Look out, Itchy! He's Irish!

Okay, so if you haven't watched the season three mid-season finale of Burn Notice yet, I'd suggest you turn back now because this post is going to be pretty damn spoilerific. It's been a good few weeks, so I assume we're all on the same page (the same awesomely awesome page, that is).

This season of Burn Notice has been a little hit and miss for me. Mostly hit, but with a few elements of "hmmm..." thrown in here and there. While I liked the idea of the Miami police finally taking a look into the car chases, explosions, kidnappings, gun-running, sniping, escapades etc. in which Michael and his crew invariably find themselves, the Detective Paxson story arc started off a little rocky for me. I liked seeing the threat that Management made at the end of season 2 take on some real weight (what with all the protections in place that kept Michael off everyone's radar being completely removed), but I didn't think Moon Bloodgood's approach to the role (and to large extent the writers' conception of Det. Paxson) was as successful as it could have been.

Having just come off the constant flirty/threatening ways of Carla, I had hoped that Paxson would be all business, but even at her most annoyed with Michael and his antics, she was practically purring like a kitten whilst threatening to ruin his life. [Don't get me wrong, any right-minded, sane, red-blooded person would simply melt at his feet, but still...] Her portrayal was a little too coquettish to be truly threatening to Michael's operation and I just didn't see the legal walls coming down around Michael as I would have expected with the police finally taking a vested interest in his operations. That said, the story arc was by no means entirely unsuccessful, and although it didn't strike quite the right chord, it was fun enough and helped set up a season where all bets are off and Michael, Fiona, and Sam are going to have to do things a little differently from now on. Heretofore, they could do whatever they wanted with relative impunity, but now, a lot of organizations, whether legitimate, criminal, or... um... other, have their eyes on Westen and company. This development led to Michael and his cohorts being the client rather than helping a client more and more often throughout the season.

Getting rid of Management was a definite game-changer for the series. Not only does this mean that all protections are off and there's no one keeping Michael's exploits off the books, but it also spurs a necessary alteration in Michael's goals and agendas. His raison d’être for the past two seasons was to find out who burned him and why, with the desire to get his old life back a distant, seemingly unattainable fantasy. Now that Michael knows the who and the why, and for the time being, is ostensibly free of them, where does he go from there?

In spite of Fiona's hope that Michael would give up on his desire to get his old job back, with the burn notice out of the way, it's forefront in his mind. Many fans of the show have given Fi a hard time for pressing him on this issue, but I have to admit, I totally side with her on this one. Michael got screwed over on several very real, often life-threatening levels and the thought of just going back to life as he knew it seems kind of ridiculous to me. Aside from the logistical conundrum that presents, the first two seasons of the show spent considerable time developing Michael's emotional and psychological development and it's hard to imagine him turning his back on the people he cares about. The dichotomy between Michael's old life and current life really started to come into focus with the first half season 3 and I'll be very interested to see how it plays out if the second half. I can understand where he's torn on this (even if he tries to be definitive) and for someone who is accustomed to unequivocal decision-making, this must be especially difficult. He has come to appreciate the people in his life and genuinely cares about them, but at the same time, his life was a lot more straight-forward before they really came into the picture in this way. Michael claims that he wants to return to his old life for the safety of those he cares about, and on some level I believe him, but I think deep down, he's a lot better at the unemotional, disconnected, compartmentalized stuff than he is at having a real life, and he wants that certainty back.

Enter Strickler, stage left. Up till this point, even with the burn notice unraveled, the actual prospect of getting his old job back was still an intangible goal. Along comes Strickler, and all of a sudden, it seems to be a very real possibility. The change in Michael's perspective and priorities was unsettling to his colleagues, and to large extent, the audience as well. Unlike the seeming moral certainty of the previous seasons, Michael's actions while trying to "get back in" were suspect from the first minute he teamed up with Strickler and neither Michael nor anyone else really knew how to resolve that.

As it would turn out, the mid-season finale came to terms with the Strickler situation with two bullets to the chest.

The term "fightin' Irish" just doesn't quite do the finale justice... The episode highlights the veritable "open-season" on Glennannes, but manages to intersect with Strickler in a pretty kick-ass, and fairly surprising manner. As with most of season 3, the finale had me wondering just how (or even if) everything was going work itself out...

In a season where the standard client-of-the-week formula has fallen by the wayside more and more often, it should have come as no surprise that Fi found herself in hot water for the finale. It was quite satisfying to get some backstory on Fi and even more awesome to see her rebellious, IRA badass self find its way to the surface alongside her equally hot-headed brother. And what would a pair of Irish rogues be without an Irish foe gunning for them? Turns out, pretty much all of Ireland wants Fiona dead--a fact which kinda, sorta derails her plans to finally throw in the towel with the Michael situation and go home.

Speaking of which, I was unduly pleased to see Fi finally take a stand with Michael using more than just bravado. She's absolutely correct in saying that if Michael didn't see this coming, he wasn't paying attention. The second he gets a shot at getting back in with the government types, he mortgages his moral compass and aims to leave his friends and family behind. Real nice, Mike. Real nice. I think the writers did a very nice job setting Michael up in such a way that he would consider doing whatever it takes to get what he wants. In essence, Michael has always kind of been the client, and for season 3, it's more salient than ever. Somewhere deep down (or not so deep), Michael has his own best interests at heart. The prospects offered by Strickler put him in a situation where he had to do a lot of things he really didn't want to do, but most importantly, he actually did them. It made the audience wonder just how far he would go... That is, right up to the point where Strickler sold Fi out.

Michael is willing to go pretty far, but not that far. In one of the most surprising, and un-Burn Notice-y turns of events, Michael shoots Strickler twice in the chest. For a show that generally has a very low body count, it came as a pretty awesome shock. The look on his face when Strickler told him to forget the past (read: his gun-smuggling, bomb-making paramour) was classic and the immediate turn around blew me (and Strickler) away. Awesome. Not only was I glad to see Strickler go, but his death illuminates some truths about Michael's relationship with Fi and also sets up the rest of the season in the most uncertain, dangerous, and precarious of possible ways. We all knew Strickler was bad news, but as the mid-season finale came to a close and we got a glimpse of just how bad, I found myself more than a little irked that the show won't be back till January.

It was nice to see Michael reset his priorities in one crucial instant. He always knew his dealings with Strickler were dodgy, but that one major jolt was necessary to make him reevaluate and change tactics. No matter how much he wants his old life back, he can't forget or ignore the past two years and in that moment, I think he realized that the way he does things will never be exactly the way it was. He has a lot more to consider now than just himself and the mission at hand, and while that's been the case for over two years, I don't think he ever really accepted that as a reality till now. His defiant I'm-about-to-shoot-you parting words to Strickler may have been, "Fiona is not a part of my past," but I think that encompasses a whole lot more than just Fi. It'll be interesting to see how his new focus affects his work and relationships in the second half.

As mentioned, the finale ends on less of an edge-of-your-seat cliffhanger than on a deep undercurrent of a cliffhanger that had me wondering what was going to happen in the years to come, not just the minutes to come. No one's life is hanging in the balance, there is no gun to anyone's head, but Michael has just had the rug pulled out from under him and the big bad looming on the horizon is looking to be as bad, if not worse, than all his previous foes. Just when I thought the body count wouldn't get any higher, someone goes and throws Diego out of a window. I honestly wasn't all that fond of him, and don't mind that he's been written out of the show, but what his death means to Michael and the series and important enough to make up for any apathy toward Diego himself. Essentially, Michael's dream of getting his old job back flew right out the window along with Diego. We don't know who Strickler really was, what influence he had, or what his death will mean, but I for one can't wait to find out.

I wasn't too sure where the show would head once the mystery behind the burn notice was revealed, but I'm glad to see the writers have managed to jump Michael out of the pan and into the fire. I appreciate a show that asks and answers its mysteries in due course and can't wait to see what crazy shit they have planned for the future. From what I'm hearing, not only will the baddies get badder and the action get, uh, action-y-er, but Michael's moral compass is still spinning and in a way that makes Sam refuse to help Michael with a mission...

Dun, dun, DUN!

Count. Me. IN.