Burn Notice - Season 1 DVD Review

Posted by Brian Cramer on 06.13.2008

Guns make you stupid. Better to fight your wars with duct tape. Duct tape makes you smart.



Cast:

Jeffrey Donovan - Michael Westen
Gabrielle Anwar - Fiona Glenanne
Bruce Campbell - Sam Axe
Sharon Gless - Madeline Westen

Release Date: June 17, 2008
Total Running Time: 532 minutes

The Show:

Burn Notice (n) – an official statement issued by one intelligence agency to other agencies. It states that an individual or a group is unreliable for one or more reasons or purposes.

When you’re a covert intelligence operative (read: spy), those are quite possibly the last two words you ever hope to hear. Being burned means you lose your cash, your credit, your job history – essentially your entire identity. On top of that, you’re stuck in whatever city the higher ups decide to dump you in. Sound like it sucks? It does – just ask Michael Westen.

The premise of the show chronicles Westin’s attempts at tracking down the person who issued his burn notice, all the while taking on jobs as a makeshift private investigator. Hey, a man’s gotta be able to afford his yogurt, right? He does this with the help of ex-IRA operative (and ex-girlfriend) Fiona Glenanne, long-time friend Sam Axe and occasionally, his manipulative mother, Madeline. The individual stories and the overall series arc are masterfully weaved together in each episode, neither distracting from the other and both keeping you enthralled.

What are also balanced out beautifully are the commonplace aspects of any show – the comedy, romance, drama and action. The comedy is sly and witty. It never really slaps you in the face or seems forced but can easily have you cracking up when you least expect it. The romance is charming. The underlying relationship between Michael and Fiona always seems to be there but never becomes cheesy or irritating. The drama is intense but much like the comedy, it never comes off as forced. And the action is…well, action-packed. They pull no punches when they want to do something, whether it be a high-speed chase or blowing up a vehicle (or ten). “Burn Notice” is virtually the total package.

I should also quickly mention a device that the show uses very effectively – voiceover narration. Throughout the episode, we get to hear certain thoughts and musings of Michael’s, which provide invaluable insight into whatever is going on at the time. These narrations are also a large source of the comedic value of the show, as he explains things in such a way that it’s not outlandishly written but will leave you laughing out loud.

The Characters:

Michael Westen is masterfully played by Jeffrey Donovan. While this is the first time I’ve been exposed to his work, word is he made quite the impression on the show “Touching Evil” and after watching “Burn Notice”, I can see why. Donovan absolutely nails the character of Michael Westin, from common gesticulations to hitting his lines in a wry, deadpanned way that illustrates his emotional detachment from most everything and everyone around him. It’s a pleasure watching him and when he works you can clearly tell that he’s not Jeffrey Donovan portraying Michael Westen – he is Michael Westen.

His love interest (and I use that term lightly) on the show, Fiona Glenanne is portrayed by Gabrielle Anwar. Anwar is a beautiful, charming woman who compliments Michael’s character perfectly. A native of Ireland and ex-IRA operative, she’s always around to help Michael out of tight spots and lend her looks and womanly appeal to any situation or job that calls for such. While doing so, she also manages to never let Michael forget the relationship that they once had and how she’s still gung-ho on revisiting it.

Sam Axe is played by Bruce f’ing Campbell. Need I really say more? Alright, then – I will. Sam is an old spy buddy of Michaels who has since retired and become something of a woman-chasing alcoholic. And I mean that in the nicest way possible. Along with Fiona, he provides an immeasurable amount of tactical support on jobs, all the while indulging himself in as many free drinks as he can muster. Campbell provides a good amount of the wry comedy of the show and along with his dynamic with Fiona (due to a not-so-great past they have involving a lot of money), his character is an excellent addition to the show and quite frankly, after you’ve seen him, you’ll wonder how the show would’ve gone on without him.

Lastly, we have mother dearest. Played by Sharon Gless (of “Cagney and Lacey" fame), Madeline Westen can almost be considered as much of an antagonist as the criminals in the show. While it’s clear that she legitimately cares about her family, she goes about expressing it in many of the wrong ways. Whether it be constantly calling Michael for incredibly mundane reasons, setting him up to unwillingly take on jobs for people she knows or manipulating him into coming over just to force him into seeing his brother, Madeline Westen is irritating and unlikable as hell – and Gless does an exceptional job of conveying that.

The Episodes:
(summaries taken from DVD material)

Pilot – After receiving a “burn notice” severing his ties to the intelligence community, covert operative Michael Westen returns to Miami, where he helps a burglary suspect clear his name.

Identity – As he continues to track the origin of his burn notice, Michael must help his mother’s friend outwit a wily con artist.

Fight or Flight – Michael squares off against a Colombian drug cartel in order to protect a single mother, the only eyewitness to a brutal assault.

Old Friends – With a deadly assassin on his tail, Michael tries to rescue a friend’s daughter, an eighteen-year-old model who has been lured into a prostitution ring.

Family Business – While the F.B.I. pressures Sam to get more information on Michael, Michael must help an airport supervisor being threatened by a family of gunrunners.

Unpaid Debts – Michael gets more than he bargained for when he repossesses a speedboat from a Jamaican gang. Meanwhile, an unidentified C.S.S. agent tries to bully Michael into giving up his investigation.

Broken Rules – Michael infiltrates a ruthless criminal organization and is ordered to kill the man he is trying to protect.

Wanted Man – Fiona’s new gig as a county hunter leads Michael to an accused jewel thief, a bumbling fugitive whose name must be cleared.

Hard Bargain – Michael is hiring by a hapless house sitter whose fiancée has been kidnapped and is being held for a multimillion-dollar ransom. Meanwhile, a mysterious bureaucrat offers to help Michael clear his burn-notice.

False Flag – Michael finally meets his match when he is hired to help an attractive woman track down her ex-husband and their son.

Loose Ends (parts 1 and 2) – As Michael gets close to the man who burned him, he takes on the case of a young woman being blackmailed into using her security clearance to help smuggle heroin, and must use his underworld contacts to rescue Sam from a former Special Forces officer turned heroin smuggler.

The Extras:

Audio Commentary – The audio commentary on this set is sort of weird, as it’s scene specific. Instead of getting commentary for an entire episode, we get the cast speaking about certain scenes from each. It’s not necessarily a bad thing but it equates to considerably less commentary than we would be privy to if done normally.

Character Montage – Just what it says. It’s a minute and a half of all the main characters and other characters saying their name.

Girls Gone Burn Notice – “To Miami – where the beautiful women are allowed to go outside.” This is a two and a half minute long montage of T ‘n A.

Action Montage – Running, driving and explosions make up this approximately three minute long montage.

Gag Reel – And by “gag reel”, I mean three minutes of Bruce Campbell ad-libbing lines. Ok – there’s a little more to it than that, but not much. It’s about two and a half minutes of Bruce Campbell and thirty seconds of everyone else. Not that that’s necessarily a bad thing.

Audition Footage – The longest extra (not counting the audio commentary) clocks in at nine minutes and is comprised of Jeffrey Donovan and Gabrielle Anwar reading for their respective characters.

“Saving Grace” TV Show Music Video – Not really sure what the point of including this was but it’s a music video of the theme song of “Saving Grace” as performed by Everlast.

The Video:

It’s presented in 1.78:1 widescreen and the quality is as sharp as you could ask for short of actual high-definition. The clarity and color are excellent and overall the video transferred impeccably.

The Audio:

The audio is available in full 5.1 Dolby surround sound, for a fully immersing experience. While the language is obviously English, subtitles are available in English, Spanish and French.

The 411: "Burn Notice" is an absolutely phenomenal show. It's amazing mixture of action, romance, comedy and drama make for a 45 minute long episode that feels like it flew by in less than half of that. The characters are incredibly written, the acting is solid as a rock and the story is compelling and riveting.

Don't hesitate for a moment - if you haven't checked this show out yet, go pick up the first season on DVD. I guaran-damn-tee you won't be disappointed.

Final Score:  9.5   [  Amazing ]