Burn Notice delivers a sizzling season finale

Damn! Where do I start? The season finale of Burn Notice had a little bit of everything: fistfights, car chases, shootouts, multiple explosions and a high body count. Whew! Sounds like a Will Smith action flick, eh? I was beginning to wonder if the writers had it in them to produce an action-packed bloodbath without sacrificing the show’s signature sarcasm. Well, color me impressed, because last night’s season two swan song was – as the kids are fond of saying – the BOMB.

Right off the bat we discover that sultry spook Carla was once burned herself. Really? Now she works for an elusive government group known simply as “management.” That’s just the tip of the iceberg, folks. Turns out Carla is more of a ruthless bitch than we first imagined. In order to recruit Victor into her stable of black ops assassins, she murdered his wife and son and burned him, all in the same day. Quite a gal. Easy to see why Victor wants her six feet under. What wasn’t clear was why Carla was so eager to vanquish Victor. Good ol’ Vic was smarter than I gave him credit for.

Victor got his hands on a very thick, very damning file on Carla. Mike and Victor call a truce after realizing they have a common enemy. As Mike says, “You don’t last long as a spy if you don’t trust anyone.” Together, the burn-buddies get medieval on Carla’s lovely ass. Not deterred, Carla sends a hit-team to dispose of Maddie. Luckily, reliable Sam is there to spring momma Westen. I could blather on endlessly about this kick-ass episode. Instead, I’ll list a few memorable moments.

• Mike’s Dodge Charger burnin’ rubber to elude the bad guys. Cool car for a cool dude.
• A nail gun firing into a car door. A simple, yet effective way to lock the bad guys inside.
• Pepper spray bombs. Self-explanatory.
• Sam and Maddie getting festive and transforming Christmas lights into a lethal weapon.
• A rear-view mirror covered in a pink cozy. Hey, spies take what they can get.
• Bullets ricocheting into the floorboards of a car. Best way to panic the driver.
• “It’s a little hard to trust someone when they try to kill you four times.” Quote of the night goes to Michael Westen.
• The agonizing look on Mike’s face after he kills Victor. Brothers in arms.
• Fiona Glenanne stealing the episode. She drops Vic with a bean-bag round, blows-up a pair of cars, kisses and slaps Mike, then shoots Carla with a sniper rifle. Fi is my kind of gal.
• Maddie pleading with Sam to help save her son. There aren’t many touching moments in this series. This was a good one.
• John Mahoney (aka Frasier‘s dad) as “management.” I kept waiting for Eddie to pop out of that chopper.
• Mike essentially telling the old man to fuck off. Haven’t we all been waiting for this?

So, Mike is now out from under the puppet masters who have been manipulating his every move. At least that’s what were supposed to believe. If he is free, he still has a long list of enemies hungry for payback. This could make for some thrilling episodes this summer with all matter of villainy heading to Miami. June can’t get here fast enough. What did you guys think? Yea or nay on the season closer.

Clacked by Scott Tunstall
on Mar 06, 2009 @ 10:00 EST5EDT