Burn Notice: “Better Halves”

Whenever Burn Notice decides it’s time to delve into the dysfunctional dynamics of the Michael/Fiona relationship, it’s usually a good opportunity to make a trip to the fridge or check the score of the ballgame. There’s an awful lot of that going on tonight, thanks to a CIA case that has the duo posing as Mr. and Mrs. Jensen, a happily married couple vacationing at a Venezuelan resort. Their mission involves extracting an asset code-named Germ Warfare, a biological weapons expert planning to sell a deadly new neurotoxin to the highest bidder. But this storyline is really an excuse to indulge in a little couples therapy for Michael and Fi, who see a warped reflection of their relationship in their target and his trophy wife.
Michael sells the trip to Fiona as a “working vacation,” but of course, once they get there, he’s all about the work, oblivious to Fi’s pleas for a little quality time together. This is awfully well-trod ground for Burn Notice and not usually one of the show’s strengths, although “Better Halves” did pull off a couple of fresh spins on the material—literally so, in the case of the tango Michael and Fi perform in order to eavesdrop on potential targets on the dance floor. (This scene might also be responsible for the most laughable “When you’re a spy” narration yet, as Michael explains that dancing near people and pretending to accidentally bump into them can be an effective surveillance technique. Thanks, Sherlock!) Their tango is reprised later in the episode, this time with guns, when Michael and Fiona shoot their way out of an ambush. It’s a nicely choreographed bit, and the way they look so much more at ease with each other than they did during the actual dancing is worth a thousand whiny Fionalogues.