Burn Notice
Based on the information in the dossier Michael acquired in the previous episode, he deduces that Carla's cover was as an irrigation specialist. Given she might be using a similar cover, Sam goes under cover to wine and dine a local functionary to see if he can get info about her current cover. Sadly, the functionary, Harvey Gunderson, is an
expert at milking people for all the free lunches he can get. He strings Sam along until the latter gets frustrated and changes his cover from "businessman who needs info on experts in a field" to "federal agent who's about to charge you with obstruction you annoying little shit".
Client of the Week
Nate is back in town working as a driver for a limo company and brings Michael a case. Katya, the receptionist, brought her sister over from Russia using human smugglers (though fortunately not traffickers of any kind) who, now that her sister is in the country, are demanding extra money to hand her over. The team kidnaps the Russian mob's enforcer and hold him captive, interrogating him for the location where they hold the girls. Sam poses as a fed, Michael as a fellow Russian (born in Volgograd, raised in the US), and eventually Nate as a fellow fed.
- The Artifact: Although her hypochondria was dropped after the pilot, Madeleine still has a huge cache of pills visible when Michael meets with the client of the week.
- Artistic License – Physics: A stun gun doesn't work that way. It immobilizes the target by zapping them with a lot of juice between two electrodes, locking up their muscles. It won't stun a person the target is touching.
- Bad Guys Do the Dirty Work: Ivan, who managed the trafficking, falls for Michael's cover as a fellow Russian gangster from Tampa, so he goes to warn his bosses that the Feds are closing in on them (after giving Michael the location of the imprisoned women). As no one else in the mob had been arrested lately, and they don't actually have any operations in Tampa, Ivan's bosses immediately suspect that he's trying to double-cross them, so they have him executed. Michael points out via narration that it's rare and special when you can manipulate an enemy to get himself killed by trying to be loyal.
- Combat Sadomasochist: When Fiona jabs a taser into Ivan's torso, he responds by grabbing her leg, claiming that this means if she tases him, she'll also get shocked herself. Fi zaps him unconscious anyway, and if anything seems to enjoy the shock she gets.
- Cool Car: Finally averted for the Charger, literally, as Michael notes in voice-over that the Charger doesn't have air-conditioning and this is Miami. That was a real problem in filming the show.
- Corrupt Bureaucrat: A downplayed example in Harvey Gunderson. He milks Sam for as many expensive lunches as he can while holding back on giving him the employee list he wants. Sam is ultimately forced to pretend to be an undercover DEA agent and threatening to reveal to Harvey's company that he's been intentionally stalling an "investigation" to get him to give up the info.
- Fighting Fingerprint: Discussed. Michael has to sell his identity as a Russian, so he has to fight like a Russian, using the mixed martial art sambo.
- Fun with Subtitles: Gunderson has a lot of positions in related fields, giving him a lot of connections and a lot of pull in a certain field. The subtitles show each of these in rapid succession.
- I Have Your Wife: Or sister, in this case. And they're willing to kill the girls if they think the feds are onto them.
- The Mafiya: The bad guys in this episode are Russian gangsters running a number of scams.
- Race Against the Clock: Ivan refuses to share the location of the imprisoned women under interrogation, but smugly shares that he has to check in on the location once a week—and if he ever fails to check in, the underlings have orders to kill all the hostages and relocate. And his next scheduled check-in is just three days away.
- Torture Is Ineffective: Zig-zagged. Michael explicitly says that physical torture doesn't work, and is solely the tool of "thugs and sadists". But Michael also advocates the effectiveness of psychological torture, to make your interrogation suspect believe that spilling everything is their only hope of survival. But for a hardened criminal like Ivan, those methods will take at least a month to get any results, while Mike and Sam only have three days. So they take the faster but riskier option of inserting Mike as Ivan's cellmate to act as The Mole.
- Tricked into Escaping: How they get the location of the imprisoned girls from Ivan after interrogation has failed. Michael inserts himself as Ivan's cellmate, with a cover identity as a Russian mobster from Tampa, and wins Ivan's trust. Then Michael stages an escape from the makeshift prison for him and Ivan. So Ivan goes to check on the girls, leading Michael right to them.
