Episode 303: End Run

End Run
Season 3, Episode 3

Air date	June 18, 2009
Written by	Craig O'Neill
Directed by	Dennie Gordon
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End Run is the third episode of the third season and is the thirty-first episode overall.

Notes

Clients: N/A
Bad Guys: Tyler Brennen, The Butcher

Synopsis

Black market dealer Brennen kidnaps Michael's brother Nate in order to use Michael for a job, while Michael still has to deal with Detective Paxson's investigations.

Spy Facts

Whether you're dealing with the presidential guard in Belarus, the Federal Security Service in Russia, or the local police in Miami, the drill is pretty much the same. Keep your place clean of damning evidence, keep your alibis and your whereabouts straight, and always be ready for surprise visits.
The lone spy who always works solo is a myth. The truth is, you don't last long without keeping a few friends around. Because your enemies will find you on their own.
Your first priority when you're captured is to make it clear that your cooperation isn't free. Your captor gets what he wants if you get what you want. In any healthy relationship, there needs to be some give-and-take.
Spies are trained to use whatever resources are available. In the hills of Afghanistan, the best you can hope for are rocks and some scrub brush. In an office building, you may have more options.
Technology that makes communication easier also tends to make it more vulnerable. The Bluetooth on a cell phone, for example, is an easy way to send information wirelessly over short distances. Use an antenna, and you can get that same information over longer distances. If you don't have an antenna, you can build your own. A combination of metal washers and a bent coat hanger connected to a cylindrical chip can will allow you to capture the signal. A USB cable transmits the stolen information to a computer. Add a few pencils for legs, and you've got a cute little improvised hacking device.
Nothing sells innocence like an injury. People naturally sympathize with someone who's bleeding. If you're in a situation where you really need the benefit of the doubt, it's worth a flesh wound.
In the adrenaline rush of a high-stress situation, you tend to miss details. But it's the little things that make all the difference.
A tire iron is great if you need a new tire. It's also great if you need a car, because a tire iron can be used to break a window and pry open the steering column to expose the ignition leads. It's the ultimate all-purpose tool.
One of the great things about stealing information is that nobody knows it's gone. Steal someone's purse, and you're probably in for a lot of screaming. But steal someone's credit card number, and half the time they thank you.
Involving civilians in operations is dangerous but sometimes necessary. When it has to happen, you do what you can to keep the civilian out of harm's way. That said, you try a little harder with some civilians than others.
The problem with blackmail is that it's like a gun with only one bullet. You can't waste that bullet on every little problem. And the closer you get to your goal, the harder it is to pull the trigger.
If you had to choose an ideal environment for guerrilla war it would probably look a lot like an urban parking structure. It's an easy place to create a distraction and draw out opposing forces. A parking garage is also a great place to control visibility and give yourself an advantage. And once you do that, you can find cover and stage an effective ambush.

Full Recap

Michael is at home, eating yogurt and reading the newspaper, when the police knocks on his door. Surprisingly, he faces his brother Nate who is accompanied by Detective Paxson. Well prepared, Michael hands Paxson his daily activity log. She assures Michael that she will talk to all his friends and family members until she finds someone who knows something about him or until he decides to talk to her. When she is gone, Nate reveals that he just arrived in Miami to talk to an investor for his limo company.

At the restaurant, Michael tells Fiona and Sam about Paxson's visit. He needs to know someone Paxson will regret going after and Sam suggests a financial relationship with someone from the mayor's office that looks suspicious but is legal.

When Michael is on his way to his car, Brennen, the arms dealer with a grudge, surprises Michael and tells him an exciting business opportunity brought him back to Miami. Michael realizes that Brennen is Nate's investor. Brennen adds that Nate is right now closing the deal with his partner, who is actually an enforcer from Sicily. He wants Michael to run some errands, otherwise he will kill Nate.

At Madeline's house, Sam and Fiona meet Barry to tell him that he has to open a joint bank account for Michael and a mayor's aide. Barry sends Fiona to his intern Fabian to get a portable skimmer. In the meantime, Sam asks Barry to help him renovate Madeline's house.

Brennen drives Michael to a building, gives him a maintenance coat and asks him to bring him a hardware key from one of the offices within 30 minutes, but denies further information.

In the building, Michael uses metal washers, a bent coat hanger and a cylindrical chip can to build an antenna to connect with Brennen's cellphone. Once he has hacked Brennen's cellphone and mailed the information to Sam, he calls Sam and asks him to go through the data and find out what Brennen is up to.

Michael breaks into the office and steals the hardware key. When guards arrive, he pretends to be drunk and convinces them that he fell and accidentally broke the office's window.

Their next target is Jonathan Carver, a guy with the right clearance at the right company. Brennen asks Michael to record Carver's full name and every number from zero through nine so he can make a voice key. In order to find a reason to talk to Carver, Michael breaks into a car and drives into Carver's car which is parked in front of Carver's house.

In Carver's house, Michael pretends to call his insurance company, but calls Sam instead. He gives him an update and tells him that he's collecting numbers for a voice key from a gun designer. Sam assumes that Brennen is after some government-funded weapon. In the meantime, Barry got into Brennen's bank account. Michael asks them to find out if Brennen owns a place in Miami, when Carver interrupts the call.

In the meantime, Fiona uses the scanner she got from Barry to steal the credit card number from the mayor's aide when Sam calls her to tell her about Michael's trouble.

Meanwhile, Michael has nearly finished his task, but has to face an angry Carver. Michael pushes him further by stating that Carver parked his car in the middle of the street. When Carver tries to hit him, Michael overwhelms him and forces him to say that he parked 8 inches from the curb. With the recording of the last number he needed, Michael quickly leaves before Carver can shoot him.

The last errand Michael has to run, is breaking in JLA Industries, a weapons manufacturer. However, he refuses to bring Brennen the box until he knows what is in it, although Brennen threatens to kill Nate. Finally, Brennen gives in and reveals that the content of box is a biometric lock for advanced infantry weapons.

In the building, Michael overwhelms the security guards. In the meantime, Sam and Fiona have found Brennen's house in Miami. On his way back to Brennen, Michael calls Sam and Fiona, but they have to tell him that Nate and Brennen's partner are already gone and Michael discovers that Brennen's partner and Nate just arrived. Brennen shoots in Nate's arm because Michael needed to know what in that box is and forces Michael to finally bring him the box.

Back in the building, Michael calls Sam to tell him that Brennen shot Nate. They are running out of options and Sam goes through Brennen's bank records again. When Sam mentions a well hidden holding named Belle Anna, Michael realizes that the Belle Anna Holding is connected to Brennen's family.

While Fiona and Sam blow up Brennen's house and take a picture, Michael returns without the box to Brennen. Brennen points his weapon at Nate's head and demands Michael to go back and get it when he gets a text message. It's the picture of his house in flames, but Brennen is not further impressed. However, Michael assures him that he has become an expert in Tyler Brennen since they last met and that he drained his accounts. Brennen calls his bank, but his call is intercepted by Barry, who claims that Brennen's money was transferred this morning, but Brennen isn't willing to release the brothers for the money. Finally, Michael plays his last card and mentions Annabelle, Brennen's daughter who attends a private school in Switzerland and hits the bull's eye. When Brennen believes his daughter's life is threatened, he lets them go.

When Michael comes home after he checked on his brother at Madeline's home, Detective Paxson pays him a visit to tell him that her partner was suspended for questioning the mayor's aide about a bank account she opened with Michael Westen. She assures him that she will not back down.

Cast

Main

Jeffrey Donovan as Michael Westen
Bruce Campbell as Sam Axe
Gabrielle Anwar as Fiona Glenanne
Sharon Gless as Madeline Westen

Recurring

Seth Peterson as Nate Westen
Paul Tei as Barry
Moon Bloodgood as Detective Michelle Paxson
Charles De La Rosa as Detective Lopez
Jay Karnes as Tyler Brennen

Guest

Scott Michael Morgan as Jonathan Carver

Trivia

In the season two finale, Michael jumped out of the helicopter in his Armani suit. In this episode, he can be seen wearing a suit that looks just the same as that same suit that was ruined and left behind in the ocean.
In the car with Brennen, Michael identifies Brennen's handgun as a 226. The pistol is a Sig Sauer P226 which was designed for the U.S. Army and is carried by the U.S. Navy SEALs.