Sunday, September 09, 2012

Burn Notice 3.5 - Signals and Codes

Plot:  Michael's approached outside the shooting range by Spencer, a highly intelligent young man who has tracked Michael down because he needs his help. There are evil aliens from Procyon A within a security contracted company called Stone-Kittredge, who are systematically killing off the Guardians, from Ross 154. Or, put another way, Shannon Park, head of the security department at S-K, is selling the identities of American spies to the highest bidders. Somewhat reluctantly, Michael has to admit this is worth looking into. Which means trying to get her somewhere with evidence in her hands. Which unfortunately means relying on heavily on Spencer, which is a dicey proposition at best.

On other fronts, Michael has watched a local airport sufficiently to peg "black flights" coming in and figure out where the CIA keeps its hanger. Which is how he finds Diego Garza, a spy who just wants to enjoy his easy job here in Miami and not be hassled by Michael Westen. Which naturally means Michael hassles him. Running in the background of all that is Fiona's continued irritation at Michael's insistence on getting his old job back. That's right, we've officially entered the part of the season where Michael and Fi have relationship problems! Because Michael's an ass.

The Players: Spencer (The Client), Shannon Park (Murderer, Traitor, Probably Not An Alien), Diego Garza (The Spy Michael's Looking For)

Quote of the Episode: Spencer - 'You're right. We shouldn't be out in the open like this. They're probably looking for me.' Sam - 'The aliens?' Spencer - 'The police. I broke out of a psych ward. Weren't you listening?'

Does Fiona blow anything up? No, though Michael would have had it coming by the end of the episode if she totaled his Charger.

Sam Axe Drink Count: 2 (20 total). I'm sure he wanted to drink more. Spencer has that effect on people.

Sam Getting Hit Count: 0 (0 total).

Michael Fake Laugh Count: 1 (2 overall). It was a mean fake laugh, though. I think he enjoyed talking down to Shannon the entire episode. Probably how he vented his frustration with Spencer.

Other: Michael uses the name "Jeremy" in dealing with Shannon. He uses "Michael Hearts Diego" as his online auction name.

There are a lot of little things in this episode. The fact Michael probably got that lady at the airport fired by convincing her to let him see the file. Which he stole, so yeah, she's out of a job. I wonder if Sam actually had ice cream cake when he posed as the 'teamwork consultant'. I would put up with that meeting in exchange for ice cream cake. That Virgil got them the boat they passed off as belonging to Spencer's dead friend Brad. That Barry dropped out of podiatry school, and his mother gives him grief about it.

I don't really care for this episode. Part of that is Spencer, who seems like a nice guy, but seems to have a chemical imbalance. I mean, I understand Sam, Mike, and Fi getting frustrated by him. I'd get irritated, too, but that's because I have very low tolerance when it comes to dealing with people doing things that bother me (and the list of stuff that bothers me is pretty long). But I also know I shouldn't do that, so I end up torn between feeling bad for Mike and Co., and feeling bad for Spencer when Michael punches his lights out.

The bigger problem, though, is Michael's in full on jerk mode this episode. Like I said, he almost certainly got that nice lady fired. He wouldn't put suntan lotion on Barry's back. Sure, Barry charged him a grand to investigate the file he swiped, but still, be a pal. He's making life hard for Diego, as if Diego can magically get him back in. Leave the guy alone. He's been shot twice. Sure that may have been while watching villages burn and children get orphaned (probably by someone the government sent Diego to support), but the man just wants to enjoy his peaceful assignment. And like I said, he can't get Michael back in. That's for the higher-ups, so what good is antagonizing him?

Actually, I like Diego. He's tired of the ugly jobs Michael would apparently love to have, and he has no patience for Michael's games. So he doesn't play them. He just cuts through them and makes Michael get on with whatever it is he wants.

Then, of course, there's Fiona. Michael's request she be 'with him on this' is laughable at best, infuriating at worst. With him? I'm sorry, I'm fairly sure I've seen Fi fighting right alongside Michael this whole time. Even when she's pissed at him (often), even when he's on some mission she doesn't agree with (protecting Victor). And he has the gall to sit there and say that? Apparently Michael paid no attention to Spencer when he said he envied Michael for having people he could trust, because Mike's doing a fine job of pushing them away. Which will be an issue as we move further on into this season. But will it be a problem next week?

No comments: