Burn Notice

Burn Notice is an American espionage television series created by

The premise of the show focuses on Michael Westen (Donovan), a former spy who was fired and cut off from the legitimate world by the agency he used to work for. Trapped in Miami with few resources, Westen takes jobs as an unlicensed private investigator while unraveling the mystery of who burned him and why.

The series received generally positive reviews from critics for the show's pace, humor, dialogue, and combination of espionage and crime drama presented in an irreverent tone.^[4] In 2010, the series was the #2 cable scripted series by viewership with 6.7 million viewers, behind Royal Pains.^[5] In addition to the television episodes, the show has a prequel movie and tie-in novels.

Plot

The title of the series refers to the

After being "burned" in the middle of an operation in southern

• working in the Dominican Republic. 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 appeared in several episodes before being killed by a sniper in season six. Michael presents himself as a cynic hardened by experience, but occasionally reveals a soft, and sometimes vulnerable, side. He has a romantic relationship with Fiona. In the series finale, Fiona and he are living in Ireland raising Charlie (Nate's son) as their child.
• Fiona Glenanne: A former IRA fighter, she is Westen's ex-girlfriend. Fiona re-enters Michael's life when he is dumped in Miami as she decides to stay and quickly makes herself invaluable to him. Aside from serving as his firearms and explosives supplier, 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, to distance herself from her past and blend in; showing her ability to adapt. She is 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:^[7]

• Charles (or 'Chuck') Finley" frequently during jobs. In the pilot, he is also an FBI informant, reporting on Westen under duress. Knowing this, Westen can 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 toward him, but the two eventually become very antagonistic friends. Sam occasionally asks her for advice concerning his relationships with women, and Michael has said that the two of them make a good team.
• 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 midseason finale of the third season, she considers leaving Miami but realizes her significance to his business. Until the events that start the series, she 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. Her appeals for help are Michael's one great weakness, and she can persuade him to do as she wishes.
• seven
  ): A counter-intelligence expert unwittingly burned by Michael during a search for classified files on a terrorist about whom Jesse has information. Jesse 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 that Michael was the one who burned him, albeit unintentionally, but instead grudgingly continues to work with the team. He and Michael eventually reconcile. Though eventually reinstated after his burn is lifted, Jesse finds he can no longer tolerate the bureaucratic aspects of government work and takes a job with a private security firm while remaining a vital component of Michael's team.

Season 1

The first season, consisting of 12 episodes, follows Michael Westen's investigation into the identity of the man who burned him. It also introduced the main characters: Fiona Glenanne, Michael's ex-girlfriend; Sam Axe, a former Navy SEAL and Michael's best friend; and Madeline "Maddie" Westen, Michael's hypochondriac mother. The season had many appearances by

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 the people on Simon's list of "Organization" agents. While pursuing the final man on the list, however, Max and Michael hit a dead end when they discover that the man is dead. This leaves many mysteries unsolved, perhaps forever, and these "inconsistencies" still consume Michael.

Michael continues to work under Max until the latter's murder, which was done in such a way as to frame Michael. Skillfully, however, Michael avoids the frame by both leading Agent Dani Pearce (Lauren Stamile), Max's replacement, away from the faked in-store security camera "evidence", and while simultaneously frenetically pursuing the actual killer through layers of "cut-outs". Michael eventually figures out that Romanian agent Tavian Korzha was the man who killed Max. Before he can confront him, however, Agent Pearce arrests Michael after seeing surveillance footage of his car leaving the scene immediately after Max's murder. Sam and Jesse intercept the convoy and convince Pearce to allow Michael to talk to Korzha while concealing a microphone.

After at last clearing his name by getting the killer to confess Max's murder to him - which Pearce hears before Tavian commits suicide, Michael finally comes face to face with

The seventh and final season, consisting of 13 episodes,[24]^[25][26] begins with Michael receiving an assignment from Andrew Strong (Jack Coleman), a high-ranking CIA official with whom he made the deal that got his team and Maddie set free. Strong made the deal because he believes Michael is the only person he can entrust with a dangerous mission that involves thwarting an American named Randall Burke (Adrian Pasdar) believed to be running freelance terror operations. Fiona has moved on to a new job with her new bounty hunter boyfriend. Sam and Jesse continue to help Michael despite, or perhaps because of, intrusions on their personal and professional lives. Maddie, meanwhile, is trying to get custody of Nate's son, Charlie, to keep him out of foster care. Burke turns out to be part of a larger organization, and he sacrifices his life to help Michael rescue a woman whom Burke called "the key to everything": Sonya (Alona Tal). Michael and the team, including Fiona, begin working with Sonya to get deeper into her organization. As they do, Michael meets James (John Pyper-Ferguson), the man calling the shots for Sonya and Burke, and after passing some very intense tests, especially psychological, Michael is welcomed into James's "family". Michael soon finds out that James works for peace and justice in the world, but uses extreme methods to achieve his objectives. After Michael kills Sonya to protect Fiona, James sends his men to kill Maddie, Charlie, and Jesse. Maddie sacrifices herself to protect them and Michael shoots James, intent on taking him into custody. James blows up his own building, hoping to kill Michael and Fiona. They escape, but must be presumed dead to protect themselves. Strong releases Sam and Jesse, without imprisonment, and announces that Michael will "posthumously" be given a star on the CIA Memorial Wall. While Sam and Jesse contemplate continuing helping out those in need like they had for the past several years, Michael and Fiona have made their home in a small town in Ireland raising Charlie as their own and being the family Fiona had always dreamed of having, with Michael as her husband. As the show ends, Michael asks Fiona what he should tell Charlie when he is older. Fiona says Michael should tell him the truth, but Michael does not know where to start. Fiona tells him to start from the beginning, by saying, "My name is Michael Westen. I used to be a spy."

Prequel and tie-in novels

Burn Notice: The Fall of Sam Axe is a prequel movie focusing on Sam Axe and is set before the events of Burn Notice. It was first broadcast on USA on April 17, 2011.^[27] It tells the story of Sam's last days in the Navy SEALs, leading up to his retiring to Miami, and serves as a lead-in to the fifth season of Burn Notice.^[28] Jeffrey Donovan directed the film and has a cameo appearance.

Since 2008,

Production

The show was filmed on location in and around

Michael's loft was originally located at 25°46'44"N 80°12'25"W.

Madeline's house was originally located at 947 NW North River Dr. Miami, FL 33136.

Reception

The series has received positive reviews. As of 2024, Rotten Tomatoes rates the entire series 88%, with individual seasons rating as high as 94%. ^[31]Critics praised the show's brisk and witty nature, succinct dialogue, and riveting combination of espionage and crime drama presented in a charmingly irreverent tone. Donovan's performance as the lead character also received praise for his likeably lighthearted, smart-mouthed, and vengeful spirit. Burn Notice has also been praised for its strong supporting cast members, slick production values, intriguing narrative, and dry comedic humor.^[32][33]

Awards and nominations

The

Over the years, the show was syndicated on MyNetworkTV from 2010 to 2012. Ion Television also acquired the rights for syndication of Burn Notice in 2013 along with White Collar.^[37] This was the fourth USA Network television series to be in syndication on Ion Television, along with Monk and Psych.

Home media

• Action comedy § Television

References

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to Burn Notice.

• Official Website on USA
• Burn Notice at
  IMDb