Burn Notice "Broken Rules" (2007)

Okay, there's been a progression. I liked the show up until the last episode and then I started to really like it. When this episode was over and the credits rolled I have to admit that it could be love. With the introduction of Agent Bly of the CSS to the proceedings last week a new arc was established for the series that started to take it out of its freshman funk. The characters were enough to sustain the show when it started to come off a bit procedural but now with the shake-ups introduced last episode and a greater investigation of Michael's burn notice looming the stage is set for an enthralling second half of the season. The abbreviated season of a cable show works in both a positive and negative way. First the positive: as I already pointed out the show is changing with the introduction with this new story arc but think for a moment what would it be like if this was on regular network TV. The whole first season might have been the procedural with very little in the way of digging into the burn notice until probably the last couple of episodes. The shorter seasons on cable allow for a faster past in plot development and when a show does fall into a bit of a slump you can be sure it will pick up again very soon. The reverse side of that coin is sometimes things go a little too fast.

We're done with Agent Bly already? We get him for two episodes and now we're moving onto the next phase? I was looking forward to him being a thorn in Michael's side for a few episodes but Michael has already dealt with him through the course of this episode. From the start when he sets up Fiona to be arrested for carrying unregistered guns in a stolen car he proves all too well to Michael that he can make things very difficult for him in Miami if he doesn't play by the rules. His threat of throwing his brother in prison or (even worse) alerting Fiona's enemies to her whereabouts and placing her life in danger was cold and unsettling and Michael went into immediate serious mode when he made this threat. It takes a bit of the edge off knowing Michael has already start to set him up to take the fall and it would have been interesting to see Michael be forced to actually take the security job to protect the people he cares for. Now I know we never would have seen him doing it but just the fact that when he accepts the offer he knows he's going to win at the end takes the tension away. To see Michael backed into a corner like that and be forced to submit would have been very telling for the character.

On the upside we got to see a bit more Sam and Fiona this week working together when Fiona provides Sam with a little relationship advice. I love that these characters can get along and snipe at one another at the same time. Fiona doesn't have to help Sam with his problems but she offers counsel anyway because the two have become friends. There is a connection with those two and it's great to see how it evolved since they first became reacquainted in the second episode.

I also want to point out how vastly different Michael appeared over two separate stages of the assignment. He is a very reserved and restrained person and I couldn't help but notice the glee on his face when he was performing some of his psycho acts. It's a rare chance for him to act out his inner turmoil, which he obviously has, under the guise of a cover. It's always refreshing to see him enjoying himself and show that he's not as miserable in Miami as he thought he would be in the premiere. Contrast this with how at the end he appears melancholy over the fact that in order to save his client and the neighborhood he is forced to resort to murder of the crime boss by convincing her deputy that she was going to betray him. He's able to rationalize the act but it's comforting to see that it doesn't sit well with him that this is the route to be taken to achieve the end result he wanted.

I also want to go on record as stating I love that fake robbery he did on Fiona. Telling her to sell it, she immediately lets out an over-the-top delayed reaction scream and immediately starts to fend off her attacker, a little too vigorously for Michael's taste. He has to tell her to just give him the bag and it was the most I had laughed with regards to show up to this point.

Favorite moment: I spent the remaining of the episode thinking the fake robbery would be a no contest but I got another gift from my Burn Notice wish list. Fiona and Michael consummate the growing desire they have felt for one another since she first returned to Miami. I think Gabrielle Anwar should consider playing a Klingon as she has perfected the violent foreplay prior to intimate relations. Her attack on Michael immediately following her hurt expression resulted in Michael accidentally laying a punch to her face. When she turned around, it can be seen that all it did was to turn her on slightly more and the resulting fight, with Michael practically begging her to stop before one of them got hurt was the best way to cap off this storyline. His initial reluctance to allow it to become sexual when she first tries to kiss him to his final move where he ends on top of her and then kisses her was probably the most violent and tender a love scene I have ever scene. Never has two spies duking it out been so erotic. Side note: both of them sleep with guns under the pillows. Nice.