The Lime Cart is Off the Causeway
Burn Notice - Season 4 (2010)
rating: 3 out of 5 cravats
on DVD from Netflix
Burn Notice, unlike the other shows I watch, would probably benefit from the space that normal network programming (and viewing) allows. In a week, 18 episodes can feel a lot like an aural and visual exercise in repetition: the particular cadence of Jeffrey Donovan's voice-overs, the second-unit photography of Miami, the escalating stakes of what's happening behind the scenes. Add to that already blurred recollection the odd space-time phenomenon I keep encountering - I turn off the DVD player only to find old episodes of Burn Notice in syndication on television - and I couldn't tell you, exactly, which clandestine international group wants Michael the most.
But that's okay. It's a summer haze, good with a Coke. Still, something felt off this season, or a little right-wing. The character Josh Wagner (in "Breach of Faith") should have gone to jail for taking a secretary hostage at gunpoint, regardless of whether or not her boss conned Josh out of his charity's nest egg. It was oddly aggressive/abusive of Michael to convince the woman otherwise - like something Josh might try on his poor wife instead.
A show whose protagonists routinely break the law in order to help men and women who can't find help through legal channels should be above demonizing criminal defense attorneys. That one man's quest for vengeance transforms him from sleazy lawyer to indifferent killer of civilians by proxy is absurd, of course, but it also seems like the kind of narrative trick that the producers of 24 relied upon. Ditto the return of Mel Gibson's favorite jurisdictional roadblock, diplomatic immunity, in the guise of corrupt Venezuelan ambassadors bearing bombs.
With Robert Wisdom and John Doman from The Wire to keep him company in DC, I like to think that Michael won't become the USA Network's very own Jack Bauer. And maybe he won't, although the addition of a trigger-happy, revenge-minded fourth member to the team makes it harder than ever for Sam and Fi to talk the man they love back down off the roof for a swim. Is Barry the crooked accountant Burn Notice's mood ring? Laid back and easy-going, and always handy in a non-violent way? Maybe that's why I haven't seen him in far too long.
rating: 3 out of 5 cravats
on DVD from Netflix
Burn Notice, unlike the other shows I watch, would probably benefit from the space that normal network programming (and viewing) allows. In a week, 18 episodes can feel a lot like an aural and visual exercise in repetition: the particular cadence of Jeffrey Donovan's voice-overs, the second-unit photography of Miami, the escalating stakes of what's happening behind the scenes. Add to that already blurred recollection the odd space-time phenomenon I keep encountering - I turn off the DVD player only to find old episodes of Burn Notice in syndication on television - and I couldn't tell you, exactly, which clandestine international group wants Michael the most.
But that's okay. It's a summer haze, good with a Coke. Still, something felt off this season, or a little right-wing. The character Josh Wagner (in "Breach of Faith") should have gone to jail for taking a secretary hostage at gunpoint, regardless of whether or not her boss conned Josh out of his charity's nest egg. It was oddly aggressive/abusive of Michael to convince the woman otherwise - like something Josh might try on his poor wife instead.
A show whose protagonists routinely break the law in order to help men and women who can't find help through legal channels should be above demonizing criminal defense attorneys. That one man's quest for vengeance transforms him from sleazy lawyer to indifferent killer of civilians by proxy is absurd, of course, but it also seems like the kind of narrative trick that the producers of 24 relied upon. Ditto the return of Mel Gibson's favorite jurisdictional roadblock, diplomatic immunity, in the guise of corrupt Venezuelan ambassadors bearing bombs.
With Robert Wisdom and John Doman from The Wire to keep him company in DC, I like to think that Michael won't become the USA Network's very own Jack Bauer. And maybe he won't, although the addition of a trigger-happy, revenge-minded fourth member to the team makes it harder than ever for Sam and Fi to talk the man they love back down off the roof for a swim. Is Barry the crooked accountant Burn Notice's mood ring? Laid back and easy-going, and always handy in a non-violent way? Maybe that's why I haven't seen him in far too long.
posted by NPK at 6:45 AM
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