Burn Notice

Burn Notice is an American television series created by Matt Nix. The show stars Jeffrey Donovan, Gabrielle Anwar, Bruce Campbell, Sharon Gless, and, beginning in the fourth season, Coby Bell.^[1] The series premiered on June 28, 2007, on USA Network.^[2][3] On April 15, 2010, the show was renewed for its fifth and sixth seasons. The fifth season of Burn Notice began on June 23, 2011.^[4] The show returned November 3, 2011. New episodes are aired at 10pm EST on USA network.

Plot

The title of the series refers to the burn notices issued by intelligence agencies to discredit or announce the dismissal of agents or sources who are considered to have become unreliable. When spies are burned, their connection to an espionage organization is terminated, leaving them without access to cash or influence. According to the narration during the opening credits, the burned spy has no prior work history, no money, no support network – in essence, no identity. The television series uses first-person narrative (including frequent voice-overs providing exposition) from the viewpoint of covert-operations agent Michael Westen, played by Jeffrey Donovan. The voice-over commentary is in the form of tips for fledgling agents as if for a training or orientation film.

After fleeing a blown operation in Nigeria and being kidnapped and beaten, Westen finds himself in his hometown^[5] of Miami, Florida. He is tended to by his ex-girlfriend, Fiona Glenanne, but he has been abandoned by all his normal intelligence contacts and is under continuous surveillance with his personal assets frozen. Extraordinary efforts to reach his U.S. government handler eventually yield only a grudging admission that someone powerful wants him "on ice" in Miami. If he leaves there, he will be hunted down and taken into custody; whereas, if he stays, he can remain relatively free. Consumed by the desire to find out why he has been burned, and by whom, Westen is reluctantly drawn into working as an unlicensed private investigator and problem solver for ordinary citizens to fund his personal investigation into his situation as a blacklisted agent.

Westen invites his old friend Sam Axe to assist him, while Fiona invites herself to join them. With the occasional assistance and sometimes hindrance of his mother, Madeline, Westen battles an array of such criminal figures as mobsters, con artists, arms traffickers, kidnappers, money launderers, and drug traffickers. At the same time, Michael must follow the trail that leads him to the people responsible for his being burned, and later finding out why.

The series juggles these two narratives; the overall series dealing with why Michael was burned, and individual episodes focusing on the cases he works for clients.

Cast

• Jeffrey Donovan as Michael Westen: A CIA contractor who has been burned (identified as an unreliable or dangerous agent) who now finds himself in his hometown of Miami, unable to leave. With his assets frozen, he is forced to live off his wits and any small investigative jobs he can find while he searches for answers about who has burned him and why. Highly skilled and extremely clever, he can think on his feet, often improvising electronic devices and using ordinary items ranging from duct tape to cake frosting in highly unorthodox ways in order to complete a job. He has two black belts (or, as he puts it in one episode, "thirty years of karate") and is "rated with anything that fires a bullet or holds an edge." He has an uncanny ability to assume cover identities, working in numerous regional dialects and international accents. He believes that his unhappy childhood, largely at the hands of an abusive father, has helped to make him into a natural covert operative while also making close relationships difficult for him. He has a younger brother, Nate (Seth Peterson), who appears in several episodes. He presents himself as a cynic hardened by experience but occasionally reveals a soft, and sometimes vulnerable, side. His favorite food is yogurt, which is featured (or eaten by at least one of the characters) in each episode. He has a volatile relationship with Fiona romantically.
• Gabrielle Anwar as Fiona Glenanne: A former IRA operative and Westen's ex-girlfriend. Fiona re-enters Michael's life when he is dumped in Miami and she decides to stay, quickly making herself valuable to him. Aside from serving as his firearms and explosives expert, she provides support to him on his investigations and, at times, assists him in missions to find out who burned him. In the pilot episode, she speaks with an Irish accent. In the second episode, she changes to an American accent, along with a change in her style of dress, in an effort to distance herself from her past and blend in, showing her own ability to adapt. She is both a complement to Michael and his match in many ways, both intellectually and tactically. Series creator Matt Nix has said about Michael and Fiona's relationship:^[6]

The thing about the relationship with Fiona is...They are two people who really don't have anybody else they can be with. Anybody else is going to be afraid of what Michael does, and it sort of turns her on, and anybody else for Michael is going to be uninteresting. He is attracted to her, but part of what we explore over the first season is they really are attracted with each other, and yet there is a reason they broke up. She is an incredibly chaotic person who just thrives on disorder...Violence is foreplay for her.

—Matt Nix

Where Michael is concerned, Fiona is not entirely willing to let go of their past relationship, which continues to simmer. In the latter half of season three, it is shown that the two of them are close to reigniting their relationship. As season five starts, the two move in together, but tension in their romantic relationship remains.

• Bruce Campbell as Sam Axe: An aging, semi-retired covert operative and former Navy SEAL. With a low amount of cash-on-hand to his name, Sam spends most of his time sleeping with rich, older Miami women in exchange for food and shelter. He and Westen are old buddies; Sam is also Westen's last, tenuous contact in the official spy community. He presents himself as "the guy who knows a guy", and Michael frequently relies on Sam's seemingly inexhaustible list of contacts. Sam also uses the alias "Charles (or 'Chuck') Finley" frequently during jobs. It is revealed in the pilot that he is also an FBI informant, reporting on Westen under duress. Knowing this, Westen is able to pass false information to the FBI through Sam, who is glad to become his double agent. At some point in the past, Sam foiled Fiona's attempt to sell a large shipment of weapons to a Libyan arms dealer, costing her a good deal of money. As a result, Fiona initially is very hostile towards him, but the two eventually become very antagonistic friends. Sam will occasionally ask her for advice concerning his relationships with women, and Michael has said that the two of them make a good team.
• Sharon Gless as Madeline Westen: Michael's mother, "Maddie" is a chain-smoking retiree. Although attempting to keep a sense of gravitas and self-importance, she is family-oriented and fully supports both of her sons in times of need, as well as helping Michael with his clients. In the mid-season finale of the third season, she considers leaving Miami, but realizes her significance to his business. Until recently, she has had only infrequent communication with Michael, noting in the pilot that Michael has missed his father's funeral "by eight years." During the first few seasons, Michael does not relish her company, but he gradually grows to appreciate her strength and love. Despite this, her appeals for help are Michael's one great weakness, and she has the ability to persuade him to do as she wishes.
• Coby Bell as Jesse Porter (season 4–present): A counterintelligence expert whom Michael unwittingly burns. Michael accidentally burned him when he went looking for some classified files on a terrorist that Jesse had information on. He comes to Michael for help, hoping to find and kill the people responsible for burning him, and gradually becomes part of Michael's team. He briefly considers killing Michael after discovering it was Michael who burned him, but instead grudgingly continues to work with the team, as he and Michael slowly reconcile. He is eventually reinstated, but soon finds he can no longer tolerate the "red tape" to do government work, and takes a job with a private security firm while remaining a vital component of Michael's team.

Episodes

Season one

The first season, consisting of 12 episodes, follows Michael's investigation into the identity of the man who burned him. It also introduced the main characters: Fiona, Michael's ex-girlfriend; Sam, a former Navy SEAL and Michael's best friend; and Madeline, Michael's hypochondriac mother. The season saw many appearances by Agents Harris and Lane (Marc Macaulay and Brandon Morris), two FBI agents sent to keep tabs on Michael. They were eventually replaced by Agent Bly (Alex Carter), who in turn was removed from Michael's case. By the end of the season, Michael has discovered the identity of the man who wrote his burn notice, Phillip Cowan (Richard Schiff), only to see him killed. Michael later is contacted by a mysterious woman, ending the season on a cliffhanger.

Season two

The second season, consisting of 16 episodes, depicts Michael's struggle to discover more about his new "handler" and use her to get to the people that burned him. The season begins with Michael meeting Carla (Tricia Helfer), the woman on the phone from the previous season. He begins a professional relationship with her after she begins bringing him clients. Meanwhile, Madeline begins getting closer to learning about Michael's secret life. By the season finale, Fiona kills Carla, and Michael meets "Management" (John Mahoney), the leader of a professional black ops syndicate. After telling Management that he wants out, Michael leaps from a helicopter and into the ocean, effectively ending their relationship as well as the "protection" that Management had secretly been providing for Michael.

Season three

The third season, consisting of 16 episodes, shows Michael in his quest to have his burn notice lifted. The season begins where the previous left off: Michael swims back to Miami, where he is met by Michelle Paxson (Moon Bloodgood), a Miami police detective who is intent on bringing Michael down. After he finally convinces her to stay away, Michael is approached by Tom Strickler (Ben Shenkman), an agent to the spies. Strickler claims that he can have Michael's burn notice lifted, but at a very high cost. Michael eventually must kill Strickler instead in order to save Fiona's life. In the meantime, Michael begins meeting Diego Garza (Otto Sanchez), a CIA agent who gives Michael information about his burn. However, after Strickler's death, Garza is murdered, and Michael is nearly back to square one. Later, Michael is confronted by Mason Gilroy (Chris Vance), a freelance psychopath who once worked for Strickler and confesses to the murder of Garza. Gilroy asks for Michael's help with an operation, and Michael, not wanting to let Gilroy get away with anything, follows. He discovers that Gilroy is attempting to break a high-risk felon out of prison. After Gilroy's murder, Michael learns the identity of the prisoner: Simon Escher (Garret Dillahunt), the man who committed the crimes for which Michael was framed. In the final scenes of the season, Michael is arrested and taken to a mysterious room.

Season four

The fourth season, consisting of 18 episodes, follows Michael as he begins working for the people who burned him once again. As with most other seasons, the fourth season begins immediately after the events of the previous. Michael, still in prison, is visited by Vaughn (Robert Wisdom), a high-ranking member of management. He serves as Michael's new handler, bringing Michael various jobs and even participating in some. Over the events of the season, Michael inadvertently burns a spy himself: Jesse Porter, a counterintelligence operative. Michael eventually reconnects with Simon, who directs Michael to a telecommunications magnate named John Barrett (Robert Patrick). After luring Barrett to Miami, Michael discovers that a coded Bible contains a complete list of the people who burned him. Jesse soon discovers that Michael was the one who burned him, leading to a rift between the two. Michael later is forced to kill Barrett in order to save himself, but loses the Bible in the process. Eventually, Sam and Jesse are able to reclaim the list, and decide to give the list to Marv (Richard Kind), Jesse's old handler. However, Marv is killed by Tyler Brennen (Jay Karnes), one of Michael's old foes. Now in possession of the list, Brennen hires another of Michael's enemies, "Dead" Larry Sizemore (Tim Matheson), to help track down the people on the list. Instead, Larry kills Brennen, which signals Michael's betrayal to Vaughn. Vaughn returns to Miami to have Michael, Fiona, and Jesse killed. However, Sam and Madeline are able to track down a congressman (John Doman) who is able to call for help. Michael is finally taken to Washington D.C. where he is met by an unidentified man (Dylan Baker) who proclaims, "Welcome back."

Season five

The fifth season, consisting of 18 episodes, begins six months after Michael successfully rejoins the CIA as a consultant. The man from the final scenes of the fourth season has been identified as Raines, and, along with Max (Grant Show), Michael begins hunting down and arresting all of the people on Simon's list. However, while pursuing the final man on the list, they discover that the man is dead, leaving many mysteries unsolved, perhaps forever. Even though no names remain on the list, Michael is still consumed with "inconsistencies" he has found in the files regarding his burn notice. Michael continues to work with Max until his murder, for which Michael was framed. Michael begins to pursue the real killer while simultaneously dodging any suspicions from Kim Pearce (Lauren Stamile), Max's replacement. After clearing his name on Max's murder by forcing the confession (and subsequent suicide) of the real killer, Michael finally comes face to face with the man who burned him: Anson Fullerton (Jere Burns), who is blackmailing Fiona in order to get Michael to do what he wants. After Michael and his team are repeatedly forced to commit crimes and complete increasingly dangerous missions on Anson's behalf, Fiona turns herself in, freeing Michael to pursue Anson without concern for her.

Season six

A sixth season, consisting of 16 to 18 episodes, was ordered by USA Network on April 16, 2010.^[7]

Prequel and tie-in novels

Burn Notice: The Fall of Sam Axe is a prequel movie focussing on Sam Axe and is set before the events of Burn Notice, broadcast on USA on April 17, 2011.^[8] It tells the story of Sam's days in the Navy SEALs leading up to him going to Miami, and serves as a lead-in to the fifth season of Burn Notice.^[9] Jeffrey Donovan directed the film and has a cameo appearance.

Since 2008, Signet Books has published a series of Burn Notice novelizations under their Obsidian imprint:

Production

The show is filmed on location in and around Miami, Florida. The show has a permanent set built in the former Coconut Grove Convention Center in Miami's Coconut Grove neighborhood where most of the show is filmed.

Awards

In 2011, David Raines, Scott Clements and Sherry Klein were nominated for "Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series" for Last Stand at the 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards.^[11]The pilot episode written by Matt Nix won a 2008 Edgar Allan Poe Award, honoring the best in mystery, in the category "Best Television Episode Teleplay".^[12] David Raines, Scott Clements and Sherry Klein were nominated for "Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series" for Burn Notice Series (One-Hour) at the 60th Primetime Emmy Awards in 2008.^[13] Composer John Dickson won 2008 and 2009 ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards for "Top TV Series". Craig S. O'Neill and Jason Tracey were nominated for a 2009 Writers Guild of America, USA award for "Episodic Drama" (episode "Double Booked"). In 2010, the show received its first Emmy Award nomination for acting, as Sharon Gless was nominated for an Emmy in the category of "Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama".^[14] Burn Notice has also been nominated for Favorite TV Obsession at the 37th Peoples Choice Awards.

International distribution

Burn Notice is shown internationally on the following 56 channels:

•  Argentina: FX Latin America, Telefé the series is titled Operación Miami ("Operation Miami")
•  Australia: Network Ten, One HD, W
• Arab World: America Plus, MBC Action
•  Brazil: FOX Brasil, Rede Bandeirantes
•  Belgium: 2BE RTL-TVI
•  Bulgaria: bTV cinema; the series is titled "Извън играта" ("Out of the game")
•  Canada: Showcase, Super Channel, Séries+ the series is titled (at Série+ only) Agent Libre ("Free Agent")
•  Chile: FX Latin America
•  Colombia: FX Latin America, RCN Television; the series is titled Burn Notice: Operacion Miami
•  Costa Rica: FX Latin America
•  Croatia: FOX Crime; the series is titled Odstrel ("The Culling")
•  Czech Republic: Prima Cool; the series is titled Status: Nežádoucí ("Status: Ineligible")
•  Denmark: TV3+
•  Ecuador: Teleamazonas the series is titled Operación Miami ("Operation Miami")
•  Estonia: TV3, the series is titled Viimane Hoiatus ("Last Warning")
•  Finland: MTV3
•  France: W9
•  Germany: VOX
•  Greece: NovaCinema 1
•  Honduras: FX,the series is entitled Burn Notice
•  Hong Kong: FOX
•  Hungary: RTL KLUB; the series is titled Minden lében négy kanál ("Four spoons in each soup". From the proverb "Minden lében kanál" ("He has a spoon in every soup"), meaning: "He has a finger in every pie.")^[15]
•  Iceland: Stöð 2
•  India: Star World, FX
•  Indonesia: FOX
•  Ireland: FX
•  Israel: Yes Stars Action; the series is titled סוכן מחוק ("Erased Agent")
•  Italy: Fox; the series is titled Duro A Morire ("Die-hard")
•  Japan: Fox Channel Asia・FOX Crime・NTVnetwork
•  Latvia: TV6
•  Lithuania: TV3; the series is titled Vilko Bilietas ("The Ticket of the Wolf")
•  Malaysia: 8TV,FOX ASIA
•  Mexico: FX Latin America, Canal 5
•  Netherlands: RTL5
•  New Zealand: TV3, The Box
•  Nigeria: M-Net West
•  Norway: Viasat 4
•  Pakistan: Star World, FX, MBC Action
•  Panama: TVMax; the series is titled Operación Miami ("Operation Miami")
•  Peru: FX Latin America, Canal 22
•  Philippines: Solar TV, Jack TV, FOX
•  Poland: TV Puls, AXN; the series is titled Tożsamość szpiega ("The Identity of a Spy")
•  Portugal: FOX; the series is titled Espião Fora-de-jogo ("Offside Spy" a football expression meaning "Out of the Game Spy")
•  Puerto Rico: WAPA-TV
•  Russia: TV-3 (Russia)
•  Serbia: FOX Crime and Radio Television of Serbia; the series is titled Nepouzdani agenti ("Unreliable Agents")
•  Slovenia: POP TV; the series is titled Vohun v nemilosti ("Spy Out of Favor")
•  Singapore: FOX and MediaCorp Channel 5
•  South Africa: M-Net Action Channel^[16]
•  South Korea: Fox
•  Spain: Fox España and Cuatro, by March 2011 in FDF; the series is titled Último aviso ("Last Warning").
•  Sri Lanka: Star World
•  Sweden: TV6
•  Switzerland: TSR 2 (Swiss-French), La_1 (Swiss-Italian)
•  Thailand: Fox Thailand
•  Turkey: Fox TV
•  UK: FX, 5*
•  Venezuela: Televen; the series is titled Atrapado en Miami ("Trapped in Miami"), FX Latin America

DVD releases

20th Century Fox has released the first four seasons of Burn Notice on DVD in Region 1. Season 2 was also released on Blu-ray.^[17] The TV movie The Fall of Sam Axe has also been released on DVD and Blu-ray.

References

External links

• Official Website on USA
• Burn Notice on MyNetworkTV
• Burn Notice at the Internet Movie Database