Byron Lafayette
Michael Westen used to be a spy…That is until, he was handed a burn notice in the middle of an operation and dumped in Miami, with no cash and no job history, where he takes on odd jobs helping people fight injustice while hunting down the people who burned him.
Burn Notice was a thrilling dramedy that aired from 2006 to 2013 on USA and aired 111 episodes as well as a spin-off prequel movie. In today’s climate of six episode seasons and three season shows, that is a number that is impressive.
The series stars Jeffrey Donovan, Bruce Campbell, Gabrielle Anwar, and Sharon Gless. It follows CIA Agent Michael Westen after he is burned by a mysterious organization, and his efforts to uncover the perpetrators. Meanwhile, Westen takes on odd jobs all over Miami helping people who find themselves the target of hitmen, cartels, spies, conmen, and a whole bevy of bad guys!
Burn Notice was one of the series that aired during what many called the “Golden Age” of USA, which saw the network airing Monk, White Collar, Royal Pains, Burn Notice, Psych, and Suits. I watched Burn Notice live, and then revisited it a few years later, but now that its 10 year anniversary of going off the air has just come and gone, I got the itch to revisit the series and see if it still held up in this new world.
It’s sadly all too often that we have a series we love that upon revisiting we find does not hold up any longer. This can be due to many things: outdated references, poor CGI, etc. Interestingly enough, Burn Notice has a very poor pilot episode—one that I disliked so much I almost did not continue the series the first time I watched it—however, it does a total about-face in the second episode and draws in its viewer!
Thankfully I found that Burn Notice does in fact hold up very well in 2024, so let’s explore some of the fun and quirky aspects of the tale of Michael Westen who used to be a spy….
Burn Notice’s editing style is very reminiscent of the 1980s, and shows like Miami Vice with its B-roll images of sun, beaches, and beautiful women in bikinis. Funnily enough, it’s also its own era that makes it a nostalgic ride—the last half of the 2000s this was an era with little social media and associated tech. Most phones were still flip phones, and computers were not used for everything. It’s fun seeing Michael solve cases and defeat bad guys mostly without the use of computers and smartphones.
The show’s very retro editing and style give it a timeless feel. No matter if you watched it now or in 10 years, it would still retain that feel.
Burn Notice incorporates a dry and comedic voice-over in most of the episodes, along with a Macgyver tone. Michael often describes his thought process and spy work’s ins and outs. This includes bomb-making and other spycraft that he uses to tip the scales of justice in favor of the oppressed. Over the show’s 100-plus episodes, we get endless tidbits on how to build various gadgets, and it’s always interesting!
The show often focuses less on technology and more on the manual way that spies work, and we get to see Westen create dozens of identities to help his clients. For example, in an episode where Michael is tasked with finding a powerful drug trafficking child predator in the middle of a gang war, he must use theatricality to find him. Donning a red and black suit and the persona of an almost supernatural figure, he uses sleight of hand, and illusion, to terrify the gang members into giving up the predator. Another story sees Michael go undercover as a psychotic gangster, and yet another as a bomb-loving car thief. It’s hilarious to watch him outwit the criminals, using his old methods to help people.
What holds this series together is not the stories (which are good) or the action, it’s the characters themselves and the journey they go on. Michael Westen is a detached man, with little connection to his past and no future to speak of—he only has the job. Fiona Glenanne, Michael’s on-again-off-again girlfriend, is an IRA bomber and gunrunner called by many “The little psychopath.” Sam Axe is a sleazy womanizer drinking himself to death in Miami. Lastly, Maddie Westen, Michael’s mother, is also detached from her family, never seeing her kids and wallowing isolation.
However, by the end of the series, everyone has changed. Michael Westen has reconnected with his family, and realized that life is not about just being a spy—that he has more to live for and people who love him. Some called the ending unsatisfying as it ended with Michael exactly where he was in the pilot, out in the cold and without a life or career as a spy. However, Burn Notice was never about him finding his way back to the CIA, it was about discovering who he really was and finding out that he did not need the agency to be a fulfilled human. He finally can give it up and start his life over again with those who love him.
Fiona Glenanne over the course of the series rediscovers her seared conscience, going from a bomber filled with anger and revenge to someone able to feel love and compassion, with a willingness and drive to help people in need.
The change for Sam Axe was one of purpose. Having been cast out of the Navy Seals for helping people in need, he found himself in Miami always looking for the bottom of a bottle and seducing rich widows and divorcees. Even going so far as to inform on Michael to the FBI, by the series’ end, Sam has rediscovered the meaning of friendship and loyalty, while also being the champion of the downcast and persecuted.
Burn Notice also has a revolving cast of supporting characters who are fun, funny, and chilling. We have “Evil Larry,” the former spy mentor of Michael who is now a hit-man. He is always delightfully evil and trying to pull Westen down with him. Barry is the friendly money-laundering fashion lover who is always there to help the gang… There are many more, but everyone goes on a journey of self-discovery, and it’s these stories that keep the series fresh and timeless.
Even when you know how a story ends, there is always value to be had in seeing the stops along the way. We revisit shows at different times in our lives, and we are not the same person each time. Revisiting a show at various points in your life allows you to glean something new each time. I am a very different person rewatching Burn Notice now than I was in 2013 when it ended, and thus I have found so many interesting gems to pick up that had gone unnoticed before.
I am so glad to find that Burn Notice is every bit as fun and endearing as it was the first time I watched it, and I look forward to many more rewatches in the years to come. It’s always refreshing and relaxing to come home from a hard day, crack open a cold beverage, and listen to those oh-so-familiar words…
“My name is Michael Westen and I used to be a spy…”
Burn Notice is streaming on Hulu
