Episode 3×07 of Burn Notice was called “Shot in the Dark”, and while not great as a whole, did have some good parts. We saw Michael move forward with Strickler, and also saw a fairly interesting Odd Job of the Week. Also, Fiona’s whining about Michael’s life choices was kept to a minimum, which I appreciated. I’m really starting to like this character now, so I hope the writers don’t go and turn her into a complete shrew!
Odd Job of the Week: Michael and Fiona catch a boy breaking into Fiona’s house trying to steal a gun. When Michael questions him, Joey says that he needs to get rid of his stepdad. Apparently, the guy hits Joey’s mother, as well as him and his brother. But that’s not all. April (the mother) and Erica (the stepdad) are getting a divorce, and Eric is suing for custody of the kids. Both Joey and April are convinced that Eric will win because he’s politically connected and has a powerful gangster brother named Quinn. Joey thought killing Eric was the only way out of the mess.
Of course, Michael has a soft spot for these types of abuse cases, so he decides to help Joey and April. Michael, Sam, and Fiona do their usual thing of digging up dirt on the target in order to find a weak spot and then moving in for the proverbial kill. This time, they couldn’t scare Eric off as easily as they thought, so they ended up trying to make him look crazy — which succeeded and was pretty funny to boot.
Burn notice progress: Michael got another gift basket from Strickler, which makes him wonder why this guy is so intent on retaining his services. He decides to get more info on Strickler by going to Diego with the name. Diego won’t tell him anything, of course, but just dropping Strickler’s name will force Diego into investigating and producing paperwork. A few days later, Diego tells Mike to back off, and Mike can tell just from how serious Diego is that Strickler is very connected.
Later, Michael meets with Strickler, who tells him that he can help with the burn notice. All Mike has to do is agree to handle one job for Strickler. Although no details are forthcoming, it won’t be anything that Michael would object to. Mike agrees, so now they’re going to work together.
Character Development: Not too much in this episode, but there was a lot of continuity about Michael coming from an abusive family and therefore having a soft spot for kids in a similar situation. I loved how he punched the sleazeball Eric in the gut every time he saw him! Oh, and it was great that Mike let Joey help him with surveillance stuff and encouraged him to hang in there.
My Reaction: I think it’s a mistake for me to watch all these Burn Notice episodes back to back because doing so just highlights the formulaic nature of the show. I mean, I’ve learned to accept the formula, just as I’ve done with other shows like House or 24, but still. The overall effect is dampened quite a bit and the plots start to feel recycled after a while.