Wednesday, December 19, 2012

What I’m Watching: Burn Notice


Burn Notice: Season 6, Episode 16 “Odd Man Out” (B+)

All things considered, Madeleine has been pretty good about living a spy life whenever the need arises. Having her leave Miami, however, is considerably more permanent, and it’s no surprise that she would have trouble getting on board with the idea. Going to visit Nate’s grave one last time seemed to be a positive move rather than a negative one, with Michael finding a note from a mysterious friend rather than a taunting message from Olivia about her fervent desire to take him down. Michael deserves a break considering the difficulty he had with Schmidt’s latest wronged, angry, violent-prone associate. James Vanek was portrayed by Kevin McNally, most recognizable as the likeable Gibbs from the “Pirates of the Caribbean” series. Demanding $400,000 to talk and then deciding that he would need to kill Michael just because he was getting in his way presented yet another unnecessary challenge for Michael and crew in their anticipated exodus from Miami. Jesse and Madeleine teaming up to steal a dump truck and Michael causing an explosive power surge to save everyone were among the episode’s coolest moments, but the most memorable scene was a more dramatic one. Schmidt telling Michael that there’s no way he had planned not to give him up was a sign that Michael is being stretched too thin, and an important signal that something needs to change soon or he’s truly going to lose all hope. Annoying as he is, and probably as a result of that, Schmidt is becoming a great supporting character.

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