We’re down to the final summer episode of Burn Notice. Not to toot my own horn, but I kinda predicted the outcome of last night’s adventure, at least in part. For the skeptics, allow me to demonstrate proof. Here’s what I wrote three weeks ago in my review:
What will it take to change Mike’s mind? Fiona appears at a loss. If she were crying on my shoulder (sweet!), I would advise her to leave Miami. Tell Mike she won’t stick around to watch him die. She loves him too much. It’s a standard play, I admit, but if he gives a shit, he won’t let her go. Mike is an action, not words kind of dude. Let him call her bluff. Personally, I think Mike needs her too much to watch her walk away.
Winner. Fiona told Mike she was done with his silly spy games and announced her intention to leave sunny Miami. Damn, I’m good.
Now, who knows how all this will conclude next week. I stupidly watched the previews and discovered that the lovely Fiona gets kidnapped. Mikey will have to button his cape and swoop down to rescue his damsel in distress, or so it would seem. Will that make him see the light? Perhaps it won’t matter. Fiona may be dead set on relocating. We’ll all have to tune in next Thursday for the answers.
As for the chapter before the last chapter, we were treated to one of my favorite actresses doing what she does best. I’m referring to the wickedly witchy Callie Thorne, who played Natalie the stone cold killer. If any of you fine folks watch Rescue Me, then you know Ms. Thorne’s Sheila persona is a bitch on wheels. Thus, when her Natalie character turned on the water works, I immediately cried foul. The jig was up!
It couldn’t have been the Russian dude. The Russians were the bad guys two weeks ago. Writers as sharp as the Burn Notice lot would never make such an egregious error. By the way, it this the Cold War all over again? Are there really a host of Russkies running about in South Florida? I thought it was just Latins and Canadian snowbirds. Evidently, these ex-KGB ops love the climate. Can hardly blame them. I would gather enduring multiple Siberian winters would cause even the hardest of spies to consider a sunnier environment in which to work.
Let’s talk about Barry’s ledger, which was the honorary MacGuffin. Why not just make a copy or copies? You mean to tell me that once the thing was lifted, none of these career criminals thought to head to Kinko’s? Seems a little lazy, don’t you think? This way you cover your ass should something go awry. You could also sell it to multiple parties in order to maximize your profits. Barry’s got a bunch of names in those pages. Five separate copies means five times the cash. Am I right? Did I miss something? If so, please let me know. (If not, it’s one demerit for the creative team.)
Mike got what he wanted, but at what cost? Dance with the devil… One installment to go. How will it end? Will Fiona survive and go through with her plan to leave Michael’s side? Does Mike possess the courage to tell her how he really feels? Will Sam finally get some alone time with his lady friend? Can Barry’s roofer fix Maddie’s leaky roof? See you in August, fellow Burn buddies.
Clacked by Scott Tunstall 
on Jul 31, 2009 @ 11:01 EST5EDT
To me Mike has been being an ass and even more so in this episode.
The interrogation specialist was Serbian intelligence, not Russian, and probably had experience in their decidedly hot civil war rather than the Cold one. Also, the group two weeks ago was Ukrainian, as you pointed out then.
As Fiona said, Michael’s a “piece of work,” as have been pretty much all the professional spies we’ve seen on the show. It might almost be a prerequisite for being in the top ranks of the trade rather than a character defect on Michael’s part.
I totally missed the Serbian part. Thanks for setting me straight. Although, all those Eastern European/Russian accents sound the same to me ;)
I think Michael started to change in the last two weeks. With the last case, he seemed more invested in saving the little boy and seemed reluctant to check on the data at the end. This week he seemed to regret Fiona’s absence. However, I hope he’ll stop seeing her as a resource in time. But, I doubt it, especially since his desperation is starting to re-shape him.
Last year, he did everything to figure out Carla’s game. But, this time, outside of checking C’s credentials, he takes the new guy’s instructions at face value. Plus, using Maddie on a case other than the week’s vic, was proof positive. I almost wondered if the guy deliberately set it up that way to see how far Michael would go.
She is easily the weakest link in the show, so I say don’t let the door hit you on the way out.