Michael Westen (Burn Notice)

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Created by Matt Nix

When the tough get burned, the burned get going…

When spies get fired, they don’t get a pink slip or a form letter from human resources. They get a “burn notice” and became untouchable.

In the USA Network series Burn Notice (2007-13), Jeffrey Donovan played MICHAEL WESTEN, a handsome, young, yogurt-loving former CIA operative who, in the middle of an overseas operation, is burned by the agency. With no funds and and no clue as to why he’s suddenly persona non grata in the intelligence community, he hightails it to his hometown of Miami, where he works as an unofficial P.I., drawing on his Special Ops training to use to help those who the police can’t or won’t help, as a way to fund his ongoing personal investigation.

He is helped and hindered by his once–and maybe once again–girlfriend Fiona, a trigger-happy ex-IRA operative played by Gabrielle Anwar. Also on board is Michael’s best friend and former partner Sam Axe, a boozy party animal and would-be ladies’ man who once worked as an informant for the FBI, dispatched to keep an eye on Michael. Sam’s played with considerable aplomb by cult film fave Bruce Campbell, while Michael’s manipulative mother is played by Sharon (Cagney and Lacey) Gless. It’s a strong cast, and they all look like they’re having fun.

It was probably the best new crime show of the 2007 season and got a lot of comparisons to Magnum P.I., though I’m more apt to liken it to The Rockford Files.  Heady company either way, and a lotta fun, although as the series progressed, the underlying and increasingly convoluted storyline featuring Michael’s attempts to be reinstated as a CIA operative grew wearisome. It was all fun and games when Michael was making ends meet (and helping others) as a sort of unlicensed private eye, but the ongoing mystery of why he had received the burn notice and how he could get back in the CIA’s good graces went on far too long.

I mean, how many loopholes for various dubious (and often expendable) handlers, helpers and former co-workers can one pink-slipped agent jump through? There always seems to be one more condition, one more betrayal or one more piece of bad luck piled on (and on and on…).

And then, just as I was about to give up on the show, Michael would crack wise, Fiona would want to kill someone, Sam would prove to be the best buddy anybody ever had and the team would blow something up. Blow it up real good.

UNDER OATH

  • “USA, which is home to Monk, about a detective with obsessive-compulsive disorder, and Psych, about a private eye who pretends to be psychic, is apparently trying to corner the market on kooky conceits for crime shows.”
    — Alessandra Stanley (June 2007, The New York Times)
  • “…this summer’s primary source of manflesh may actually be the USA Network… Burn Notice stars Jeffrey Donovan as a rogue spy who often gets injured and is forced to remove his shirt.”
    — Libby Gelman-Waxler (Entertainment Weekly)
  • “With its breezy sense of humor, lightweight action, roguish cast of characters and colorful tropical setting, Burn Notice resembles nothing if not vintage Magnum, P.I. Again, the nostalgic comparison is a compliment. Burn Notice is not as dramatically heavy as The Shield and its not as comically irritating as Monk—but it’s a consistently fun affair.”
    —Devin D. O’Leary (July 2007, Idiot Box)
  • “I’m not quite as crazy about the show as Glen is, but I do find this frequently quite entertaining, a bright shiny diversion that offers plenty of fun. The case-of-the-week shows are infinitely more interesting than the underlying story of Michael’s attempts to “unburn” himself, which often comes close to sandbagging the whole show, à la Twin Peaks or X-Files. And Glen’s right to liken this to both Magnum and Rockford. Michael’s deadbeat, lying brother Nate is certainly (and possibly intentionally?) reminiscent of Rockford’s Angel Martin, and there’s something of the off-kilter chemistry of Magnum and his crew in the antics of Michael, Sam and Fiona, with Michael’s mom playing the Higgins-style straight-man-with-an-agenda role. The show also recalls Miami Vice, not just in the slick but shabby setting, but in it’s glib, stylized tone.”
    — Kevin Burton Smith

HOT WHEELS

  • When Michael’s black 1973 Dodge Charger (the legacy of an abusive father that Michael vowed to keep running) first popped up back in 2007, eyebrows were raised. Was this the last gasp of a tired TV trope that ran out of gas in the eighties (namely the borrowed “cool” of using a certified classic car), an homage to that trope or simply the fact those old muscle cars were virtually indestructible? Over the course of the show, the car has been blown up several times and it gets shot up on a very regular basis. Michael explained in the very first episode that he prefers driving older cars so that in the event of a crash, he wouldn’t be pinned by the airbag, but given the amount of abuse this car has gone through, you have to wonder if he just takes a little perverse pleasure in putting his dad’s old wheels through the wringer.

TELEVISION

   

  • BURN NOTICE
    (2007-13, USA Network)
    Created by Matt Nix
    Writers: Matt Nix
    Directors: Jace Alexander, Sanford Bookstaver, Colin Bucksey, Rod Hardy, Paul Holahan, David Solomon
    Executive producers: Mikkel Bondesen, Matt Nix
    Co-executive producers: Nick Thiel, Jeff Freilich
    Line producer / producer: Terry Miller
    Supervising producer Mere Smith, Alfredo Barrios Jr.
    Starring Jeffrey Donovan as MICHAEL WESTEN
    Also starring Gabrielle Anwar as Fiona
    Bruce Campbell as Sam Axe
    Seth Peterson as Nate
    and Sharon Gless as Madeline Westen (Michael’s mom)

    • SEASON ONE | Buy this DVD set | Watch it now!
    • “Pilot” (June 28, 2007)
    • “Identity” (July 5, 2007)
    • “Fight or Flight” (July 12, 2007)
    • “Old Friends” (July 19, 2007)
    • “Family Business” (July 26, 2007)
    • “Unpaid Debts” (August 2, 2007)
    • “Broken Rules” (August 9, 2007)
    • “Wanted Man” (August 16, 2007)
    • “Hard Bargain” (August 23, 2007)
    • “False Flag” (September 13, 2007)
    • “Dead Drop (Part One)” (September 20, 2007)
    • “Loose Ends (Part Two)” (September 20, 2007)
    • SEASON TWO | Buy this DVD set  | Watch it now!
    • “Breaking and Entering” (July 10, 2008)
    • “Turn and Burn” (July 17, 2008)
    • “Trust Me” (July 24, 2008)
    • “Comrades” (July 31, 2008)
    • “Scatter Point” (August 7, 2008)
    • “Bad Blood” (August 14, 2008)
    • “Rough Seas” (August 21, 2008)
    • “Double Booked” (September 11, 2008)
    • “Good Soldier” (September 18, 2008)
    • “Do No Harm” (January 22, 2009)
    • “Hot Spot” (January 29, 2009)
    • “Seek and Destroy” (February 5, 2009)
    • “Bad Breaks” (February 12, 2009)
    • “Truth & Reconciliation” (February 19, 2009)
    • “Sins of Omission” (February 26, 2009)
    • “Lesser Evil” (March 5, 2009)
    • SEASON THREE | Buy this DVD set | Watch it now!
    • “Friends and Family” (June 4, 2009)
    • “Question & Answer” (June 11, 2009)
    • “End Run” (June 18, 2009)
    • “Fearless Leader” (June 25, 2009)
    • “Signals and Codes” (July 9, 2009)
    • “The Hunter” (July 16, 2009)
    • “Shot In The Dark” (July 23, 2009)
    • “Friends Like These” (July 30, 2009)
    • “Long Way Back” (August 6, 2009)
    • “A Dark Road” (January 21, 2010)
    • ” Friendly Fire” (January 28, 2010)
    • “Noble Causes” (February 4, 2010)
    • “Enemies Closee” (February 11, 2010)
    • “Partners in Crime” (February 18, 2010)
    • “Good Intentions” (February 25, 2010)
    • “Devil You Know” (March 4, 2010)
    • SEASON FOUR | Buy this DVD set | Watch it now!
    • “Friends and Enemies” (June 3, 2010)
    • “Fast Friends” (June 10, 2010)
    • “Made Man” (June 17, 2010)
    • “Breach of Faith” (June 24, 2010)
    • “Neighborhood Watch” (July 1, 2010)
    • “Entry Point” (July 15, 2010)
    • “Past & Future Tense” (July 22, 2010)
    • “Where There’s Smoke” (July 29, 2010)
    • “Center of the Storm” (August 5, 2010)
    • “Hard Time” (August 12, 2010)
    • “Blind Spot” (August 19, 2010)
    • “Guilty As Charged” (August 26, 2010)
    • “Eyes Open” (November 11, 2010)
    • “Hot Property” (November 18, 2010)
    • “Brotherly Love” (December 2, 2010)
    • “Dead or Alive” (December 9, 2010)
    • “Out of the Fire” (December 16, 2010)
    • “Last Stand” (December 16, 2010)
    • SEASON FIVE | Buy this DVD set | Watch it now!
    • “Company Man” (June 23, 2011)
    • “Bloodlines” (June 30, 2011)
    • “Mind Games” (July 7, 2011)
    • “No Good Deed” (July 14, 2011)
    • “Square One” (July 21, 2011)
    • “Enemy of My Enemy” (July 28, 2011)
    • “Beseiged” (August 4, 2011)
    • “Hard Out” (August 11, 2011)
    • “Eye For An Eye” (August 18, 2011)
    • “Army of One” (August 25, 2011)
    • “Better Halves” (September 1, 2011)
    • “Dead To Rights” (September 8, 2011)
    • “Damned If You Do” (November 3, 2011)
    • “Breaking Point” (November 10, 2011)
    • “Necessary Evil” (November 17, 2011)
    • “Depth Perception” (December 1, 2011)
    • “Acceptable Loss” (December 8, 2011)
    • “Fail Safe” (December 15, 2011)
    • SEASON SIX | Buy this DVD set | Watch it now!
    • “Scorched Earth” (June 14, 2012)
    • “Mixed Messages” (June 21, 2012)
    • “Last Rites” (June 28, 2012)
    • “Under The Gun” (July 12, 2012)
    • “Split Decision” (July 19, 2012)
    • “Shock Wave” (July 26, 2012)
    • “Reunion” (August 2, 2012)
    • “Unchained” (August 9, 2012)
    • “Official Business” (August 16, 2012)
    • “Desperate Times” (August 23, 2012)
    • “Desperate Measures” (November 8, 2012)
    • “Means & Ends” (November 8, 2012)
    • “Over The Line” (November 15, 2012)
    • “Down & Out” (November 29, 2012)
    • “Best Laid Plans” (December 6, 2012)
    • “Odd Man Out” (December 13, 2012)
    • “You Can Run” (December 20, 2012)
    • “Game Change” (December 6, 2012)
    • SEASON SEVEN | Buy this DVD set  | Watch it now!
    • “New Deal” (June 6, 2013)
    • “Forget Me Not” (June 13, 2013)
    • “Down Range” (June 20, 2013)
    • “Brothers In Arms” (June 27, 2013)
    • “Exit Plan” (July 11, 2013)
    • “All or Nothing” (July 18, 2013)
    • “Psychological Warfare” (July 25, 2013)
    • “Nature Of The Beast” (August 1, 2013)
    • “Bitter Pill” (August 8, 2013)
    • “Things Unseen” (August 15, 2013)
    • “Tipping Point” (August 22, 2013)
    • “Sea Change” (September 5, 2013)
    • “Reckoning” (September 12, 2013)
  • THE FALL OF SAM AXE | Buy this DVD | Buy this Blu-Ray | Watch it now!
    (2011, USA Network)
    Air date: Thursday, April 14, 2011
    Teleplay by Matt Nix
    Directed by Jeffrey Donovan
    Starring Bruce Campbell as SAM AXE
    Also starring Kiele Sanchez, Chandra West
    Made for TV movie, serving as a sort of prequel to the series.

NOVELS

FURTHER INVESTIGATION

Report respectfully submitted by Glen Davis, with a bit by Kevin Burton Smith.

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