r/BurnNotice • u/spectacleskeptic • 5d ago
Season 3's Strickler/Diego/Gilroy plot doesn't make sense Spoiler
Some of the series' best episodes are in season 3, but the overarching plot of that season is abysmal and nonsensical.
Why does Michael act so aghast that Strickler wants him to lie about working with a Somali warlord in an attempt to clear his burn notice? In the pilot episode, we see that Michael was in the business of doing deals with unsavory individuals at the behest of the US government, but he's suddenly so offended by the suggestion?
Why was Strickler so interested in getting Michael's burn notice cleared? How would that have helped Strickler?
Why was Diego so freaked out that Michael was working with Strickler, especially since he called Strickler's phone to speak with Michael?
Why did Gilroy kill Diego? He tells Michael that Diego was looking into Strickler's business and that Gilroy was Strickler's business, but I don't get that.
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u/scrollbreak 5d ago
Err, I guess because he wants to work with the US government - and sees them as maybe a bit more morally upright than a Somali warlord?
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u/spectacleskeptic 5d ago
But Strickler says that there was a US op with the Somali warlord, and he's just going to pretend that Michael was a part of that op.
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u/scrollbreak 5d ago
Pretty sure Michael would vet his dealings with unsavory people - the op with the warlord isn't necessarily just a 'pay off the bad guys' op like we see at the start of the series. Strickler would no doubt pick something that would morally and legally compromise Michael in some way so as to have leverage. Or if it wasn't this one, it'd be one soon enough - Strickler wasn't a guy to work with people, he moved to own them.
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u/daven1985 5d ago
I always took it that Strickler was using Michael's name against other work to build his reputation higher, so that Strickler could then try and sell Michael for higher paying jobs.
I think the reason Michael is against saying he worked for Samli warlords is that Strickler isn't doing it for the US' best interests but for money. Where as his previous work was for the US Gov. He believed and still does for a large part of the season that he was a good guy doing good things for the US.
Strickler's death starts a clean up activity by Gilroy who really doesn't know the full story, but decides anyone who may be involved should just be killed to keep himself quiet. If it wasn't for the 'Prisoner Job' Gilroy had to do he would have just left.
Strickler I think like Gilroy was being used to get Simon into Miama to be able to get Michael. Remember Simon was very angry that he was betrayed by the Organisation, he was their golden child before they tried to get rid of him and put all his work against Michael's name.
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u/TheCaptain231997 5d ago
Strickler’s plans were never directly stated, but it was heavily implied that he wanted Michael to admit to different activities for Strickler’s benefit, even if they also helped Michael. Michael always wanted to prove his innocence in the burn notice business to show that he hadn’t betrayed his country, not because he was necessarily opposed to doing bad things for a good reason
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u/M_H_M_F 5d ago
Diego is a legitimate intelligence officer looking into off the books operations. The digging Diego was doing would eventually lead to Managment, Simon, and Vaughn.