Burn Notice s7 so far

[arduinna]

Continuing my complete random assortment of daily posts!

I watch Burn Notice in odd spurts, almost never one at a time but letting them pile up for weeks and then marathoning them when the mood strikes. I'm not quite sure why; maybe because every episode aims for intense, and I'm not quite in the mood for that on Thursdays, who knows.

But tonight was suddenly a Burn Notice night. I'm not quite caught up, but I'm watching the 8/15 ep right now, "Things Unseen". Okay, yeah, this is what happens, I had to keep watching.

Random stuff about this season:

I am seriously loving the way splitting up the team is allowing everyone more one-on-one time, right up to Fi and Maddie -- and wow, how much do I love that they really are friends, that they're always there for each other? (And that Fi bonds with Maddie by teaching her how to blow out the side of a building <3)

I feel like they've been wobbling a littttttle bit on Maddie's characterization this season -- over the last few seasons she's made some very specific choices to be a part of Michael's life (and a part of his chosen family, which zomg, so amazing ♥) and while I completely get why taking care of Charlie is going to change all of her priorities, she bizarrely lost some of the -- hm, "knowledge" isn't quite the right word, but close enough - her knowledge about Micheal's life and work, so everything's a scary surprise again, which... it hasn't been for a while now.

But eh, whatever -- she and Fi are still close, Sam and Jesse come over to play with Charlie, and all of that is with Michael off the grid for a year. This is truly a chosen family, even if the original glue isn't around.

Equally happy-making is all the lovely Sam/Mike this season; I feel like they've gotten a lot more together time as they all swirl around in different combinations doing different jobs. I was a puddle at all the amazing Sam/Mike h/c at the end of last season (oh my god, that car ride), and this season I've just been beaming at Sam's unwavering devotion -- Mike needs him, he goes, and he snarks Jesse down if Jesse doesn't move fast enough. And that just never changes: he'll never not be there for Mike. But it's not blind devotion; he's always ready to question Mike if he doesn't agree with something. I love that they haven't forgotten that Sam's a soldier, not a spy. That scene where he had to kill someone for no good reason, man, and was all bitter anger afterward -- that was a thing of beauty.

I love too that that's sort of the theme of this season; how far are you willing to go for your friends, for a cause that you may or may not believe in?

And how Micheal really, truly wasn't a nice guy when he was a spy, and how that darkness is just lurking around; he fought hard to be a better person, especially after he got burned, and Sam and Fi are not wrong about his steady slide back into that darkness doing this deep cover job.

Man, no wonder Dead Larry had such a hold on him, and was so convinced Michael would always love him best. ... For Dead Larry values of "love", anyway. I mean, I knew he was Michael's rubicon, but. Wow. (And seriously, he's as creepy as Scorpius when it comes to living in people's heads.)

Every time Michael talks about deep cover, I flash to Vinnie and Sonny on Wiseguy -- except Michael's not Vinnie. He's on the verge of being Roger. His friends and family are holding him anchored, but man, he has lost his internal compass, even though he thinks he hasn't. He's gone back to believing the mission is the anchor and compass. No, no, no.

OTOH, I do like how none of the superbadguy-villains have been complete super bad guys; Nathan Petrelli turned out to be all principled, James is a psycho who truly believes he's helping the whole world as he goes around having half the world shot.

As soon as James showed up on screen, I knew where everything was going, ish. He's just too good at playing a charismatic cult leader; the last time I saw him, he was on Alphas trying to force the evolution of mankind, with hundreds of worshipful followers. I have no problem believing he's as crazy and as charismatic as he seems here...

It's weird; the show itself is so, so much darker this year - but the relationships are stronger (and healthier), with emotional connections all over the place. Which I'm eating up with a spoon, even as I freak out a bit over how awful everything is. It's jarring listening to the credits; they're way too lighthearted for this season, and make me really miss the first couple of seasons, when you might get an episode about teaching a kid to stand up to bullies. Rather than, you know. Shooting everyone and everything all the damn time. Dear god, the body count this season.

Spoilers for 7x08, Things Unseen:

Sebastian Roche! <3 He will forever be Kurt Mendel to me, from Odyssey 5, in all his shirtless sleazy wonder. Okay also whatsisname from the US Touching Evil. He kept his shirt on in this one, though, which was a good indicator of what was going to happen to him, IMO.

Seriously, Michael, get out, you are in too deep and are an actual bad guy now, wtf. :( He's going to come out of this more broken than he ever has been. (Plus, Sebastian Roche! nooooo)

Unrelatedly, wow I was pissed at Maddie for pulling the "if you don't testify, all future victims' blood will be on your head" with Lloyd -- no, it wouldn't, it would be on Nando's head. Lloyd would probably *feel* guilty about it, but he's not the one killing people, cripes. She knows better than that.

... Okay, I just finished the ep, and wow, go Carlos. I figured he was just a bit of fluff when he was introduced, someone for Fi to be temporarily interested in while she pined for Michael, but he's been winning me steadily over. And man, after this ep, he is the most decent, principled person this show has ever seen. He would have been so much better for Fi than Michael.

I am now seriously rooting for her to end the season by walking away from Michael and finding Carlos.

Okay, I think I can fit in one more ep if I kinda live-blog it a bit, because now I have to see what happens next. Things are getting a bit tense.

7x09, Tipping Point:

Okay, at least the second ep running where Michael says something to the effect of "no matter how important the mission is, no matter how much you believe in the cause, it feels like what it is: a complete betrayal" when doing something for the mission.

Aw, and there again - Michael doesn't trust Strong and looks straight to Sam, who's right there with "don't worry, brother, we'll be there to watch your back." ♥ ♥

Strong? Is a GOOBER. WTF random freelance extraction team to go after James.

OH HOLY SHIT IT'S SIMON WTF

I was on the phone with therienne a few minutes ago and saying how this season, they'd clearly figured hey, final season, let's pull out all the stops, but good GOD. I was not expecting Simon.

(... okay now I kinda want them to bring Victor back from the dead, at least for a few minutes. As long as we're getting everyone else! He could be a hallucination. Or a ghost. Michael Shanks is good at being both of those...)

Seriously, how stupid is Strong, to trust Simon??

Oh, Sam, I love you so. <3 <3 There is no one he won't go nose to nose with when they're being stupid and risking lives unnecessarily. Or calling his best friend a murderer.

.. Okay, I was not expecting actual fisticuffs.

AAAAAAAAAAA OR EYE GOUGING WTF

oh holy crap. *stares at screen* I.

That was freaking brilliant -- he's completely lost his mind, down in the darkness where he kinda likes killing people, but he's there because he can't stand all the killing, and how Simon is his warped mirror image, even more than Dead Larry was. Holy crap.

Oh no -- I can't blame Michael at all for not trusting Strong AT ALL, but walking away from Sam and Jesse :( :(

Okay, this is ALL VERY STRESSFUL AIGH.

Good grief. I need to find some kitten tv or something to unwind from all of that. They're seriously pulling out the stops this season.

in before midnight, woo!

Comments

[arduinna]

(Oh, my god, this is long, sorry! I'm thinking this out as I type it.)

Oh, it wasn't the individual episode plots I found repetitive! I loved them saving/helping people, and putting all the spy-soldier-armsdealer skills to good use. It was the formulaic season plot arcs (which is a problem in every USA show I watch - they loooove their formulas): Michael wants to clear his name and get back into the CIA, but to do that he has to catch this one bad guy, who has crucial information. So all season he chases the bad guy, and finally catches him/her! But it turns out that s/he is really just middle management, and there's someone new he has to chase, because he's been after the tip of the iceberg. So next season, we start with the next big bad, because Michael has to clear his name to get back into the CIA.

Last week's episode crystallized this season's arc for me like nothing else has (helped a lot by basically watching the last three consecutively). Looking at the last seven seasons narratively, I really think it's brilliant, at least if they're doing what I think they're doing. (I've also been thinking this out as I respond to people here, so it's crystallizing sloooowly.)

So basically, the series begins when Michael is absolutely a spy for the CIA. Someone betrayed him, and he is totally focused on undoing the damage of that betrayal, proving his loyalty, and regaining his job. In the meantime, he takes on odd jobs to pay the rent, reconnects with old friends and shifts from working solo on almost everything to working solo on almost nothing, and discovers he's pretty good at helping people, and he likes doing that.

But he's hugely goal-driven, and identity-driven, and his identity is Really Good Spy For The CIA, Helping To Make The Whole World Safer. If he doesn't have that, if he's not putting his incredibly dangerous skills to use for the greater good, what is he? He's seen what happens when men like him start acting outside the the structure of the CIA's (and therefore society's) goals and needs: his dad, Dead Larry, all kinds of terrible people who think they can do whatever they want and let someone else pay the consequences.

Every season, the same cycle repeats, because Michael is completely trapped in his identity as a Really Good Spy For The CIA. Every season, there's a new layer of corruption or evil to peel back and destroy, and he believes every time that finally, he's going to be able to go back to The Real Him, CIA Agent Extraordinaire.

Everyone around him knows this is mostly a fool's errand; it's clear the CIA doesn't want him, and outside of this obsession of his, he's doing huge amounts of good in the world. But he can't shake this obsession, or break out of this cycle. All he can do is promise "just this one last time, I swear, and then it'll be over" (which, huh, huge shades of Nate's gambling problems, actually).

Along the way he runs into corrupt government agents and officials, but that's okay; he knows you can't expect all the people in an organization to be worthy of it (see: Dead Larry). But he never loses his faith in the CIA itself, even when an old, beloved friend and mentor betrays him. And we end last season on him apparently back in the CIA's good graces, in spades, but on the outs with his family/team.

Which in retrospect is *fascinating* to me, because every season has ended with the knowledge that hey, sorry, there's a new big bad to go after, and s6 ended more like "... the hell? Okay, everything's okay now...? what?"

But no! Because for Michael, the CIA turns out to be the big bad!

So we get a seriously ramped up season, where his first big bad is Nathan Petrelli (... sorry, it's literally the only name in my head for that guy), who Strong-the-handler says is really really bad, Michael totes has to get in with him and stop him, evil bad. So Michael does, and... actually this guy is kinda like him, down deep, it turns out. He's completely willing to sacrifice his life to save Michael and this woman. (Shades of Victor, there.) And meanwhile, Michael has pulled in Sam and Jesse for help, because TEAM. ♥ Sam ♥ And Sam saves Michael's life when Strong completely misses his cue, no less.

So then the woman is the focal point, and back they go to Miami, where it turns out that no, there's another bigger, badder big bad - more layers to the unending onion to peel back. And this time Michael gets tortured, but holds out - not just for himself, but for the mission. But all that torture brought up a lot of stuff that Michael's been keeping pretty damn locked up, about his dad and Larry and Michael's own violence and dangerousness, in the wake of a pretty simmering stew of betrayal and loss (between Nate, Tom Card, and everything else).

So Michael, he is a mess. And he's clinging to the righteousness that is the CIA, but there's no getting around that some of what James is trying to do is actually... not that evil. Methods aside, anyway. And his values overlap with Michael's on things like "no one gets left behind". And he is so, so far inside Michael's head, in a lot of ways. But Michael knows how to deal with that, and hangs on, because he is A Really Good Spy who believes in the CIA and in the mission. He's going to do whatever it takes, even if it means betraying or killing people who trust him, even though those are things that go against his nature.

And then he finds out that Simon is free, and on a CIA leash. And this time, it's not one corrupt agent or official to blame; Strong's holding the leash, but this is an Agency-backed play. There's no way Simon is out without official approval.

The CIA is as bad as everyone Michael's been fighting. He knows how to take individual betrayal, but this is the institution he's devoted his life to, believing all this time he was doing the right thing, believing that it gave him a true, good purpose.

So he breaks. *pause for wibbly flailing just a bit*

And things look AWFUL right now, right? And yet.

When Michael has been talking about his job with the CIA, he says things like "even if you know it's in a good cause, it's still betrayal [to do this thing I'm doing]". Strong has been cheerfully urging him to betray everyone and everything in the pursuit of the mission.

But when Michael looks to Sam, especially, but also Fi or Jesse, they just look right back and tell him they're there for him. Even if they think he's being stupid, that doesn't change the fact that they will always, always have his back. And that's been utterly consistent all season, even more so than most seasons. It's a double track they're giving us: the CIA is betrayal and pain on all fronts, but Michael's own chosen family is security and trust.

And outside of that, it's not just security and trust with Michael; with him mostly gone, all of their relationships with each other have strengthened and deepened, as they call each other in on whatever they happen to need help with. The entire team is stronger than it's ever been.

Er, so. *skims all of this again to figure out where she was*

oh! So, in a way, this is a repetition of the cycle Michael's been in -- identify an obstacle between himself and getting his old life back, try to overcome it. But the obstacle this time is his old life, which turns out to have mostly been a lie.

And when Michael broke, first by killing Simon, then by warning James about the threat outside, then by not letting Sonya die in his place, and just completely giving up because he's run himself ragged for nothing and he's just so damn tired -- when he broke, so did his obsession.

For the first time in 7 years, Michael doesn't want his old job back. For the first time, he's going to be able to move forward, into a life of putting all his many skills to good use by helping people who can't find help anywhere else. He really will become the Equalizer. (<3)

I think the last few episodes are going to be insanely tense, but I have total faith there's going to be a happy ending. Not just because of the way they've carefully built up the nonstop looks and declarations of support, trust, and affection from Sam in particular, and the strong relationship with Fiona that isn't dependent on them sleeping together, and Jesse's seamless integration with the team and willingness to go anywhere and do anything with them, and the way ALL of them are willing to tell Michael that they think he's screwing up, he's too deep, he's taking the wrong kinds of chances, he's at risk of going darkside -- keeping him anchored all the way. I mean, that's all huge, to me!

But thematically, I think the show is going to end with Michael finally *accepting* the damn burn notice, and figuring out that when you've got a trigger-happy ex-girlfriend, and a best friend who used to spy on you for the FBI, and a down and out spy who forgave you for burning *him* and moved on with his life and a solid friendship with you, and a mom and cute little nephew -- you're doing pretty damn well.

And cue mojitos in the sunset.

I dunno, maybe I'm wrong! But given the network this airs on, the thematic setup of the CIA as the big bad for this season, Michael's seriously dramatic break last week with his mission objectives - I think the series ends with him finally starting to heal.

(I also think it's no accident that this season we got a character who actually lives by, and up to, his principles. Everyone else has been willing to go along with sacrificing some principles for the greater good, even Maddie; Carlos is the first person on this show I can remember seeing walk away because he couldn't be a party to their "pragmatism", no matter how much he loves Fi. That's a huge counterpoint to the endless compromises Michael, especially, makes all the time, and asks other people to make. But there's hope for a better, more decent life! Carlos is proof!)

(okay, and it's 2am again and I'm back to rambling - I hope this comment makes at least some sort of sense.)