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This analysis covers the brief conversation between two of the main characters in the television series Burn Notice during the initial scene of episode nine in season four. The story premise is about a spy, Michael Weston, who is fired, or burned, and works towards getting his name cleared; unfortunately he is completely cut off from his old life, no cash, no job history, and is told he cannot leave Miami Florida. Michael is supported by his ex-girlfriend Fiona, and his good friend Sam. The specific scene in question is based inside a restaurant; the conversation is between Michael, Sam, and Fiona, although I will only be focusing on Michael and Fiona. The center of the conversation is on a bible that Michael has “acquired” through a bank heist; the bible contains blacked out words that all three characters agree is a code of some sort.
Michael and Fiona are attending to the conversation in that they are actively listening. However, due to the fact that they are in a restaurant there is background noise from other customers. They are also eating food, Fiona is laid back with her shoes off and feet propped up on the table. Michael is leaning forward over his food but paying close attention to what Fiona is saying. In an effort to increase attentiveness, Fiona could put her feet down and lean into the conversation; as Michael is a bit of an internal thinker he could clear his mind and focus more on the conversation as well. The biggest noise even though they are in a restaurant is the food, they are there for the meal and as such it becomes a bit hard to focus on the issue of the coded bible.
Michael interprets the bible and their conversation about it as an opportunity to gather intelligence. Fiona interprets the bible and their conversation as a way to put Michael’s life in danger. Because Michael is so focused on clearing his name, and stopping the bad guys, he does not care that his life is in danger. This stops him from interpreting Fiona’s message as anything other than a way to put him down. Fiona cares so much about Michael that she cannot see that he truly believes in what he is doing. Both characters could do with taking a look at each other’s feelings and messages, then clearing their minds of their own needs/wants.
Michael responds to Fiona reactions as though she does not understand, he attempts to explain but when she does not agree, or gives him counter advice to what it is that he wants to do, he becomes frustrated and states finalities. Fiona responds to Michael’s ideas as though they were stupid and fool hearty, shooting down his message, up to the point where Michael proves that she is wrong; when this happens Fiona backs down and makes up excuses. Instead of responding with explanations and dismissing Fiona’s message out of hand, Michael could listen and accept her communication at face value. Fiona could accept what Michael is saying without degrading his sense of self, and give constructive feedback rather than complaints. Their overall responses to each other could be more open and accepting rather than standoffish and self absorbed.
As far as remembering goes, Michael remembers all that he has done before hand as well as what Fiona has done, this gives credit to the fact that he will remember this conversation as well. Fiona is so absorbed in protecting Michael that her memories are clouded by her perceptions of Michael getting hurt, causing her to misremember things even during the conversation. This could all be improved in the same way that above has been, focus more on the conversation and less on the food, be open and accepting rather than aggressive, remove the distractions of their own self thoughts.
Overall, Michael is a good listener but doesn’t seem to care that other people are scared for him. He could improve his listening skills by being more open and accepting of other people’s feelings. Fiona is angry and easily hurt by those she cares for. She can improve on her listening skills by backing away from the emotional side of the communications a bit and accepting the message as just a message, not strictly aimed at her. |
