Michael Westen is a trained spy who receives a "burn notice" for an unstated reason & effectively is fired. Penniless, he returns to his hometown in Miami and freelances while trying to find who burned him.
Burn Notice is a canny, clever comedy-thriller show about a covert operative with a heart of gold. Michael Westen (Jeffrey Donovan) is in the middle of a top-secret mission when he discovers he's been "burned"--basically, fired without warning. After barely extricating himself from danger, he wakes up in Miami, where the government has abandoned him and locked him out of his own bank account. To make ends meet, he takes on private detective jobs (helping an old lady who's fallen victim to a con artist; rescuing a young girl who's being tricked into white slavery; helping a mother whose son has been kidnapped by the boy's father... only it turns out the father is the rightful parent and the "mom" is an assassin sent to kill him--a nice guest star appearance by Lucy Lawless, Xena: Warrior Princess), while trying to figure out who burned him and why. Westen tries to remain clinical in his approach to these problems, but he always ends up protecting the helpless with his sophisticated spy skills. Over the course of the first season, he gradually uncovers a mysterious conspiracy that plans to use his talents for their own nefarious ends. Burn Notice deftly mixes the old and the new. The old: Our hero has a hot ex-girlfriend (Gabrielle Anwar, Scent of a Woman), a goofy sidekick (cult hero Bruce Campbell of the Evil Dead movies), and a meddling mom (Sharon Gless, Cagney & Lacey) who help and hinder him in his investigations, as well as a MacGyver-esque skill for making deadly devices out of common household products. The new: A media-savvy way of deconstructing the tricks and techniques of spies and government agencies, often resulting in smart and highly entertaining plot twists. Donovan, handsome but cheeky, combines a light comic touch with a convincing secret agent cool, and the supporting cast fill their niches with aplomb. Their escapades are pretty breezy and occasionally skirt being glib, but most of the time the show finds an extremely entertaining balance between action, romance, and humor. The extras are few (some montages of characteristic moments from the series, including one of the many bikini-clad girls the Miami locale provides) and the commentaries, rather than covering entire episodes, just discuss a few select scenes from each show. Fortunately, the series itself holds up; imagine a cross between Magnum, P.I. and The Wild Wild West (the classic series, not the insulting Will Smith movie) and you're on the right track. --Bret Fetzer
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Stills from Burn Notice (Click for larger image)
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0
McGyver Miami Style:
Entertaining, action-paced, if a bit low on credibility. The Miami landscape is a definite plus.
Burn Notice Season 1:
Burn Notice is a very clever, witty, laid back and a very entertaining thriller. It starts out with a spy in a middle of a top-secret mission getting `burned' (fired without warning and left to fend for yourself) he escapes and later finds himself awaking and stuck in Miami with all his accounts frozen. To make ends meet, he basically takes up odd jobs as sort of a Private Detective while he searches for the reason he was `burned'. Jason Donovan is perfect in this role and Gabrielle Anwar whom I... more info
Great Series!:
With all the junk on TV, this series is a relief to watch. It's exciting with lots of action, good plots, and the humorous lines between the actors really makes the show. Usually voiceovers are distracting, annoying; here, Jeffrey Donovan does a superb job with just the right note of sarcasm. Really can't improve this series. All of the supporting actors do a terrific job. The only negative note is the short season this runs. I so look forward to it I had to buy the first season so I can still enjoy it when... more info
Sharon Gless Burn Notice?:
I just found out recently that Burn Notice series stars one of my favorite actresses Sharon Gless from the former hit show Cagney and Lacey. I have not purchased this yet for myself but hopefully over the Thanksgiving holiday I will get to see it. My mother in law thought my husband and I would like it and it turns out she wanted it for her birthday along with another movie so I took the chance and located it on Amazon for a reasonable price and shipped right to her with no hassle and a birthday greeting... more info
