28 replies to this topic

[TWoP Roxy]

From zap2it.com:

Michael and Sam work to clear an old friend of Sam's; Michael must meet with Jesse's handler.

[AimingforYoko]

Damn SAG rules. I saw Jay Karnes in the opening credits, so I was looking for Brennan all ep. By process of elimination, I knew it was him at the end.
RIP, Richard Kind.

[ReadIshmael]

Brennen! Yes! I love Brennen. Not as much as Larry, but still. So, so excited about this. That's the kick in the ass the burn notice arc needed.

I loved this episode. I love any episode that gives us that much Sam, but there were so, so many great things going on this week. I loved Michael's cover (and the ring of trust), I thought the stakes were higher than normal, the job was nicely twisty, and they managed to highlight all of Michael's relationships in nice ways without having to slow down at all to do it. Just really well done, all the way through.

[tgrfan23]

As if it needed to be reiterated, the takeaway from this episode is YOU DO NOT PISS OFF SAM AXE.

You'd think that after what happened to Cowan way back in season one, and Management, that Mike would know better than to stage important meetings on the top level of a parking garage.

[thuganomics85]

Brennan! Ok, yeah, the show kindly gave it away since I saw Jay Karnes' name in the credits, but I don't care. One of my favorite villains on BN, right up there with Larry. Can't wait to see more of him and Michael battling wits.

Between that and Sam being the focal point tonight, I definably loved the episode. Bruce Campbell rocked as always and I liked watching how Sam had to control his understandable anger and make sure to play it cool, and how he even had to handle the uncomfortable moment of asking the widow to pretend her husband was still alive to help set-up the bad guy. All and all, a good case of the week for me.

Loved the interactions between everyone else. Fi's line about how Michael would die if he had to rely on understanding personal relationships was priceless! I even cracked up at Jesse's "Oh, shit!" reaction after he accidentally told Madeline about them planning to get back in, before Michael told her. And the scene between Michael/Madeline at the end was nice as always.

Of course, I'll be away next week, so I hope I won't have to wait too long to see the finale.

[anatolealice]

And the scene between Michael/Madeline at the end was nice as always.

And so pretty, matching in blue.

I wasn't paying attention to the credits so Brennan was a great surprise. I love Brennan! And they got the line in about the thumb drive thingy being so highly encrypted they couldn't make copies; I'd been wondering about that (it was making me nervous Jesse carrying it around).

I feel like Madeline doesn't like Fi so much these days. The way she says "sweetheart" isn't very friendly. I was glad Fi was able to get in that Michael had done worse to her. Michael might not have been great at chatting regularly with his mother but he was out of contact due to work, not breaking up with her entirely.

The ring of trust was great. And the light made Michael look so pretty [/shallow]

I think they've set the finale up nicely - I can't wait until next week.

[drazen]

Maybe I'm just getting too good at noticing these things, but I found the last half to be fairly predictable. I knew the cop was going to blow up the boat as soon as everything was all-too-quiet, and we all knew Michael would survive (though he seems to have recovered nicely from the gunshot wound in the mid-season finale).

And I knew Richard Kind was going to get double-crossed (the other option I imagined was that he was working with the bad guys the whole time, and that his help was a ruse). I'm a little confused why Brennan let Michael & Co. live, though... plans for payback for threatening his daughter the last time we saw him?

[eliza422]

As a new viewer of Burn Notice, what season / episode arc did this Brennan character appear in? I've only seen last half last season and this season.

During the hiatus I want to go back and watch all the episodes from the previous seasons.

Edited by eliza422, Dec 10, 2010 @ 11:17 AM.

[drazen]

Eliza: Tyler Brennen first appeared in ep 2.15, "Sins of Omission" and returned in ep 3.03 "End Run."

[Solea]

What? Another uber-villain whose only purpose is to keep Michael from getting what he wants? How many is that now?

[DanDanNoodles]

What was with the whole thing about how the files were so highly encrypted they couldn't make copies of it? Do these people understand at all what "encrypted" means? Even glossing over that, they were looking at the data just last week. They don't have any idea how to even do a screen shot?

Sorry, but that bit just took me out of the whole show. Plus the dirty cop was the single most incompetant person ever born. It was way too easy to manipulate him. I did love the scene with Michael pretending he was going to shoot him. "Lean back a little more", snort.

[jediknight]

Plus the dirty cop was the single most incompetant person ever born. It was way too easy to manipulate him.

I liked that, because while he may be a cop Sam and Michael have much more experience than he does. They've been doing that to people smarter, more dangerous and more bad-ass than he is, so it would be easy for them to manipulate him. Also, Michael's cover i.d. was pretty creepy, a nice glimpse into how dangerous Michael can be when he wants to.

Both Jeffrey Donovan and Bruce Campbell did an excellent job this episode. Michael never knew Kevin, but Donovan knocked his part out of the park, you could tell how pissed he was that not only was it Sam's friend that was murdered, but a good innocent person. For Campbell this may have been his best performance on the show.

I'm sad to see Marv gone, but I'm definitely looking forward to next week and what Brennen has planned for Michael, Sam and Fiona.

[moose135]

What was with the whole thing about how the files were so highly encrypted they couldn't make copies of it? Do these people understand at all what "encrypted" means? Even glossing over that, they were looking at the data just last week. They don't have any idea how to even do a screen shot?

That really threw me as well - they looked at the data last week, so obviously they could access the files, why couldn't they make copies? A really good episode overall, outstanding work by Bruce Campbell, but that bit did bother me.

[Tulse]

Another uber-villain whose only purpose is to keep Michael from getting what he wants?

That list is enormously valuable, and is exactly the kind of thing that Brennan would trade in. I didn't think it was at all implausible for him to steal it.

And yeah, the encryption thing is idiotic, and disappointing because the show is usually much better about such things.

[FoolishWanderer]

Oh, Carth, how could you? What would Revan say? Damn it was weird seeing Raphael Sbarge in the flesh, after all the hours I've spent playing KOTOR. Actually, what was really weird was his way of speaking. It was so normal! Not stilted... at all. No... odd pauses.

Other than that, Fi looks amazing in black and white. She should wear that colour scheme all the time. Also, I strongly suspected that Marv was dead the moment Michael decided to give over the data. I mean, it just couldn't be that easy. It never has been, and never will be.

[Bec]

I can't believe Michael nearly got blown up. Again.

Hee! to the "ring of trust". Did they take that from the seminal classic "Meet the Parents"?

Good thing I never remember any of the actors' names except for the main cast. *Joining in on the excitement in seeing Brennan* Yeah, Larry is still my favorite, too, but Brennan is not shabby either.

You'd think that after what happened to Cowan way back in season one, and Management, that Mike would know better than to stage important meetings on the top level of a parking garage.

I know! As soon as I saw where they were meeting, I was waiting for Marv to get shot like Cowan.

I really would kind of like to see Michael chose between his old spy life and the life he has now in Miami. I not too excited about Michael getting so close and getting thwarted again. I'm getting tired of seeing that. Maybe the writers can't see how they can unburn Michael without ending the whole show. But nowhere in the title does it say it has to be Michael's burn notice.

What was with the whole thing about how the files were so highly encrypted they couldn't make copies of it? Do these people understand at all what "encrypted" means? Even glossing over that, they were looking at the data just last week. They don't have any idea how to even do a screen shot?

Yeah, that's kind of weird to me, too. But I guess it's a pretty long list, so screen shots or writing it down by hand or typing up the list on another computer would take forever. Hey, maybe next ep we'll see they did copy as much of it as they could (in the limited time they had) with screenshots. Hee.

The writers might not be totally off about encryption being used to make a file copy-protected, if this wiki article is right:
http://en.wikipedia....Copy_protection

Of course, there are ways to break copy protection, but I'll just go with this is some kind of obscure super-spy-magic copy protection that's a lot stronger than what Sony uses to keep people from copying music and video games.

[Phred62]

I've seen photos online that you can't copy or print so I buy the idea of not being able to copy the file. What they could have done is to use a camera to take a picture of the computer screen. Just a thought. Otherwise great episode. I always love it when the team gets personally involved. They do pissed off so well.

[AngelKitty]

Thanks to drazen for giving out the past eposodes with Brennan, I had to go back and read the recaps to jog my memory.

Sad to see Marv get killed, but I guess it was inevitable.

And as usual, I loved Madeline with Jessie and his filing system and then at the end with Michael promising to keep her informed.

I can't believe next week is the finale.

[Accord64]

I really didn't enjoy this episode. I thought the story was too predictable, the dialog stale, and cast seemed to be phoning it in. Bruce Campbell's performance was particularly disappointing as I've seen him do much better so many other times on this show. I like his character and really wanted to see a strong Sam-centric episode. Instead he seemed so board with his lines that I expected him to give a yawn from time to time.

Edited by TWoP Roxy, Dec 11, 2010 @ 4:35 PM.
boards on boards

[WolverineGal]

What? Another uber-villain whose only purpose is to keep Michael from getting what he wants? How many is that now?

My feelings exactly!! I would have been much more pleased if they'd been able to hand off the list without incident and that could have been played out.

[Cougar High]

Does anyone know the name of the actress who played the wife of Sam's cop buddy? She looks familiar, but I don't remember where I've seen her before. Looked in imdb, but no luck.

[lexloco2]

What was with the whole thing about how the files were so highly encrypted they couldn't make copies of it? Do these people understand at all what "encrypted" means? Even glossing over that, they were looking at the data just last week. They don't have any idea how to even do a screen shot?

Yeah, that's kind of weird to me, too. But I guess it's a pretty long list, so screen shots or writing it down by hand or typing up the list on another computer would take forever. Hey, maybe next ep we'll see they did copy as much of it as they could (in the limited time they had) with screenshots. Hee.

Even without reaching the dubious issue of what type of “super encryption” could allow something to be viewed in plain text, but not copied, why didn’t they just take pictures of each screen with a digital camera? You don’t even need “fancy” screen shot capture software for that. This really makes no sense. If that data were important enough to ensure that it could not be copied electronically, why was it visible in plain text on an ordinary screen? What kind of “protection” is that?

Edited by lexloco2, Dec 14, 2010 @ 1:48 PM.

[ZeroForce]

Does anyone know the name of the actress who played the wife of Sam's cop buddy? She looks familiar, but I don't remember where I've seen her before. Looked in imdb, but no luck.

Alexie Gilmore. Despite her name, was not on Gilmore Girls, but was the female lead/love interest on the short-lived series New Amsterdam (which I liked).

[Bec]

Dr. Sara! I should find her familiar looking, too, 'cause I did watch New Amsterdam, but nope, no recognition at all, not even a little. I guess that's good. She's like completely different people when playing different roles.

Even without reaching the dubious issue of what type of “super encryption” could allow something to be viewed in plain text, but not copied, why didn’t they just take pictures of each screen with a digital camera? You don’t even need “fancy” screen shot capture software for that. This really makes no sense. If that data were important enough to ensure that it could not be copied electronically, why was it visible in plain text on an ordinary screen? What kind of “protection” is that?

Isn't that the dumb thing about pretty much any attempt at digital copy protection? You have to be able to get to the content somehow, and if you can get to it, you can find a way to copy it, even if it's a clumsy way.

Yeah, considering they've shot other secret documents with digital cameras before (and while in way more of a rush), why not do this here? I can only sort of give this a pass if it's a huge list, and only if they at least took pictures of part of the list. Otherwise this does make them look pretty dumb.

Edited by Bec, Dec 15, 2010 @ 1:24 PM.

[ZeroForce]

She's like completely different people when playing different roles.

Her hair color is completely different, too. As Dr. Sara, it was very light - dirty blonde/light brown. As Claire, it was dark brown. That certainly helped.

[SilverLake0315]

I wasn't paying attention to the credits so Brennan was a great surprise.

Surprised me too! I'm amazed people don't just ignore the credits. It only took the ruining of a couple episodes of Lost before I started averting my eyes! :-)

[HoneyBee]

Wooot! Brennen! I love the slow motion reveal in the end and Michael looked into the SUV, and the man himself just smirked inside. Very cool.

Damn, Michael. You need to have BACK UP when doing some exchange. Just because.

The 'Ring of Trust' cracked me up but it was awesome. Michael just casually threw the lighter and then wooosh!

[Cougar High]

Alexie Gilmore. Despite her name, was not on Gilmore Girls, but was the female lead/love interest on the short-lived series New Amsterdam (which I liked).

Thanks ZeroForce!!! I checked the link, but didn't recognize her from her previous work. For some reason she just came across as very familiar.

[olvidado]

They don't have any idea how to even do a screen shot?

Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was away from my computer for a while so I could not post it, but that popped into my mind as soon as I saw it. I could not believe that none of them thought of it. Just think of how Michael could have VO'ed it: "When you need to retrieve information that is copy-protected to prevent being downloaded, depending upon which operating system you are using on your computer, with just a few simple keystrokes, you can take a picture of whatever is on your screen and save it to whatever storage media you are using..."