My Take On: Burn Notice (and why you should be watching)

I’ll be the first to say that I do not watch prime­time ser­ial shows on reg­u­lar cable. Noth­ing has ever really grabbed my attention…until your illus­tri­ous host and I started watch­ing Burn Notice on USA. (Char­ac­ters wel­come, indeed.) Now, I sali­vate at the thought of another hour of spy-goodness on my tele­vi­sion (and also secretly wish to be a covert-op).

Cre­ated by Matt Nix, Burn Notice stars Jef­frey Dono­van as Michael Westen our hero spy who has been “burned”, Gabrielle Anwar as Michael’s ex-girlfriend and explo­sives fanatic Fiona Gle­nanne, Bruce Camp­bell as semi-retired intel­li­gence oper­a­tive and for­mer Navy SEAL Sam Axe and Sharon Gless as Michael’s mother, Made­line Westen.

About to pre­miere its fourth sea­son, the show cen­ters around Michael and his need to find out who burned him and to get back into the spy game. With a “burn notice”, a spy is wiped off the grid, with­out access to any­thing — a burned spy also has no prior work his­tory, no money, no con­tacts — no identity.

In between try­ing to find out why he was burned, Michael, accom­pa­nied by Fiona and Sam, sets out help­ing home­town res­i­dents with prob­lems only a spy can han­dle.  (Michael was left by  in the Miami, Florida when he was burned — which pro­vides a great back­drop for the show), He becomes sort of a pri­vate investigator/spy –for-hire for any­one who needs it, get­ting in and out of trou­ble along the way.

This show pro­vides excel­lent writ­ing filled with wit and sar­casm, which I love in all my shows. Westen could not have been bet­ter cast — Jef­frey Dono­van deliv­ers lines with per­fect tim­ing, and you grow to wish you had him in your con­tact list. The chem­istry between Michael and Fiona is pal­pa­ble, and you will really love them as a on-again-off-again cou­ple. Sam – or shall I call him by his fake name Chuck Fin­ley, pro­vides fan­tas­tic humor and is the needed cor­ner to this super-spy trifecta.

 If you do not have Burn Notice on your To-Watch List, get on it fast – Sea­son 4 begins this Thurs­day, June 3^rd at 9PM EST.  If not, now is the per­fect time to catch up on this great series –Get the first three sea­sons on DVD and check it out – I highly rec­om­mend it. USA  has already renewed the show for both a  fifth and a sixth season.

 “Covert intel­li­gence involves a lot of wait­ing around. You know what it’s like being a spy? Like sit­ting in your dentist’s recep­tion area 24 hours a day. You read mag­a­zines, sip cof­fee, and every so often some­one tries to kill you.” – Michael Westen

Andrea

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