(S02E06) You have to admire the stones on a guy who can insult someone else's wardrobe while he himself is wearing a Daiquiri Ice colored polo.
As much as I love the larger than life characters on this show, Victor the Wrangler was a little too much for me. I never enjoy seeing brand new characters who talk to the regulars like they are old buddies. I know that's how TV works but if a guy is going to engage in as much douche speak as Victor, he's got build up some goodwill first, or else I'll end up hating him from the beginning. That, however, may have been the point.
How awesome was that ancient VCR? Almost as great as seeing Sam get down to business upon discovering Ricky. It's funny how most of the time we see Sam putting himself in harm's way and moaning about it afterward but this was the first time in a while that he actually seemed kind of heroic to me. Of course, the fact that Bruce Campbell has made a career out of playing anti-heroes may have something to do with that.
It felt a little more believable seeing Michael help out an old friend than some stranger looking for help. This show is built on the premise that in times of crisis, your family and friends are the only assets you have. I do, however, find that gangster turned hip hop mogul thing a little played.
The call-forwarding trick was brilliant. Even a dumb guy like me understands how that works. I can't believe that it hasn't been used before. I guess Jason Bourne still has a few things to learn. Same goes for the bomb squad blocking signals trick, although I'm not sure if that one really works and I'm not really in a hurry to test it out.
I can only imagine what the dialect haters were saying when they got a taste of Michael's offering this week. I, personally, found it a little more believable only because he was pretending to be a bombastic ass and the voice was really annoying.
Isn't it amazing how things can change so dramatically at the thirty minute mark. Victor's performance for Eddie was a great idea. It's one thing for Michael to be told what to do, but it's a very different thing when he's told what not to do. Victor's dance into the crowd was the perfect button to that scene.
I had to laugh out loud when Michael was being "beaten" by Eddie. I never knew that running a con on someone would so often involve knowing the right way to win or lose a fight. I guess I'll add that to my list.
I was pretty disappointed in how Eddie finally got busted. It was painfully obvious that Valentine was waiting around the corner and even though Method Man was really well cast, he didn't have enough room to make his character more three-dimensional. More importantly, I don't see the logic in putting blanks in the gun, especially since Eddie could still have killed Ricky if he put the gun flush against his head. Did Jon-Erik Hexum teach us nothing?
On the other hand, the X-ray trunk and the exploding barrels were totally awesome and the outline of the sniper rifle definitely piqued my interest.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
8-15-2008 @ 10:52AM
Christopher said...
I thought this was a really good episode. Victor was a total d-bag, but when he came into the club and say the Feds were onto Michael the look on Michael's face was priceless.
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8-15-2008 @ 10:58AM
Klo said...
It was kinda cool seeing Michael Shanks on Burn Notice. Somehow I missed that piece of casting news.
As always, this show is awesome. I absolutely love the voice-overs.
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8-15-2008 @ 6:32PM
Anita said...
I loved seeing Michael pull the con that he busted a couple weeks ago (the real estate club owner). I'm also wondering why he isn't asking for payment anymore save in expenses. Since everyone and their mother knows how to find him, why aren't the bad guys wary when a 'new guy' comes from out of town? Method Man cleans up well, but considering how glam pop hip hop is, divorcing itself from the mid-90s urban street cred, it's always interesting & tiring to see shows that still use that theme. I liked this ep b/c both Fi and Sam were used less as the fool/sexy girl, but as resources. Also interesting is how Michael had to tell Fiona to stand down.
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8-16-2008 @ 12:27AM
Picviewer said...
The poll is misleading "Is Burn Notice becoming too much like Mission Impossible?" Which one? The good tv series or the butchering that were the movies?
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8-17-2008 @ 3:04AM
YouFaceTheTick said...
1. Yes the accent was awful. someone needs to tell Jeffrey Donovan to stop with the accents.
2. Stop with the awful "cons." This show was interesting when it had two things going for it - an overriding plot (like Veronica Mars) and Michael's versatility. The con-of-the-week is playing super thin at this point and there's been no forward progress on the burn.
3. Stop making all the bad guys freaking morons.
4. Michael needs to kill some folks. Sorry but he hasn't really taken out anyone by himself since the pilot. That's lame. Once in awhile can we be reminded that he's a bad mofo?
5. Thank god Season 2 of Dexter is coming out on DVD as I'm aching for at least some lead in Florida to do naughty things...
6. Get the police involved with michael. Make him a person of interest to the cops. sorry but all the shooting, mob stuff, explosions...he would get the attention of someone eventually. If an idiot DEA agent can find him, then someone outside of the burn should apply some pressure.
Lazy writing and simplistic plotting are killing this show.
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8-17-2008 @ 10:42PM
Jeremy said...
YFTT I totally disagree with your #2 I like the "cons" and don't particularly care for the big story. (I was the same about Veronica Mars)
I like the show when it's like the a-team helping people in need, the back story is interesting but not what brings me back. remember the back story is what ruined the A-team
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8-18-2008 @ 6:02PM
Dr. Spin said...
I love when you guys throw out an out-there reference that, probably, less than half of the readers get.
"Jon-Erik Hexum"... it sounded like a pop culture reference we would get in Psych. Well done!
As far as the show goes; while I find each episode good, the people he's helping along with the situation and action seem to be similar each week. They need to mix it up a bit like an earlier show about someone helping people in need did.
Perhaps the screenwriters can call Edward Woodward for help.
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8-21-2008 @ 9:35PM
La-Di-Dah said...
Fi is my hero, re the "bonjour" trick.
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9-19-2008 @ 5:00AM
Ted Wise said...
While the actors good, FI and Michael Weston were great parts. the only thing i thought was bogus, Michael is fluent in five languags. He keeps on getting into trouble with the antics he uses are much like misson impossible and Monk, his speech is over the top. the action shows one car blow up 5 times or more just to put more action in the story line. He is forcing his speech in most of his cons. and back again to blowing things up. the show could have been written for Ms Garner. in her role as character, alias, Mcguiver, and a litiney of other shows. Parts of it were really a good, Michael is not convicing as an actor through most of the series. Yes I will watch this show, bad acting as well. It is much better than game shows, baseball, football, goofy sitcoms, and 24/7 news.
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