At first, last week’s episode of ‘Burn Notice’ felt like the show was treading water. You know, it’s the fourth episode in, and maybe the writers are going to take a break, get back to what’s always worked for the show, and not worry about advancing the story until the last few episodes of the season. And then… BAM! The last five minutes are a huge game changer.

I totally didn’t see this coming. We usually don’t get big plot twists like this until we’re nearing the end of the season. We’re on the fourth episode, and Michael’s new CIA job has already been compromised. Badly.

Sorry, I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s start at the beginning. When Barry (the occasional series regular who’s a financial wizard for low-life criminals) appeared with his brother, I thought this was going to be a pretty forgettable episode. For a while, it was. Barry’s brother is the client in ‘Mind Games’. He has a big problem that he needs Michael and the gang to solve. His server at work has been stolen, and if decrypted, the lives of hundreds of innocent teachers could be ruined as their pensions would be raided.

Michael takes on the job and has to deal with a notorious hacker named Eve. I love this part because Michael’s cover identity requires him to transform into Emo Michael. I’ve never seen him look like a Hot Topic regular, but he does here and it’s pretty funny.

There isn’t really anything noteworthy about the job. Michael plays his part perfectly. He plays the bad guys against themselves. He gets in some danger and then escapes. All in a day’s work for Mr. Westen.

We don’t get the big surprise until the end. Michael goes to check in on Max at the CIA field office and finds him lying on the floor in a pool of blood. He’s still alive, but not for long. Michael quickly picks up the gun on the floor and tries to chase down a shadow he sees running down the hall and stairwell. He can’t catch it, and quickly realizes that he’s being framed for the murder.

It looks like someone still has a vendetta against Michael. He was right after all. The people who burned him are still out there and want him to fail. I wonder where this kink in the works will take us. I’m excited to find out. I was pretty bored with this episode until those last five minutes. Now I’m very intrigued.

Other Random Thoughts:

• Does the gang continue to take on clients at this moment? Michael’s been framed for murder. It seems like that will be the driving plotline over the major part of the season.
• Michael covered his tracks, but he also covered the tracks of the real killer. This makes me think that they’ll track down the killer while also taking on other jobs. I think I just answered my question from above.
• Not enough Madeline this episode. She had a couple lines about aqua yoga and then she was gone. After that episode with her and Michael, all I want is more interaction between them.
• I was wrong about the car. I thought it’d take Michael all season to finish it and the last shot would be him driving away in it, or something to that effect. Instead, it was finished in this episode and driven by Fiona to help Michael escape before the cops could catch him.