Burn Notice - Season 4

Burn Notice's fourth season injected a much-needed breath of fresh air by adding a new main character to the mix. The chemistry between the three leads has always been fun and strong enough to carry most of the show's episodes, but just adding a new guy who's there from week to week really shakes it up a bit, especially when he's something of a loose cannon like Jesse. The character gets introduced when Michael accidentally gets him burned during one of his jobs, and he takes him on as another member of his group while trying to hide the fact that he's the reason he lost his job. There's some irony to Michael burning an innocent guy while trying so hard to get back at the people who burned him, and there's  the inevitable dramatic moment where the truth is revealed and things get messy. In the end though they're all main characters, so they manage to find a peace while agreeing to do their best to get everybody back to where they want to be.

Of course that's easier said than done, as every week the crew takes on a random job in Miami while making baby steps towards the conclusion of that season's main story arc. This year Michael finally comes face to face with the guys he's really after, or at least one of them, and for the first time in a while there seems to be some real movement on something resembling a plot. More and more familiar faces from the past come back as the show builds up a universe of spies and government officials, and sometimes Michael gets the best of them, while sometimes he doesn't. I definitely think I'd like the show more if it just focused on the story instead of a bunch of miscellaneous jobs to fill time every week.

Obviously the structure of the show is such that the stand-alone material makes up the bulk of the running time, but the two hour season finale had none of that, and it was definitely the better for it, easily being the most tense and exciting content on the show from the entire year. The ending suggested a big change in how the show will operate from this point forward, but if I know anything from past seasons, it will take all of fifteen minutes in the season five premiere for Mike to be back in Miami taking odd jobs. In fact, I'm pretty sure I made that exact comment at the end of season three. At least they fixed the scheduling issue - the show was on this weird pattern where the gap between the first and second halves of the season was actually longer than the gap between one season and the next, but they pushed up the second half this time to November instead of some time in 2011. It causes the odd situation of two season finales in one year, but it made it a lot easier to remember what had already happened before.

Burn Notice - Season 3

Remember when I said that for the show to grow, it would have to do something new? Yeah, well it didn't. Mike is still pulling odd jobs in Miami with his crazy girlfriend and Bruce Campbell by his side, while a main plot progresses in bursts once in a while. Once again, the season ends with a strong episode that ditches the formula for something more exciting and with a cliffhanger ending that suggests a change in what's to come next time, although I'll gladly bet that by the second episode of season four, he's pulling odd jobs in Miami with his crazy girlfriend and Bruce Campbell by his side again. There's not really anything wrong with that, it's just what keeps Burn Notice as an enjoyable but forgettable spy show instead of a potentially great one.

There's the usual train of snarky contacts and overseers who boss Mike around while also supplying him with work he doesn't care for but does anyway, and they all predictably get written out after a handful of episodes. Mike's mother's role expanded a bit this season, as she gets more involved than he'd like in a couple of their capers and starts getting actually affected by his spy work. Right now it's the closest thing the show has to actual depth, although it's not really my favorite part. I felt like there was some more overlap than there should have been in plots/techniques used, as the show thrives when it's being clever and new, though there was enough of that to keep me watching with a semi-interested glaze. Not a great program, but funny and interesting enough to keep it's place on my list.

Burn Notice - Season 2

After the end of season one, I wasn't even sure where the second would take place, although it wasn't long before Michael Westen was back to pulling odd jobs in Miami, only this time being ordered around by a mysterious woman with a lot of influence in the town behind her, being played by Tricia Helfer moonlighting away from her regular gig on Battlestar Galactica which is about to end soon and oh my God did you see last night's episode this mess is going to get epic. Anyway, for the most part Mike continues to help various people with their problems that only he can fix with the help of Bruce Campbell and his sorta girlfriend Fiona, taking care of business in generally creative ways while he works on his own problem off and on. Some episodes are better than others, and my memory of the first half is a little fuzzy, but there are a few standouts, like one with Lucy Lawless as someone who's not what she seems (she's on Battlestar Galactica) and a really cool bank robbery episode featuring the lawyer from Battlestar Galactica.

Anyway, they clearly made a stronger attempt with this season to build a story across the whole thing, and for the most part it worked. There are a few times where you wish they'd just let an episode exist without a stand-alone part so they could move things forward better and repetition of ideas like Mike constantly moving his mom around to keep her safe from the bad guys, but at least they're trying. The hot spy tips continue to be an entertaining aspect, although I have to wonder how many of them they really have left in the tank. One thing they did well this season was introduce antagonists to Michael who eventually become sympathetic and help his cause. The finale was climactic enough I suppose, and I again wonder exactly what they're going to do next. They could just go back to the formula pretty easily, although if they really want it to grow they have to do something else.

Burn Notice - Season 1

Burn Notice is a pretty fun and educational show about a spy. I say educational slightly in jest, but the protagonist's narration is really one of the most enjoyable aspects. He's serious when he needs to be, but does his best to have fun on each job, and frequently gives the viewer tips on how he's succeeding. He doesn't say anything dangerous like how to make the homemade explosive he's using, but he'll give some basics on home defense and getting out of sticky situations that do seem pretty smart. He lucks out usually when most of the bad guys are unfamiliar with all the basic tactics he's using, but it's a unique twist that keeps the series fresh.

It works because the characters are likable, so even when the plot for the week is a bit rote, it's entertaining to see them work through it. He has a slightly insane ex-girlfriend who also happens to be a former IRA member and an old friend from the military played by Bruce Campbell, who's as great as always. I don't usually watch shows with a new conflict every week, but Burn Notice has enough plot and character development to keep me interested. The basic plot is that the main character got blacklisted from his Government job, and has to do whatever low-paying work he can find while stuck in Miami trying to get his old life back. They balance the weekly issue with the long term problem very well, and it makes for a pretty addicting show. I'm not even sure where season 2 takes place after the finale, but I'm looking forward to seeing more.