Monday, March 09, 2009

Burn Notice Season Finale

WARNING: This post contains spoilers.
--

There are many reasons to love Burn Notice. For the men: explosions, women in bikinis, and general badassery. For the ladies: tragic romance, men in Armani suits, and loving your mom. For everybody: Bruce Campbell.

If chins could kill...

My favorite thing about this show, however, is that is that the plot actually progresses. Some shows are so married to their original concept that they get stuck in a pattern for ten years. For example, take The X-files - an excellent show with a HUGE central mystery that never really got solved. And while that was sort of the point, in the end it was not quite satisfying for me. In contrast, the season two finale of Burn Notice was a big payoff for fans - we got to meet the man who "burned" Michael.

The Burninator.
P.S. There are no sinister pictures of
John Mahoney in existence. Absolutely none.

And then, when he offers Michael his old life back ... Michael doesn't take it! Usually such a fundamental change in a character's motivation would drive me up the wall. But because the writers had done their jobs well in laying his emotional groundwork, it felt natural. The result is that Michael stays in Miami, but it's because he wants to, not because he has to. Beyond that, the Burninator revealed that he/his organization had actually been protecting Michael, and by going rogue he would be throwing that away. This means that Michael will face a whole new battery of enemies and obstacles. The next season will be a departure from the show's original premise. It is going to kick ass.

This picture has nothing to do with what I'm saying,
but look how pretty!

1 comment:

Caroline said...

Dude, i HEART this show in all caps. Also, hee, "Burninator." Can't wait till June!