about Michael never once mentioning having been engaged.
- Would Hurt a Child: Brennan's insurance is strapping a bomb to Charlie.
- Xanatos Speed Chess: Brennan's smart, he keeps changing the game. It's ploy after ploy.
