Where HAS Michael Westen been?
Photo taken from USANetwork.com
It began where season 3 left off. Only, this time, Michael gets the chance to give us a few spy tips. One: The various priceless artifacts decorating the room reveal this isn’t just any office. Certainly not an official government agency. The $1200 shoes and expensive suit walking through the door confirms that.
The man explains - to an unusually, somewhat out of character Michael - that he is in a private holding facility. He also informs him that he did very well rescuing ‘Management’ (The man who burned Michael), and allowing them to lock up their ‘threat’, Simon. Meet: Vaughn -- Michaels new
Next, we see Michael in a holding cell. He mulls around for a bit, before finally going through the file. We learn they are intelligence files. Having read and deciphered the information in the file, Michael gets taken back to Vaughn. The file contained documents linking “assassinations, crop burnings, little wars around the world” to “some fat bank accounts”. Vaughn (played by Robert Wisdom) explains that they need Michaels help to stop these things. Simon’s escape was an attack against ‘us’.
Michael: “Who is ‘Us’ exactly?”
Vaughn: “Some things governments do well, like… run a military or post office. And then there are some things they need help with. Things best done by people who no longer have ties to the government.”
Michael: “Like burned spies.”
Vaughn: “Precisely. That’s where we come in. … Where you come in.”
Vaughn [Photo taken from USANetwork.com]
Vaughn goes on to explain that while they may have different methods, they are on the same side; Trying to fight the bad guys. He wants Michael to ‘partner’ with them. He asks Michael where he would start. Michael says many of the ‘little wars’ track back to the same weapons supplier: Gregory Hart. Vaughn decides they should go see this person together.
Next, we see a helicopter landing in the jungle. Michael and Vaughn are inside. Vaughn asks Michael how it feels to finally be out of Miami. Michael says it feels good. They invade a guerilla camp, housing the elusive gunrunner. They ask him who he works for. Hart, played by none other than Michael Ironside, replies: “I work for a 16 digit Swiss bank account and an anonymous e-mail address.”
Vaughn shoot’s Hart in the leg in an attempt to make him give up who he’s working for. Hart explains it isn’t going to do him any good; He doesn’t know who he works for, and he was a dead man the second they started coming for him. Michael spots a drone aircraft - an unmanned, heavily armed weapon - which attacks the camp. Hart is killed, but Michael and Vaughn escape - Vaughn taking a bullet to the shoulder, but both come out alive.
Back in Miami:
Having returned to Miami, Michael speaks with Vaughn. Vaughn informs him that this isn’t the first time something like this has happened. ANY agency - from anywhere - it doesn’t matter who they are -
Vaughn: “ANYONE who gets close, gets dead.”
Michael: “So now it’s MY turn?”
Vaughn explains that while it is dangerous business, they feel that it’s something Michael Westen can do. Succeed where others have failed. Michael says that Hart had government files with him. That he was probably the subject of some sort of federal investigation. Michael agree to work with them, BUT, says they will do it on HIS terms. It is HIS investigation. Vaughn agrees.
Michael finally gets to go home to his mother. She’s shaken. It was short, but the unspoken words between he and Maddie seemed to pour out between them. He asked about Fi, and then, after telling his mother he was “...sorry. About everything.”, she told him to go on - they would talk later - knowing that he needed to see Fi.
He did so. Coming into Fi’s apartment, they briefly kissed, then she pats him on the shoulder before turning back to a table full of an assortment of guns. I have to say I couldn’t stop laughing when I saw this. We all know how Fiona likes her guns. ;)
Michael, having been gone mysteriously for weeks, was taken aback. It wasn’t exactly the reunion he was expecting. Fi explains that she and Sam are in the middle of something. They took on a case that ‘Got a little out of hand’. This is where the episode turned more procedural. This weeks case? A Lawyer: Winston. Tried to help a girl with a problem with her ex-boyfriend, Hunter. When the restraining order didn’t work, the lawyer got a judge to impound Hunter’s bike. Turned out he was the enforcer of a biker gang. They came after Winston with an order to kill him, and he tried to pay them to leave them alone. This is why they need Michaels help. On the hurried drive to Winston’s house, Sam and Fiona start their usual bickering. Michael is lost. They finally explain what’s going on, and that frankly ‘This whole thing needs a little Michael Westen.’
Michael goes in alone, guns blazing. Except, he wasn’t shooting at them. He was shooting in the air to get their attention. The entire standoff reminded me of Dirty Harry, and I oddly kept expecting Michael to say “So you’ve gotta ask yourself a question: ‘Do I feel lucky?’ Well do ya, punk?”. Of course, Michael did not say this. But I’d venture to say it came pretty darn close. The bikers left, vowing that it wasn’t over.
The next scene I have to say is probably one of my favorites. Michael seems to be sulking. Fi even goes so far as to ask him if he’s pouting. Michael explained that he comes back - after a mysterious disappearance - to Fi and Sam acting like nothing happened. He gets cut off when Fi slaps him. HARD. She then breaks down; Fiona style. Tells him they ‘kicked in every door we could think of’, and that they took the case ‘out of respect’ for him. They kiss and share a long embrace. She asks him about what happened. He briefly explains what he’s into now, Fi isn’t very happy about it.
Michael speaks with their new client. They decide the best way to save the mans life is by making it so that him staying alive is in the best interest of the gang. Barry, a recurring character played by Paul Tei, is brought in to help them devise a plan that makes it look like their client is mixed up with the gang. By doing this, if they were to kill him, they would leave their whole operation in jeopardy. After Fi obtained the documents they needed, they invaded the house of the leader of the gang: ‘Big Ed’.
After having a ‘talk’ with Big Ed, they were able to convince him to call off the ‘green light’ (order to kill) on their client. But things didn’t exactly go as planned. Hunter disobeyed Big Ed’s orders and didn’t come alone. Nor did he come with intentions of calling off the green light. Instead, he shot Big Ed in the shoulder. At this time, Michael, Sam and Winston go in to save the biker, and speed off - Hunter and a couple of his boys in tow. Michael then called in ‘Plan B’ to Fiona, who caused a little ‘trouble’ at the biker bar, by stealing a bike in order to get them to follow her. Fiona brought the biker gang to Michael, creating backup for the group. Big Ed beats Hunter, stripping him of his vest, and putting it on Winston, ordering that his gang not lay a hand on the lawyer. Sam and Fi later take Winston to a tattoo parlor to get a ‘Breakers’ tattoo, ensuring that the gang couldn’t come after him ever again.
I have to say, my favorite thing about this whole storyline was Fiona on a bike. That chick looks pretty awesome, does she not? ;)
Photo taken from USANetwork.com
Now, Michael finally gets to speak with his mother about what happened. It was really a beautiful part of the episode. Maddie tells him that having him gone wasn’t the hard part. She’s gotten used to that over the years. The hard part, she said, was having an FBI agent telling her that her son is “monster”. Michael explains about Simon, and how he’d changed, turning into someone who hurt people. He told his mother that he was working to stop Simon, and that yes, he broke the law, he worked with bad people - because he had to.
Maddie: “It’s as simple as that?”
Michael: “I don’t know.”
Here is the part that really got to me as a fan of the show. Michael broke down, telling his mother what Simon said to him.
“When I caught Simon, he laughed. He said it was just a matter of time before I was just like him.”
With that, Madeline stood up, wrapping her arms around her son, and said “He’s wrong, honey. That isn’t the son I raised.”
This show has a lot of different facets - guns, explosions, sexual tension, guns, scared clients, explosions, car chases, explosions - they’re all great. But this scene was a very profound moment for the show - Michael’s relationship with his mother, as well as Michael’s character. Michael Westen -
And as amazing as that moment was, the last part of the episode was even better. Michael uses an access card given to him by Vaugn, in order to sneak into a government facility to steal some files. Michael was successful. However, not everyone came out okay. Because Michael stole the files, someone else got blamed.
Michael just burned another spy.
*cue dramatic music*
Tune in this Thursday at 9/8c when we get to meet this newly burned spy, Jesse Porter, played by Coby Bell (known for his roles in Third Watch, and The Game)!
What did you enjoy about the episode? Something you want to add? Leave a comment below! :)
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