Burn Notice
Hey, we all know it's tough to find a job these days. But just imagine how difficult it'd be for an unemployed spy who can't even come up with a single letter of recommendation.
Ask Michael Westen about how hard it is to find work after years of being a government operative, and he'll likely cry in his yogurt cup. Complicating matters considerably, he didn't quit. He was forced out and "burned," leaving him without assets, a job history or prospects for relocation.
Michael is James Bond in The Fugitive—a venerable, vulnerable über-spy unwillingly wiped from the grid. And he has just one viable thing left to do to fill his spare time (and keep cable viewers even mildly interested): track down the folks responsible for his unfair dismissal while taking on (very) odd jobs that can utilize his (special) skills.
He's helped by Fiona, a former operative who also happens to be Michael's one-time ex and current live-in girlfriend. Sam, a hard-drinking pseudo-spy adds color. And Madeline, Michael's chain-smoking mother adds guilt.
But while Michael's quest to "unburn" himself holds the series together, rarely does the premise penetrate very deeply into what audiences see on a weekly basis. It punts 24-style serial obsession for more breezy, week-to-week fare. That means most episodes of Burn Notice stand on their own. They, like many of their companions on USA, don't demand much from viewers: They're transitory pleasures, meant to be consumed, enjoyed and largely forgotten until the next one airs.
Unlike, say, USA's now-deceased Monk or still-running Psych, Burn Notice ratchets up the content—but still not to envelope-pushing levels. Burn Notice seems happier planting seeds in fields that've already been plowed, exuding the vibe of a 1980s throwaway detective thriller with more skin and swearing.
Episode Reviews
"Mind Games"
After years of subjecting his mind and body to a frightening level of control, Michael may be finally losing it. He's growing ever more obsessed with finding out the cause of his "burn," so much so that he's making mistakes in the field. His brother thinks Michael's addicted—and, as a gambling addict himself, he knows of what he speaks.
But Michael keeps taking cases. And during this hour he's trying to help a yogurt-store owner who's fallen into the hands of unscrupulous loan sharks. Michael and the team decide to make the muscle of the operation look like a police plant … until they learn he actually is. So they're forced to undo the damage they've done.
Punches are thrown (and connect). Guns are pointed. Cars are hit with other cars. We see several skimpy bikinis, hear a smattering of bad language ("b‑‑ch," "h‑‑‑," "d‑‑n," "b‑‑tard" and a misuse of God's name) and play witness to a whole lot of spying subterfuge. Michael and Fiona are shown in the same bed together (clothed), and they briefly make out. Fiona tells him to shred documents from his past so he can "sleep better—unless I keep you up."
"Made Man"
Westen and Co. take on Miami mob boss Tony "Mr. Clean" Caro, who's been shaking down a local dock. "Maybe it's time we throw a little dirt on him," Michael says. And so they do—convincing Tony that his own men are out to get him and pushing him to begin a gang war.
Their plan involves lying to, cheating and eventually betraying Tony (who shows a greater degree of selflessness than the good guys when he tries to rescue one of them). Viewers learn later he nearly dies after killing off his main opponent (and perhaps several others). We don't see any actual bloodshed during the shootout—the camera demurely turns away before it begins—but viewers do see Michael beaten by several thugs (they slam his head on a table and later punch him several times in the gut) before he responds in kind. As part of the plan's ruse, Tony is kidnapped and threatened. He's told he'll be cut up into little pieces—and his ear nearly becomes the first casualty.
Nameless beauties parade in bikinis, while familiar characters drink, smoke and say things like "b‑‑ch," "b‑‑tard" and "h‑‑‑."