Last year I seemed to be on a Netflix kick. I was watching TV shows I never caught for one reason or another while they were on TV. Then I discovered Burn Notice. I saw ads, it just never looked that appealing from the ads. Well, on Netflix, I watched all 4 seasons they had to offer and almost expired waiting for the release of season 5. Which was unfair, because they did not release it until right before season 6. Grrr...
It is like good ice cream. That would be Haagen Das, for me. Sweet, rich and can not be replaced by cheap imitations. So Michael Weston (Jeffery Donovan) is a spy given a "Burn Notice" from the CIA. For those who don't know what a burn notice is, the intelligence agency discredits or basically fire agents. In this case Michael Weston is dumped in Miami, Florida, no bank accounts (they are frozen), no I.D. nothing. In the show an old girl friend, Fiona Glenanne (Gabrielle Anwar, Love Her!!), is called to come to his aid, as he awakens bruised and battered in a cheap motel. Fiona (who sticks around, God only knows why), is joined by Sam Axe (Bruce Campbell) a drunken, semi retired Navy Seal who a has a penchant for rich middle aged women. Michael is Robin Hood and they are his merry band of men. Later they are joined by his chain smoking mother, Maddie (who finds out he is in Florida), and his slightly ne'er do well younger brother Nate. His mother is the wonderful actress Sharon Gless who won my heart in Cagney and Lacey, and his brother Nate is Seth Peterson. This is the basic line up until later when Jesse Porter (Coby Bell), a spy Michael accidentally burns, joins the band. He eventually finds out Michael burned him, is angry for a while but then forgives him.
The premise of the show was to find out why Michael was burned and get him back into the CIA, it is the only life Michael can imagine. Even when he and Fiona rekindle their relationship and she questions why he can not just have a regular life, he tells her it is all that he is. Anyway, He rents a $200 a month ratty loft in a warehouse building behind a club. It kinda grows on you after awhile, and they go to work doing odd jobs that require the wonderful sleuthing skills he acquired while in the CIA.
Fiona is an former IRA bomber, who has extensive knowledge of making homemade bombs, she also buys and sells guns. She makes herself very useful to Michael, which provides them the opportunity to grow close again. Sam Axe is charming in his tropicals shirts, and unshaven manly man appearance. He provides contact with people he knows at the "agency". He helps Michael in his jobs too and sometimes goes undercover as "Chuck". He and Fiona become friends, though at times they seem to be at each others throats. One character I love is Barry (Paul Tei) He is the metro-sexual bookie, fake ID maker and money laundering genius that helps them, and even goes to them for help. He is also called "Bad Checks Barry".
I love this show, this year in sadness, I had a hard time watching the first few episodes this season. They put Fiona in prison. I glanced at the show a few times, but until the episode came that let her out of prison, I did not watch them all the way through. Sadly the episode she is released, Nate, Michael's brother is shot and killed while helping them catch Michael's arch nemesis, Anson Fullerton (Jere Burns). Seth Peterson did a great job, my only hope is that they will find a way to bring him back. TV can bring anyone back from the dead.
One of my favorite parts of the show is the narrating during the show. When they are assembling bombs, or bugging cell phones, Michael narrates spies techniques, used in surveillance and espionage. In my next life I want to be a high tech spy. So every Thursday, when I am not watching Project Runway you can find me at Burn Notice, on the USA Network. If not there I will be on Netflix watching the reruns, or my purchased copy of season 5.
No comments:
Post a Comment