Sunday, November 18, 2012

Burn Notice 3.15 - Good Intentions

Plot: It's down to the wire now. Mike has a meeting with Gilroy that turns into a shopping trip. The visit to the "Knights of Resistance" goes pretty well. Michael avoids getting beat up, and they get the .50 cal machine gun without paying for it. Gilroy promises Michael he'll learn what it's for. Tomorrow. Michael tries to get the FBI involved, but they're being lazy and unhelpful.

Meanwhile, Fi has roped Sam into helping her with a job. She's very unpleasant to him considering he's doing her a favor. It makes me not like Fi, which is not something I enjoy. This job, brought to her by a loser named Coleman, is a bit harsher than it was sold as. Gabriel is a bit of a stickler for security, and Coleman's attempts to fudge Fiona's resume nearly gets her killed. Turns out Gabriel kidnapped a scientist from Apex Corporation and is holding him for ransom. That doesn't seem to be working, so he's decided to step things up and abduct a major executive of Apex, which is where Fiona comes in. After several more tests and deeply personal conversations.

Sam - with an assist from Madeline - constructs a tracker they can use to keep tabs on Fi, and pretends to be the head of the local homeowner association so he can get close enough to the house to leave it for her. Mike is otherwise occupied with Gilroy, who has given him responsibility for making sure no one gets across a bridge out in the boonies. We also learn that Michael was handpicked for this job by Gilroy's employer. Which is troubling, to say the least. So now Michael has that hanging over his head, and he has to prevent a kidnapping. Fortunately, starting a kitchen fire takes care of the latter problem. Unfortunately, this convinces Gabriel his operation has been compromised (good guess), and it's time to close up shop. By killing the scientist. Which leaves Fiona in the position of stopping a person she understands from doing something she can't allow. She manages it, and even saves Gabe's life (against his will), with a little assist from Michael.

Now the big day has arrived. The plane is on its way, and Mike has wired to bridge to blow. He doesn't know why, but better than leaving people to Gilroy's tender mercies. Then things come into focus. A plane explodes at the airport, forcing flights to diverge, and sending the black flight to a little strip down the road from Michael. And here come the cops. Mike blows the bridge, gets to the rendezvous point, and finds Gilroy, dying. Double cross! By a man named Simon, who is rather fixated on Michael. Also rather ruthless, seeing as he stuck an bomb to Gilroy.

Things are not going as planned.

The Players: Gilroy (Evil Limey Mastermind), Coleman (Harmless Weasel), Agents Lane & Harris ("Old Friends" at the FBI), Gabriel (The Boss), Gabriel's Next Target

Quote of the Episode: Gilroy - 'Time for second thoughts is over. Tomorrow, don't come for me. Don't come for the obscene fortune we're going to make. Come for all the people I'll have to kill if you don't do your job.'

Does Fiona blow anything up? No.

Sam Axe Drink Count: 4 (41 overall). He didn't finish the first one, seeing as Fi barged into the loft and stole it.

Sam Getting Hit Count: 0 2 (overall). Unless insults count, he made it through unscathed. Words do hurt, though.

Michael's Fake Laugh Count: 0 (5 overall).

Other: Michael wasn't the one going undercover this week, so no alias for him.

I'm always leery of using a Gilroy quote. Not because he doesn't get good lines. He has a higher ratio of good lines than anyone else on the show at the moment. But without being able to hear Chris Vance's voice in your head, the particular inflection he puts on everything, I'm not sure it works as well. I love this line, the whole scene where Gilroy gives Mike his orders, because it added something new. I think Gilroy has seen through Michael all along. All Michael's attempts to appear to be a ruthless mercenary, who spares lives only because corpses get too much attention, it was all useless. Gilroy has always known what Mike is about, because he came to Miami specifically to bring Michael into this job. He says his employer told him to get Westen involved, and the way he tells Michael to do this or lots of people will die, it's clear he knows Michael isn't like him. Michael isn't doing this for money, he wants to protect people, and that's the hammer Gilroy uses to keep him in line. Pretty effective one.

I don't have a lot to say about Fiona's job. I'm impressed by how calm she stays through it all, and it expands a little more on the past we started to learn about in "Long Way Back", but I don't have any strong feelings one way or the other. Everything I feel about Gabriel and what he's doing is muddied up. I appreciate his anger, his desire for revenge, but his tendency to kill people at the drop of a hat, makes it hard to care. He treats everyone as an enemy, even people working for him. They're all disposable, which clashes with this wounded core of the guy he used to be. I basically wind up wanting those scenes to end so I can get more Gilroy. Except there won't be any more Gilroy now, will there.

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