'Burn Notice': Michael's new nemesis

"Burn Notice" was full of great lines this week -- but it was the unspoken communication that really made the episode.

Michael gets a new nemesis to worry about: Detective Paxson (Moon Bloodgood) of the Miami PD, who is curious about how things tend to explode more often now that Mike is back in town. She can't seem to decide whether her approach should be threatening or flirty, so the comes down somewhere in the middle (Fleatening? Thrlity?) She dubs herself Michael's worst nightmare. Take a number, lady.

The main job
When Michael isn't trying to conceal evidence of his activities from Paxson, he's helping Fi with what was supposed to be a straightforward job. Patricia's ex-husband, Bernard, hasn't let her talk to or see their kid, Brandon, in three days. She just wants someone to beat some sense into him. The crew discovers that there's more to the case than they thought: Brandon has been kidnapped by thugs who want Howard, a manager at a diamond wholesaler, to give them info on shipments.

Howard is willing to do anything to get his kid back -- even if that means getting beaten up by thuggish kidnapper Santora. Alas, Santora doesn't go back to where he and his minions are keeping the kid. Patricia suggests waterboarding, but Michael...well, let's just say he thinks Cheney's argument for enhanced interrogation techniques is flawed. Instead, they'll try a reverse interrogation -- he'll be the one getting tortured! Um, yay?

Sam poses as a crooked cop and tells Santora his junkie informant has info about the kidnapping. Wanna see what he knows? Why yes, he does. Michael does a great twitchy, terrified junkie as he and Sam subtly dig for intel in the midst of Santora's questions. It's what psychics do -- but psychics don't get beat up so much. They plant enough of a seed to get Santora to send one of his guys to a diner to look for the leak, and set it up so Fi is there waiting for him so she can follow him back to the vicinity of the lair. They also get Santora to spill that Brandon is being held in a shed behind a house. Clever!

Unfortunately, Santora gets a little testy and almost chops Michael's ear off. When Michael and Sam convince him that one of his own guys is selling him out, Santora decides it's time to cut his losses by killing the kid, his minions, and Michael. Sam sets it up so Michel gets a decent start -- he morphs from twitch machine to ultimate fighter in a millisecond -- and then some business with guns and who's going to take the blame and such gets Santora to tell Sam the address where they're keeping the boy. Michael and Fi snag Brandon (with the help of baseball), and are gone before Santora and Sam get there. This leads to a disagreement among business associates -- which is a bad thing when everyone is armed. Goodbye, Santora!

Outside activities
Michael has a storage unit full of C4, and Paxson is getting uncomfortably close to it. Michael just manages to avoid a trap, then comes back in the dead of night to drill through the back wall and retrieve his boom-makers. Paxson is thwarted, but she vows she'll get him soon.

Meanwhile, Maddy is also trying to get Michael into her clutches -- to celebrate his birthday. When Michael skips his first party -- he WAS a bit tied up -- and Fi defends him, Maddy makes an unkind analogy. At party number two, Fi gives Michael a birthday gift -- a WWI bayonet, used for close combat. "Someone once told me that caring for you is like trench warfare," Fi purrs. "I thought you should arm yourself." Yowza.

Highlights, thoughts and odds and ends

• The unspoken communication was particularly brilliant this week. When Fi and Michael meet with Patricia for the first time, Patricia asks if Michael is Fi's "partner. "You'll have to ask him that," Fi says sweetly, barely flicking her eyes in Michael's direction. A look of panic flashes over Michael's face before he's able to turn the conversation around. Then he shoots Fi the mother of all stinkeyes.
• In the reverse interrogation situation, there's a moment when Michael and Sam have to change plans quickly without alerting Santora.  "When you work with someone long enough, you learn to trust them," Michael says in voiceover.  He and Sam exchange a quick series of nearly imperceptible lip twitches, brow wrinkles, significant looks and head bobbles. "When things go bad, that trust is the difference between life and death. " Satisfied, Sam puts the plan in motion. "That doesn't make it less terrifying to back a play you knew nothing about." Michael's face dissolves into utter confusion. Hee!
• Fi attempts to calm Patricia with a relaxation exercise:  "Picture a peaceful mountain stream. Now picture yourself ...drowning the kidnapper in the stream. You're taking a rock from the stream and raising it above your head...."

Spy tips from Michael

• Want to find out if your contact has hidden police protection? Punch him a few times. If cops are watching, they have to come running. If Michael and Co. are your backup.. well, they know that "sometimes the right thing to do is let the guy bleed for a while." Ouch.
• Signs that you're walking into a police ambush: parked cars or vans, unusually dedicated workers, and curious kids. "No matter where you go in the world, little boys like candy, puppies and cops."
• If you have to impersonate a cop, impersonate a dirty one. Good cops follow the rules. Bad cops make their own rules. Besides, it's a role Sam was born for!
• If you need to prove your drug bonafides, snort some lactose. Um, ew. Also, ouch.
• Pro interrogators don't ask questions directly. Rank amateurs ask for exactly what they want, which gives you clues -- or sometimes answers -- to the information they need.
• Instead of searching the city for someone, set up a situation that will bring them to you, and follow them from there.
• Infiltration is much easier when guards have cable. "Guard duty is boring, and a ball game passes the time better than, say, looking for intruders. More battles have been decided by pennant races than people imagine."
• Need to get through a cinderblock wall without making a lot of noise? Use a water saw -- it's strong, quiet, and won't set off anything flammable. Just bring a slicker -- you'll get damp.

I need a collective name for Michael, Sam and Fi. Suggestions?