This is the moment all Burn Notice fans have waited for this season. Does Jesse kill Michael, doe Barrett kill Michael, or does nobody die at all.
Spoiler Warning: Before I write this review I want to express that this review will contain info that may spoil the episode for those who have not seen it yet. If you wish to get the recap of this episode check out Brittany’s recap here.
I have to say that Robert Patrick was great as John Barrett. He had the sly actions that make him a force to be reckoned with. There are moments that made me cringe with fright as Barrett is such a scary man. I have to say that Barrett (along with Robert Patrick) will go down as the greatest villain/guest star combo second only to Simon (Garret Dillahunt). I am sad to see that it looks as if Barrett did die in the car accident.
As for the episode, I could not have been more anxious for an hour of tv than tonight. Tonight was the night that Jesse and Michael were going to face off. It’s the battle we have been waiting for since Michael burned Jesse and…. well we didn’t get quite that. I have to say I was slightly disapointed by the commercials for this episode than I was the episode itself. While the commercials glorified a face-off between Michael and Jesse, the episode gave us something different.
Instead, the episode in my opinion was split into 3 different parts. We had the week by week case (A lawyers daughter is kidnapped), Michael and Vaughn trying to take down Barrett, and the fight going on between Jesse and Michael’s crew. I really wished the writers would have eliminated the case of the week story line. To me it served no purpose for this monumental episode and in some parts it slowed the main story. 
Now the Barret take down and Jesse going after the Burn Notice crew was good but not great. For me, there was not even time spent on Jesse. With him only popping up in about 4 scenes (Only one that had him affecting the outcome of the end), I was unhappy with the way he was teased as being the “main antagonist” for this episode. At least the Barrett story was able to combine with the Jesse story to add some intrgue to the episode, even though it was in the last 10 minutes of the episode. It did do a good job by combining the stories in an explosive way I never saw coming. The scene that really had me reeling was the final moment. As with many shows these days, the finale ends with a great cliffhanger and Burn Notice delivered on one of the best cliffhangers I have seen in awhile.
With a great ending that keeps you guessing and a possible new enemy surfacing (that definitely didn’t look like Jesse grabbing the briefcase) this episode did not live up to all the hype generated by its commercials. B
Now, it’s sad to think that we have to wait all the way till November for the story to pick back up. I see this as a time to practice my spy knowledge learned from Michael and maybe even get my own personal sub marine.
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I thought they did a great job with this episode. When you figure they have about 43 minutes in which to pack all they do, it is amazing. For anyone not satisfied by a big scene between Michael and Jesse – just wait. It isn't over yet. Rarely are these kinds of things resolved in one showdown. I think there is more to come. They underplayed it perfectly. Everyone got to have their say (except Sam. I"m looking forward to that one!) My one disappointment is that Robert Patrick won't be back – or will he? (You know TV.) I really, really enjoyed watching him. So I went to bed VERY happy!
I do have a question though. Michael referred to the fact that Jesse knew Barrett better than any of them. But Jesse wasn't on Barrett's trail – Michael's investigation pointed him in that direction. Was someone not doing their job there in keeping the story continuity clear, or did I miss something earlier?
Anyway, I am now officially on record as thinking that Jesse needs to remain a part of the group. Wow, talk about a 180. If Coby Bell continues to bring this new-found intensity to his role, he will be dynamite. I like him.
I found myself rathther dissatisfied, actually. I felt Robert Patrick was terribly underused, a problem which was compounded by that fact that we don't really know anything about his character, so it made it very hard to care about what he was even doing in the episode. I am probably in the minority that was NOT disappointed by the lack of showdown between Jesse and Michael; I actually rather liked the way they handled that, although I do think he's being just a little bit of a baby about this whole thing. But again, we barely got to see him–even though the whole season has been leading up to his finding out this secret Michael & Co. have been keeping from him. I know the weekly stories are a part of the format and that's not gonna change, but it would be nice if they weren't so much the focus that you lose track of what the overall story's supposed to be about; overall, I feel like we kind of got jipped this season the serialized part.
I wondered about that too. I think what Michael means is that because Jesse has been working on the investigation longer than anyone else, he knows the situation better than anyone else…and they phrased it weird. That's all I can think of, because Jesse didn't recognize Barrett's name when it was mentioned to him. He didn't even know what the guy did.
You know what else makes me wonder? Michael said Barrett was Jesse's best shot at getting his job back, so if Barrett's dead, does that mean Jesse has no shot now? Granted, that could just be Michael's opinion.
I think the consensus is Robert Patrick had a ton of potential. He's a darn good bad guy, and he didn't get too much of a chance to show what made him an "international power player."
And I'm glad I'm not the only one to notice the distinct lack of Coby Bell in this ep, as much as he was hyped as being a huge part of the episode. I disagree with your assessment of his character – I think he's perfectly within rights to be pissed off as much as he wants given that his entire career and life were obliterated – but I expected a much bigger role for him.
We just have to remember that we have a whole second half of the season. It's not over, so there's time to continue with the ongoing arc.
The scene that really had me reeling was the final moment.