So Michael now has Victor as a captive. After trying to get Carla to back off Michael gets Victor to explain his actions. Victor was burned and had his family killed by Carla so he's been attacking the organisation from the inside.
Fi and Mike check out Victor's boat and find proof of his story. Meanwhile Victor warns Sam Carla is sure to find out he is working with Mike and rain down hell upon them all. Mike comes back and sends Sam to protect his Mum. He asks Fi to act normally to try and prevent Carla getting suspicious. Then he and Victor try and escape. They end up stealing a car and having Fi detonate several vehicles on a prearranged street to escape.
Meanwhile Sam isn't able to persuade Madeline to leave in time and they end up having to blow up her sun room to sneak past the men outside her house with guns. They sneak off in a borrowed Buick and Madeline persuades Sam to ditch her and go help Michael. Sam finds Fi after Michael has said goodbye to her and they decide to go back to the Marina and help Mike.
Then they steal Victor's evidence of Carla's dirty deeds from a fake utility box under the nose of Carla's security guards. They plan to head to Cuba using Victor's boat and then call in the higher ups of the Burn Notice organisation to deal with Carla. Unfortunately Carla is at the marina and shoots Victor in the chest. She warns Michael that he can either kill Victor and help her lie to Management or she'll blow the boat up. She's about to press the button when Fi kills her.
Victor then tells Michael his only shot is to pretend Victor and Carla were rogue operatives and he killed them. Michael doesn't want to give up on saving Victor but Victor points out either way he's finished. Michael shoots him in the chest and after a moment puts on his game face and heads out to the helicopter to meet Management (aka Martin Crane). Management asks what he wants and he says he wants to be left alone. Management opens the helicopter door and tells Michael that's the way out then.
Michael jumps and starts swimming back to Miami.
Tropes
- Alas, Poor Villain: Honestly, despite everything that Victor has done, it's hard not to feel bad for him after learning his past. Michael is clearly torn up about it when he's forced to Mercy Kill him.
- And Some Other Stuff: The Trope Namer episode!Victor: None of that burns hot enough to do any damage.
Michael: It does if you mix in ethylene dioxide and some other stuff. - Armor-Piercing Question: Management has one for Michael:"All your old enemies from your spy days, all the people who have scores to settle with Michael Westen? where do you think they've been? Did they just forget about you or has someone been keeping them at bay?"
- Better to Die than Be Killed: Victor knows that he will be tortured to death if the Organization gets him, so he tells Michael to kill him.
- Bond One-Liner: "Finally."
- Car Chase Shoot-Out: Michael and Victor get into a car chase against some of Carla's suits. Michael fires behind them to discourage pursuit, resorting to firing under the other car to ricochet bullets up through the floorboards. The agent isn't discouraged, so Michael MacGyvers a makeshift incendiary grenade out of Some Other Stuff in his glovebox. The agent dodges into a pile of dirt and flips his car.
- Cliffhanger: Michael opts to take his chances, but his narration acknowledges that he's truly out in the cold and more vulnerable than ever.
- Cool Car:
- Michael and Victor peel out of the parking garage in a stolen corvette.
- Maddie and Sam steal Maddie's neighbor's car, a classic cherry red Buick.
- Crazy-Prepared: Victor. He booby trapped the cabin of his boat with a claymore mine, he made a file of damning enough evidence against Carla to earn her a "retirement bullet," he stored said file at one of multiple safehouses he set up - though Carla still finds the one where it is - and instead of hiding the file inside, he hid it in a fake utility box nearby, which even impresses Michael.
- Despair Event Horizon: Michael teeters on the edge of it after he shoots Victor. His eyes are full of tears, he briefly taps the barrel of the gun against his temple, contemplating suicide... Bruce Campbell in the commentary is in awe of Donovan's performance.
- Dies Wide Open: Michael closes Victor's eyes for him after giving him a Mercy Kill.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Apparently Carla's go-to response to problems: Michael comments upon reading Victor's files that "she would send a black ops team to deal with a parking ticket." This is part of the team's blackmail gambit against her - her superiors don't appreciate a lack of subtlety, and they really wouldn't appreciate her using organization resources for off-the-books jobs.
- Dramatic Gun Cock: Fiona with her shotgun, twice in rapid succession, making less sense than usual with this trope since she would be ejecting the round she loaded the first time.
- Dual Wielding: Sam, briefly. He doesn't hit anything, but he wasn't trying to.
- Elite Agents Above the Law: Discussed: Victor theorizes this is how the burned spies organization got started: "Somebody runs an operation off the books. It's supposed to be a one-time thing but when it's over, there's power to be had. Takes on a life of its own."
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Victor legitimately doesn't understand until it's spelled out for him that Michael isn't planning on turning him in to Carla even if it means getting his life back. Or that Michael isn't willingly working for Carla.
- Foreshadowing: "You have no idea what Hell will rain down if we stop watching out for you!"
- Hidden in Plain Sight: Once Sam and Maddie lose their immediate pursuers, Maddie gets out of the car, planning to blend into a crowd of retirees in order to free Sam up to go help Michael.
- It Has Been an Honor: Victor to Michael. "Good playing with you, sport."
- Killed Off for Real: Victor and Carla.
- Mama Bear: Maddie sends Sam back after Michael, noting that if there's one thing a woman her age can do in Miami, it's blend in.
- Mercy Kill: Victor knows if Management takes him alive "they'll take me apart". He asks Michael to do it. Michael does.
- Now or Never Kiss: Fi lays one on Michael. "It's not goodbye, it's just...in case." Then she smacks him across the face, telling him that's a reminder to be careful.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Sam sternly refuses Maddie's offer for a beer, which makes Maddie realize:Maddie: This is serious.
- Product Placement: On Star makes its return, paying for another awesome finale and getting Michael to a hardware store while avoiding traffic and government buildings.
- Sadistic Choice: Take Carla's position in the Organization or demand they stay out of his life (knowing that will leave him open to all sorts of old enemies). Michael chooses the latter.
- Sympathy for the Devil: Victor is as crazy as he is because he lost his wife and 4-year-old son thanks to Carla. Lampshaded by Fiona and Michael:Fiona: Who knew you could feel this bad for a psychopath on the edge of sanity.
Michael: People don't get there on their own, Fi. Being under Carla's thumb—it's a strain.
Fiona: You've done okay.
Michael: I haven't lost everybody I care about. - Tragic Keepsake: Victor has photos and clippings about his dead family. It's all he has left of them.Michael: In the spy trade, it's a bad idea to keep photographs [Beat] unless the people in them are already dead.
- Villainous Breakdown: Carla is really starting to lose it by the time Fiona shoots her: when she sees Management's helicopter coming, her voice goes from keeping her cool to outright screaming at Michael over the phone in the space of about a minute.
- Villain Respect: Victor to Michael and Fiona.
- After Michael pulls his And Some Other Stuff gambit to scare off one agent:Victor: (grinning) I like you. Have I ever told you that?
- Michael and Victor drive down a street where Fiona has rigged bombs on several cars to block their pursuers. Afterwards, she pulls up next to them in her car, grinning from ear to ear.Victor: (utterly gobsmacked) Where did you meet her?
- After Michael pulls his And Some Other Stuff gambit to scare off one agent:
- Wham Episode: Two major characters are dead and the episode ends with a major change to the status quo.
