In last seasons cliffhanger we saw our favorite ex-spy virtually blown up, which can never be good for the spirit nor the body. And it wasn’t as we quickly see.
Michael () is in very bad shape. Injured he barely has enough time to assess his near death before he is under chase again. And he is not happy about it.
Now let me take a step back for a moment. I did not start out as a fan of this program. In fact, I rarely bothered to watch the initial episodes. But as this new season approached I had the chance to see several episodes back to back. Add to that the occasional episode I saw during the first run. Combined this has caught my interest.
One of the biggest factors for my interest is Bruce Campbell (Sam Axe on the show). I am a fan of his characters and find his presence on the small and large screen to be fun and comforting. He adds a bit of whimsy to his characters and any situation he is in. And for this show his character takes away from the drama and constant action without distraction. Without his character you would be left with a very bad version of James Bond in Miami.
One of the worst things about the show is Fiona (Gabrielle Anwar). Often called Fi, she is the other side of Bruce Campbell’s Sam. She is violent, short-tempered, and near anorexic. She is supposed to be an expert fighter and the ex-girlfriend of our star Michael. I can understand why she is an ex. With due respect she needs to eat a cheeseburger, or 20.
There is a difference of being skinny and looking anorexic to me. As she looks like slightly more than bones I am always amazed when she is in any physical confrontation, like when the wind is blowing. Let alone anytime she gets into an actual fight. Perhaps that is why her character is successful, no one would ever expect her to survive hitting anyone, let alone getting hit.
And of course I should mention Jeffrey Donovan playing Michael, our ex-operative seeking vengeance. He is played well as the balance between the 2 extremes of his cohorts. He is intelligent without feeling like the omniscient Bond. He practices often giving credibility to what he can do. The narratives that occur on the show (voiced by his character), explaining critical decisions or responses, make perfect sense and fill in otherwise obvious plot holes.
Another thing I like about the entire show is that everyone can be hurt. Being caught in an explosion leaves bruises, being punched can make you bleed. Nothing is worse than watching a character being beat down by 3 guys and standing up without a scratch, or being caught in an explosion and 5 minutes later running around as if they just got out of the gym with Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Back to the new season. It follows the usual theme of someone needing Michael’s help while he is sporadically interrupted by Carla. Though now Carla (Tricia Helfer – the 2 best thing about Battlestar Galactica) and Michael are seemingly aligned in learning who tried to kill him - thus hinder Carla’s interests. Carla, and perhaps a well-funded organization behind her, are responsible for Michael having lost his profession. Michael despises this group, and Carla, who enforce his subservience via threats on his family.
And as the show is progressing family is a bigger and bigger theme in our ex-spy’s life. In several episodes he has gone against his training and better judgment to come to the aid of children, and families, in need. This is his fatal flaw I believe. And I expect will be used against him at some point.
The season opening show was good. I won’t go further into details of the episode beyond the fact that it is again the needs of a child that motivates him. And that the mysterious Carla and her organization may not be as large or well-funded as we may have first thought.
The reason I am interested in this program is that it is intelligent. Yes there are explosions every episode, and yes most of the shots miss everything as if it were an episode of the A-Team. But Michael and the team think through their missions. It’s more akin to the original Mission Impossible than the average television fare.
Is the show absolutely compelling? No. But if you spend the time to catch up with the histories of the characters, you will find yourself interested in the on-going story arcs and subtlies of the program.
Burn Notice is not the best program on televison right now, nor the most watched (the 2 are not often related) but it is a worthwhile departure from the norm. It’s a program that you can watch and remember what you have seen afterward, which these days is hard to find.
2 comments:
Comment as found at 1800blogger.com, where I am a contributing author.
STEVEN SEAGAL Says:
February 5th, 2009 at 11:46 pm e
I’m glad I’m not the only person who noticed that chick is anorexic as hell. She does seem like a naturally slender person, but good God, in the recent commercials they have with her in a bikini she is absolutely skeletal! I hope she gets some help.
I also enjoy the series, but personally, I think it has been getting more and more bland. It had a great premise, but clearly lost it’s edge after the pilot episode. If you notice, in the pilot episode Michael kills a guy in a bathroom (more like executes) shortly before making his escape, like a real spy would. However, in all subsequent episodes, nobody ever dies.
Some action shows might be able to pull this “soft” approach off, but as you said yourself, with explosions in every episode, lots of heavy weaponry, and snipers firing down on people, it’s just a bit too unrealistic to be able to lose yourself in the experience.
It is really sad that she is so skinny. I have to believe others are noticing this as well as just us 2. The thing I just never understand is how anyone finds her to be attractive at that weight.
I haven't watched most of the series in it's first run, nor every episode. So I can't say how the show has fared from its pilot. But I should note that I have seen several episodes where one bad guy kills another, off screen. It's kind of another take on the original Mission Impossible series in that things happen as a result of the efforts made. Still it is not as satisfying or believable as it could be.
Still the show is enjoyable to me, but I agree that it could use some adrenaline every now and then.
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