Burn Notice: Friendly Fire

So after the tepid start of the season, the next episode for Burn Notice picks up the pace a bit. It's more of the familiar, but at least this time the cast look and feel like they want to be involved in the acting.

Friendly Fire is more of what we enjoy about this show. Smart plans, stylish execution, and an interesting yet swarmy bad guy that you just want to dislike and see taken down. This is true of the Vega (Danny Trejo) and Rincon characters in the episode, and the Gilroy character for the seasonal arc.

You just have to love the outfit that Michael Westen wears to emphasize his role as a bad ass from hell. This episode truly had a flair of the exotic. And it was perfect.

The timing of misdirection, playing on deep-seated religous fears, and just the persona made watching the episode enjoyable. Plus it was interesting to watch Jeffery Donovan play a role that had a hint of mayhem to it. The snap-of-death was a great touch, when matched with the deep brooding look and the constant looking down.

The side story of Sam (Bruce Campbell) was a bit less interesting, though it did fill out a bit more about his character. Learning more about his past gives me the indication that something is about to happen to him in this story arc that most fans will not enjoy.

Then there is the lovestory between Westen and Fiona (Gabrielle Anwar). I can't buy it. I'm sorry but she is too damn skinny. I just can't see anyone wanting to be with a bunch of bones except a dog. Seriously the director and producers should let the woman gain 15 pounds, maybe 25.

But going beyond my personal tastes, you can see where this is headed too. The fact that they are getting so close, again for them, only means that the major story arc is going to cause an issue neither can like with. There's just no room in war for love, and their business is war.

Was this the best episode of the show ever? No. Not even close. But it was one of the more stylish, and far better than average. It definitely was better than the season opening episode. It was more of a reason to keep watching the series, at the very least.

So what can we conclude at this point? Not much. Just that Michael and Fiona are going to get very close and then very far apart. Sam will have a major crisis that no one will be able to help him with.

I also suspect that the original people responsible for Michael getting his burn notice are coming back. With a vengance. They haven't forgotten about the wayward spy that cost them their Miami operations. The fact that he has survived, and flourished to a degree means they want his services more than ever.

Gilroy is a trap. He is the means to push Westen further away from ever working for the U.S. and good guys. He is their way in. Perhaps by providing Michael with a choice he cannot refuse. Work for us, or let the monster that Gilroy is continue to be loose in Miami and the world.

That's how I see the long major arc turning out. And that would be quite a season ending situation. Westen stuck with that choice of 2 evils and no option out of it.

Perhaps the season will go in a different direction, but the clue is in this episode. Westen and crew helped a bad guy to take down a bigger bad guy. The net result still kept a negative in place, all for the price of removing a child molester who deserved to be in jail (or worse).

It's a slippery slope down, and if it spirals it could be a vortex that takes everything with it. Which would be great television to watch happen. But we will see how close I am to the truth.

Burn Notice is back for season 4

The latest season of USA Networks hit show Burn Notice starteed last night. All the characters that we love are back, as is the main theme of the show. But somehow there seems to be something off.

The episode was the usual mix of Michael Westen (Jeffrey Donovan) going out to help some innocent from criminals that only care about money and a longer arcing background issue. In the first season that issue was finding out who burned him and ended his career as a spy. In the next season it was Westen trying to get back into the spy biz. Now its some unknown radical mecenary that wants to use Westen for some unknown reason or else all of the friends and family of Westen will go bye bye.

The concept is solid enough. It adds a flavor of danger and imminent need. But maybe its a touch too much like season 2 to feel original.

Let's leave that for the moment. The episode at hand had a woman whose husband was killed in a car insurance scam. He was doing it because the family needed money badly. Now the bad guys are thretening the family that if they don't sue the city, and hand over any restitutions, well you can imagine what will happen.

The team goes to work and with a mix of good timing, bad timing, and a touch of over the top acting (on purpose) the bad guys are outwitted in their own game. The only difference this time is that Westen's mother (Sharon Gless) was drawn into the plan. And in this she ws forced to act like the operatives that everyone else on the team has been. That means that a budding friendship was destroyed, and in terms without question, while placing this innocent's (Tyne Daly) job at risk.

But by the end of the episode all has worked out for the best. Even the relationship between Michael and his mother improves after he arranges things to ensure that his mother's former new asset friend will not lose her job.

And then we learn that the mysterious figure has a plan that Michael Westen and crew must do. The plan, and exactly who this is is still not clear. But it just feels so much like Carla at that arc's start.

In fact the whole episode felt like something I'd seen before. The actors seemed somewhat bored. It was nothing blatant or easily identified, but over the episode you just felt like this was all done before. It wasn't the usual crisp pace and more or less intense acting. It was just there.

Still there have been bad episodes in this series before. The writting has dropped off and an arc has had missteps before it became a interesting foreground storyline. But the question remains if season 4 is just after the peak of the show. Did it jump the shark by saving Fiona (a still too thin Gabrielle Anwar) and killing (literally) Westen's chance at getting back into the official operative world?

As a fan I won't judge the series yet. As a ctitic I have my doubts at what might be next. Either way, the next 2 or 3 episodes at the most will likely reveal what state the show is now in and what future it might have.

Catching up with Burn Notice

So with the holiday on my heels I took the time to catch up with my favorite spy without a job. Yes, Michael Westen of Burn Notice has been quite busy. And the 3rd season of the show has not let me down.

When last we saw Michael, his sort of girlfriend Fiona, and boozy buddy Sam the group that put out the burn notice that created the problems for Michael had just decided to give him a taste of what freedom is like. Following the adage of be careful what you ask for, the show is shoveling the repercussions down Michael’s throat. So far, not one has been good.

The reason is that with his unwanted employers gone, and no other Government Agency willing to go near Westen, all protection he had is gone. That means the police suddenly have links to our trio, and so does every Government with a chip on their shoulder for something Westen did to them in the past.

So far, as of the 4th episode, Sam has been audited. Fiona has had her background checked, as have Nate (Michael’s brother) and likely his mom. Michael himself though is really getting it thick. He has been betrayed by a former friend with an inferiority complex, weathered the return of Brennan, and hounded by police officer Paxson at every turn.

I really like the Paxson character. She is a no bull hard-line detective that goes after her suspects like a pitbull. You might even think she could like Michael, if she wasn’t so possessed with busting him for anything. Of course trying to get her fired, and succeeding in costing the job of her partner, in one episode didn’t help smooth things between the 2.

Probably the best episode so far was the one with Brennan. His return was exactly what you might expect. Pissed off for being double crossed last season, wanting to exact revenge and get paid doing it. His weapon of choice? Do what I say or brother Nate dies, painfully.

The episode shows off Westen’s skills and the speed of his mind versus a character virtually as smart and definitely more ruthless. The fact that Michael is smart enough to pull in the help of Sam, Fiona, and recurring character Barry really makes the difference. Though I found his major bluff at the end of the show to be particularly brilliant. It plays off of his obvious compassion for children, a fact it seems that even the bad guys have noticed.

I hand it to the writers for doing their jobs well. Having reached the peak of the initial quest in the show last season there were big questions to what might happen next. Could the show continue and be interesting? What would be the new motivation? Would any of it make sense?

As of the 4th episode all the questions have been answered with a positive. Perhaps the only issue I have with the show so far is that Officer Paxson has been mostly taken out of the picture. She added a complexity that was fun to watch, especially as she timed her entrances to be of the most distraction and hindrance to the crew at work. Though she may play a part in future episodes.

But the new questions facing the trio are interesting, if not as volatile as in the first 2 seasons. Fiona wants Michael to stay in Florida and have their relationship grow. Michael wants to get back to the life he had before, while protecting his family from the huge list of people that really would rather he was dead and grieving their loss. Sam though seems content to have a friend around, especially if he can buy a round or 5 from time to time.

Ultimately though the fact that a spy can’t just stop and not have a major organization behind them will catch up with Westen. His prospective employers from season 1 and 2 have not given up on keeping Westen in their fold. They are simply biding their time to re-enter his life when he is at his lowest and most needy point. And you can see it coming.

It seems highly likely that Brennan will be back yet again, and may be the final key to forcing Michael to submit to Management’s offer.

If the writing keeps the current pace and quality, I expect that the show will have 1 or 2 more seasons before the running plot just gets either too absurd, or repetitive. So if you haven’t had the time to watch the current season, I’d recommend looking out for the repeats. And if you can make the time, catch the first runs as they hit each week.