As I've reached the 25th DVD review since I started this blog (back in September of last year) here are the tables for the current front runners.

To see all the reviews go here.

Highest overall scores:
1. The Wire: The Complete Fourth Season
2. The Shield: Season 3
3. The Shield - Season 4
4. The Shield, Season 1
5. The Office: An American Workplace. Season 3
6. The Wire: The Complete Third Season
7. Spaced: The Collectors Edition
8. Futurama: The Complete Collection
9. Skins: The Complete First Series
10. Garth Marenghi's Darkplace

Yeah, I know. I show a serious bias towards Police Dramas that break the procedural mould (OK, serious bias towards The Wire and The Shield - but it's for a good reason). (Highest scores are a little subjective because I switched scoring systems partway through).

Best Value for money (pence per minute):
1.5 ppm - The Complete Adventures of Tintin
1.6 ppm - Homidice: Life on the Street - The Complete Second Series
1.9 ppm - Homicide: Life on the Street - Series 1 & Sugar Rush (The Complete Series 1 + 2)
2 ppm - Skins: The Complete First Series & The Shield, Season 1
2.3 ppm - The Wire: The Complete First Season
2.4 ppm - The Shield - Season 4 & The Wire: The Complete Third Season
2.5 ppm - The Wire - The Complete Second Season

Now obviously these prices were worked out at the time of purchase and some have changed since. But it's a dominating run for The Wire, The Shield and Homicide - this is because they are all shows with 45 min to an hour long episodes and many of them have been out for quite a while now so they're lower in price. Whether they will keep their positions after the next 25 reviews remains to be seen but I'm confident that it'll take one heck of a deal to knock Tintin from the top slot or Homicide from the number 2 slot. It'll take a show with 20 odd hour long episodes for under £20 I suspect.

Now it's time to work towards 25 more reviews so I can see how the table shapes up!
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Next week I'll actually be reviewing a new release. Shock!

For the previous series review see here:
Series 1

Starring:
Chris Barrie as Arnold Rimmer
Craig Charles as Dave Lister
Danny John-Jules as "The Cat"
and Norman Lovett as Holly



The second series of Red Dwarf is very similar to the first one in style, feel and quality. Both of the first two series are slow paced and character driven in their style. But the second series concentrates less on the interactions between Lister and Rimmer and instead expands a little to include more sci-fi experiences.

Kryten is the first episode and it introduces a character who will return in the third series and stay with the show for all the remaining episodes. But the Kryten who appears in this episode is played by a different actor and is very different from the one who appears next series. The episode is one of the best of these six, probably the second best one and it's a very strong start. It's followed up by the sentimental episodes Better Than Life and Thanks For The Memory; both of which look more deeply into Rimmer's personality and hang ups. BTL shows how deeply twisted he is, while TftM demonstrates what a difference love could make to Rimmer (indeed to all of us) when Lister gives Rimmer the (misguided) gift of 'The memory of one of Lister's ex-girlfriends' (effectively making Rimmer believe he dated the girl). These episodes are both slow ones that have some laughs, but not as many as the first one.
Stasis Leak is a little more complex, playing around with time lines as the "dwarfers" find a way to travel back to before the accident that wiped out the rest of the crew and ending in a truly superb scene with no less than three Rimmers and three Listers on screen at the same time.


Queeg is the fifth episode; after an accident places Lister's life in danger the emergency back up computer 'Queeg' replaces Holly and begins running the ship efficiently. This one is by far the funniest of the entire season and really showcases the awesome comic timing of Norman Lovette. Finally comes Parallel Universe, which is a solid episode to end the series and manages to tie up some events that occured in the first series episode Future Echoes it's also notable because it's the last appearance for Norman (for a while) and marks the appearance of Hattie Hayridge as Hilly. Hattie ended up take over the duties of Holly for the third, fourth and fifth series when Norman left.

The second series is enjoyable but it's a very different show from the one that appears in the later series. It's not until the third series that Red Dwarf really finds it's stride. It's worth watching for sure, but if I'm honest it might be better for people to get into Red Dwarf by watching the third series first then watching the first and second in retrospect.



The second series comes in standard DVD box that matches with the rest of the series. It's almost identical to all the rest except for a change in colour, stills and spine (the full set makes the Red Dwarf logo when you put them together). It also has a small booklet filled with stuff about the episodes.
Much like the first series boxed set the second series is crammed to the gills with extras and this is where it shines. You get a DVD with the series and the commentary on it and a second one filled with extras.

Here's the list:
Cast Commentary
Deleted Scenes
Smeg Ups (Out takes)
Original Trailer
"Red Dwarf A-Z" Documentary
Doug Naylor Interview
"Alternate Personalities" Featurette
The full uncut video for the song 'Tongue Tied'
Raw footage for special effects
Isolated Music Cues (yeah, wth?)
Talking Book Chapters
Photo Gallery
Weblink
Hidden Easter Egg

It's a mighty haul of extras and there's stuff there to keep the most avid Dwarf-aphile glued to his TV screen for hours (and away from the normal populace which is good, because they're weird and scary).

Both Play.com and Zavvi have the series currently priced at £7.99, which is pretty good in my opinion. It works out at a respectable but not amazing 4.6p per minute, but that's not including the extras or re-watching with the commentary on (the commentary is rather good - despite the slightly annoying food references when someone is hamming it up and the use of woofers to represent funny lines).



I adore Red Dwarf, it's British Sitcom at it's best and has managed to hold up well against the test of time. As I said before this series (and the first one) are not the finest examples of the show, while there are some fantastic comedy moments in them it's the next series onwards (3 through to 6) that have the true comedy gold episodes in them. But it is still fun and at a meager 174 minutes it's worth watching them so you get the back story a little more solidly.

The Final Score:

3.5 for Series 2.
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For the previous seasons check here:
Season One
Season Two
Season Three
And Why You Should Watch... The Wire

Starring:
Dominic West as Jimmy McNulty
Wendell Pierce as 'Bunk' Moreland
Lance Reddick as Cedric Daniels
Deirdre Lovejoy as Rhonda Pearlman
Sonja Sohn as Shakima 'Kima' Greggs
Clarke Peters as Lester Freamon
Seth Gilliam as Ellis Carver
Michael K. Williams as Omar Little
Andre Royo as Bubbles
Jim True-Frost as Roland 'Prez' Pryzbylewski
Jamie Hector as Marlo Stanfield
Gbenga Akinnagbe as Chris Partlow
Chad Coleman as Dennis 'Cutty' Wise
Aidan Gillen as Thomas Carcetti
Felicia Pearson as Felicia 'Snoop' Pearson
Robert F. Chew as Joseph 'Proposition Joe' Stewart
Jermaine Crawford as Duquan 'Dukie' Weems
Tristan Wilds as Michael Lee
Julito McCullum as Namond Brice
Maestro Harrell as Randy Wagstaff
and J.D. Williams as Preston 'Bodie' Broadus




The third season saw the effective end of the Barksdale organisation when 'Stringer' and Avon turned on each other. But everything in The Wire is circular in nature so when one organisation goes down another rises to the top. In this case it's the ambitious young Marlo Stanfield who's risen up and become the king.

But the focus of the fourth season is not just on the constant war between the Baltimore Police Department and the street dealers. It expands to look at the politics that cast their shadow over all events and more importantly the show introduces us to four young kids growing up in Baltimore - Randy, Namond, Michael and Duquan aka 'Dukie'. These kids and their experiences are just as integral to the story as anything that happens during Councilman Carcetti's campaign, Marlo's dealing or the P.D.'s investigations because the focus of the fourth season is on the education system and the experiences of children growing up in it.

It's a testament to the power of the writing in how quickly and naturally these kids integrate themselves into the show. Over the course of the season the viewer comes to understand, identify and care about these four lads. They become every bit as important to the story and the viewer as returning characters do.

The main focus of the police/street is all on the Stanfield organisation, the drug Co-op, bodies that begin to turn up in vacant lots and political maneuvering. Jimmy has stepped down from active duty as a detective after his perceived 'failure' over 'Stringer' Bell and is now contented with being a standard patrolman, he's a completely different McNulty when compared to the stressed, martyr complex, bug up his arse, jerkathon of the previous three seasons. He actually appears to be happy a lot of the time. The Major Crimes Unit has been scaled back, Kima and Lester have transferred to Homicide and Prez retired after the accidental shooting last season and is now teaching. In all the focus of the department is mostly turned inwards at the start of this season because Rawls and Burrell are determined to make the most of the political landscape.

In the streets life goes on as usual, but with a new group at the head of things. Marlo's star is most certainly on the rise and his constant need for more combined with the skills of his ambitious enforcers Chris and 'Snoop' cause a lot of friction between the Stanfield organisation and the rest of Prop Joe's co-op. Boadie has managed to get himself a solid position in the Stanfield organisation, Dennis 'Cutty' Wise has retired completely from banging and now runs a boxing gym for kids and Bubbles continues to struggle with his addiction almost completely alone.

The fourth season is just a phenomenal thirteen hours of television. It holds up the corruption and hypocrisies that is so evident in all levels of life in Baltimore for everyone to see. No-one is safe from the corrupting influence of drugs and people who desire power for themselves. Every episode is just simply staggering in it's depth and detail; no stone is left unturned, no corner is skipped and the experience of watching these four young lads grow up in such a place is close to heartbreaking at times.

This season punches low and hard and never lets up, it grabs you at the start of the first episode and doesn't let go, not even in the final moments. It holds on tight and never leaves you, not ever...


The set of five discs comes in a standard dvd case with two multi-pages for the DVDs (one per side), all contained within a cardboard dust sleeve. The style of the case matches up with the previous seasons while also contrasting nicely. The shot of the four lads on the front cover shows them either looking thoughtful, depressed or smiling but all around is the streets are tinted red in colour and the ominous words 'No corner left behind' (a play on the current American Policy of 'No child left behind') lurk in the foreground.

There are a grand total of six sets of commentary on this set:
Boys of Summer, with David Simon and Ed Burns
Margin of Error, with Dan Attias and William F. Zorzi
Refugees, with Kate Sanford, Karen Thorson and Jim True-Frost
A New Day with Robert Chew, Jermaine Crawford, Maestro Harrell, Julito McCullum and Tristan Wilds
That's Got His Own with Joe Chappelle and George Pelecanos
and Final Grades with David Simon and Nina K. Noble

Plus there is an hour long two part behind-the-scenes documentary titled "It's all connected" and "The game is real"

This is a bit more like it, the commentaries range in quality but all of them have insightful things to say about the making of the show and the stories in it. The final three episodes in particular have excellent commentary.

The current best UK price for season four of The Wire is with Zavvi who have it at £24.99.
The others are: Play & HMV @ £28.99 and sendit @ £27.89. Which means it's 3.2p per minute of the highest quality TV you can ever possibly watch.


Season four is a powerhouse production, standing proudly alongside the second and third seasons and possibly even being the best season of the show overall. But as always with The Wire it's not about which season is best; because you can't watch one season without seeing the previous ones, everything ties together as part of one tapestry. So all that can really be said is "watch The Wire", do it now! Do it!



I have no problem giving this one the magical five golden TVs - making it the second item I've reviewed on this blog to score the highest possible score (the other being Doctor Horrible's Sing Along Blog).



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It turns out that Cardiff University (Wales, UK) are holding a 3 day conference on Doctor Who and it's spin offs. I've decided to go for the full three days, if nothing else it'll be an excuse to break out the old digital recorder and then write about it here. It's being held on the weekend starting 14th of November this year.

Details are located on the following page:
http://www.dedoc.net/WhoniversalAppeal/

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We're now over halfway through the current run of Burn Notice; there are just three episodes left after this one and then the season goes on hiatus for a while. It's similar to the trick that BSG has pulled with season four and I don't entirely approve, but it does mean that I'll be able to take up reviewing The Shield season seven (alongside Dexter) as and when it happens instead.

In this week's Burn Notice Michael is asked to catch an embezzler who is stealing from a charity belonging to a hip-hop mogul.

More after the link...

We open with the crossword from the end of last week's episode which is being carried by Michael as he goes for a meeting. Again we have some evidence of Carla's wry humour as her designated meeting point is "tidy pelican", essentially the cartoon character who is on at least one of Miami's bins and tells people not to litter. But it turns out that it's not Carla at the meeting, but a man who identifies himself as 'Victor'. Michael immediately pushes Victor, in part to see how far he's willing to go and I suspect in part because the contact phone he's been offered is... Well, a bit effeminate. But Victor pushes back because apparently Carla was the carrot and he's the stick. Victor the Stick it is then!

Once the title screen finishes Michael meets up with Sam who's just bought a pre-owned car because Veronica has taken back the caddy after Fi's wonderful advice drove them apart last week. Michael's concerned about what might happen to his friends and family so he gets Sam to move in with his mother; poor Sam, he really doesn't get a break right now does he? Living with Michael's mother could either turn out to be amazing luxury or an absolute nightmare, knowing Sam's current luck it'll turn out to be the latter.

But lucky for us it means Sharon Gless is going to get a bit more screen time as she's not had much to do so far this season, in fact she was entirely absent last episode. Sam arrives at her house and sees a man with a load of wires in the living room, I immediately think "tv repair man" but Sam immediately thinks "spy" and decides to go in with his gun out. It turns out we're both wrong; the man is Ricky, a friend of Michael's and is helping Madeline install her home theatre system. I guess I was closer than Sam was in my guess, but I'm not the one who's living in Miami and friends with an ex-Spy who has a tendency to get people killed. If I was, I guess I'd open up conversations with a gun as well at times.

Michael then meets up with Madeline, Sam and Ricky outside a bar. Sam and Madeline come up with a convenient excuse to leave involving VRCs - do those things even still exist outside of museums and my sister's house? It turns out that Ricky is definitely no TV repair man, he's now an accountant and very clearly the client in this episode, so just wait for those captions to arrive under his face. Wait for it... Apparently two million has been stolen from a hip-hop mogul's (called Valentine) charity account and Ricky is the one being left holding the bag. Fortunately there is only one other possible suspect - one Eddie Ash - but unfortunately he's Valentine's number two and trust buddy. Ricky needs Eddie's books so he can prove that it's Eddie who's embezzling; I find it a little unlikely that Eddie would keep proof of his thievery in his books, but we haven't met Eddie yet so it's hard to gauge if he would. Ricky offers ten thousand dollars and those magic words are enough to coax out the old "Client" caption (that caption is a sucker for bleeding hearts and money). It looks like the job is on!

Michael meets Fi outside of Valentine's offices and she fills him in on the details. Moments later Cheese Wagstaff, Method Man , Clifford Smith Valentine walks out. Apparently Cheese is doing a lot better than we thought after the final episode of 'The Wire', he's changed his name and opened up a record label and a clothing line. A pretty impressive feat all things considered, someone better tell Slim Charles about this! (I promise, no more Wire references in this review...)
Eddie is also with him and turns out to be some bearded goof with overly flashy sunglasses; I guess he'd better enjoy those while he can because Michael's track record this season has left a lot of corpses behind him.

Michael has to go meet the Stick (Victor) down the beach, Stick has a few things to reveal - first that Michael will be involved in a hijacking job for the people who burned him and second that the phone he's been given is not only a "bit" girly but it also allows them to keep a constant track on him with GPS.
So Michael proceeds to take apart the phone but finds a small love note in it for him, well a note that tells him to leave the GPS in anyway. So he decides to use call forwarding instead while Fi fills him in on Valentine's operation and demands a new pair of shoes for payment, knowing Fi a pair of old training shoes are not going to cut it.

Michael calls a bomb scare in the building next to Valentine's in order to get the building cleared out without raising too much suspicion. The bomb squad also provide a handy helping hand for Michael; they jam all electronic signals in the area as a part of procedure and that means all the wireless cameras in Valentine's building are now useless. Michael heads inside and locates the files inside a filing cabinet (just like in the Pakistani embassy a few episodes back, but padlocked this time), but things never run smooth as Eddie turns up and tells the security to get back inside the building pronto.

After making his escape via the sub ceiling Michael meets up with Ricky and reveals that there was nothing incriminating in the files. It seems that Eddie isn't the kind of idiot who keeps his criminal activities on record in his office, it's almost a relief to learn this as only an asinine goober would do that. Instead Eddie is seeking a front for his laundered money, perhaps he could sink it into property development or selling custom wheel rims? So Michael decides to insert himself directly into the equation and convince Eddie to wash his money via Michael, which requires another chat with Barry!

I'm not sure why I like to see Barry on the screen, I guess it's because he's the only recurring character from the first season who's made it into more than one episode. It's nice to see a little permanence in the show beyond Michael, Fi, Sam and his family. It's also great to see how Michael is going to use Barry and land him in more trouble. Something Barry is happy to point out himself. Barry has two offers for Michael; $5K gets him a meeting with Eddie and $3K gets him a meeting if he can promise nothing will happen to the intermediary. Michael being Michael he plumps for the $5K option plan.

It turns out that Sam is having a whale of a time living with Madeline; he's taken to the domesticated life like a duck in a bathtub. But I guess my hope that Sharon would get a little more screen time isn't going to get helped in this scene; she literally walks in, speaks one line and walks out. It was a pretty funny appearance, but I mean 'Come on!' She's a headlining character in this series...

Sam has set up a cover identity for Michael and it's time for him to meet with Eddie and make his pitch. While one can always hope for an amusing accent I'm not sure we're going to get one this week and we don't. But Michael does put on a bit of a persona and voice for the whole thing as 'Jimmy' (McNulty? Ok, ok, I'm sorry!) so I'll live with that. It's just a shame he didn't get himself a fake moustache for the role as well.

Jimmy works Eddie by showing him an empty condo and pitching the whole shebang to him; Eddie is a little cautious and clears off without making an offer. Which is very convenient for Michael because just as Eddie walks out of view Ricky phones, he's concerned about a meeting that Valentine is about to hold. Fi and Michael head off to monitor the situation from outside the build, Fi's first plan is to storm the place shooting like Axel Foley. Perhaps that could be kept as a back up plan? It turns out that Valentine is pretty angry at one Marcus who's attempting to steal a band from his label and for the moment Ricky isn't in the firing line.

I'm just going to take a step out here and talk about Method's performance in this scene, he pretty much nails his performance right on the head here. But it's not surprising that he does, because he's clearly channelling performances from people he's worked with in the past. I have to reference The Wire again at this point because the show has had a massive influence on his acting abilities and it's evident here in this scene. He manages to bring out a mix of Stringer, Avon and Marlo in this and I half expected him to produce a baseball bat De Niro style and club Marcus to death. I wasn't too far off as he chose to bust one of the platinum records over Marcus's nogging instead.

Things escalate, Valentine throws everyone out of the meeting room apart from Ricky and Fi kicks off at this. Taking her shotgun, wrapping it up and heading in while Michael tells her to wait. Valentine gives Ricky two days to produce the cash and Michael manhandles Fi away from the building.

Jimmy's second meeting with Eddie is interrupted by an unwelcome visitor, the Stick has turned up and he lays down the law with the heart phone, it is to stay with Michael at all times - because it brings out his eyes I guess. Stick then pushes things further by spouting off in front of Eddie and making it sound like Jimmy is either in bed with the Feds or at least under surveillance. I'm pretty sure acting like this is going to get Stick killed, Burn Notice only has room for one colossal jerk and that role is already filled by Michael.
Damage limitation is the order of the day now and Michael goes for it in the way he knows best and so 'Jimmy' accuses Eddie of ratting him out to the Feds.

Sam and Madeline step up to the plate and provide slightly obvious surveillance of Eddie; well Sam does, Madeline on the other hand thinks that they're going out looking for a new place for Sam. While Michael gets to meet with Stick and has the plan explained, apparently he's running lookout for Stick while the 'object' is retrieved. Michael is naturally curious about it, so we're treated to a little more spy excitement as he turns the trunk of his car into an x-ray machine.

Eddie calls Jimmy and they meet up again, Eddie's nervous thanks to Sam's photography and Madeline's big dark glasses. He wants Jimmy to move his money off shore to safety, but Jimmy is reluctant and Eddie is forced to coerce Jimmy into helping him. Eddie also reveals that he's planning to make a move on Ricky and Michael quickly reacts by sending Eddie off to get a bottle so he can warn Fi to get over to Ricky's place. Fi initially plans to use some firepower to solve the situation, but Michael doesn't want it to look like Ricky has help so she has to try something else. Fi being Fi she settles for driving wildly, shouting in an atrocious accent and throwing a rock through a window.

But now it's clear that Eddie won't move the money if Ricky is still alive, so Michael and Fi explain to Ricky that they're going to violently kill him off in order to get Eddie to make a move. Jimmy meets with Eddie and sets up the hit, providing the gun, target and reasoning. He then pushes Eddie just enough to provoke a fight and then get Eddie determined to take out Ricky himself. The scenes where Michael allow himself to be beaten up are always amusing and this one is no exception.

The next scene is a Burn Notice classic, we have Sam Axe in full distraction rant mode going toe to toe with Valentine. While Fi hangs around in the background until it's time to produce a gun and take Valentine for a ride. It's a short scene, but a fantastic one and I couldn't help but wish it was longer. Method and Bruce bantering was just excellent. I wonder where they're taking Valentine? That's a hard one to figure out...

Back at Ricky's place Eddie has the gun and it's time for some action with funky spy music playing. Ricky and Eddie get a little bit of interplay as Ricky convinces Eddie to spill the beans like a Bond villain explains his plan and reveals what he did and why before shooting Ricky with blanks. An exceptionally calm Valentine walks in at this point and Eddie realises what he's done and said.

Eddie gets to take a ride on a yacht and doesn't come back, which is pretty much the same as 'going upstairs' and going to Fort Lauderdale in this show. Fi gets the money to cover some new shoes but Michael declines to take the rest of the cash. He's turned into a real bleeding heart this season, well except for all the bodies he leaves behind him...

Last of all it's time for Michael and Stick to pull the job, but Michael has a few extra surprises planned for Stick. Most of them are the explosive kind as we're treated to not just one, but three explosions before Stick and Michael makes their get away with a rather light looking wooden crate. Stick isn't very happy with Michael's performance, it seems Stick prefers to kill people where possible - in fact it seems that Stick is pretty close to bat-shite crazy - but he lets it go and leaves.

Back at Madeline's place Sam has just finished cooking for Michael and Madeline, when he leaves Mady makes it very clear she knew what he was actually doing there and after he's gone she tells Michael that he should keep her in the loop. Hopefully this means she gets a little more screen time instead of being constantly stonewalled by Michael over every single little thing.

Finally we get to see what was inside the crate with Michael's makeshift x-ray. One military sniper rifle. I'm not sure why they needed to steal that specific one; or why they had to steal one at all, but I guess time will tell.

The episode was a pretty good one on the whole, not the best one so far but pretty decent. It had some decent action and an impressive performance from Method Man really kept things spiced up. It also kept a blistering pace and never seemed to lag, events thundered past and most scenes were over in moments. But this pace did make certain things seem forced, the Eddie/Ricky/Valentine scenario wasn't treated with as much detail as most one off plots are and in some ways that was a shame because the best scenes were the ones that revolved around those three.

Stick/Victor isn't a very interesting character in comparison to Carla, I'm hoping he's just around for the odd episode and if I'm honest I'm not sure why they chose to introduce him to the mix instead of having Carla do the job. It's possible that there is method to their madness and we'll find out why soon. But ultimately he just feels like he's there to get 'sent to Fort Lauderdale' with all the other missing people and as such he's a bit redundant.

3/5 for this one. Solid but not inspiring.

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This week's Burn Notice appears to be the first of the season where Matt Nix (the show's creator) hasn't had direct input into writing the script, it's also got a lot to live up to after last week's Sam Axe-centric episode which pretty much rocked all the buttons (except for maybe parts of the Larry/Bruce dinner scenes which weren't as funny as I'm sure they were supposed to be.) So Ben Watkin's script needs to deliver... And it does.

More after the link...

We open almost with the scene that we closed with last week, Michael and Fiona are pulling surveillance on the PO box (or whatever it's called in the US ;) that's apparently linked to Carla. After Fi abuses Michael a little more - I warned you Michael, never cross an Irish lass - an elderly looking female operative secretary is spotted making a pick up from the box and it's time to tail!

Michael and Fi follow the lady to a non-descript building with a noticeable lack of noticeable security. Of course, just because they're not dressed as security guards it doesn't mean they're not present and Michael clocks them quickly with the ingenious use of a poor (relatively) innocent pizza delivery man. The scene cuts to the logo before we get to see the guy get threatened with a gun by one of the security men, but it's pretty clear that the pizza guy is going to get into at least a small amount of trouble before he gets away. Michael's been landing a lot of people in sticky situations this season.

After the logo (I love how short the credits are for this show) we cut to Sam and Michael; they're having a conversation about surveillance for the building - at least Michael is trying to, Sam's quite interested in showing off his new watch and bragging about how well things are now going with Veronica. Just wait Sam, I'm sure Michael will bone things up for you soon enough!
Back at his place Michael is approached by an ex-con (wheelman) named Trevor who has a problem; he's gone clean and he wants to stay that way, but an ex-employer named Timo wants him for a job and won't take no for an answer. Michael seems exceedingly unwilling to assist him, but Trevor makes a long, heartfelt speech about promising his son he'll stay on the straight and narrow. Michael listens and then; in a really nice touch the camera focuses on Trevor's face before dropping those classic words across the screen "Trevor, The Client" and Michael accepts.

In the next scene we're introduced to the rest of the crew; there's C.J. who's a hustler, Gilbert Kessler the safe cracker, Kandi the muscle (don't you just hope Fi and her will go one on one?) and Timo. Michael's initial plan is to disrupt the group by putting police pressure onto one member (Gilbert) which should result in the job being called off. Step one is to introduce Fi to Gilbert, because what man in his right mind would say no to being chatted up by a pretty Irish nutjob? Apparently Gilbert would, so Sam comes up with a second plan and picks a fight with Gilbert - one which he has to keep walking back into because the local policemen are looking the other way. So Sam gets a pasting before Fi decides to scream and get the attention of the cops, of course Fi doesn't scream too soon as where's the fun in that?

But it turns out getting Gilbert banged up for violating his parole isn't enough (it never is) and Timo is still going ahead with the job. So Michael decides to use the opening created by the loss of Gilbert to get himself inserted into the group as a new safe cracker. Do you think we're going to be treated to another awful accent flavoured with a terrible cover identity? We can hope so!

After Michael installs a webcam on the roof of a building nearby to Carla's Sam notices a single point in the security routine that Michael can exploit and then he heads out for dinner with Veronica. A dinner that goes a little too well, as when Sam lays the charm on Veronica responds by asking him to marry her. Something he seems a little reluctant to respond to right now...

Michael works on his safe cracking skills a little before meeting up with Timo (Timo's name makes me think of the Timosil song as sung by Dr. Fünke’s 100% Natural Good-Time Family-Band from Arrested Development) and the gang; sadly he doesn't put on an accent this time, but he does use a rather amusing style of conversation for his cover identity - 'Joseph' (not Joe). Timo wants proof of 'Joseph's' skills but getting him to crack the safe in a small store but Michael pushes the situation further by refusing to do so. Soon enough both 'Joseph' and Trevor are being threatened at gunpoint and Michael proves his skills by cracking the safe (I was kind of hoping he'd say "This safe is for amateurs, I'll crack something that's actually challenging') and is given an address for the meet.

At the meet 'Joseph' is introduced to C.J., given a new phone and is told about the plan. Actually, he's told almost nothing about the plan what-so-ever as Timo is a total secrecy and control freak. Instead 'Joseph' has to try and get whatever information he can by prying for details about the safe, he's told what make it is and when it was installed. Then the meeting is over and Trevor has to stay behind, perhaps for lines in detention "I must not recommend rude safe crackers."

Back at Michael's place Trevor provides the last piece of information that the gang needs to locate the target. Sam agrees to sort out finding the location (Sam's well connected isn't he?) but he's also rather anxious to talk about his dinner-date with Veronica. Michael provides his usual level of advice with a "Say 'Yes'" followed by a "Say 'No'". Sometimes you have to wonder why Sam's still friends with Michael, so far he's done nothing but cause him trouble and even now he's completely unwilling to give his friend any advice. But then again Michael's always been a bit of a jerk and that's kept him alive so far.

The next complication to rise up its head comes from C.J. who's already worked his way inside the organisation like some kind of faceman (actually thinking about it the entire of Timo's gang reminds me of the A-Team somewhat - I guess it's because Burn Notice reminds me of the A-Team in it's style) and this means they can't easily tip off the target (a jewelry store) without Timosil finding out. Michael puts on a brave face, but once Trevor's gone the mask drops and we see just how difficult things are looking (or how fed up Michael is with this job, maybe both).

Next up it's time for one of the Sam/Fi car conversation specials. I love these conversations and this one doesn't disappoint. Sam asks for Fi's advice on Veronica's proposal but at first refuses to give details as it's "grown up stuff you (Fi) wouldn't understand." Then he promptly caves and reveals the truth; it turns out Sam's already technically married (and has been since the 1970s) but didn't get a divorce as he didn't think he was the marrying type... At least until now. So Fi tells him to fess up to Veronica and deal.
Meanwhile the young lad that Sam bribed at the start of the scene (did I mention that? I'm sure I did...) creates the window for Michael to get inside Carla's building, but a phone call from Timosil means he has to abandon the plan and get back to the boathouse.

It turns out that the plan is on and Trevor is freaking out about it. So Michael makes a promise that Trevor will never have to worry about Timosil again; considering Michael's track record this season it seems likely this will happen as the body count has been a lot, lot higher this season (something I've not really talked about because it seems everyone and their grandma wants to talk about how "Michael is getting people killed" and I like to buck trends). Michael leaves a note for the gang and then heads off to do the job.

The fake A-Team are let in by C.J. under the disguise of workmen from Montaro Heating and Air and after getting inside the security gate they surprise the guards with some shiny guns. Then things go a little weird due to some unusual choices in cutting and music. I had to rewind the scene to make sure I hadn't wandered into the wrong show by accident when Timosil just disappeared from view and some kind of cyberpunk theme broke out. This entire scene is filled with strange cutting and editing techniques, I guess with the intent of making it more exciting than it really is; but it doesn't work. Eventually Sam saves us from this by cutting a wire to trip the alarm and the F-team bails out without stealing anything after torching the van to remove evidence.

The F-Team split up and head for their cars, but Timosil's tires have been let down by Sam and he's left stranded near the scene. The rest of the crooks meet up and 'Joseph' lands Timosil in it by informing C.J. and Kandi that he gave the jewels to him. Michael gives the signal and Fi blows up the boat house, making everyone fall over. Kandi is none to impressed with this and her follow up meeting with Timosil ends with her making an explosive point to him. Trevor seems pretty content with it all and decides not to ask too many probing questions before leaving.

So we cut to Michael's apartment with Fi and Michael getting ready to go out for the job on Carla's place. Sam turns up - having acted on Fi's advice - with bags, Veronica didn't react very well to his confession about already being married (I was wrong! It was Fi who ruined things for Sam this time!) Last of all Michael manages to get inside Carla's building only to find out she's already gone - having already spotted him on his first failed attempt and she's left him a gloating photo message, some balloons, champagne and another crossword...

Looks like Carla has another job for him...

The episode was a pretty darn solid one; it had a nice mix of action and smart dialog, while also remaining pacy enough to avoid any dragging sections. There were some very nice touches in the interaction between the trio and it was a lot of fun to watch.
But the section where the heist itself starts was pretty disjointing to watch; you get used to the occasional split-second freeze frame in BN but the editing and effects in that section were way beyond the norm. It started to feel like 24 or Mission Impossible (the film) and the editing cut where Timosil just vanished in a quick fade was completely jarring.

In all I'd give it a solid 3.5


It's also time to review what we know about Carla:

‣ She's an accomplished spy who's clearly well informed about Michael
‣ She consistently stays one or two steps ahead of him and has him under constant surveillance. Surveillance he often fails to notice
‣ She works with a skilled team who are willing to abandon assets if Michael gets too close
‣ She has quite a wry sense of humour and is willing to push, taunt and tease Michael
‣ The job/target that she's got Michael running errands for requires serious security data and professionally made high tech security key
‣ Information on her is very high security, the Pakistani head of security was very reluctant to hand anything over

Now just speculating here, but I wouldn't be surprised if Michael is set up as a scapegoat for the job at the end of this season. He certainly seems to be constantly on the backfoot where Carla is concerned, so far he's only managed two minor victorys against her that she doesn't seem to be aware of (the duplicate keycard and the file on her) .

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Burn Notice review this evening when I get back from work and watch it. It might be a little shorter than the previous ones because I have around ten thousand words to write by the thirteenth elsewhere. But I'll try to do the awesome show justice.

Anyway, I've woken up far to early for work so I'm going to do something productive in the extra hour I have left. It's that time of year for me, the one where I closely scrutinise the upcoming fall lineup and decide what to watch and what to let fall by.

And here they are (with comments).

Monday:

Prison Break - Miss
(Premieres September 1st)
I loved the first season of Prison Break, it was amazing. But I stopped watching halfway through the third season (shortly after Sarah died because the series lost whatever chemistry it had left) and even the teaser trailer suggesting they've brought her back isn't enough to make me return to the show. It's just gone on too long now and I want it to finish.

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles - Maybe
(Premieres September 8th)
I found the first season surprisingly enjoyable and as I've always been a fan of Terminator 1 + 2 I'm certainly going to watch this when it's shown over here in Blighty. But it's not top of my list and I won't be upset if I don't see it.

Heroes - Hit!
(Premieres September 22nd)
Yes last season was rather weak, yes I'm annoyed that it seems Nathan Petrelli has survived being killed off yet again *YAWN*! But I'm still going to watch it and keep watching it as long as Sylar and Noah stay in the show. It's their performances I watch the show for as they are the most interesting characters there.

How I Met Your Mother - Hit!
(Premieres September 22nd)
No doubt about it, I love this show with a passion and I'm thrilled it's going to a fourth season. Neil Patrick Harris is a television god. This is one of the best comedy shows on television right now.

Boston Legal - Hit!
(Premieres September 22nd)
Yes, last season wasn't the strongest season of Boston Legal and yes, it's gotten weaker as time goes on. But this is the final hurrah for Denny, Alan, Jerry and the gang. Boston Legal has suffered immensely from it's cast changes and really it's become a victim of it's own switching about. But ultimately I want to see how it all ends and I know it will be fun to watch.

Life - Hit!
(Premieres September 29th)
Last season this was the surprise break out hit show for me personally and I've been looking forward to seeing the second season all year. Damien Lewis is a fantastic actor and the show manages to provide interesting cases, strong meta plot and just an overall fun experience to watch. Plus it has Zen Buddhism teachings!

Tuesday:

Fringe - Holding Judgement
(Premieres September 9th)
Sorry, but JJ's work has flopped one too many times for me to even consider watching this. I'm predicting one good season followed by 3-4 ones of complete tripe. I'll just watch Regenesis instead.
(Edit: Dan's convinced me to give this one a few more episodes before I judge on this one.)

House - Hit!
(Premieres September 16th)
After last season how could I not watch? I want to see how the new team develops and David Shore has even promised to bring back Chase and Cameron for a little more screen time this season. Hugh Laurie is fantastic, now I just wish they'd give Stephen Fry a guest starring spot in the show for an episode (yeah, yeah, I know... Stunt casting, but who cares?)

The Shield - Hit! Hit! Hit!
(Premieres September 2nd)
This is the show I've been waiting for all year. I'm both simultaneously excited that it's almost here and sad because it'll be all over for good soon. The Shield is my favourite show on television and it was the gateway show that brought me full on into the world of television watching. I absolutely love The Shield and I've been waiting to see how it all ends since the last season finished.

Wednesday:

Bones - Hit! (sort of)
(Premieres September 3rd)
I'm actually going to wait until this is out on DVD before I watch it. I like watching Bones on DVD, but it's not high enough on my important list to watch as it comes out. Basically it's getting pushed aside till a later date because I already have too many other shows to watch.

Thursday:

My Name is Earl - Hit!
(Premieres September 25th)
Last season was a bit of a roller coaster ride; at times it was brilliant and at times not so exciting. But overall the experience was most enjoyable and I think the show is so well written that I'd be crazy not to watch it.

Supernatural - Hit!
(Premieres September 18th)
I was completely blown away by how good Supernatural turned out to be (see here) and the 3rd season comes out here in the UK just in time for me to get on board with the 4th season. So I certainly will do so (and then get it on DVD and watch it again).

The Office - Hit!
(Premieres September 25th)
I love The Office and I can't wait to watch more. Since the second season it's never had a bad episode.

30 Rock - Hit!
(Premieres October 30th)
I recently reviewed the first season of 30 Rock and I'm keenly awaiting the second one on DVD. So of course I'll be watching the third season!

Life on Mars - Miss
(Premieres October 9th)
I'm sorry, I know I should probably watch this. But I'm just not interested in yet another remake. Even if the amazing Harvey Keitel is attached to the show; I'm sure I'd enjoy it but I can't bring myself to watch this. Maybe one day I'll watch it on DVD instead.

True Blood - Maybe
(Premieres September 7th)
I haven't decided about this one, it should be good. It's Alan Ball and HBO, they gave us Six Feet Under, but the pilot episode seemed a little lackluster and the concept is... uninspiring. I might let it fall by the wayside and then catch up in the summer.

Dexter - Hit! Hit! Hit!
(Premieres September 28th)
The first season was ball-shockingly amazing and the second season was so good it could make you super-fertile just through the act of watching it so you'd have to be utterly deranged to want to miss out on the third season. Once The Shield is gone from our screens this will probably be the best show we have. I cannot wait for this one.

Family Guy - Hit! (sort of)
(Premieres September 28th)
I'm looking forward to seeing "Something, something, something dark side" as Blue Harvest was amazing. The rest of the season I'll watch out of loyalty (and because it's occasionally still funny). But I'm not exactly hanging off the edge of my chair waiting for this one.

American Dad - Hit!
(Premieres September 28th)
It's like Family Guy, but right now it's just better.

Is there anything you think I should be watching? Do you agree or disagree? I'd love to hear your opinions, so speak up!

(In case I haven't mentioned your favourite show the full tv.com listing guide of the fall season is here)
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Kyle Chandler as Coach Eric Taylor
Connie Britton as Tami Taylor
Gaius Charles as Brian 'Smash' Williams
Zach Gilford as Matt Saracen
Minka Kelly as Lyla Garity
Taylor Kitsch as Tim Riggings
Aimee Teegarden as Julie Taylor
Adrianne Palicki as Tara Collette
Jesse Plemons Landry Clarke
and Scott Porter as Jason Street




In the small town of Dillon, Texas every day matters but only one night counts; Friday night, when the lights go up and the Dillon Panthers head on the football field.

Friday Night Lights is an award winning show adapted from the book (and in some way film) of the same name. It's based in the fictional Texas town of Dillon and revolves around the lives of their high school football team, new head coach, star quarterback and the people involved with them. It currently stands at two seasons (37 episodes) and is confirmed for a third one, which will return in the fall.

I'm afraid I'll have to slightly spoiler the pilot episode as it's the events in that episode which set up the entire series. So if you feel your experience of the show will be harmed in some way if you know what happens in the first 40 odd minutes then don't read any further.

The Dillon Panthers are at the top of their game at the start of the series, Coach Taylor has just been promoted to head coach for the team and Jason Street is their star quarterback. With him at the head of the team and backed by 'Smash' Williams and Tim Riggings they look set to win the state championship with relative ease.


But; as wise words once stated - when you're at the top, you only have one place to go - and indeed this is the case. In the season's opening match things take a dramatic turn for the worse; with events that will impact on the lives of everyone in the town, but especially the lives of Coach Taylor, Jason Street and reserve Quarterback Matt Saracen. During the match against Westerby Jason is hit hard during a tackle and ends up being taken to hospital. Leaving the untried and untested Matt Saracen the huge task of stepping up into the role of QB.

It's the ascension of Coach Taylor to Head Coach and the loss of Jason Street (to a spinal injury) that set events in motion for the entire season. What was going to be a relatively safe and easy states run for the Panthers becomes an uphill struggle, Coach Taylor faces pressure from just about every member of the community - all with opinions of their own to put forward - while Matt Saracen is suddenly thrust into the limelight and has to develop his skills both as a player and a leader rapidly. For the people of Dillon failure will not be tolerated from these two and they are held up to such an impossibly high standard that it seems impossible for them to match.


Jason Street himself has huge problems of his own, his life seemed to be mapped out for him. Football was his ticket through life, it would have provided for everything. But this has been taken away from him and now he needs to come to terms with the loss, as does his girlfriend Lyla (who doesn't seem to comprehend fully that their lives have totally changed) and best friend Tim (who has taken to drinking heavily out of guilt).

I really have very little common ground with Friday Night Lights, I've seen a grand total of one single (American) Football match, I've never been to Texas, I've never experienced life in America, let alone life in a small Texan town, I've never seen the fuss where team sports are concerned (I prefer individual ones like boxing, fencing and martial arts) and honestly I have no real background to appreciate this show from. But I absolutely love watching it, the show is incredibly accessible, even for someone who's so isolated from the life it represents as I am. I have no problem clicking with the show at all, I enjoy the conversations, I understand the importance of the team to the town, I even get enough of the matches to understand what's going on. In short, unbelievably enough I can relate.

This is because Friday Night Lights is not just a show about football, it's a show about being human and what's important to people. It's a show that cares about the little things and is willing to paint a realistic feeling picture, from the dialog and make up all the way to the camera work so much effort is put into making things feel authentic. At times you could be forgiven for thinking that FNL was a documentary, it's that realistic. From it's wonderful opening track (and some incidental music) scored by Explosions In the Sky to the sheer depth of the characters in the show FNL comes across as a show that really cares about it's subject. It cares about what it has to say; just like a sports fan it's loyal, passionate and real and truthful about it. It really is a thing of beauty and joy to watch, even when it's dealing with the really ugly things in life it's still amazing.

Now I do have a single complaint to give with regards to this show, much of the camera work is 'shaky cam' as if it was recorded with a home camera. I know this is done to highlight authenticity and add to the realism, but at times it's a little too much and I have to take the odd break because it makes me feel (slightly) unwell. But this is a minor personal gripe and despite it I will still happily sit down and watch this show again and again.

This is one not only for fans of football but for anyone who enjoys character driven drama with heart and balls. It's one that has won much critical acclaim but still hasn't been recognised by the general viewing public (just like The Wire's plight). But if you're a bit more cerebral than the average viewer and enjoy watching something that attempts to engage you while entertaining you well, Friday Night Lights might just be the show for you.

For previous entries in the Why You Should Watch range go here.
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Starring:
Chris Barrie as Arnold Rimmer
Craig Charles as Dave Lister
Danny John-Jules as "The Cat"
and Norman Lovett as Holly

Red Dwarf is one of those shows that almost never was, at the time of it's conception the concept was pretty much unheard of. The BBC didn't really do much Sci-fi and they certainly didn't consider the concept of a Sci-Fi/Comedy to be worth pursuing. So the show very nearly didn't happen. But, fortunately for us it eventually did and the rest is history.

Red Dwarf is the story of Dave Lister - the last human left alive, Arnold Rimmer - the hologrammatic recreation of his former bunk mate, "The Cat" - a creature that evolved from Dave's pet and Holly - the (now senile) ships computer. The first series starts with the events that lead up to Dave's predicament and deal mostly with his attempts to adjust to his new life. It's a very slow paced, character driven sitcom that is mostly powered by the interactions between Dave and Arnold. Over the course of the series Dave discovers he's the last human alive, that he's been in suspended animation for over three million years, his pet cat's descendants evolved into human-like creatures and he was the creator of an entire religion (plus the cause of religious wars.) He also experiences visions of the future, intense hallucinations that become solid and not just one, but two Rimmers.

The first series's style is very much a traditional British sitcom, you have the dysfunctional 'couple' who's interactions drive most of the story alongside the 'wacky' characters who provide either exposition or just comedy. The characters are all deeply flawed and actually quite an unpleasant bunch. Dave Lister is essentially the laziest slob in existence ever, 'Cat' is little more than vanity on legs, Holly is alternately senile, sarcastic and occasionally cruel and Arnold. Well Arnold Rimmer (Chris Barrie) is the centerpiece of the show, a deeply flawed individual who's a petty minded, rude, cruel and pathetic little jumped up snot of a man. A distillation of the worst roommate you could ever experience combined with everything unpleasant you could experience in a superior. It's a tribute to the man's skills that he can play such a nasty little toad and still be sympathetic and likable.

The performances from the other actors range greatly, Craig Charles is very inexperienced at this point in his career and as such the bulk of the work tends to lay on Chris's shoulders. But it's not like he's bad, he's just not fully grown into the role at this point. Danny John-Jules is fantastic as the Cat, but this isn't difficult for him because the role is a very physical one and as a dancer he's eminently suited to it. As for Norman Lovett; he's superb as Holly, selling the right balance of senility and comedy into his performance. He's nothing more than a talking head/voice over but his presence is easily the equal of the rest when he's performing.

It's also worth mentioning the model shots at this point, all of the work for exterior shots in the first series of Red Dwarf is done entirely with model shots and it's a tribute in this CGI infested age just how realistic (if you can call a ship in space realistic) they look. On the other hand, the interior sets are decidedly simplistic and ropey but that really adds to the charm of the show. Rather than making space travel look all flash and shiny Red Dwarf manages to highlight how mundane the truth of working in space would become with it's dull grey minimal sets. They look cheap, but it's the kind of cheap that works. Adding to the series rather than taking away from it.

The first series is a slow start and is not the best example of the show, it's in fact a very different beast when compared to the one that starts to evolve in series 3 (and peaks in series 6), but it does contain some absolutely classic comedy moments and it's a superb piece of character driven comedy. There really is (almost) no better place to start experiencing Red Dwarf than here.


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Last week Michael (eventually) managed to get his hands on some files about Carla, this week we open with him reading through the remains of them (they've suffered heavy redaction of course) and sifting what information he can get. Fi joins him (Michael is like the easiest spy in the world to locate if you know who he is), they discuss how Carla might be using her previous cover as an irrigation consultant in Miami and Fi points out that he has a tail (see what I mean?). We then get a little bit of exciting action as Fi drives, Michael bails from the car and then throws a rickshaw in front of the tail. It turns out to be Nate, Michael's brother. This is the first appearance from Nate (Seth Peterson) since Loose Ends (the first season finale) and predictably enough he's got a problem for Michael to solve.

It turns out that a Russian lass named Katya has 'lost' her sister. By lost I mean she attempted to get herself illegally smuggled into America with the aid of gangsters and now they're demanding a lot of cash to release her. More money than a pretty, but poor Russian receptionist can afford. So Katya turned to Nate and asked him where she could get a gun (the girl has spirit, her response to the demands was to swing a crowbar at them) in order to solve her problem. Nate instead suggested Michael, as he solves these kind of things everyday... Well not everyday but often enough.

Michael goes to meet up with Sam and they discuss the job and the file a little. Sam mentions one Harvey Gunderson and we get to see a picture, why it's a photo of comedian Larry Miller. I'm sure Harvey won't be making an appearance in this episode then, no sir!

Michael, Nate and Katya meet up with Fi to check out Ivan - the human trafficker. Fortunately for everyone Ivan likes to wear a selection of Russian prison tattoos that nicely advertise all his skills and crimes. These include stealing, working as an enforcer and killing people; I think there was also one which explained how he likes long walks on the beach and cuddling in front of the fire. But I might have just imagined it. Needless to say Ivan is a nasty piece of work, but that's not quite enough to scare off Katya, her response to finding out Ivan is a killer is pretty... feisty.

Meanwhile Bruce Sam meets up with Larry Harvey over dinner and attempts to get information on the irrigation consultants working in Miami, but Harvey isn't an easy fish to land. He's determined to milk Sam for as much food and drink as he can before releasing the information. It's a short scene (as many of these have been so far) but a pretty good one. I've always enjoyed Larry's work since I saw him in "The Doorman" (he's also pretty good in the few appearances he's made as Edwin Poole in Boston Legal).
Needless to say, Michael is not too impressed with the bill but it's Sam's explanation of what happened that really shines. Bruce is just awesome as Sam, he really is. (Quick trivia question. What other show have both Jeffery and Bruce guest starred in. Hint: They were not in the same episode. Answer at the bottom of this post.) Anyway, Fi's surveillance has revealed that Ivan keeps his distance from the kidnapped victims so the guys hatch a plan that involves kidnapping Ivan and then interrogating him while pretending to be government officials. A plan that Sam really takes a shine to. It's Fi who pulls the abduction job (almost) solo, she entices Ivan over into range and then attempts to hit him with a stun gun. But things don't go entirely to plan and she ends up in a Mexican standoff. She has the gun in range of Ivan and has the drop on him, but she can't zap him without zapping herself because he has a hold of her leg. Her solution is to zap him anyway and let Sam cart them both away unconscious.

It's quite possible that this electric shock has pushed Fi even closer to the edge. She's certainly all kinds of crazy in the following scene. (Gabrielle sells it so well imo). But it seems that Sam is also getting a little 'excited' as he's rather enthusiastic about the upcoming interrogation.
Sure enough he really puts it full on while interrogating Ivan (in a brilliant scene), but it's no good. Sam's a trained expert when it comes to interrogation and he realises quickly that Ivan isn't going to break in the short time frame of three days. So he hatches up a new plan, Michael is going to be put into the 'cell' with Ivan as another member of the Russian organisation and we're treated to a rather impressive scene where Jeffery shows off his skills in language and martial arts before winning the trust of Ivan (through the age old classic method of accusing the other person of being the leak/mole/traitor when it's actually you).

Next we get another one of those great Fi/Sam in a car conversations, it's wonderful how well the pair play off each other and I'm glad the writers have decided to build on this by continuing to give them scenes. They're scoping out the location where the girls are kept but the conversation ranges from Sam's continued failures with Harvey to Fi's pervy neighbour. I just love how natural the whole thing feels.
Once inside the restaurant where the girls are being kept (on the top floor) they use a similar plan to the one used by Michael and Sam last week. In short Sam causes a scene with some loud and annoying complaining while Fi sneaks in while everyone is distracted. But it turns out that the girls are not being kept behind heat shielding and instead it's a piracy ring (it turns out FACT are right! Piracy really does fuel crime, in fictional media at least anyways...) So she leaves with Sam, who was getting his face acquainted with the bar.

This episode really is a showcase of Bruce's talents, he's pretty much running both story lines by himself and it's done so well that you might not even realise how Sam-centric this episode actually is. One of the great things about Burn Notice is because Jeffery is providing narrative in mamy scenes - including ones he's not present in - it's possible to have plenty of stuff going on for the other characters without taking the focus from Michael.

We're treated to a pair of scenes with Sam center stage, the first of which is another interrogation scene with Ivan and the second is a truely fantastic scene where Sam changes tack on Harvey and twists him hard where it hurts. By threatening his career. It's a great little scene which is funny and showcases how great these two men are at their job.
Meanwhile, Michael works on Ivan a little more and learns enough to realise that there's no way they'll get the location of the girls in time. Ivan discloses that the girls will be killed if anyone other than him approaches the safe house and also that the girls will be killed on Friday regardless. So Michael talks to Nate about another change of plan, it's time to let Ivan engineer an escape. Nate is not to happy with this and has a bit of a go, so Michael walks off and it's up to his mother to talk some sense into him, while she doesn't have a big role this week Sharon Gless is very good in the scenes she does have.

The escape plan goes exceptionally well, Michael, Sam and Nate sell it and Ivan just can't wait to buy up every last bit of it. So Ivan agrees to bring Michael to the safe house while Fi and Sam follow in Michael's (not so discrete) car. Ivan agrees to move the girls and then heads off to tell the boss man, leaving Michael with his men. Men who are blindsided by Michael attacking them and then Sam and Fi turning up. Michael opens the van the girls were contained in and lets them out.

Most of the Russians skip town, Ivan "goes upstairs" (which doesn't sound like it was a pleasant experience) and Katya is reunited with her sister. Everyone lives happily ever after, except for Ivan who turns up in a dumpster.

All in all this is easily the best episode of the season so far; while Sharon (Madeline) still had to sit on the sidelines a little she did have a couple of good scenes. Seth (Nate) had plenty to do as well, but the real meat of the story was handed over to Gabrielle and of course Bruce. And both of them rose up to the challenge; not only meeting it but exceeding it with ease. Bruce in particular was stunning in this episode, he's always a delight to see on screen and this was no exception.



I have no hesitation in giving this one 4.5 TVs.

Answer to trivia: The show they've both guest starred in is Homicide: Life on the Street. Jeffery played a criminal on a rampage (with a twist) and Bruce played a cop in a two parter the following season.
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