'Burn Notice,' Season 5, Episode 15, 'Necessary Evil'

In "Burn Notice," Season 5, Episode 15, "Necessary Evil," Michael and Fi manage to plant a bug in a relay at a secure military center that Anson is using for his communications. This will lead to tragedy.

Spoilers follow.

It seems that Anson is running Madeline's current boyfriend, Benny, as an asset. Madeline, somewhat reluctantly, plants a bug on his phone. Later we find out that one should never open a package shipped to one by a psychotic killer. It can only lead to one resting in - er - pieces.

The main plot though involved a scientist being forced to build a missile by an African warlord named Kumba and his henchmen who have stolen his teenage daughter to motivate him. Pearce puts Michael and company on the operation. This involves Jesse and Sam infiltrating the warlord's organization as weapons makers for hire. They need to rescue Resnick, the reluctant weapons maker and his daughter, get the specs for the missile, and take down Kumba.

This operation involves some delaying tactics that increasingly begin to irritate Kumba, who really wants the missile to help take down his enemies back in Liberia. But until they locate the daughter, Sam and Jesse have to keep up the stalling. Fortunately, the daughter is reunited with the father to help him focus on the task at hand.

With Michael's help on the outside, Sam convinces the warlord that his own men are plotting against him. He is difficult to convince at first, but then when the gas lines explode, he is persuaded to leave with Sam, Jesse, Resnick and the daughter and set up operations again in Africa. The missile is set to explode to kill the guards. After all, a crazed African warlord can always get more guards.

The upshot is that Jesse and Sam get the drop on the warlord, who is handed over to Pearce. Father and daughter are also freed and will be smuggled out of the country to a place of safety. However, because the specs for the missile were not recovered, Pearce has an unpleasant conversation with her superiors. Sam, who is still remembered for the fiasco in South America, is still not popular at Langley. Still, as Pearce observes, Michael knows how to run an op.