There have been lots of great television series over the decades, but my all-time favorite is definitely Seinfeld. I can watch these episodes over and over again without getting sick of them — and now that I’ve purchased the complete box set of the series, I’ll do just that. I’m starting with episodes that I haven’t seen before (or that I’ve just seen part of), which is why I began with 3×23, “The Keys”.

I’ve never lived in an apartment building long enough to develop close relationships with my neighbors, nor did I ever feel the need to give a spare set of keys to a friend for safekeeping, so I didn’t really relate to what was happening in this ep. Yes, I could see Jerry getting fed up with Kramer barging in all the time and therefore asking for his keys back, but all the back and forth swapping between the gang was a bit out there.

But as is usual with a majority of Seinfeld eps I still found things to laugh at even though I didn’t particularly like the main plot. For instance, I loved how Jerry sometimes pretends that a crazed killer is chasing him and he has to try to open his door as quickly as possible. I swear, I’ve done that sometimes too! Also, I had to LOL at Kramer’s humongous key ring with a hundred and fifty keys on it! That looks like it would belong someone with a house in the Hamptons, Wilmington NC real estate, and other properties all over the place, not some unemployed mooch who doesn’t even have a car!

My favorite part of the ep was finding out that Elaine was writing a Murphy Brown spec script! That was awesome because it was unexpected, and yet something that Elaine would totally try to do. Brilliant!

I’m still working my way through Season 2 of Burn Notice. I’m aiming to watch at least one episode a week, but I’ve been so busy recently that this hasn’t been possible. My schedule should lighten up a bit in the near future, so hopefully I’ll be able to get back on track and eventually catch up with current airings! Anyway, here’s what happened in episode 2×11, called “Hot Spot”.

Odd Job of the Week: Sam’s friend is a high school football coach who notices that one of his players is in trouble. It’s Corey, a standout both on the field and off. Corey has been having problems with a local gang-banger named Felix, who lured Corey’s sister Tanya into his car and tried to attack her. Tanya escaped and told Corey, who then went after Felix with a baseball bat. That ruined Felix’s rep, so now he’s after Corey to even the score.

Fiona is absolutely livid about the situation, and tells Michael that they must take the case no matter what. So she, Mike, and Sam impersonate a rival gang of car thieves, and go to work on making Felix look stupid with his boss Tony. The three succeed, mostly by making it appear that Felix put a hit out on Tony. Felix has to leave town, and Corey and Tanya are free to resume their lives.

Burn Notice Progress: Michael spends a lot of time viewing surveillance footage from businesses near his loft because he and Fiona figure that the guy who rigged his door to explode might have been caught on tape. Michael does indeed spot a likely suspect, a guy who works at a local demolition company. Fiona poses as a beefcake calendar creator, and gets employee names and phone numbers that way. She comes up with the suspect’s name — Derrick Poole — and then decides to head to his house to see what’s what. The place was rigged to blow, and Fiona is caught in a fire trap. Michael rushes to the address, and, unable to reach Fiona on her cell phone, fears for the worst. Fortunately, she’s safe and sound back at his place. She just needs a new phone.

Character Development: I guess it was inevitable that Michael and Fiona got back together. I have to say that I didn’t like them much as a couple when the series first started, but Fiona has really grown on me, so I don’t mind seeing them together now. Oh, and I loved how we learned that she and Mike met in Dublin while he was undercover as Michael McBride. I can totally picture it!

My Reaction: I liked this episode. There was a lot of forward progress in all areas, and that’s always a good thing. The OJotW was interesting (how cool was that tidbit about the phone books??) , particularly because of Fiona’s reaction to it. The way she got so angry, it made me think that perhaps there’s a similar sexual assault incident in her own background. I would love for the writers to explore that angle. It’s cool that Fiona’s all tough or whatever, but I want to see a more vulnerable side, too. And not just when it comes to Mike.