It made him sad!

March 6, 2009 4:40 PM

Question about Burn Notice season finale. Spoiler! Spoiler! Spoiler!

I'm trying to think. Was this the first time in the series that Michael directly kills someone? I feel like while he's certainly set others up to be killed by others, this may be the first time he's actually pulled the trigger. Same with Fi. Yes? No? Maybe?

posted by ilikecookies to Media & Arts (12 answers total)

No. He kills two people within 15 minutes of the pilot episode.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 5:12 PM on March 6, 2009

I *just* finished watching it, and I was thinking that too. Kind of like Batman, yes?
It also probably depends on how "direct" we're talking here. Things like kicking that carjacking gang out of Miami were all but pulling the trigger, I should think.
posted by niles at 5:12 PM on March 6, 2009

On non-preview: But that's direct self-defense. Carla getting shot right out in the open? Usually Michael talks his way out of something like that.

(And I know, Batman kills people - right? I'm thinking more of the beginning of Batman Beyond, when Bruce is so out of it he just has to use a gun.)
posted by niles at 5:15 PM on March 6, 2009

Well it's implied, you hear shots just before he walks out of the bathroom in the first episode.
posted by Ramo at 5:16 PM on March 6, 2009

Batman kills people - right?

Yes, but they were all bad.
posted by kirkaracha at 6:26 PM on March 6, 2009

He killed the fake banker in the parking garage a few episodes back. Self defense, and most likely not the desired outcome, but still a direct kill.
posted by mrgoldenbrown at 9:13 PM on March 6, 2009

That was an awesome episode.

For some reason, I feel like he killed someone at the end of the first season -- particularly, the part when he gets taken by Carla the first time... I might be mistaken though.

There's a discussion at the forum for the show. They mention that Michael does have someone blown up. Oh, and there's this:

"Actually In part 2 of Loose Ends they show Mike point blank shoot the heroine dealer holding Sam Hostage, Mike calmly explains how long the guy has to live then gets Sam and leaves."
posted by spiderskull at 12:28 AM on March 7, 2009

He's killed a bunch of people. I remember him shooting the guy who'd kidnapped Sam in the gut, which would kill him slowly, even. He doesn't do it often because dead bodies raise questions with the cops, of course. The only reason he tears up after shooting Victor is because he'd grown to actually like Victor, and doesn't think he deserves to die.
posted by cerebus19 at 7:38 AM on March 7, 2009

Response by poster: Huh. I guess I haven't been paying as much attention to the body count as I thought. Did I miss yogurt in the last episode too?
posted by ilikecookies at 9:15 AM on March 7, 2009

What I thought about it was that now that he'd learned how Victor had come to where he was in life, Victor represented what Michael might have become after working for Carla for a few years, especially if one of her threats against his family for non-performance came to pass. He understood Victor, and wanted to help him get back at the organization and was sad that it ended the way it did.
posted by barc0001 at 1:58 PM on March 7, 2009

I thought victor pulled the trigger.

Anyways can't wait for season 3. It's been such a great show.
posted by Allan Gordon at 3:41 AM on March 8, 2009

I just watched that scene again, and it looks like Michael definitely pulled the trigger. Victor was only holding the barrel's end to his chest.
posted by spiderskull at 1:04 PM on March 8, 2009