Burn Notice

By podcast@mail2tv.com (RikerDonegal) Michael And Michael Have Issues. Episode 4. "Pulling Your Weight" Black slacks off. There are flaws here (guest star Tricia Helfer is completely wasted) but - overall - I really enjoyed this and am glad I didn't write this off after the pilot. The best episode so far. Lots of running around and a story that you wouldn't see on any other show right now. And it's a fun story, too. Sure, people could die (theoretically) but this is a show like Burn Notice: it's fun to watch. Evan continues to get great laughs and is probably my favourite character in the show. He's a perfect foil for Hank and the show would be much weaker without him. One of the highlights of Season One.   [read the full post]

By podcast@mail2tv.com (RikerDonegal) 06.30 Michael And Michael Have Issues 07.00 In Plain Sight 08.00 Burn Notice Michael And Michael Have Issues. Episode 2. "Biederman's Birthday" Buying drugs. One of the best shows on TV. Burn Notice. Season 3, Episode 9. "Long Way Back" There's a guy in town who wants to kill Fiona. Episode highlights? Anytime the script (by Craig S. O'Neill) calls for Jeffrey Donovan and Gabrielle Anwar to gaze into one anther's eyes with love and passion and pain and confusion... Highlight? Burn Notice (Michael and Fiona) Yet Another TV Review Podcast Yet Another TV Review Book Yet Another Film Review Blog Follow Me on Twitter One Year Ago   [read the full post]

By podcast@mail2tv.com (RikerDonegal) 06.30 Michael And Michael Have Issues 07.00 In Plain Sight 08.00 Burn Notice 09.00 Community Michael And Michael Have Issues. Episode 1. "Greg The Intern" I love it. Burn Notice. Season 3, Episode 8. "Friends Like These" Recurring character Barry needs help. The absolute highlight of this episode came when Michael (while undercover) slapped Fiona on the face when she wasn't expecting it. That moment, and their exchanges afterwards, are a prime example of why Burn Notice is more than just a fun action-adventure show. It's got superb central characters and writers who know how to bring humanity and depth to these people. I laughed and I liked. And I want to see more.   [read the full post]

By podcast@mail2tv.com (RikerDonegal) 07.30 Arrested Development 08.00 In Plain Sight 09.00 Burn Notice 10.00 Party Down 11.00 Dark Skies 01.00 Harvey Birdman 01.15 Harvey Birdman Burn Notice. Season 3, Episode 6. "The Hunter" Kidnapped and hunted through the Everglades. Party Down. Episode 9. "James Rolf High School Twentieth Reunion" Ron works his own high school reunion. Kyle Bornheimer is underused in a brief cameo. Want to see more of this very funny guy! In the final quarter of the movie, John has to risk all to save his lady, and - having done that - he and Kim go on the run. From Majestic 12, and the aliens. Highlight? Burn Notice (another change-of-pace episode) Yet Another TV Review Podcast Yet Another TV Review Book Yet Another Film Review Blog Follow Me on Twitter   [read the full post]

By podcast@mail2tv.com (RikerDonegal) 05.00 Burn Notice 07.30 Arrested Development 08.00 Warehouse 13 Burn Notice. Season 3, Episode 5. "Signals and Codes" Someone is killing spies. Michael gets a tip-off from a very unusual source and sets out to put a stop to it. Also, unlike your typical episode of Burn Notice, it takes forever for the story-of-the-week to get up and running. Partly because the client is written/played as a nut job and it takes Michael and his team a long time to see that he is telling the truth. The problem with this is: the audience at home knows he's telling the truth (otherwise there will be no story this week!) so the long-delay winning Michael over is boring and time consuming.   [read the full post]

By podcast@mail2tv.com (RikerDonegal) 07.00 Arrested Development 08.00 In Plain Sight 09.00 Burn Notice 10.00 Party Down Arrested Development. Episode 3. "Bringing Up Buster" Buster comes to work with Michael. George Michael tries out for the school play. As well as being supremely funny, this is a rather sweet episode. The core of it revolves around Michael's relationship with his son, and the ending contains dialogue that is genuinely sweet and moving. And a little cornball. Burn Notice. Season 3, Episode 3. "End Run" Brennen (Jay Karnes) returns, holds Michael's brother hostage and forces Michael to do some dirty work for him. This is one of the things that makes Michael stand out from the crowd: he is smart, and he wins by being smarter than the bad guy.   [read the full post]

By podcast@mail2tv.com (RikerDonegal) 07.00 Arrested Development 08.00 In Plain Sight 11.30 Burn Notice Arrested Development. Episode 10. "Pier Pressure" Michael sets up an elaborate sting operation to keep his son off drugs. There's much to love here, but I'm particular impressed by Mary's hate/hate relationship with Eleanor. Burn Notice. Season 3, Episode 4. "Fearless Leader" Michael goes after a bad guy, as a means towards getting the police off his back. It's a clever, fun story and an example of Burn Notice at it's best. Highlight? Burn Notice (clever) Yet Another TV Review Podcast Yet Another TV Review Book Yet Another Film Review Blog Follow Me on Twitter   [read the full post]

By podcast@mail2tv.com (RikerDonegal) 06.30 My Boys 07.00 In Plain Sight 08.00 Burn Notice 09.30 Party Down Huh? Burn Notice. Season 3, Episode 2. "Question and Answer" Kidnapped child. Also worth noting: the wonderful Moon Bloodgood joins the cast in this one, and she gets more to do here than she did in the first six episodes of (the also very wonderful) Journeyman. Oh! Nearly forgot! I have to add that I simply adore Gabrielle Anwar. Not because, thanks to her, Fiona is sexy and hot and stuff but because, thanks to her, Fiona is so cute and so sweet. Her pointed-remarks at Michael - with regard to them being a couple again, etc. - are both funny and genuinely charming.   [read the full post]

By podcast@mail2tv.com (RikerDonegal) 06.30 My Boys 07.00 In Plain Sight 08.00 Burn Notice 09.00 Party Down Burn Notice. Season 3, Episode 1. "Friends and Family" Michael adjusts to being out in the open (his name is now appearing on databases everywhere) and tries to help an old 'friend' kidnap a bad guy. As for the change in the show's status quo, it might be one of the best that I have ever seen on an ongoing television series. Why? Well, for all the talk of Michael being out in the open and his old enemies being able to get to him now, etc., the show is - I predict - not actually going to change at all. It's still going to be Michael going up against a succession of clever, nasty bad guys and outwitting them in unexpected/delightful ways.   [read the full post]

By podcast@mail2tv.com (RikerDonegal) 05.30 My Boys 06.00 In Plain Sight 07.00 Burn Notice 08.00 Party Down Burn Notice. Season 2, Episode 16. "Lesser Evil" Michael teams with Victor and goes after Carla. Who comes after them, with all guns blazing. Carla met her demise in this episode. It was, I felt, a bit too low-key. It was satisfying to see her brought down by a sniper shot from Fiona (I'm so in love with Fiona right now) but it was over a bit too soon. Shouldn't we bet to see Carla suffer a bit, register her defeat for a while before the kill shot? Highlight? Burn Notice (full hour of action) Yet Another TV Review Podcast Yet Another TV Review Book Yet Another Film Review Blog Twitter   [read the full post]

By podcast@mail2tv.com (RikerDonegal) 06.00 My Boys 06.30 Burn Notice 07.30 In Plain Sight 08.30 The Listener Burn Notice. Season 2, Episode 15. "Sins of Omission" Michael's ex-fiancée shows up needing help. Michael's ex-fiancée!?!?! Let's just run down the cast of this episode: You have Jeffrey Donovan, Gabrielle Anwar, Sharon Gless and Bruce Campbell in the regular cast, you have Michael Shanks and Tricia Helfer as semi-regulars, and the episode throws in Dina Meyer and Jay Karnes as guest stars. Frak! And here they all are, appearing in the same episode of Burn Notice. Highlight? Burn Notice (awesome cast) Yet Another TV Review Podcast Yet Another TV Review Book Yet Another Film Review Blog   [read the full post]

By podcast@mail2tv.com (RikerDonegal) 08.30 Burn Notice 09.30 In Plain Sight 10.30 Castle 11.30 The Mentalist 12.30 Rules Of Engagement 01.00 WKRP In Cincinnati Burn Notice. Season 2, Episode 14. "Truth and Reconciliation" Michael must prove that James Black is a bad guy and get him deported back to Haiti. In Plain Sight has many different types of episodes. Some are action-packed, and some are story-driven. But none has been like this: three talking heads. For a full hour. While we occasionally take a break from all the fighting, the entire episode pretty much takes place in Mary's house and shows up one long, bitter argument between Mary and his mother and sister. Amazing stuff.   [read the full post]

By podcast@mail2tv.com (RikerDonegal) 06.00 Burn Notice 07.00 In Plain Sight 08.00 Damages 03.30 WKRP In Cincinnati Burn Notice. Season 2, Episode 13. "Bad Breaks" Michael gets taken hostage during a bank robbery. Superb change-of-pace episode. It is nothing like a typical episode of the show, but it still manages to bring all the stuff to the table that Burn Notice manages to do. Even though he's just a hostage, Michael still manages to set up several tricks and cons. The ending (where Sam phones up the lead bad guy and fools him into thinking he has stumbled into the middle of something much bigger than himself) is extremely clever and satisfying. Cool.   [read the full post]

By podcast@mail2tv.com (RikerDonegal) Burn Notice. Season 2, Episode 12. "Seek and Destroy" Michael goes up against a nasty arms dealer. Such a clever episode from this wonderful, fun show. Most episodes stick to a rigid formula: Michael meets his client, Michael poses as somebody and meets the bad guy, Michael runs a scam on the bad guy and wins. End of episode. This episode cleverly, and easily, flips the middle part and puts it first. Michael needs money so he poses as a security expert and gets himself a job. By the middle part of the episode he's found out what is really going on and meets his real client for the first time. From then on it is business as usual, until the happy conclusion. Also, there's some nice continuity with Michael and Fiona after the romance last week...   [read the full post]

By podcast@mail2tv.com (RikerDonegal) 05.00 Burn Notice 06.00 In Plain Sight 07.00 Kolchak: The Night Stalker 08.00 Rising Damp 02.00 WKRP in Cincinnati Burn Notice. Season 2, Episode 10. "Do No Harm" A scam artist (Stacy Haiduk) steals from the father of a sick child. The story that follows is good. It doesn't follow the usual Burn Notice pattern. In fact, things don't fall into place for much of it and it looks as if this is one time that Michael won't be able to get the job done (towards the end he looks set to go to his enemy Carla to get the money needed). A cool hero (who cares about the problems of ordinary people) and an exciting story: Burn Notice is back.   [read the full post]

By podcast@mail2tv.com (RikerDonegal) 06.00 Dexter 07.00 Friday Night Lights 08.00 Burn Notice 09.00 The Venture Bros. 09.30 Rising Damp 10.00 The Office 10.30 Corner Gas It's been a great season. Better than the first. What's next for Dexter? Burn Notice. Season 2, Episode 9. "Good Soldier" The case-of-the-week is a delight. Michael joins a gang planning a kidnapping and tries to derail the plot by being an uncooperative religious fanatic. The ending (when he rams the kidnapper's car from out of nowhere) is superb. And hilarious (as he spouts off a spiel of made-up religious-sounding guff to fool them). Highlight? Dexter (great conclusion) Yet Another TV Review Podcast Yet Another TV Review Book Yet Another Film Review Blog One Year Ago   [read the full post]

By podcast@mail2tv.com (RikerDonegal) 06.00 Dexter 07.00 Friday Night Lights 08.00 Burn Notice 09.00 The Venture Bros. 09.30 Rising Damp 10.00 The Office 10.30 Corner Gas Burn Notice. Season 2, Episode 8. "Double Booked" Burn Notice breaks from formula and delivers one of it's most enjoyable episodes. A hit-man calls Michael and offers him a hit! So, rather than having a client from the start, Michael is 'working for' the bad guy. So he has to find a way to save the target, without tipping off the hit-man (Tim Matheson, who also directed the episode). Highlight? Burn Notice (nice break from formula) Yet Another TV Review Podcast Yet Another TV Review Book Yet Another Film Review Blog One Year Ago   [read the full post]

By podcast@mail2tv.com (RikerDonegal) 05.30 Dexter 06.30 Friday Night Lights 07.30 Burn Notice 08.30 Rising Damp 09.00 The Office 09.30 Corner Gas Dexter. Season 2, Episode 10. "There's Something About Harry" There's a lot of great stuff in this episode, but all I wanted to see was Dexter and Doakes. How can the show get out of this? I mean, Dexter likes Doakes. He can't actually kill him and still be our hero? Can he? At the mid-way point the episode makes you think that Dexter has actually decided to do the deed. But it proves to be - yet another - red-herring. The show has gotten really good at doing these. As usual, it's clever and funny. Michael even gets to be a little jealous of Fiona's mysterious date and Sharon Gless (normally underused) gets several great scenes. Funny lady.   [read the full post]

By podcast@mail2tv.com (RikerDonegal) 05.30 Dexter 06.30 Burn Notice 09.00 The Office 09.30 Corner Gas Dexter (quickly) realises that he cannot trust Lila and brings their relationship to an ending (after she breaks into Rita's house). It's a show about a serial killer and his new girlfriend is the scary character in it. Burn Notice. Season 2, Episode 6. "Bad Blood" An unrecognisable, but brilliant, Michael Shanks dominates this episode as the new recurring bad guy who shows up to blackmail Michael into doing some bad things for the bad people who are responsible for Michael's burn notice. All of this badness is actually very good. Especially Shanks. Highlight? Dexter (What the frak happens next?) Yet Another TV Review Podcast Yet Another TV Review Book Yet Another Film Review Blog   [read the full post]