DVD/TV Series Review: Burn Notice Seasons 1-3

 

Burn Notice was a show that aired on the USA network from 2007-2014. The premise was that a CIA operative named Michael Weston, played by Jeffrey Donovan is outed and burned (disavowed by the government) during an operation in Nigeria. He is knocked out and wakes up in his hometown of Miami and put under surveillance. He is told if he stays in Miami he can do basically what he wants, but if he leaves he will be arrested and thrown in a hole. He decides to stay in Miami and take on jobs that really only an ex-spy can, sometimes skirting legality himself to take down a bad guy and/or help some innocent person in danger. He is joined by his ex-girlfriend (and former IRA operative) Fiona, played by Gabrielle Anwar, and Sam Axe, a retired covert operative (and current lady's man) played by the great Bruce Campbell). The main cast is rounded out by Sharon Gless, who plays Michael's mom Madeline who usually (especially in the early seasons) gets in Michael's way under the guise of helping.

The show was part procedural case/story of the week with the bigger serial arc(s) that would span throughout the series. The big one, of course, is Michael trying to find out who burned him, a brass ring that stays just out of reach for quite a while. The first season ends on a cliffhanger when Michael figures out who wrote his burn notice, but finds that a much heavier hand was behind it. Season two is focused on the larger organization and Michael trying to figure out who they are and take them down. Tricia Helfer (of Battlestar Galactica fame) has a recurring role during the season as Michael's handler who assigns him tasks that get more dangerous over the course of the season. The third season sees Michael facing the consequences of defying "Management", the organization from season two, and he is tracked by a police detective who is convinced he is dirty.

For those who get the DVDs, the extras include scene commentaries with creator Nix and various actors, there is also a short gag reel, audition footage, and then a couple of short and kind of dumb featurettes that are basically a collection of clips from the show. What was included was okay, but it could have been better. The first couple of seasons of the show were released on Blu-Ray, however, the A/V transfer was apparently very bad, so I just stuck with the DVDs.

Overall, the show is very good. It has a good mix of action, comedy (mostly from Campbell), and drama. Donovan does a great job as the series lead both in the action scenes and as basically the narrator (as he has a ton of voiceovers where Michael explains spycraft). All of the actors, the main cast, the recurring characters, and the guest stars, do a very good job in their roles. It is not a show that was a carbon copy of anything, and there really has not been anything exactly like it since it went off the air. So, if you are one who has not seen the show and are looking for something in the action-drama genre, this is definitely worth checking out.