Tricia Helfer still playing a villain in her role on BURN NOTICE: Turn and Burn(2008).
© USA Network
Mania Grade: C-
TV Series: Burn Notice
Episode: Turn and Burn
Starring: Jeffrey Donovan, Gabrielle Anwar, Bruce Campbell , Tricia Helfer
Written By: Alfredo Barrios Jr.
Directed By: John T. Kretchmer
Network: USA Network
TV Series: Burn Notice
Episode: Turn and Burn
Starring: Jeffrey Donovan, Gabrielle Anwar, Bruce Campbell , Tricia Helfer
Written By: Alfredo Barrios Jr.
Directed By: John T. Kretchmer
Network: USA Network
BURN NOTICE: Turn and Burn
By: Stephen LackeyReview Date: Saturday, July 19, 2008
Honestly, this new approach to Michael’s story is a disappointment based on this episode. Of course, the story arc could improve over the next few episodes but if this one is an example of the new formula, the future doesn’t look bright even if it is set in Florida. The case-or cases as it were-of the week weren’t bad they just felt rote and unnatural. The episode seemed like one of those 500 piece puzzles where you assemble it using the image on the box as a guide. The individual pieces were interesting they just felt been there, done that. Particularly the scenes with Michael and his mother are wedged into places they don’t seem to fit. With that sai,d the scene with the counselor did provide some amusing moments even if they did kill the pacing of the real stories.
This is the second episode of Tricia Helfer’s short run on Burn Notice and she’s actually fun on the series;very different than her previous role as Caprica on Battlestar Galactica. She has tasked Michael with being the middleman between her and her bosses and a counterfeiter that can make a copy of a complex electronic key. When Michael purposefully delays the completion of the mystery, Carla (Helfer) or her flunkies break into Michael’s mother’s house and leave a new coffee maker and a message for Michael. The meeting that followed was extremely frustrating because a proper response to that action from Michael should have been to threaten Carla and warn her to stay out of his mother’s house. Granted, this would have come off a bit stereotypical but it’s nonetheless a proper response. Instead, Michael barely acknowledges it happened. Could Michael be so focused on getting answers about his burn that he’s not that concerned about what happens to the people around him? Not likely, that just doesn’t fit his personality.
While Michael’s working on the mission from Carla, Sam comes along with a second mission, one that more suits the kind of work Michael and Sam did in season one. The way Sam came about discovering the mission, or the woman that needed their help, wasn’t just suspicious it was clumsily written. Why is Michael still alive if he’s so easy to find? Also, yes Sam is supposed to offer some comedy relief but he’s also a spy; so why is he so stupid to fall for this ruse? The only person that didn’t manage to do at least one dumb and annoying thin in this episode is Michael’s sadistic ex-girlfriend played by Gabrielle Anwar. She just keeps getting better and more fun in this series.
At the end of the episode, in the closing minutes, the writers finally throw a bone to fans of the main story arc. It appears that this little snippet of information will get more focus next week of the previews are to be believed but the previews for this episode made the final moments of the episode feel like they were going to be bigger too. So believe what you will. There’s some fun to be had here the episode just feels forced unlike other more comfortable installments. Hopefully the pacing and presentation of this episode isn’t representative of the new approach for the rest of the season. The creators can and have done better.
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