The latest episode of Burn Notice not only has Kirk 'Sticky Fingaz' Jones (The Shield, Blade) in a guest starring role but it also features none other than The Wire's own Wallace (Michael B. Jordan) as well. During the episode Michael is distracted from his task of finding out who attempted to kill him by Sam's request to perform a small favour for a friend of his (in exchange for football tickets). This "small" favour turns out to involve protecting a young football player named Cole (Michael B. Jordan) from a car jacker and general gangster named Felix Cole (Sticky Fingaz). During the process of the investigation Fi continues help out while looking into the man who planted the explosives in Michael's flat.

Read about another great show cribbing actors from The Wire, fire and why a golf club is better than a baseball bat beyond the link...

I'm rather thrilled to be able to call Burn Notice as my guilty pleasure show, for a program which is so obviously 'light entertainment' it really does deliver well in every aspect (almost, Gabrielle's accent is still ass, but I forgive her cause she's so much fun). The pacing is point perfect, the plots are light but do contain a certain mix of depth and the performances from both the regular and guest casts have just gotten better and better.

'Hot Spot' was one of the best examples of Burn Notice on "full burn" I've seen in a while, even when compared to the summer's best episodes it stood out. Sticky and Jordan were a big part of this, while their parts weren't massive (Jordan in particular just spent his time eating food and being sympathetic) they were exactly where they needed to be. Sticky was a lot of fun and while the character he played wasn't really outside of his comfort zone -- acting like a gangster isn't exactly hard work for him -- there is a lot to be said for casting the right guest star in a role.

Tricia continues to be very good as Carla, the scenes between her and Michael always work well, with both of their characters constantly attempting to have the upper hand in the conversations while sizing each other up. Both Jeffery and Tricia manage to make their characters believable as spies. I also enjoyed Michael's general quips about the use of a bag blindfold and his total disdain for their methods of talking to him. He's constantly shifting the situation to see what works and what doesn't. It's pretty fun to watch.

I have to once again give props to Bruce Campbell, who's always amazing as Sam Axe. The man knows exactly how to deliver his lines and while you could point the finger and just say "Bruce is being Bruce here" and be right, it just doesn't matter because he's a perfect fit as cocky, confident and good at his job. I also have to note the final few moments of the episode, I'm glad that the writers have decided to move back towards Fi and Michael being together, even if only for a while. It's been fun watching the two of them shoot glances at each other and Michael's obvious dislike for Campbell (the character dating Fi, not Bruce) was pretty hilarious, but I do appreciate a show which moves things on and tries to mix things up. As such I'm happy to see Fi and Michael give it another go, I predict it'll work for a while but they'll eventually break up again.

The entire sequence leading up to the kiss was great as well, as I said during the half season "finale" it's hard to take a threat on Michael's life seriously because the show cannot function without him, but a threat on Fi or Sam is a different matter, while they bring a lot to the show, it is possible (but unwise) to go on without them. So Michael's worried calls and panicking about Fi was both great from a characterisation standpoint

In all Hot Spot was a fantastic episode to watch, it's great to see that the break hasn't dampened the show's ability to entertain and amuse. I'm happy to give this one three thumbs up and call it "The best light entertainment action show since The A-Team".