Notorious - The Burn Book - Review: Meet Mama Bear Mentor

When I said last week that I want to see Julia and Max engage in more horizontal scenes, I certainly didn`t mean for them to watch a black and white movie. Still, even though this was a major disappointment "The Burn Book" was a strong outing featuring a intriguing new mystery, powerful new character interactions and plenty dashing guest stars.

The episode picked off right where last week`s episode ended with Julia and Jake following Dana Hartman`s (Melina Kanakaredes) cry for help. Dana`s daughter Maya (Hayley Ramm) found her roommate Johnny dead. Maya turns into the prime suspect and Jake into her lawyer. From this point, things just go from bad to worse for Maya. The soapy turns and twist surrounding this episode worked exceptionally well and kept me entertained throughout.

Turning the murder victim into a man-whore, who dated Maya, slept with her mother and had a menage a troa with Maya`s remaining roommates, Will (Maiara Walsh) and Preston (Chris Brochu) opened the suspect pool up and turned the hunt for the killer into an exciting ride that will certainly hold our attention for the remaining two episodes of the season.

Creating an emotional attachment between Julia, Maya and Dana was a smart move and made the interactions between Julia and Dana so much more captivating. As said in the premiere review it is interesting to see Julia handle the news when she is so close to the cases and has an emotional involvements ti the story. Piper and Melina Kanakaredes interact very well with each other and the expected familiarity between mentor and student was palpable and translated well to the screen. But the scenes between Julia and Louise once more topped the episode and elevated the quality to a new level.

Louise felt resentful towards Dana cause of the damage she brought to female reporters and made a deal with the network chief to air the sex tape of Dana and the victim Johnny. This was a catalyst to two very powerful scenes, the first one during LHL and Julia's fight with the network chief and the second one was the fight between Julia and Louise. So juicy. I love emotionally charged and well-written fight scenes, and even though How To Get away with murder is the champion of those scenes Notorious gave them a run for their money. Later the girls made peace after acknowledging their mistakes.

The final game changer in the murder case was the reveal that the murder weapon belonged to Ray J, famous singer and reality star. Maya and her roommates were revealed as the Bling ring burglars and arrested by the end of the episode. Will and Preston sold out Maya and accused her of Johnny`s murder trading their information for freedom. Poor Maya, Jack tried to per sway her to bargain a deal but she wouldn't betray her friends, they didn't have the same issue.

I loved Jack's subtle involvement in the episode and working with Bradley and Ella to free Maya. I still find it disappointing we didn't get more intel on Bradley over the course of the show. He and Julia's assistant Megan are wasted opportunities. Not sure we'll get a Bradley or Megan centric episode in the remaining 2 episodes. Jake's meeting with Johnny's dad, played by the adorable Despearte Housewives alumn Doug Savant was one gut-wrenching scene. Doug always knew how to deliver in those scenes, hope ge gets involved in a new project next season.

Last but not least this episode wasn't all about work and twisting the murder case. Julia and DA Max Gilford went on their first official dinner date. Sadly the date ended rapidly after Julia found out about Maya's burglar related arrest. I love Julia and Max together and their scenes are so smooth and filled with so much kindness and care, I won't use the word love yet cause it is way too early. After reaching seventh heaven with Max, Julia quickly crushed down to hell after both Dana and Jake gave her a piece of their mind. And she did deserve that. She didn't just betray Dana's trust, she stabbed one big knife into Jake's back and didn't even give him the respect he deserved.

The episode ended with the murderer disposing the murder weapon into a security deposit making me think it was neither of the introduced suspects. Is the new murder mystery Notorious enough for you? Do you like the characters introduced to the show? And who is your prime suspect? Sound off in the comment section and let me know what thought about The Burn Book.