Burn Notice!

[gategrrl]

Okay...that was good. 

I loved Sam in this episode, I liked how Fiona seems to have fleshed out and gained some believable muscle, and I liked how Victor interacted with Michael! And I love the scenes between Mom and Michael & Mom and Sam. Gless is awesome. 

I would have loved to have seen Victor cross paths with Fiona; think of the electricity there! But it was fun enough watching MS going nuts with the role and playing it wild.

The one that disturbed me the eeensiest bit was how the embezzler-guy was passed over so quickly. Sure, he was a thief, and he should have known better, but he mostly seemed like a fed-up guy wanting credit where it was due. I don't think he was developed enough as a total asshole--perhaps to give some contrast with Victor, who really IS bugshit, and smart and amoral. But the embezzler-guy...even though he tried setting up Michael's childhood friend with a death-squad...I dunno. He was outclassed the entire time. Outclassed a little *too* much. It seemed like he should have gotten the same treatment as the stalker/drug-runner hauled in by the DEA woman a few episodes back.

Ah well. 95% of the episode hit it out the ball-park. Totally fun!

Comments

[captain-tiv.livejournal.com]

I think mom now knows that Sam is an ex-agent too. :)

Does she know what Fiona used to do for a living?

[gategrrl.livejournal.com]

Not sure about that, but I'm sure she has her suspicions; she's not stupid by any stretch of the imagination! She may not know the specifics, but if Fiona's been playing poker with Mom and the Ladies (an ex-dealer at a Vegas joint! LOL) I'm sure she's starting to put two and two together. After all, what other type of woman would work *with* Michael on these dangerous assignments? She's got to know.

[superbadgirl]

I enjoyed it, but isn't this the second week in a row where the bad guy just happened to get killed? I know Michael's an ex-agent and has probably killed tons of people, but all this passive participation in murder being treated so casually creeps me out a bit. The whole "he got what he deserved" bit will wear thin if they keep it up.

[gategrrl.livejournal.com]

Yeah--this one was complicated by the fact that Michael *himself* gave the embezzler the idea to whack his client.

Nevermind that embezzler was going to let the rap star kill the client...Michael and company let the rap star turn around and do the same thing to embezzler.

I agree with you--the "he got what he deserved" doesn't always end up in death. Some crimes don't deserve it. After all, embezzler only stole from a rich rich guy to begin with-his only *genuinely* rotten thing he did was pin it on someone else who could get killed.

Yeah, definitely not crazy about the results of this one. They painted the embezzler a little TOO sympathetic for me to think he got what he deserved.

[nialla]

I liked how Fiona seems to have fleshed out and gained some believable muscle

You mean fleshed out literally or figurately? *g* At the beginning of the first season, I felt like someone needed to force feed Fiona sandwiches. She's still extremely thin, but not so much in the painfully thin category.

I didn't like Fi very much in the beginning. Too OTT for my tastes (making her trigger happy doesn't equal a strong female character), and the Shippy Hammer O'Doom was hanging over her. Now, even though they've done the deed and there's still chemistry, they're not together, which is unusual. She's a character in her own right, not just a love interest.

In this episode, I liked having her being her usual hot-headed self and loading up her gun in a sack to rush in to save the client. Then there was the "jilted girlfriend" act, which was priceless. Michael never wanted to be a hero, and neither did Fi, but I think they're both getting into it.

I was bummed Shanks didn't get to work with Bruce Campbell, but he's got three more episodes before the end of the season, so who knows? I know Michael said in an interview that even he only has some hints from TPTB what his upcoming episodes will be about, and that they won't be filming until September, so there's definitely a possibility for more interaction.

[gategrrl.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, Fi. After I saw the first episode of the season, wherein she and Michael "break up" their romantic relationship, I asked my husband about four times, "So, is she off the show?" because I was convinced that she would no longer be a regular. I'm afraid to admit that I didn't think the character would be sticking around, now that the PTB had a new female toy to play with in Carla.

But I'm pleasantly surprised to see that no, they didn't dump Fiona, and *moreover* there was emotional fall-out from the person you'd least expect it from--Michael's MOTHER! That scene with the two women was the sweetest thing. I know it was still All About Michael, but it was also all about Fiona, too. Mom is perceptive enough to know (or observant enough-it's not like Fi was hiding her feelings!) that Fi needed to know how SHE felt about it. There was no vibe of an intefering mother. I think both Fi and Michael now "get" that Mom, while she can be a PITA, is also firmly on *their* side. I really really really like that.

I'm finding this season that I'm liking the show more, now. I watched a few episodes I'd misssed during the marathon, and those set aside my preconceptions.

Bruce Campbell is really running with his character--Jeffrey Donavon had better watch out! But honestly, the vibe I get is that in *this* show, the actors are into the giving set-ups to their fellow actors. EVERYone has an OTT scene in this show, every show! EVERYone gets to showcase their character's zaniness and cleverness. There ARE no dumb main characters in this show, which is refreshing.

Yeah, if/when Campbell works with Shanks, that'll also be something to see. I just find it extremely weird that in the ads for the show that Shanks appeared in, they pushed the guy who played the rapper, even though he was the least impressive in the guest cast.

What with Shanks' crazy bug-shit wrangler spy, Campbell's third-rate suave and sympthetic exspy, Anwar's semi-psychotic fashion-model beautiful terrorist, Gless' abrasive and OTT Madeline Mom, AND BSG's former Six, wow, Donovan has his work cut out for him!

Yeah, I'm back to loving this show.

[nialla]

I like that the relationship between Michael and Fi is a lot more complicated than most shows would attempt. Most of the time, hitting the sheets is the endgame, and then they have no idea what to do with the characters. This often results in exactly what you were expecting -- the woman has to leave.

I knew Fi would be sticking around after the breakup, but I was still surprised that she's remained fully onboard just as much as Sam.

Bruce Campbell just rules, doesn't he? At first, Sam and Fi were very antagonistic, and while there's still a little bit of that there, you can also see mutual respect of each other's skills. Especially in the previous episode, where Sam was sort of in shock and awe that Fi tasered the bad guy knowing it would get her too. And Fi knew that Sam was there to take care of things once she was out cold.

I just find it extremely weird that in the ads for the show that Shanks appeared in, they pushed the guy who played the rapper, even though he was the least impressive in the guest cast.

That seems to be a common thing these days. They put in rappers and "famous for being famous" types to pull in the younger viewers. Doesn't matter if they have a ten second appearance, they're the one promoted as a guest.