TV Review: Burn Notice - Pilot

The premiere of Burn Notice was a commercial-free hour-plus of great television. Partnered with DirecTV, NBC Universal has released its latest summer replacement series on the USA Network. The season will run twelve episodes, as of this writing.

Jeffrey Donovan stars as Michael Westen, a CIA spy who has been tossed out into the cold for mysterious reasons. The victim of a “burn notice,”  he is left with nothing. Westen’s ID has been expunged from data systems, all his assets have been frozen, and FBI agents are following his every move. He’s penniless and without a true friend in the world. Not only that, he’s been dumped back in South Beach Miami, Florida where he grew up. That means he’s trapped there in the same dysfunctional family relationships that he fled from when he first became a spy. It’s an interesting and comedic situation, and Donovan and company appear to be making the best of it.

The episode starts out in Nigeria where Westen is negotiating a buy-off of a local terrorist. He’s supposed to pay the guy not to disrupt work at certain oilfields. In the middle of that high-pressure deal, Westen’s status is pulled. Suddenly he can’t pay this very bad man, and even worse things ensue. The situation is funny and dangerous at the same time, which seems to be the perfect mix for the series and one that will be followed through successive episodes.

Westen escapes with his life, and the next few minutes of episode are quite exciting. Donovan demonstrates great acting abilities as well as physical talent during the fight scenes. I’m quite sure someone else rode the motorcycle he escaped on, but the action sequences were well done and his voiceover added to the excitement and the fun.

This would, of course, be the place where a commercial was inserted. Instead we cut to a scene where Westen is recovering in a bedroom. In short order, we’re introduced to his ex-girlfriend Fiona. She was a thief for the Irish Republican Army and they had a thing for a while. Westen bailed on the relationship, but he still carries her phone number as an emergency contact. That’s why she sat with him for two days while he slept.

Article Author: Mel Odom

Mel Odom is the author of over 100 novels. Winner of the American Library Association's Alex Award for 2002 and runner-up for the Christy in 2005, he's written in several genres, including tie-in novels for Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and novelizations of Blade, XXX, and Tomb Raider. …

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