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

[klia]

Flailing right along with you. The closeness between various characters has been awesome, but dear god, they're going to give me a freaking coronary with the rest of it.

I'm not as down on Maddie's characterization as you are. Yes, she got used to the random WTFness that went along with Michael's "job," but he was totally out of touch with all of them for a long, long time, and I think that really pulled the rug out from under her, to the point where she no longer knew what to expect. And it didn't help that random, threatening stranger, James, and his creepy thugs just showed up out of nowhere to "protect" her and Charlie, either. One of my favorite moments of the season was her pointing the gun at James, and telling him if he ever showed up in her house again, she'd shoot him on sight.

Oh, and what she said to Lloyd came across to me as her saying whatever it took to get him to do what they needed him to do -- and she acted her part really well. It was very subtle, but I thought there was emotion behind her words, but not any real conviction. But, obviously, we're interpreting some things very differently!

I could totally understand why Michael flipped the hell out over Strong hiring Simon. It was just insanely stupid of Strong -- did he really think Michael would be okay with it, and not see it as yet another betrayal by the CIA?

I don't believe Michael's an irredeemable psychopath, not like Larry, Simon, or James. I think he still does have a moral compass, only it's lost its magnetic center ATM, thanks to Strong's stupidity and incompetence. BUT... and this is the last thing I'll say... I'm VERY afraid of where they might be headed. I don't want BN to be another show where, after the finale, my guts are all ripped out and stomped on, and I'm wondering why the hell I bothered. *gnaws remaining fingernails*

[arduinna]

Oh, I'm only a little down on Maddie's characterization; mostly she's awesome. Pulling that gun on James was fantastic, and exactly what I've come to expect from her. <3

But she used to be able to stare anyone down, anytime -- feds, cops, bad guys, crooked politicians. And she's lost that, in a way that feels less like she's forgotten how than like she never knew how. It's not major, just a tiny niggle, mostly because everyone else is just rockin' it.

Not crucial, in any event!

The Lloyd thing, I totally get her trying to convince him, and I agree that that was her entire motivation, not true belief that he'd be responsible. I just have a kneejerk thing about blaming someone scared of retaliation for a criminal's future acts. I would have been a lot more comfortable with Maddie saying something like "I could have stopped a child abuser, if I'd told the police. But I was scared and I didn't tell, and I have to live with knowing that he kept right on abusing those kids because I didn't try to stop him." -- it makes the point, but in a non-blame-y way, just in a "this is my experience, think about that being your experience before you decide".

But yeah, given the time constraints, I can see going for the stock "it'll be on your head". I just don't like it. *g*

Re Strong, as soon as he lit into Michael with that "I've been after James for 10 years, and I'm not going to let [niggling details] stop me now" I had a really bad feeling. I mean, I've had a bad feeling all along; he's way too cavalier about how he uses people up. But that was the freaky icing on the cake. He's completely obsessed, and doesn't see anyone as people, really. Simon was an asset; Michael's an asset; who the hell cares what assets think or want? They're controlled pawns sent to do a job.

And Simon reinforced that; he knew what he was, he know how and why he was being used, he didn't object to it because it was better than being in prison. From Strong's POV, Michael had the same general background, got the same general deal (except more generous), and would be as objective about the need to use whatever assets were at hand. He just. Doesn't understand Michael at all, or Michael's strong sense of personal loyalty and how he expects that to be reciprocated on some level.

I don't believe Michael's an irredeemable psychopath, not like Larry, Simon, or James. I think he still does have a moral compass, only it's lost its magnetic center ATM, thanks to Strong's stupidity and incompetence.

Oh, me either! I think he's shattered at the moment, from trying to hold things together for way, way too long, but he's not a psychopath. He saw himself heading down that road and stopped himself back with Dead Larry, which is huge. And he was still trying, even as he got sucked further and further into this new web; he wouldn't let Sonya call an airstrike on the compound, because of all the people who would die. But I think - hm.

I think there's a really big reason why for the first time ever, we saw Michael interacting with his dad when he was being tortured, as well as his time with Dead Larry. These men who were supposed to teach him, protect him, help him be a better man -- they betrayed him. His dad taught him violence and manipulation; Larry taught him (controlled) psychopathy. He managed to twist both their lessons into using those dangerous tools to protect other people, but they still made him dangerous.

But what made that okay in the end was the CIA, which was a good, noble institution doing its best to make a dark world a better place. He could use those dangerous tools to good purpose; he could be a good man. So as long as he was working for the CIA, everything was okay.

And then he wasn't working for them, and he became obsessed with getting back in their good graces, because that would justify his dangerousness. And I think he kinda didn't notice that all the time he was trying to get back in, he was becoming a far, far better man, because he was able to choose for himself how to use his dangerous tools, without anyone else using him as a weapon.

So finding out that the CIA thinks Simon is A-OK to send out armed into a city -- man. Poor Michael. He managed to stay such an idealist, after all these years.

BUT... and this is the last thing I'll say... I'm VERY afraid of where they might be headed. I don't want BN to be another show where, after the finale, my guts are all ripped out and stomped on, and I'm wondering why the hell I bothered. *gnaws remaining fingernails*

I don't think it will be! I think there's a good reason we've been getting so much emotional interaction and sheer unadulterated proof that this team will be there for each other no matter what, every single time.

I think the whole season is about Michael realizing that his faith in, and wanting to belong with, the CIA has been badly misplaced, but that in the meantime he's built this rock-solid family that's his true center. They've stuck with him through umpteen rounds of "I just need to find out the truth so I can get my job back", gone after the most powerful people in the world for him, gone to jail for him, and never, ever betrayed him.

I think he's going to figure out that being burned was the best thing that ever happened to him. In my heart, the ending is everyone sitting around a table in the sunshine having mojitos. <3

(And if they don't do that, if they go darkside for drama? Which seriously I do not expect at all. Welcome to my revised canon! *g* pull up a chair, there's plenty of room.)

[klia]

Yes, Strong's the other psychopath in this scenario, and the fact that he viewed Simon and Michael as pretty much exactly the same -- tools for his use, nothing more -- speaks volumes about HIS mental state.

I really hope you're right about the series finale. I love these characters too much to be even remotely OK with anyone else being killed off, or Michael going darkside. And they've been so good about keeping the team safe for 7 seasons -- but that's exactly why I'm afraid of what they might feel free to do in the finale, especially after such a highly-emotional season. I just don't trust showrunners or networks to not destroy their creation in some way, even if it's over, and ratings don't really matter anymore. *sigh*

[arduinna]

If this were on HBO or something, I'd be more worried, I admit -- but not on USA. It's always possible they'll pull the rug out from under, but to me, it's just not what the show *is*, or the network, either.

I've been thinking this out more as I talk to more people (okay, mostly writing the world's longest reply to poor gwyn, and really, I can see a full-series narrative arc playing out here. If I'm right, we're in for a tense few episodes, but potentially a much happier ending than I would have expected with BN, actually.

/eternal optimist, I know *g*

[klia]

K, K, and I recently talked about BN and how it fits into the USA Network "brand," and the thing to keep in mind is this: BN is the anomaly, not the norm. None of their other shows are anywhere near this dark and intense. And that's why I'm worried. I can totally see the showrunners and network wanting to really pull out all the stops and go out with a bang -- literally.

That said, I really, sincerely hope you're right. I've just been burned (har har, pun intended ;) ) too many times in the past by shows suddenly veering into, 'OMG, WTF are you even DOING?!' territory.