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Devil You Know
Season 3, Episode 16
Devil-you-know
Air date March 4, 2010
Written by Matt Nix
Directed by Matt Nix
Episode Guide
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Good Intentions
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Friends and Enemies

Devil You Know is the sixteenth and finale episode of the third season and the forty-fourth episode overall.

Notes[]

  • Clients: Management
  • Bad Guys: Simon (? / The Client), Keith (Hotel Bomber)
  • Others: Agent Callahan (FBI)

Synopsis[]

Michael is approached by his alter ego - the man who actually committed the crimes that were used to burn him.

Michael finds out that the man on the plane who escaped is an insane ex spy who was being transferred from prison. Michael tracks down the criminal known as Simon in a video store. There on TVs Simon is playing all the crimes he has committed. These were the crimes Michael is accused of and is burned. This happened because the government erased all existence of Simon and had to transfer his file to someone else. Simon was kept in an unknown jail while Michael was dumped in Miami. Michael has Simon at gunpoint but it turns out that Simon has explosives planted in a hotel. Simon tells Michael he must work with him or many people will die.

Spy Facts[]

Spies are in the law-breaking business. Call it espionage, covert ops, whatever you like. When you get right down to it, you're a criminal working for a good cause. When your job involves daily law breaking, chances are you're going to find yourself on the wrong end of a manhunt at some point. It's hard to get used to the ideal that doing the right thing can mean being public enemy number one. The good news is you're usually too busy trying to survive to get upset. The best thing is to get away, deal with the situation, and hope people are in a forgiving mood.

Commuter parking lots are great for fugitives. You can get some sleep while your pursuers lose momentum to exhaustion and shift changes. It's also one-stop shopping for a new phone or dry clothes.

Spies love places people tend to avoid. Sewage plants, toxic dumps, condemned motels, all places you can put emergency supplies, and not worry about whether they'll be there when you need them.

A good operative doesn't believe in coincidences. It's true, of course, that food stands catch fire from time to time, it's even possible that one might catch fire at the same time you happen to be looking for a violent fugitive. But it's sure not likely. 

As a spy, you want to work with people with clear alliances. The biggest monster in the world becomes quite predictable on a government payroll. The worst nightmare is a lone crazy person.

When entering a possible combat situation, you want the element of surprise on your side. It's why special forces like to rappel down from helicopters. Of course, when you don't have a helicopter, you may have to improvise. 

Work in intelligence long enough, and you hang on to phone numbers. No matter who your enemy is, there's a chance you'll need him tomorrow. Churchill and Stalin weren't chummy in 1941. But once the Nazis marched on Moscow, they got past their differences.

When a trained team is advancing on your position, sneaking away is usually impossible. Your best bet is to give them something else to worry about.

Liquid Nitrogen isn't available at the corner store, but it is a standard part of a bomb maker's workshop. It's also useful for defusing explosives. On a well-made bomb, you can forget about cutting wires. Any decent bomb maker will make sure the important wires are impossible to reach. Freeze the detonator, though, and you can usually remove it safely. Of course "usually" is not a word you want to hear when you're working with explosives.

To be a spy, you need physical fitness, a facility with languages, a tolerance for exotic foods, and the bugs that come with them. But ultimately, there's no greater qualification then the ability to look someone who ruined your life in the eye, and say, "Let's work together."

There's no trick to getting down off a building quickly. Gravity will take care of that for you. The challenge is getting down without breaking your neck.

Full Recap[]

This episode starts right after the last ended: with the explosion of Gilroy 's car. Michael has landed in the grass, unharmed. Right away he has to run for an approaching police car. He escapes both the police officer and an FBI agent that pursue him, but his problems have only just started.

Michael, Fiona, Sam and Madeline agree to meet in their 'emergency emergency spot', but Madeline gets a visit from some FBI agents, who find a shotgun in her bag and deduce from this she has a way to contact Michael. On their order, she calls Michael, but she hints to him that he should stay away by telling him to come home right now - a trick they used in his childhood when his dad was on a bender.

Fiona and Sam are going to find the explosions expert that Simon hired to blow up Gilroy's car, while Michael goes to get his stuff from his car. Upon arriving there, however, he is lured inside a nearby building through images of him on the TV screens outside the shop. Waiting on him inside is Simon, the escaped prisoner, who tells him that most of the crimes Michael supposedly committed - the ones that are one his burn notice - were actually committed by him. The organization that got Michael burned decided Simon was uncontrollable, so they transferred his file to Michael.

Now, he wants his life back. He asks Michael to bring Management to Miami or he will blow up an hotel at Miami Beach. To do this, Michael has to go back to the loft, which is under FBI surveillance. He gets in contact with Sam and tells him about the bomb. Then Simon and Michael make their way to the loft.

Meanwhile, Madeline gets interrogated by the FBI . They realize she somehow warned him of, so they show her the photos from Michael's burn notice to get her to talk, telling her he is a killer. She sends them to a mall, where she claims they were supposed to meet.

Fiona and Sam find the hotel bomber and question him. He tells them about the bomb and where they can find it.

Simon and Michael arrive at the river, a couple of hundred yards away from the loft. Michael swims from there and enters the loft through the roof. He contacts Management and tells him about Simon's plan. Management agrees to come to the government building at 6 PM, as Simon requested. After swimming back to Simon, they get pursued by the FBI. Simon creates an accident to get rid of them.

The FBI agents at Madeline's place realize she gave them a false address and tell her Michael is responsible for the accident, which injured several of FBI agents. They also find some of Michael's equipment, including bomb-making components, in the garage. Madeline tells them it's hers. They threaten her, telling her she could get arrested for that.

Fiona and Sam find the bomb and disable it by removing the detonator. This does lead to the detonator exploding, but nobody gets hurt. They aren't able to reach Michael though, so when Simon tells him to get out of the car, he can't do anything else than letting him go. Meanwhile, the FBI agents hear about the explosion and tell Madeline it's Michael's doing. She still refuses to help, so they arrest her.

Management arrives at the government building with a helicopter. Michael immediately realizes Simon's plan: there's only one helipad, so Simon knew exactly where that helicopter was going to land: he blows it up. Michael and Management get knocked down by the explosion and Simon arrives, dressed as a security guard. He wants to kill Michael, who manages to escape. Simon takes Management with him in an ambulance. Michael tells Fiona and Sam to alert the FBI and takes off behind Simon in a truck. After pursuing him for a while, they crash into each other. Both spies get out of their cars and start fighting: eventually Michael wins, putting a gun to Simon's head while keeping him trapped.

Management gets out of the ambulance and tells Michael not to shoot Simon, as the FBI is arriving. He states that would put a big dent in Michael's future, which is a big one. Then he walks away and the FBI arrive, arresting Simon and Michael.

At the FBI, Madeline has been waiting for hours, when the FBI agent who arrested her comes in and informs her that after arresting her son, he was taken away: he has no idea where Michael is now. Michael is escorted through several corridors, hands and legs tied together with a bag over his head. When they release him, he opens his eyes and finds himself not in a cell, but a completely furnished, living room-resembling space.


Cast[]

Main[]

Reccuring[]

Guest[]

  • Al Sapienza as FBI Agent Callahan

Trivia[]

Continuity Errors[]

When Michael stabs Simon it is in the back of the leg near the knee. When Simon bandages it it is the middle of the thigh in front.

Images33

After explosion

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