(no subject)
The problem with York is that it gets quite cold, so you start off dressing warmly, but by the time you've walked half an hour into the city centre and then walked half an hour back with a bag of groceries, the actual temperature is meaningless; you will be hot and sweaty. Twenty minutes later, when you've dumped all your outer layers and opened the window? ENJOY THE COLD SWEAT.
Oh well, at least putting mushrooms and scallions on a frozen pizza turned out to be a good experimental dinner tonight.
Anyway, I promised you thoughts about spies, so here are thoughts about spies! And maybe a couple bonus thoughts about Fiona, the new love of my life. DISCLAIMER: I know effectively nothing about real spy work/surveillance/etc.; all thoughts are based solely on information as presented in Burn Notice/Person of Interest and my own personal speculation. Also, I like both series quite a lot, no bashing of either is intended. Possible spoilers for all aired episodes of Person of Interest and the first two seasons of Burn Notice.
So, there are many intriguing differences between Michael and Reese, primarily due to the different tone of each show - Person of Interest is dead serious/cynical, Burn Notice is generally more light-hearted, humorous action with serious moments (and its own fair share of cynicism, though hitting a more optimistic note overall). Burn Notice is a show where you can legitimately summarize many episodes with "and hijinks ensue," while even the episode of Person of Interest where Finch and Reese had to look after a baby was not exactly a goofy romp*. (There are also issues of writing/actor quality, but er, let's leave those aside and look at things strictly from an in-universe perspective.)
First off, some of the most obvious differences are in the ways they operate and preferred methods of operation. They're both strategic thinkers who try to keep all the angles covered, but Reese is first and foremost a man of action; his default weapons are guns, not cons, information, incriminating photos/evidence, or duct tape, though he can and does use those methods as well. Michael, well, he shoots when he has to and without hesitation, but unless it's part of a persona it's very rarely the first option he goes for. Part of this is down to the premise of the shows - Michael's jobs generally have an initial expectation (or at least a hope) of being non-lethal, while the nature of the Machine in Person of Interest means that Reese is starting off from a situation that's going to be life or death. The Machine and Finch also make a pretty big difference in the way Reese operates information-wise; Michael, Fiona, and Sam spend a lot of time doing basic surveillance and information-gathering, which requires bug-building, distractions, the works, while Finch has most of this stuff at his fingertips and Reese only has to handle the muscle parts, plus occasional off-the-cuff planning. At least for this gig, Reese doesn't really need most of the finer skills that Michael uses on a regular basis, other than maybe lock-picking.
... which, unfortunately, has the effect of making Michael look like the better spy by far when it comes to most of the nuts and bolts of spy work (he and Reese are about equals action-wise). We get to see Michael's skills at rigging electronics, planting bugs and trackers, and most importantly, disguising himself, an area where Michael seems to be especially skilled. Michael is absolutely fantastic at cover IDs - as much as he can be without using make-up/effects, because TV - down to outfits, accents, body language, and general complete commitment to each role, and it's amazingly fun to watch him change to suit the job. Meanwhile, Reese tools around in variations of the same suit no matter where he's going, which can be kind of frustrating - that's not blending, dude, half the time you stick out like a sore thumb. We don't know that he can't blend just as well as Michael, not having seen much of his previous work, but it's sloppy that he doesn't seem to try even when it could give him an edge. On the theme of "previous work," however, it could be that Reese didn't pick up much in the way of disguise/cover skills; what little we see and hear of both their spy work does seem to indicate that they focused on different areas. Michael did a lot of deal-making, diplomacy, intel gathering, and probably sabotage; Reese mainly seems to have been muscle, intimidation and well, let's be honest, a killer. If that's the case, disguise was probably not high on his list of necessary skills, because that would have been the business of his partner/team.
Probably the most noticeable difference between Michael and Reese, though, is the people around them - namely, that Michael actually has people around him. Reese is practically a blank slate backstory-wise; he has the uncomfortably fridged ex-girlfriend and his not-as-dead-as-he-might-think ex-partner, but no living ex-girlfriends, no known family alive or dead, and no friends besides the ones he's made since accepting Finch's offer (so - mainly Finch, a little bit Carter and Fusco, occasionally Zoe). While I love watching a loner find people they can trust as much as anyone else, the unfortunate result is that Reese can seem quite shallow. (Okay, so he plays chess with a guy in the park, but what other hobbies and interests does he have? What's his non-spy history? How did he end up where he is today? Who the hell knows?) Michael, on the other hand, has family, friends, and old enemies popping out of the woodwork, and it makes for a fabulously complicated web of relationships that he has to balance all the time, which provides a lot of excellent characterization moments and history - two minutes with Michael's mother and you can already see exactly why he'd rather deal with warlords than spend another day at home. And then there's the glorious angst opportunities when there's a possibility of his family or friends getting hurt because of either his current work or his former job... Of course, that possibility is probably a major part of why Reese hasn't tried to reconnect with any former friends or living family, so there's a sensible in-universe reason for his shallowness of character, but it's still a bit unfortunate that he has no equivalent of, say, Fiona, who is only the best person in the world. (So competent! So fearless! So bloodthirsty! YOU ARE TOO GOOD FOR MICHAEL, FIONA, MARRY ME.)
One of my favorite parts of both shows, however, is the way that they're alike - their cold, dead killer's eyes. ... no wait hear me out. They're both damaged men and it shows - okay, in Reese's case it might be more a case of Caviezel not actually being much of an actor (Reese: about as warm and empathetic as a block of wood), but for this character, it works. That flat affect makes him pretty convincing as someone who's lived in a state of constant lies, violence, betrayals, and death (and often the cause of all four), who's lost the one person whose memory he was hanging on to as a line to a civilian life, who is still capable of shooting you in the kneecap or in the head with about an equal amount of emotion - that is to say, none. Michael, well, he's got more connecting him to humanity than the memory of a dead woman and his interactions with family and friends are much more human, but there's still a certain distance. In his off-hours or talking to people he mostly trusts, he can be charming, funny, affable, but he's almost always focused on business and he's very rarely affectionate or emotionally open; when it comes to feelings and personal connections he deflects, he distracts, he does his best to keep a wall up and stay detached. He's got truly excellent fake smiles - wide, lots of teeth, very convincing until you look at his eyes and see that, like Reese, he could shoot you in the head and walk away and still get a good night's sleep.** (Unlike Reese, you do get to see an occasional genuine smile from him and it's beautiful, and I am not nearly good enough at subtle facial expressions to be able to pinpoint the exact difference.)
And those are my thoughts on spies! Any questions? ... by the way, I still can't believe Burn Notice made me go from cheering for Victor's death to nearly crying over him. ;o; VICTOR NOOOOOOOO
*In fact, I found it pretty interesting how quickly and without wacky hijinks Finch and Reese both adapted to taking care of a baby, grenade incident and all. Guys, if Finch's secret mpreg device plans don't work out, there's always adoption!
**Actually, I'm only assuming that either of them ever get a good night's sleep, but the point is their sleep would be no worse than it was before they killed you.
Also, for the record? Sam, Michael, and Fiona need to have a threesome. Seriously. Just to get all that jealousy worked out with sex.
Crossposted from Dreamwidth - read the original post here: http://hokuton-punch.dreamwidth.org/977549.html .
Oh well, at least putting mushrooms and scallions on a frozen pizza turned out to be a good experimental dinner tonight.
Anyway, I promised you thoughts about spies, so here are thoughts about spies! And maybe a couple bonus thoughts about Fiona, the new love of my life. DISCLAIMER: I know effectively nothing about real spy work/surveillance/etc.; all thoughts are based solely on information as presented in Burn Notice/Person of Interest and my own personal speculation. Also, I like both series quite a lot, no bashing of either is intended. Possible spoilers for all aired episodes of Person of Interest and the first two seasons of Burn Notice.
So, there are many intriguing differences between Michael and Reese, primarily due to the different tone of each show - Person of Interest is dead serious/cynical, Burn Notice is generally more light-hearted, humorous action with serious moments (and its own fair share of cynicism, though hitting a more optimistic note overall). Burn Notice is a show where you can legitimately summarize many episodes with "and hijinks ensue," while even the episode of Person of Interest where Finch and Reese had to look after a baby was not exactly a goofy romp*. (There are also issues of writing/actor quality, but er, let's leave those aside and look at things strictly from an in-universe perspective.)
First off, some of the most obvious differences are in the ways they operate and preferred methods of operation. They're both strategic thinkers who try to keep all the angles covered, but Reese is first and foremost a man of action; his default weapons are guns, not cons, information, incriminating photos/evidence, or duct tape, though he can and does use those methods as well. Michael, well, he shoots when he has to and without hesitation, but unless it's part of a persona it's very rarely the first option he goes for. Part of this is down to the premise of the shows - Michael's jobs generally have an initial expectation (or at least a hope) of being non-lethal, while the nature of the Machine in Person of Interest means that Reese is starting off from a situation that's going to be life or death. The Machine and Finch also make a pretty big difference in the way Reese operates information-wise; Michael, Fiona, and Sam spend a lot of time doing basic surveillance and information-gathering, which requires bug-building, distractions, the works, while Finch has most of this stuff at his fingertips and Reese only has to handle the muscle parts, plus occasional off-the-cuff planning. At least for this gig, Reese doesn't really need most of the finer skills that Michael uses on a regular basis, other than maybe lock-picking.
... which, unfortunately, has the effect of making Michael look like the better spy by far when it comes to most of the nuts and bolts of spy work (he and Reese are about equals action-wise). We get to see Michael's skills at rigging electronics, planting bugs and trackers, and most importantly, disguising himself, an area where Michael seems to be especially skilled. Michael is absolutely fantastic at cover IDs - as much as he can be without using make-up/effects, because TV - down to outfits, accents, body language, and general complete commitment to each role, and it's amazingly fun to watch him change to suit the job. Meanwhile, Reese tools around in variations of the same suit no matter where he's going, which can be kind of frustrating - that's not blending, dude, half the time you stick out like a sore thumb. We don't know that he can't blend just as well as Michael, not having seen much of his previous work, but it's sloppy that he doesn't seem to try even when it could give him an edge. On the theme of "previous work," however, it could be that Reese didn't pick up much in the way of disguise/cover skills; what little we see and hear of both their spy work does seem to indicate that they focused on different areas. Michael did a lot of deal-making, diplomacy, intel gathering, and probably sabotage; Reese mainly seems to have been muscle, intimidation and well, let's be honest, a killer. If that's the case, disguise was probably not high on his list of necessary skills, because that would have been the business of his partner/team.
Probably the most noticeable difference between Michael and Reese, though, is the people around them - namely, that Michael actually has people around him. Reese is practically a blank slate backstory-wise; he has the uncomfortably fridged ex-girlfriend and his not-as-dead-as-he-might-think ex-partner, but no living ex-girlfriends, no known family alive or dead, and no friends besides the ones he's made since accepting Finch's offer (so - mainly Finch, a little bit Carter and Fusco, occasionally Zoe). While I love watching a loner find people they can trust as much as anyone else, the unfortunate result is that Reese can seem quite shallow. (Okay, so he plays chess with a guy in the park, but what other hobbies and interests does he have? What's his non-spy history? How did he end up where he is today? Who the hell knows?) Michael, on the other hand, has family, friends, and old enemies popping out of the woodwork, and it makes for a fabulously complicated web of relationships that he has to balance all the time, which provides a lot of excellent characterization moments and history - two minutes with Michael's mother and you can already see exactly why he'd rather deal with warlords than spend another day at home. And then there's the glorious angst opportunities when there's a possibility of his family or friends getting hurt because of either his current work or his former job... Of course, that possibility is probably a major part of why Reese hasn't tried to reconnect with any former friends or living family, so there's a sensible in-universe reason for his shallowness of character, but it's still a bit unfortunate that he has no equivalent of, say, Fiona, who is only the best person in the world. (So competent! So fearless! So bloodthirsty! YOU ARE TOO GOOD FOR MICHAEL, FIONA, MARRY ME.)
One of my favorite parts of both shows, however, is the way that they're alike - their cold, dead killer's eyes. ... no wait hear me out. They're both damaged men and it shows - okay, in Reese's case it might be more a case of Caviezel not actually being much of an actor (Reese: about as warm and empathetic as a block of wood), but for this character, it works. That flat affect makes him pretty convincing as someone who's lived in a state of constant lies, violence, betrayals, and death (and often the cause of all four), who's lost the one person whose memory he was hanging on to as a line to a civilian life, who is still capable of shooting you in the kneecap or in the head with about an equal amount of emotion - that is to say, none. Michael, well, he's got more connecting him to humanity than the memory of a dead woman and his interactions with family and friends are much more human, but there's still a certain distance. In his off-hours or talking to people he mostly trusts, he can be charming, funny, affable, but he's almost always focused on business and he's very rarely affectionate or emotionally open; when it comes to feelings and personal connections he deflects, he distracts, he does his best to keep a wall up and stay detached. He's got truly excellent fake smiles - wide, lots of teeth, very convincing until you look at his eyes and see that, like Reese, he could shoot you in the head and walk away and still get a good night's sleep.** (Unlike Reese, you do get to see an occasional genuine smile from him and it's beautiful, and I am not nearly good enough at subtle facial expressions to be able to pinpoint the exact difference.)
And those are my thoughts on spies! Any questions? ... by the way, I still can't believe Burn Notice made me go from cheering for Victor's death to nearly crying over him. ;o; VICTOR NOOOOOOOO
*In fact, I found it pretty interesting how quickly and without wacky hijinks Finch and Reese both adapted to taking care of a baby, grenade incident and all. Guys, if Finch's secret mpreg device plans don't work out, there's always adoption!
**Actually, I'm only assuming that either of them ever get a good night's sleep, but the point is their sleep would be no worse than it was before they killed you.
Also, for the record? Sam, Michael, and Fiona need to have a threesome. Seriously. Just to get all that jealousy worked out with sex.
Crossposted from Dreamwidth - read the original post here: http://hokuton-punch.dreamwidth.org/977549.html .