TV-Reviewed

I suspected the show’s writers would somehow make use of those throwing daggers Seymour had given Michael and Fiona. That was a nice tie in. In fact, I’ll admit it sort of caught me by surprise–the dagger thumping into the wall. I liked the irony of this part, too, when he’s just finishing up saying, “you never know what’s waiting for you around the corner.” That’s just one of the many reasons I love this show: the dry, off-beat wit gets me laughing. Another part that was cool here is when Fiona is trying to convince Michael to join her in her bounty hunting adventures. “My brain, your brawn.” Even the tough guy there was impressed by the force at which Fi slammed that dagger in the wall after that…

Of course, Fi’s latest bounty goes awry when the sultry Detective Paxson shows up. Ah, Detective Paxson, yet another way to have some fun with Michael Westen. Though, I have to admit, I got excited here, and not just for the obvious reason.

I never really considered the real-life consequences of Mike and his friends and his enemies. Think about it: Every time Fi blows something up…Well, that something is owned by someone. When Michael, Fi, or Sam–or the bad guys for that matter chasing them–go speeding recklessly through the streets of Miami, causing accidents and what not, the average joe could be in danger of getting harmed, or killed. The question is: Did the guys in the suits help steer people like Detective Paxson away from Michael for the past year or so? Yet, what about the comment Paxson made? “Stuff’s been blowing up pretty steadily since you came to Miami.” The “since” is what made me think. If she’s only investigating a fairly recent incident, which only happened in last season’s finale, how would she know Michael had anything to do with any previous “things blowing up”? Perhaps, Paxson and her friend aren’t really with the PD? Maybe they work for the suits and are only there to toy with Mike? Anyway.

Moon Bloodgood as Detective Paxon, Jeffrey Donovan as Michael Westen

I suspected Fiona wasn’t going to be happy about having lost out on her money, but I wasn’t expecting it to lead to the side-job. That was a pretty cool segway, I think. It shows how Michael having lost his “protection” doesn’t just effect him, but also those around him. I’m not saying it’s a deep moment or anything, but it does get the point across.

I thought the back story behind how Fiona knew the client was creative. I liked the (talking about how she apprehended Patricia’s brother): “I had to hit him with a brick to get him into the car. Sweet guy…” That definitely gave me a good laugh. Seriously, though, it was an interesting way to introduce some back story into what Fi does when we don’t get to see her.

The side-job itself I had suspected would be, naturally, much more complicated than just “knocking some sense” into the husband. I knew there had to be more to the story, and there was. The husband was just trying to cover up that their son had been kidnapped by a ruthless jewel thief. And, boy, did this side-job have some fun and intense moments in it. First there was Michael chasing the husband down with his car and using the car door to stop him, then there was Fi in the back seat trying to help the wife relax, and let’s not forget the “reverse interrogation.” That definitely got intense quick! It was awesome, too, to see how something like that might go down. The entire part where Sam had to loosely describe Flowers so Michael could live was probably one of the most intense parts. Though, the ending was THE best bit. Sam getting those guys to kill each other with that single gunshot was just icing on the cake. That was definitely an oh-yeah, head-nodding moment.

Meanwhile, throughout this episode Detective Paxson sure did enough hounding of Michael Westen. One thing I thought that was a bit questionable, though, was when Fiona mentions C4 where pretty much anybody nearby could hear. You’d think she’d have been a bit more cautious–especially with mentioning Paxson’s name and about making explosions. Heck, Paxson–the “stalker with a badge,” as Sam called her–could’ve overheard that. Good thing she didn’t. That might’ve been bad. Anyhow. I thought it was interesting how Michael and Sam and Fiona were able to retrieve the C4 and detonators. In fact, I’d say that was an extremely clever way of going about it. Of course, there was the blatant hole left in the back wall–not to mention it’d probably take awhile using a saw like that. Oh, and not to mention the “puddle of water” on the floor. Detective Paxson is a…keen observer if anything.

With that said, I do think “Question and Answer” was another solid episode. The ending was well put together. Everything from Detective Paxson showing up at Michael’s pad as night fell (and the playfulness in their conversation) to Michael looking afraid to take even a bite of his mom’s cake to Sam’s gift of a five pack of beer to Fiona’s gift of a bayonet once used in World War I, was great. One things for certain: Detective Paxson is a handful. Her showing up at night, though; wow, she’s sure dedicated in her efforts in taking Michael out. I’m certain there has to be something more to her than we yet know.

Rating: 8.5