Burn Notice 3x01 to 3x08
Jun. 23rd, 2011 07:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
icepixieYou know, I don't watch or read a lot of things that ask me to sympathize with so-called bad guys. Usually the media, especially TV, I consume is solidly from the POV of what most people would consider good guys--cops, doctors, FBI agents, etc. In most other things I watch, Mike, Fi, and Sam would be the criminals the main characters are trying to track down on charges of robbery, assault, kidnapping, and even murder, even though they only do bad things to bad people. (Well. Aside from the car theft they engage in fairly regularly. But they always return the vehicles clean and with a full tank of gas! Except for when they destroy them...)
And yet this show has made me not only sympathize with Michael, who has a reasonably legit past as a government-sanctioned spy (not that this always equals "moral") and who always aims to minimize damage on his current jobs, but also with Fiona, who is not only rather trigger-happy and does side jobs running guns for very bad people, but whose experience with car bombs suggests she probably caused civilian deaths during her time in the IRA. I sympathize with her to the point where I want to shake Michael for making her cry and tell him to get over himself already and hang on to her because dammit, with the possible exception of Sam, she is the best thing in his life.
Uh, anyway, good job, show. You made me fall in love with a bad guy.
I also find it interesting that by 3x08, Fiona has essentially turned into Michael's moral compass, albeit one he isn't listening to right now. They just dispatched Carla, and now he's basically hooking himself up with another Carla, who's dangling the same bait about getting him back in the game. Granted, at least Strickler is delivering on his promises, or seeming to. But he probably will spell bad news for our little gang,because the show would be over if Michael were to be un-burned and by getting out of town at the end of the episode, Fiona is definitely making a statement about the way Michael will have to "change" by working as a mercenary.
Speaking of changes...oh, you two. You both want to change each other, which is never healthy. It is kind of annoying that Fi keeps after him to look at the life he has and see if it's not better than the one he wants to go back to,* but at the same time, he's still being something of a passive-aggressive jerk. He says he'll leave as soon as he can get back in the game, but in the meantime, they go on dates, possibly sleep together (I'm assuming that they didn't just meet for the breakfast he gave the receipt for to Paxson), and otherwise act rather a lot like a couple. So I can see why she holds out hope, even though Mikey would like her to just be there and then get out of the way when he's ready to fly the coop. (He used the "If you really care about me, you'll..." line. I HATE that move. Michael, you are not in my good graces right now.)
* Speaking of which, I think she really does have a point here, although ultimately both their sides are roughly equal. As a PI-with-firepower, he can pick and choose his clients, doesn't have to work with or kill people his superiors tell him to, can help the little guy, and can continue to hang around these people he's grown rather fond of. Plus, as former IRA, Fi maybe has some experience with working for a cause and having that backfire on you, so she perhaps knows from where she speaks. Of course, Michael's also got no protection from the NSA/CIA/whatever, can't leave Miami, and bad guys tend to come after his family. So it's kind of a wash. Best case scenario is he clears his name, gets the ex-spy equivalent of former presidents' Secret Service detail, and goes back to doing this kind of work. I'm guessing that's the endgame for the show.
Shorter things:
- Well, the Detective Paxson arc was rather useless. She wasn't a threat, she was a buzzing fly. The Ukrainian spy was a much more dangerous opponent.
- OMG! Madeline interrogating the pilot because Sam and Fi were too busy arguing with each other to pay attention! Ahahaha! And then she got to be a covert watcher at a bingo game! And telling Michael not to wrinkle her gift-curtains when he sweeps them for bugs! I think I like her now. They'll make an operative out of her yet.
- The subtitles have been ROCKING the snark this season. They might become my favorite part of the show. I especially loved that they've started captioning the spy devices. "Cantenna: Cute Little Improvised Hacking Device." Bwah!
- Fi also got an amazing amount of one-liners in these episodes. Some of my favorites:
Fiona: Patricia, I want you to try something. It's a relaxation exercise I do in situations like this. I want you to close your eyes and breathe deep. 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 with your hand, and with tremendous force you're bringing it--
Michael: Fi!
Sam: That guy is more afraid of Checik than he is of us. We're going to have to squeeze him harder.
Fiona: If by squeeze you mean choke...
Sam: He can't talk if he can't breathe, Fi.
Fiona: He can whisper. I have good hearing.
"In my experience, if something seems to good to be true, it's best to shoot it just in case."
Awww.
- Diego has promise. Hopefully he sticks around and gets interesting.
- Loved the kid, Joey, standing next to Michael and crossing his leg and arm to look just like him. Heh. (Their lives are so unsuited for it, but given their attachment to the kid clients, I think Michael and Fi would really get a kick out of having children.)
- The fake shootout in that episode was also a highlight. And then they gaslit the stepfather! Bwahaha!
- Spencer! Bwahahaha! He was awesome. Loved watching him be crazy and annoying, but also right. The scene where he was in the car babbling away, and Michael and Fiona were standing on either side of it trying to calm him down and giving each other these looks over the roof every time a gambit didn't work, that was fantastic. I like their non-verbal communication.
- Krycek played the gangster brother in 3x07! Awww. And Erik Palladino played the gangster leader in 3x04. Plus Debi Mazar was Barry's girlfriend in 3x08. This show just gets zillions of guest stars I know.
- Barry's my favorite reoccurring character, so I was very well pleased to see him as a client when his little black book was stolen. Nice to see him explain that it's a customer service thing, keeping his info unhackable by never putting it on a computer. The show keeps saying criminals are businesspeople; good to see that in action.
And yet this show has made me not only sympathize with Michael, who has a reasonably legit past as a government-sanctioned spy (not that this always equals "moral") and who always aims to minimize damage on his current jobs, but also with Fiona, who is not only rather trigger-happy and does side jobs running guns for very bad people, but whose experience with car bombs suggests she probably caused civilian deaths during her time in the IRA. I sympathize with her to the point where I want to shake Michael for making her cry and tell him to get over himself already and hang on to her because dammit, with the possible exception of Sam, she is the best thing in his life.
Uh, anyway, good job, show. You made me fall in love with a bad guy.
I also find it interesting that by 3x08, Fiona has essentially turned into Michael's moral compass, albeit one he isn't listening to right now. They just dispatched Carla, and now he's basically hooking himself up with another Carla, who's dangling the same bait about getting him back in the game. Granted, at least Strickler is delivering on his promises, or seeming to. But he probably will spell bad news for our little gang,
Speaking of changes...oh, you two. You both want to change each other, which is never healthy. It is kind of annoying that Fi keeps after him to look at the life he has and see if it's not better than the one he wants to go back to,* but at the same time, he's still being something of a passive-aggressive jerk. He says he'll leave as soon as he can get back in the game, but in the meantime, they go on dates, possibly sleep together (I'm assuming that they didn't just meet for the breakfast he gave the receipt for to Paxson), and otherwise act rather a lot like a couple. So I can see why she holds out hope, even though Mikey would like her to just be there and then get out of the way when he's ready to fly the coop. (He used the "If you really care about me, you'll..." line. I HATE that move. Michael, you are not in my good graces right now.)
* Speaking of which, I think she really does have a point here, although ultimately both their sides are roughly equal. As a PI-with-firepower, he can pick and choose his clients, doesn't have to work with or kill people his superiors tell him to, can help the little guy, and can continue to hang around these people he's grown rather fond of. Plus, as former IRA, Fi maybe has some experience with working for a cause and having that backfire on you, so she perhaps knows from where she speaks. Of course, Michael's also got no protection from the NSA/CIA/whatever, can't leave Miami, and bad guys tend to come after his family. So it's kind of a wash. Best case scenario is he clears his name, gets the ex-spy equivalent of former presidents' Secret Service detail, and goes back to doing this kind of work. I'm guessing that's the endgame for the show.
Shorter things:
- Well, the Detective Paxson arc was rather useless. She wasn't a threat, she was a buzzing fly. The Ukrainian spy was a much more dangerous opponent.
- OMG! Madeline interrogating the pilot because Sam and Fi were too busy arguing with each other to pay attention! Ahahaha! And then she got to be a covert watcher at a bingo game! And telling Michael not to wrinkle her gift-curtains when he sweeps them for bugs! I think I like her now. They'll make an operative out of her yet.
- The subtitles have been ROCKING the snark this season. They might become my favorite part of the show. I especially loved that they've started captioning the spy devices. "Cantenna: Cute Little Improvised Hacking Device." Bwah!
- Fi also got an amazing amount of one-liners in these episodes. Some of my favorites:
Fiona: Patricia, I want you to try something. It's a relaxation exercise I do in situations like this. I want you to close your eyes and breathe deep. 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 with your hand, and with tremendous force you're bringing it--
Michael: Fi!
Sam: That guy is more afraid of Checik than he is of us. We're going to have to squeeze him harder.
Fiona: If by squeeze you mean choke...
Sam: He can't talk if he can't breathe, Fi.
Fiona: He can whisper. I have good hearing.
"In my experience, if something seems to good to be true, it's best to shoot it just in case."
Awww.
- Diego has promise. Hopefully he sticks around and gets interesting.
- Loved the kid, Joey, standing next to Michael and crossing his leg and arm to look just like him. Heh. (Their lives are so unsuited for it, but given their attachment to the kid clients, I think Michael and Fi would really get a kick out of having children.)
- The fake shootout in that episode was also a highlight. And then they gaslit the stepfather! Bwahaha!
- Spencer! Bwahahaha! He was awesome. Loved watching him be crazy and annoying, but also right. The scene where he was in the car babbling away, and Michael and Fiona were standing on either side of it trying to calm him down and giving each other these looks over the roof every time a gambit didn't work, that was fantastic. I like their non-verbal communication.
- Krycek played the gangster brother in 3x07! Awww. And Erik Palladino played the gangster leader in 3x04. Plus Debi Mazar was Barry's girlfriend in 3x08. This show just gets zillions of guest stars I know.
- Barry's my favorite reoccurring character, so I was very well pleased to see him as a client when his little black book was stolen. Nice to see him explain that it's a customer service thing, keeping his info unhackable by never putting it on a computer. The show keeps saying criminals are businesspeople; good to see that in action.