BURN NOTICE 4.16: Dead or Alive

Usually the episodes of a series just before the season’s end look cheap because the producers have either run out of money, or are saving up for a blowout finale. But that was certainly not the case with BURN NOTICE, which turned in a visually striking (and, yes, explosive) installment setting up the season-capper.

Director Peter Markle made this one sparkle (sorry). My favorite moment came when Michael (Jeffrey Donovan), posing as yet another lowlife, wanted to have a conversation with crooked cop Pete that would make an impression. So Michael arranged to ignite a ring of fire – made of homemade napalm. The scene was shot at twilight, and the cold lighting contrasted perfectly with the bright heat of the flames.

And that wasn’t the end of the fireworks: Michael barely escaped with his life from a pretty spectacular boat explosion. And can I ask how Sam (Bruce Campbell) managed to miss a fleeing car with a sniper rifle? Fiona (Gabrielle Anwar) got in a good line about decking a perp with her handbag, but otherwise I thought was she was underused.

BURN NOTICE 4.15: Brotherly Love

Interesting place for a “breather” episode, following on the heels of a week off for the Thanksgiving holiday and just three episodes before the end of the season, but it nonetheless was a welcome interlude. Anytime Michael’s little brother Nate drops by, hijinks ensue.

Looking at recent events though, it does make sense to give Michael (Jeffrey Donovan) a bit of a breather from the umbrella story to make sure his gunshot wound is healed up properly. Also, the NOC list the gang has been chasing was being prepared for auction, so this was a reasonable place to slow down the pace. But not stop it: Sam (Bruce Campbell) and Jesse (Coby Bell) resolved to steal the list before it could be auctioned after it was stolen from wreckage of John Barrett’s SUV. This week’s BURN NOTICE was structured so that Sam and Jesse had to stake out the area of the auction to assess security, freeing Michael for the case of the week.

BURN NOTICE 4.13: Eyes Open

BURN NOTICE has returned to our screens – and not a moment too soon (Thursday at 10 p.m. has become a virtual wasteland, since THE MENTALIST is total crap this season). Welcome back, Michael, Fiona, Sam, Maddie and Jesse!

If you recall, BURN NOTICE left us with a cliff-hanger back in August: Michael (Jeffrey Donovan) had been shot through the chest by Jesse (Coby Bell), who was still smarting from the revelation that Michael burned him back in the season premiere. The season’s purported Big Bad, John Barrett (Robert Patrick) was shockingly killed, and…someone…walked off with the briefcase containing the NOC list that identifies everyone involved in burning Michael.

BURN NOTICE 4.11: Blind Spot

No matter what else went on in this week’s BURN NOTICE – no matter how entertaining it was – the only thing that really mattered was that Jesse Found Out. He knows Michael burned him. Not good. Very, very not good.

The episode began like any other: with Michael (Jeffrey Donovan) and Sam (Bruce Campbell) lying to Jesse (Coby Bell) to get him to do their bidding. Now, granted, their objective also moved Jesse closer to his ultimate goal of stopping the Big Bad, but Jess also has that subsidiary goal of uncovering who burned him. And it was just convenience that pointing Jesse toward John Barrett (Robert Patrick) helped obfuscate Michael’s culpability. Michael and Sam faked up a report citing Barrett as the man behind all the world’s troubles – the man Jesse has been hunting for three years. The trio decided the best approach was a straightforward approach (*snerk*): They called Barrett and offered him the Bible. They knew he would send someone to check it out, so they set up a convincing booby trap using a 55-gallon oil drum, a portable defibrillator and Skype. They caught an errand boy – who turned out to be an active-duty U.S. Army officer. So Barrett was definitely connected!

BURN NOTICE 4.8: Where There’s Smoke

There was a definite bondage thread running through this week’s episode of BURN NOTICE – but probably not the sort of bondage of which you’re thinking. It was also about key female characters who proved to be more capable, clever and resourceful than suspected.

It started with Maddie (Sharon Gless) getting pinched while helping Michael (Jeffrey Donovan) and Jesse (Colby Bell) assess the security at a bank. The boys sent her in to trigger the alarm so they could observe the response, but the guards turned out to be overzealous and talked about jail time for Michael’s mom. But quick-thinking Maddie played on the guards’ sympathies and managed to get herself sprung. Clearly, we know where Michael got his talent for prevarication and improvisation.

BURN NOTICE 4.7: Past & Future Tense

There can be no doubt that having Burt Reynolds (Smokey himself) on BURN NOTICE looked good on paper, and probably looked even better in previews. But in practice? Well, not so much…

This episode was one of those rare installments of BN that I really just didn’t care for. It’s not that the episode was bad, but rather it could have been so much more. I wanted to like it more than I did.

BURN NOTICE 4.6: Entry Point

Oh, BURN NOTICE, how I missed you. Please don’t take another sabbatical so soon after coming back, okay?

Now, we all love BURN NOTICE for the fun and informative tricks o’ the trade Michael (Jeffrey Donovan) shares about being a spy. Well, this week he found a more productive use for his insider knowledge: getting a job. Specifically, getting a job as a fake security consultant by sharing his SpyTips with one Mr. Bocklage (played by Alan Dale – you remember him; dude last seen on LOST. The man with the best agent in showbiz, since he lands on all the best shows, up to and including TORCHWOOD). Michael showed Bocklage how a thief used infrared paint to map out an escape route for a robbery planned for that night. And Michael didn’t show this one to Bocklage, but how cool was that little trick of tying off the hydraulic arm on the door to create an instant lock? Brilliant!

BURN NOTICE 4.4: Breach of Faith

This week’s BURN NOTICE took a sort of “divide and conquer” tack, with Jesse and Fiona tracking down an address related to this season’s umbrella story, while Sam dragged Michael into the case of the week: taking hostages in a storefront office.

Well, that wasn’t exactly what Sam (Bruce Campbell) had in mind when he talked Michael (Jeffrey Donovan) into helping out Josh Warren (guest star Frank Whaley), the administrator of a charity for police widows and orphans. Josh lost the fund’s money to a crooked financial manager, so Sam and Michael were meant to be muscle to scare Nick (Clayton Rohner) into giving back the money. But Josh foolishly brought along a gun, and somebody has read their Chekhov – if you show a gun in the first act, it has to be fired – so the situation quickly devolved into a hostage situation. Sam insisted on staying to help his pal, so there was no way Michael was going to leave without Sam.

BURN NOTICE 4.3: Made (in the shade) Man

BURN NOTICE, while never in a slump, is actually experiencing a bit of a creative renaissance in its fourth season with the introduction of Jesse Porter, a counterintelligence officer who was burned by Michael. It’s a brilliant inversion of the series premise that has refreshed the case-of-the-week format.

Michael (Jeffrey Donovan) accidentally burned Jesse (played by Colby Bell, whom some will remember as Officer Tyrone Davis on THIRD WATCH) at the end of the season premiere, when Michael used Jesse’s credentials to access secret files. Jesse is actually a lot like Michael used to be back when the series began: confused about what happened to him, but determined to get to the root of the problem, no matter where it takes him. The fun for the audience is, we know exactly where that quest will take him. Jesse has vowed to kill the man who burned him, so a reckoning is coming.