'Burn Notice' recap: Mike turns criminal

Let’s talk Sam and Veronica. If you were Roni, would you have kicked Sam out of the house for already being married and not telling you about it until you proposed? Or would you have forgiven him? As Fiona said, “We all have skeletons — terrible, terrible skeletons.” (Then again, I assume ex-IRA Fiona’s are worst than most.)

I’m on the fence about it. First, he’s Sam and he’s cool — you’d think that’s all one would need. And obviously Veronica adores him: “I’m pinching myself to make sure I’m not dreaming,” she purred at dinner. “It’s like I waited for you to show up my entire life.” Blech. It’s also not like Sam has any secret kiddies hidden in the closet somewhere (that we know of at least) or Wife Number One’s body on ice. On the other hand, nobody likes falling in love with someone (or proposing to him) without knowing his whole story. Or buying that liar an $8,000 Ferrari timepiece only to discover he’s already spoken for. Speaking of which, did anyone notice if he got to keep the watch? And who knows exactly what “Sammy’s getting some hammy tonight” means? (I know it’s sex, but that just sounds odd.) 

So is Sam really moving in with Mike? Or will he end up bunking with new best bud and top female confidant Fiona? Or maybe Madeline? She was, I’m sure you noticed, totally absent from yesterday’s episode, but I was too busy celebrating the brief glimpse we got of Veronica to care at the time.  One campy platinum chick is good enough for me. And I laughed aloud at Sam’s response to the latter’s marriage proposal: “How ‘bout that? There’s a question!” Ouch. Though, now that the show’s over, I miss my weekly dose of Mike’s chain-smoking caffeinated mom. I have a feeling I get my nicotine fix through her. 

Sam’s relationship issues did give Mike the chance to offer him some good advice: If Veronica is the one, say yes; if it’s complicated, say no. I’m aware that this was played for laughs in the episode — but for any of you in iffy relationships, it makes sense. Then again, Mike shouldn’t really talk. He and Fi definitely had some heat between them last night when they practiced safecracking (he prefers the logical approach, she prefers using power tools). I’d say her “nay” to their relationship in the premiere is going to turn into his “yay” pretty soon: We all desire to what we can’t have. 

You know, like Robin Givens wants a career.  Who wasn’t excited to see her guest starring yesterday as henchwoman Kandi? I think every actor — especially Head of the Class alums — deserves a second chance (that means you, Tony O’Dell and Khrystyne Haje). Too bad the part was so underwritten it could have been filled by any chick that looked believable holding a gun and crazy enough to be arrested twice for assault and battery and once for assault with a deadly weapon. The dialogue in Robin’s penultimate scene was cramp-inducing: “He’ll be dead long before you find him. Said while slowly putting on sunglasses. Ugh. (By the way, what’s up with Michael always tricking criminals into murdering each other? Sure, they’re bad people, but we never really saw Timo kill anyone. The deaths make the show dark and give it an edge, but what happened to plain old going to prison?) 

Kandi and Timo (played by Sleeper Cell’s excellent Oded Fehr) both figured into last night’s job to help ex-getaway driver Trevor avoid breaking a promise to his young son to go on the straight and narrow. Funny how Michael wasn’t won over by the jewels Trevor offered him, but gave in when he heard the guy had a kid. Boy, does Mike have daddy issues. Then again, who on USA primetime doesn’t?  Monk? Shawn from Psych? They’re all stricken. Anyway, so Trevor was being pressured by pain of death to help his old boss, Timo the nasty control freak, pull off a major jewel heist. That’s where Kandi comes in: She’s Timo’s girlfriend and muscle. So through several complicated machinations (including letting Sam get the crap kicked out of him in the street by a massively large member of Timo’s crew), Mike got himself in on the plan as the safecracker. The plan? Keep it from ever going down. And it sort of worked: Sam triggered the jewelry shops alarm system in the middle of the theft, forcing all the thieves to scatter mid-robbery. Mike, who never even opened the safe, managed to make it look like Timo had stolen the jewels for himself and screwed his team (knowing how to pop tires and convincing Fiona to blow up a boathouse really comes in handy). This sent Kandi into a fit and after Timo — putting Trev in the clear. In Mike’s words, “You know what your boy needs more than a promise -- he needs a dad.” Point taken, but we think you’re talking more about yourself, Mikey, than anyone else. 

The Carla plotline, unfortunately, went nowhere last night — but not without great effort on Mike’s part. He found her office by staking out the Mail ‘N More. He broke into the building next door to set up a spycam on the roof (which at one point he was hanging off of). But Carla was one step ahead of Mike, clearing off and leaving him balloons, champagne, and a crossword puzzle with the ominous answer “quit” filled in. 

I’m anxious to see this plotline move forward; that’s why I’m so excited for next week episode when Carla throws a new operative in the mix. He wants to put Michael’s “talents to good use.” We’ll see. 
So what did you guys think? It wasn’t one of the best for me, but still good. I’m also wondering: Will Sam seek an officially divorce from wifey? Does that mean a new character?