Michael and the gang are left reeling in the wake of Nate’s death; Madeline’s avoiding Michael, and he and a newly-freed Fiona are left in a lurch when Rebecca escapes from the fortified penthouse she’s been stashed away in, forcing them to spend the day tracking her down. Meanwhile, Sam recruits Jesse to help him deal with his girlfriend Elsa’s rebellious, ecstasy-addled son when he steals her bracelet

Another mixed bag of an episode. While the bookending segments were well-acted and heartrending (especially Nate’s open-casket funeral), Sam and Elsa’s relationship feels paternalistic, bloodless, and one-sided. Sam mouths blandishments about loving this woman, but I absolutely cannot buy a single bit of it – Campbell has better chemistry with Gabrielle Anwar, and she and Sam are semi-rivals.

Where once the relationship was unevenly tilted toward Elsa controlling Sam, Sam’s currently miscast as the overbearing, paternalistic father figure over Elsa’s well-being; his attempt to parent her son, whom he barely seems to know, is also obnoxious, though highly in-character for him. Sam is Elsa’s self-proclaimed boytoy, presumably one of the many – that he would deem it proper to complain about the way the child treats his mother is absurd.

The best bits focus on Michael’s quiet despair at his brother’s death. Jeffrey Donovan portrays Michael’s wordless pain in a perfectly accurate, well-sculpted way that sucks the audience into his wounded eyes.

Burn Notice’s not quite fish/not quite fowl status is making itself difficult this season, in spite of movingly acted moments (Jeffrey Donovan and Gabrielle Anwar in particular get a couple of lovely moments as Michael grapples with what Nate’s death means for his own mortality and the morality of those around him). But except for those bookending scenes, this one was nothing but filler.

LETTER GRADE: C+