Smallscreen Features

Recap: Burn Notice 'Hard Time'

By Alicia Sutton Aug 13, 2010, 5:34 GMT

05/17/2010 - Garret Dillahunt - 2010 Fox Upfront Programming Presentation Afterparty - Arrivals - Wollmink Rink, Central Park - New York City, NY, USA © Charles Norfleet / PR Photos

“Burn Notice“ scores another home-run this week with another fantastic episode. 

Michael Westen (Jeffrey Donovan) has his one-on-one conversation with Simon (played by the fabulous Garret Dillahunt). 

During the interrogation, Simon breaks free of his handcuffs and under cover of a fight informs Michael to dig up a grave and listen to a tape then get back to him.  After some booby trap tampering, Fiona (Gabrielle Anwar) is able to dig up the grave and locate Simon’s secret treasure. 

Listening to the said tape, Michael learns that his handler Vaughn (Robert Wisdom) had a hand in setting Michael up to be burned, a fact that he denied to Michael during the start of their “friendship”.

After listening to the tape, Michael returns to speak with Simon and Simon informs him that the man after the Bible is an all powerful CEO by the name of John Barrett.  He tells Michael to give John Barrett the bible and that Vaughn and company will be taken out. 

Michael tells Vaughn about John Barrett but keeps the little bit of information regarding his burned status to himself.  Michael is walking a dangerous line and it seems to only becoming more and more dangerous.  I can only imagine the look of horror on his mother’s face (Sharon Gless) if she ever knew what Michael was really involved in. 

Ever true to the “Burn Notice” formula, along with the overall storyline, a case of the week presents itself when a buddy of Sam’s (Bruce Campbell) life is in danger.  Juan is in prison and is going to be murdered by members of a prison gang unless Sam can help him. 

Michael comes up with a plan to break into prison and be Juan’s bodyguard until his sentence is up (he only has, conveniently, one week left).  Jesse (Coby Bell) is slightly baffled by the idea and in true “Burn Notice” fashion asks, “You are just going to walk into a federal prison and say, what, let me in?”

Luckily for Juan, Michael is owed a favor by two FBI agents and they get him into prison and even have a phone hidden in his cell for emergencies. 

Michael makes contact with Juan, and after some persuading, gets him to go along with Michael’s body guarding scheme.  After building some armor out of book covers and fighting off the gang members, Michael pisses off the head gang member Cruz and a riot ensues. 

Sam learns from a prison guard the riot procedures and using that information, Michael and Juan plan to hide in the medicine storage box in the infirmary as the first protocol of the prison is to take that storage box out during a riot.  They don’t make it as Juan’s leg is busted so Michael improvises and lures Cruz into the infirmary.  Using materials from the infirmary, Michael constructs a makeshift explosion that knocks Cruz out.  He hides Cruz in the medicine locker, and later sets him up from breaking out of prison. 

With only two more episodes left, I don’t see how they are going to wrap up Jesse’s storyline this season, which is a good thing since Jesse adds character to team Westen that was missing last season.