While this was an excellent episode, I'd clarify it more as a character development piece. It's fun and pushes the main plot line boldly ahead, but if you thought you knew these characters and where the story was going, you may be surprised.moreless
10
"Perfect"
Boy, that Jeffrey Donovan. Ya think you've got a character all figured out and then he spins what could have been a very easy to figure out personality in what appears to be all over the map.
As I watched the first seven episodes of "Burn Notice," I fell in love with the characters. I like my heroes predictable. It makes nice, easy lines between good and bad, you can count on them in any situation and you feel comfortable where you expect them to go. Michael Westen, however, is not that kind of guy.
When it comes to Michael and Fiona, he told us last week there was a reason their relationship didn't work out the first time. As he narrates the beginning of this week's episode, he defines that a little further.
"Covert operatives have a hard time dating. Even if you find someone who doesn't mind that you won't talk about your past or that you carry a concealed weapon, they usually want more than you're able to give."
Wait a minute. Isn't that the story of every man? I don't mean that as a dig to everyone of that specific gender, but let's face it - if men were like women, would we need two sexes? Men have traditionally been the hunter/gatherers. Women have been the sustainers and procreators. Sure, over the generations the lines have been blurred, sometimes changed (take for example this week's client who asks Michael where he does his laundry as he was going to wash the sheets for him). For the most part though, man still brings home the bacon. Whether it's more or less than what the wife brings home is another matter all together.
We've seen the type of life Michael lives. He's content to be in a loft sparsely decorated. His refrigerator boasts little more than whatever adult beverage has been left by the last person who supplied it and yogurt. He doesn't need a lot to be happy. Having given birth to and raised a male from the womb to college, I can tell you most men don't need a whole lot. It's usually the women who want to nest with all the accoutrements that entails.
Silly me, I thought the frugal life was a spy thing as well. Fiona seemed content with Michael's lifestyle choices. Well...until we saw Fiona's apartment. Tastefully decorated, it's clear she has settled in. She's got her snow globe collection that means something to her. I would have thought the life of a spy would have precluded taking momentos with you.
As I said before I love Fiona. She's one kick-ass chick. She's also, apparently, a girl. That may sound rather judgemental of me. Maybe it is. Maybe spies aren't the "leaf on the wind" type of people I thought them to be. Maybe all the girl spies are just as girly as they would be in normal life. I'm sure a woman in that business has to have all the skills a normal woman would have to fit in.
Fiona makes Michael Tuna with Tahini - his favorite. Being a tomboy, my idea of "cooking a meal" is throwing some frozen skinless, boneless chicken breasts in a Pyrex baking pan with some Ms. Dash and onion flakes over it, a box of Betty Crocker Garlic & Cheese mashed potatoes and a can of cut green beans. Anything more complex and I have to call in a professional. Fiona, it appears, is ready to set up housekeeping with Michael.
I was ok with Fiona asking Michael where their relationship was going last week. It was a legitimate question for some, albeit a little too early in the relationship for my expectations. I never really cared about such things because I believe the only reason for marriage is to give a child a last name and health insurance. Without those two reasons it turns into a lawyer feeding tool. This new side of Fiona has me a little disappointed.
Fiona chastizes Michael for bringing his dossier to the table. He's had his nose in it from the moment he acquired it. She thinks he should be thinking about their relationship. I'm thinking here's a guy about to shine his brightest by clearing his name. She wants to enjoy his company over lunch. My idea of enjoying someone's company is being in the same room with them. On the other hand, I don't require people in my life to feel good about myself. The fact that I'm alive and still breathing on my own is celebration enough. Anyone else who becomes a part of my world is just icing on the cake.
So now we have two characters. Michael, the happy-go-lucky, socially outgoing, can handle anything guy who has no problem being very focused on his goals and Fiona, the kick-ass, makes her own bombs, out of control and apparently needy, girly-girl.
"There's a reason why it didn't work before," Michael tries to explain at the lunch table as Fiona is removing his dossier from his place setting.
"We were in a war zone," Fiona counters in a major act of denial.
Ok class, can anyone tell me why their previous relationship "wasn't enough" for Michael? Women frequently complain that men don't listen, don't take enough notice of their emotional queues to them. I've seen all I need to see in regards to what was wrong. Some women believe there is a pre-set definition of what a relationship is. They try to bend every man into this mold or whatever mold makes them happy. All I have to say is "Who's not listening now?"
Look at Michael's expression after Fiona takes away his dossier. He knows he's right back to the same place they left off in Ireland. He also realizes that Fee isn't "getting it." Michael's upbringing would tell you right off the bat he's not like other guys. The normal relationships he was supposed to grow up with - mother, father, brother - were all severely dysfunctional. Sometimes that screws up how you relate to others. He knows this. Fiona, apparently, doesn't want to see this. In not seeing this, she's not seeing the real Michael. In not seeing the real Michael, she's perpetuating the dysfunction. I had hoped for a more supportive relationship between the two.
Sure, Fiona is always there for Michael. In the end, he proves to her he's there for her too - even through the little jealousy game she plays (way too girlie for me). Look at the expressions on Michael's face throughout the episode. He doesn't really want to do this again. Personally, I don't blame him. I can only hope that Fiona will learn to chill out a little as they spend more time with one another. This insecure, controlling side of her takes away from her street cred points. What can I say? I'm from a different era when heroes where stable people instead of every relationship on TV having to be a mess of dysfunction. Is dysfunction all we're capable of showing these days? Is that the example we really want to pass on to our kids? (Ok, so the fact she builds bombs in the kitchen probably isn't the greatest example, but that's so far off the norm it's discarded as fantasy. Relationships are the real thing.)
Now for some of the non-relationship aspects of the episode. Barry, the money launderer is really starting to grow on me. What can I say? I'm a pushover for quirky supporting characters. When there's a good one, I want them around in my series (just like the town troubador in "Gilmore Girls.") The actor who plays Barry does a GREAT job of making me want to see him again. Kudos to the casting person who hired him. I hope we continue to see Barry around now and then. He's a fun AND interesting character.
Michael, the multi-talented...I love the way he disarms people. Walks in with a bag of chips (do you remember the first episode when he said you should look like you belong there?) after the guy notices his alarm system has been compromised and takes Cristo down. Notice the attitude from Michael. All is not well in his world. Up until now, we've seen the spy with a good heart. The question is did the attitude come from the frustration of all the crap that's in his dossier or the way Fiona is now trying to influence his life?
The rest of the episode plays out. We learn more cool spy stuff (like no matter how good you are at defending yourself, you can still be choked to death by someone with five inches and 100 more pounds on you and if someone takes you as a human shield the appropriate response is to go limp). Michael not only gets his man in the main plot line, but manages to contact his nemesis, Phillip Cowen ("Oh Mike, you know these NSA guys. They're like ghosts. They've got no phone number, no address, no nothing").
At the end, Michael's carefully laid plans pan out as Cowen calls him directly. If you want to know just how far Jeffrey Donovan's range is, pay attention to his eyes, his voice and his body language as he takes the call while his "guest" is packing to leave. It's clear there is an extremely dark place inside Michael. Up until now, we've seen the carefree, amusing, loving, honest Michael. As the episodes unfold, we may see just HOW dark the relationship Michael had with his father was and how far down that rabbit hole Michael can go if pushed.
The final scenes were a little disturbing for me. Fiona shuts down her quarry as she turns her head away from his parting kiss. Ok, maybe Fiona was trying to push the bondaries of her relationship with Michael to see where he stood by throwing herself at Thomas McKee, but Thomas is a simple-minded man (when asked why the night manager of The Victor had shown him the broach in the first place he says "because it's worth two million bucks man!"). He doesn't realize until Fiona turns her head away from his kiss that it was all about making her boyfriend, Michael, jealous ("Fiona likes to test relationships with the emotional equivalent of artillery fire."). That's a mean girlie thing to do and it gives the rest of the female species a bad name. Shame on Fiona.
Also disturbing, the way Michael opens Fiona's door after giving her the Miami snow globe. After seeing the previous scene where Michael goes from the dark expression of the phone call from Phillip Cowen to a smile plastered on his face for his guest, you are left to wonder whether the globe (notice the way he reacts when she shakes it in his face) or the opening of the door are to try and make peace with what Fiona expects from him and make the best of the relationship he's just been forced into or to keep her in check because she's such an important asset. It certainly leaves the story wide-open, because like a good spy would hope you are left unable to discern the outcome.
I can see Michael leaving Fiona again should he reach his goal much the way he left her before, unless she gets a clue. Maybe the writers will enable her to grow enough to back off and accept him for who is he and what he's capable of emotionally, but women like that rarely do in real life and almost NEVER do on television. Writers rarely do what makes sense, they write to make a good story.
This was a great episode of "Burn Notice." Lots of character definition and Bruce Campbell looking as cute as always. I can't wait for the next episode. Even though the characters are what keep me coming back each week, the insights into keeping one's self safe are invaluable.moreless
