TVSquad

"I can only imagine that the target would have to be a really bad person in order for Michael to overcome his inflated savior complex."

Then why does he almost always have to be cajoled into doing it? He always looking to rationalize his way out of it.

"The fact that he thinks asking Nate for help on a job counts as being supportive is a big clue just how self absorbed Michael really is."

Except that he brought Nate in over Sam's (or was it Fiona?) initial objection and suggestion to use someone else. Also, it was probably the only type of job that he could offer him at the time. And he did pay him.

"I'm as cynical as the next guy but even I thought it was out of line for Michael to start forecasting failure before being home for two minutes. I know we haven't seen much of Nate this season but by all appearances he's really trying to get his life together and that should count for something."

It does, but his mom took out a mortgage on her home to pay for the startup costs. Michael has to be the buzzkill, as he it is generally left to him to be the voice of reason in the family and pull his brother's butt out of the fire when he gets into trouble. Still, he probably could've dialed it back.

"When a guy spends his days risking his life for total strangers without charging a penny and can't even pretend to be supportive of his brother, he really needs to check himself."

Maybe, but I wouldn't describe a guy who saves perfect strangers without being paid as self-absorbed.

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"However, seeing that Carla had a "slit" of her own was a pretty clever way to tie it in. "

It was a "slick" not a "slit". Otherwise, I have to say that this episode did make it more apparent than usual that Michael is self-absorbed, but there was no mention of the phone call when Michael was doing the "found God" deal and his and Fiona's eye contact and non verbal interaction during it. I thought that that was the best moment during the episode.

And yes, the explosion was completely unexpected for me too... I was figuring that the sniper would be trying to take out Fiona or Sam.

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Up until the bomb exploding in Michael's doorway, I thought all of Carla's actions were to maneuver Michael into the conference room at the appointed time, because Michael was the intended sniper all along.

Now I'm not too sure. It could still happen, but why would they try to kill Michael? And was the key card destroyed? Hrm... This was a great cliffhanger. I can't wait til Burn Notice comes back.

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Oh it was pretty awesome to see Tricia Helfer in some action sequences. Even tho the stunt double they used was obviously a man. :(

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I actually wasn’t too thrilled with this Finale specifically because of the B Plot (or is it the A plot and the Carla thing the B Plot?). After all the build up we only spent about 8 minutes on the Carla plot which was kind of a let down. The previews really made it seem like “this is the episode where we start to get answers” so I was let down when we really didn’t (in fact, we got more questions piled onto the answers)

Also, if you’re going to set up a showdown with Carla et al. it should be a little better than that.

Anyway, it really wasn’t a bad episode on the merits I just didn’t think it was finale caliber.

Oh and to answer your question, standard face recognition can be fooled by a photograph (provided it’s the same size as the person’s head) but that kind of recognition is generally not used for security in the sense of locks. Standard recognition is generally used to ID people and is used in airports and other high value targets to identify people off video feeds (which is exactly why it can be fooled so easily).

That said there is 3D Facial Recognition (like this: http://www.ameinfo.com/128902.html) that is used for locks but that can’t be fooled by a photograph (it actually scans the shape of your skull.

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WHY do all believe the bomb was Carla's ???

I didn't get that at all. Since her sniper was also blown up, I have to believe there is some third party out there. It would make no sense for her to blow up her sniper, and Michael. Also if she knew his place was wired, why bother to chase him??? She wanted to stop him from stopping the sniper !!!!!!

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I also sided with Michael against his brother Nate. Nate is a screwup, and he convinced his mother to risk her house, and what happened? Nate got arrested. The house is in danger. Michael knew this was possible.

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If I had to guess, the rich girl Michael was protecting will be back in some capacity. Here are the clues that lead me to believe that.

1) she says he is cute
2) the client relates that she is still asking about him

There is no reason to add 2) unless she will be back. Potentially as a love interest or as someone to help Michael.

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I thought it was a great finale. Michael will of course survive. What a hot show. Michael looking at Fee when he gave that discourse on Angels made me cry.
I figured Carla had to know what was going on as she always does and her stints at the pool in her bathing suits was to keep Sam busy. I feel that someone else is yanking her chain as she didn't look in control at the end. She will probably get blown up too.

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quick comments:

a) The envelope Michael gave Nate had 'cash' inside. Not a check [that Lesher gave to Michael] which some people suspected. So him being arrested had nothing to do Lesher but more to do with Carla.

b) In retrospect, I agree that there must be a 3rd party behind the scenes who had traps on the sniper's house and Michaels house. It Carla's group considerable time and resources to have them as assests and killing them doesn't make much sense.

c) Does anyone know when Burn Notice comes back? [January?]


Also, are can someone in TV squad post their reviews/comments concering the Smallville and Supernatural episodes that aired yesterday?

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I hate motorcycle/car chases. The truth is that the power to weight ration of any decent bike means that it is out of the picture before the car even hits 2nd gear. No way a car keeps up with a bike in a city chase. The whole slide under the semi was ridiculous also.

But...I can't wait for the winter episodes....I'd like to close up the Carla angle and move onto the next ladder of the big conspiracy.

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My fav. show!

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Talk about scripting the ending, a blind person could see that coming as he opened the door before even being told. His slick was at the back of his place not the front door so if it was a small blast that area is fine.
Nate was setup by Carla through a phony setup. She probably was running the whole kidnapping thing as a part of the overall op.

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I'm actually tired of TV Squad's pessimism towards good TV. You'll review Reality TV till the cows come home, but an honestly good show like Burn Notice gets a a half assed review. I'm sure there is a reality skank that needs their own article. What a waste of time and oppurtunity

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Some mention should have been made of Jeffrey Donovan's acting as his "alcoholic security guard" character finds religion and goes crazy.

His phone conversation when he talks about the "bible show" was perfect, and then when he smashes into their car and comes at them screaming and shooting - still in character - it's very well done, and it makes you wonder how much of that craziness is really a buried part of Michael Weston's personality.

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