Burn Notice/Characters

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Team Westen

Michael Westen (Jeffrey Donovan)

"My name is Michael Westen. I used to be a spy."

Burned spy and all-around badass who loves his mom, sunglasses, yogurt, and things blowing up.

  • Abusive Dad: Michael's dad used to beat him, in part because Michael antagonized him to keep his attentions off little brother Nate.
    • Because of his tough childhood, Michael is fiercely protective of children (see Berserk Button below).
      • In one episode, the Baddie of the Week is an abusive father, and Michael adopts the persona of someone who would have the motivation and opportunity to gutpunch the dude mercilessly and often.
      • In another episode, a baddie takes advantage of Michael's history by pretending to be an abused wife trying to find her son. This works until she pulls a gun and tries to kill Michael and what is now his client.
    • Often times when he has to act overtly angry or when he's giving a heart-to-heart to a client, Michael will get a Thousand-Yard Stare during or after, suggesting that though he's changing the names to protect his privacy, he's drawing upon his memories of his father.
      • Of course, because he's a bastard, Anson reveals that Frank eventually had a Heel Realization and honestly wanted to make up with his son...but his organization killed him when he became suspicious of Anson's probing.
    • Michael pulls out an impersonation of his father to help motivate his mother's performance during a case. Neither of them is okay with it.

Maddie: You can play your father in there, Michael, but don't try to tell me what to do.

  • Anti-Hero: Type III, though some cases can push him toward type IV.
  • Badass
  • Battle Couple: With Fiona.
  • Berserk Button: Michael frequently talks about the need to stay emotionally detached, but he will always take clients solely because kids are involved. It's a sore spot for him and has happened no less than 8 times.

Madeline: For two little kids getting smacked around by their father? Michael would take on the entire Chinese army.

Michael: That's why I like bathrooms. Lots of hard surfaces.

  • Combat Pragmatist: "Spies are not trained to fight fair. Spies are trained to win."
  • Consummate Liar: With an interesting subversion: he regularly lies outright to killers, thieves, and drug dealers, but he has trouble fooling his own mom. And when these occasions come up, it's pretty easy for the audience to see too.
    • By season three, Michael has all but given up on trying to lie to his mom and resorts to vague language even though both of them know what he's talking about. By the season four premiere, he stops trying to lie to his mom altogether and simply tells her the truth, even the uncomfortable parts.
  • Deadpan Snarker
  • Even the Guys Want Him: If the art dealer from the pilot is an indication.
  • Gentleman Thief: Michael promises to take care of your car if he steals it, and if he steals it during a workday, to bring it back by five.
    • "Noble Gestures" reveals he's been abandoning them and having his mom report them. She wins an award for crimefighting, and Mike's a little irritated that she's getting credit for his work.
  • Good Scars, Evil Scars: A pair of scars surrounding his left eye, a lasting memory of dear ol' dad.
  • Guile Hero
  • Hyper Awareness: Michael explicitly mentions the term but also says that it can play tricks on you, seeing into things that aren't really there.
    • In the pilot Michael makes casual mention to Fiona that he was aware of the three FBI agents watching him at a club.
    • On the flip side, during the first few episodes of season 5, Michael mentions that this can happen after an operation is over resulting in constant paranoia and troubled sleep even though you know everything is over, primarily due to having been on edge for so long.
  • Indy Ploy: Michael is often forced to use these whenever something unexpected happens, all the time. Arguably, most of his apparent Xanatos Gambits are just him Indy Ploy-ing from one simple plan to another.
    • Several episodes require Michael figure things out on the fly. The best example was probably an episode where he was being held as a hostage in a bank. He subtly sabotaged the bad guys' plan without them knowing that it was being sabotaged.
    • Frequently, his cover is blown, so he keeps talking or takes a hostage while figuring a way to escape.
    • In one case, he blew his own cover because the guy he was working with was really a Thief With A Heart Of Gold.
    • Michael almost mentions this trope by name when, after Sam asks him what the plan is, replies with a hasty "I'm making this up as I go."
    • Sam lampshades it again in "Blind Spot" with the client, who doesn't think much of their plan: "We pretty much make it up as we go along."
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: To anybody other than family and friends, Michael appears to be a pretty big jerk. However, he has a genuine soft spot for kids, especially when it comes to kids and their relationship to their fathers.
  • Keep the Reward: Michael sure does refuse payment a lot, though he usually ends up keeping enough to cover expenses. A maddeningly frequent plot formula is "Michael grudgingly accepts a job because he needs the money. Michael does the job. Michael refuses to take any money."
  • The Kirk: Michael is The Captain of the show's Power Trio, with Sam and Fiona rotating between the roles of The Spock and The McCoy.
  • Married to the Job: A recurring theme is that Michael's obsession with spy work and helping others is an obstacle for most of his relationships.
  • Not Even Bothering with the Accent: Jeffrey Donovan puts on a lot of different accents for Michael's guise du jour, but he doesn't bother to shed his native Boston accent when playing Michael, who grew up in Miami. Easily justified, as an accent is difficult to maintain long term and it's an Acceptable Break From Reality.
  • Omniglot: Subverted. Michael is fluent in Arabic, Russian, Persian, and Czech, has recently learned French and German, and even speaks a bit of Urdu. However, even though he grew up in Miami, he doesn't speak a lick of Spanish.

Michael: En Inglés, por fa... please!

    • The season 4 finale reveals Tagalog is also one he doesn't know (or at least
  • Parental Abandonment: Due to his father's abuse, his mother's weirdness, his own dangerous line of work and his brother's gambling issue, Michael makes an effort to avoid his family. He mentions that a lot of spies are this way.
  • Quick Draw: He's only demonstrated it once, as he prefers not to kill unless he absolutely has to, but he outdrew a man who already had his gun drawn and aimed. That's quick[1].
  • Reluctant Retiree: Michael's feeble attempts at domesticity in season five.
  • See You in Hell: Michael's dad's last words to him, and his last words to Anson.
  • Sharp-Dressed Man: Oh yes. He tries to wear tieless light-colored Armani suits whenever possible.
  • Showy Invincible Hero: The show is split into 2 storylines. A: Michael helps a Miami local with a problem and, B: Michael tracks down the expert spies and government officials who burned him. A main draw of the show is how well Michael conquers the everyday crooks in the A-line, often having to deal with unpredictable scenarios when the criminals don't do what he expects them to do. Still, he always comes out on top and with style.
  • Shrouded in Myth: In Russia at least (and probably elsewhere). As far as the Russians are concerned, he's some sort of mystical bogeyman.

Michael: I'm Michael Westen. Yes, THAT one.

  • The Spook
  • Technical Pacifist: He's not averse to putting people in positions to get themselves killed, or to get them killed, but it's very rare for Michael to pull the trigger himself. If he does, it's usually to protect Fiona. This has been lifted slightly in S5 now that he's working for the CIA again but even still, he rarely gets an onscreen kill.
  • Think Nothing of It: See Keep the Reward.
  • Trademark Favorite Food: Yogurt.
  • Tranquil Fury: If Michael's yelling, it's probably because he's pretending to be someone else. If he's not, it certainly doesn't mean he's not pissed.
    • Demonstrated excellently in "Out of the Fire" (toward Larry, who knows exactly how much he's pissed off Michael), and in "Last Stand", when Vaughn reveals he has Madeline held hostage.
  • Vigilante Man: Michael can seem like a more elegant form of this at times.
  • Wig, Dress, Accent: Most of Michael's disguises, though he usually just restyles his hair instead of getting a wig. The personae he adopts are what sells them.
    • Subverted in "Sins of Omission". Michael is facing a Dangerously Genre Savvy ex-CIA agent, so he and Fiona break into the man's house and wait for him as...themselves.

Fiona Glenanne (Gabrielle Anwar)

"Should we shoot them?"

Michael's once-and-future girlfriend, an ex-IRA terrorist who LOVES making things go boom.

  • Action Girl: Fiona is probably the most dangerous of the three, if only because she is so Trigger Happy.
    • Specifically, she's probably the least well-trained and deadly of the three in hand-to-hand combat and gunplay, but she's the most willing to use them.
    • So much of her is all talk though. She tends to deliver about three to four threats to baddies per episode but never actually goes through with them. This is largely because Michael's plans often rely on deception and misdirection rather than 'blowing shit up'.
  • Anti-Hero: Type IV
  • Arms Dealer
  • Aw, Look -- They Really Do Love Each Other / Vitriolic Best Buds: With Sam, though it takes a while.
  • Battle Couple: With Michael.
  • Berserk Button: Don't hurt a child anywhere near Fiona.
    • She also "has a thing" for lost little sisters, like her own.
  • Dead Little Sister: Fiona's sister, Claire, whose death in a shooting caused Fiona to join the IRA.
  • Fake Nationality: Fiona is a rare triple Fake Nationality: her actress is British, but the character is Irish, faking an American accent. In one episode, the character faked a British accent, but it still wasn't Gabrielle Anwar's actual accent.
  • Fighting Irish: Fi is quick to recommend that any problem be solved by charging in with guns and bombs blazing, especially when it involves children being endangered. Her suggestions usually get shot down in favor of something less conspicuous, but when the firepower's needed Fi is always ready to provide.
  • Girl with Psycho Weapon: With anything you can think of. Special mention must go to her Molotov cocktails in "Fight or Flight".
  • Mad Bomber: Because everyone knows the Irish are good at two things: making bombs and hitting people!
  • The McCoy
  • Modern Minstrelsy: Has been accused of this. And she certainly does fulfill a great many Irish stereotypes.
  • Not Even Bothering with the Accent: Fiona had a very thick Irish accent in the first episode. This was handwaved away when she said she was trying to blend in better in Miami. The reasons were... let's just say Gabrielle Anwar can better fake an American Accent. Her brother notices when he visits, and there's some Lampshade Hanging.
    • In a few episodes, her accent rears its head again, mainly when she's extremely concerned about Michael. Presumably, Fiona is distracted and forgetting her American accent.
  • Oireland: Casually violent, anti-authoritarian, IRA connection, played by a British actor... it's like they were ticking off a list.
  • Red Oni
  • Sex Is Violence: Lampshaded by Michael. "Violence is foreplay for you."
  • She's Got Legs: Fiona's wardrobe is mostly miniskirts, short shorts and a cocktail dress slit to the waist, and don't we love it!
    • Intentional and justified; Word of God has that Gabrielle Anwar (Fi's actress) picks out much of her own wardrobe. It's likely she knows she has great legs and wants to show them off. (Plus, it's hot in Miami.)
  • Slap Slap Kiss/Sex Is Violence: Violence is foreplay for Fiona.
  • Small Girl, Big Gun: Despite having a figure to make most swimsuit models envious, Fiona always has a shotgun, assault rifle, or a large handgun with her or nearby.
  • Trigger Happy: Even the Opening Narration acknowledges it.
  • Woman in White: Fiona hardly ever wears anything else. See Woman in Black for when she doesn't. Notably, Fi wears a black dress in "Where There's Smoke". Appropriately and as per the trope, she is the dangerous one during the episode.

Sam Axe (Bruce Campbell)

"You know spies, bunch of bitchy little girls."

Former Navy SEAL, current womanizing lush, and Michael's most loyal friend.

You know spies - bunch of bitchy little girls.

  • Drink Order: Sam likes his mojitos and beer.
  • Go-To Alias: Chuck Finley. The stories connected to this alias are beginning to outshine Michael himself!
  • Friendly Sniper: Though all four members of Team Westen are capable of it, Sam most often takes this role. Put to epic and awesome Big Damn Heroes use in "Out of the Fire" when just as Larry's going to kill Michael, a red dot appears on his chest and Sam calls Michael's cell begging to shoot the guy.
  • Hawaiian-Shirted Tourist
  • The Kirk
  • The Lancer
  • Lantern Jaw of Justice
  • The Mole: The FBI thinks they've got Sam playing this role, spying on Michael for them, but really, Sam's only telling them what he and Michael think they should know.
  • Morality Pet: For all his drinking and womanizing, Sam's usually the one to remind Michael and Fi not to cross any lines, to the point characters refer to the soused bedhopper as a boy scout.
  • Older Sidekick
  • Oops, I Forgot I Was Married: Sam Axe, ever the sharp tack, only remembers this little detail after his girlfriend pops the question.
  • Perma-Stubble
  • Obfuscating Stupidity: Probably the best of Team Westen at this, and embodies it completely. The initial impression one gets of him is a slightly overweight womanizer who chugs beers and has about as much insight as a sixth grader. While the first part is fairly accurate, one learns over the course of the series that he's a former Navy SEAL, has numerous contacts across multiple government agencies, and can be just as manipulative and technologically proficient as Michael or Fi.
  • Retired Badass: At the start of the series. The Sam-centric TV movie takes place before he's washed out of the Navy.
  • The Nicknamer: Played subtly. While everyone else calls Michael Westen "Michael", even Fiona, Nate, and Maddie, Sam calls him "Mike" or "Mikey". He also calls Madeline "Maddie" while Fi tends to go with "your mom" or "Madeline" and Jesse prefers the more formal "Mrs. Westen".
  • The Scrounger: Sam doesn't really pay for food or booze much.
  • Watch the Paint Job: His cars inevitably get totaled by Michael in the line of duty.
  • Would Hit a Girl: But only after she tried to take away his shotgun and beat him up.

Madeline Westen (Sharon Gless)

"Someone needs your help, Michael."

Michael's chain-smoking meddlesome mother, who is the only thing that scares Michael Westen.

  • Almighty Mom
  • Apron Matron: Do NOT trifle with her.
  • Cool Old Lady
  • Domestic Abuse: Maddie was the victim of it from her husband, though she also allowed her husband to beat Michael and Nate.
    • "Bloodlines" throws this into sharp relief, as Michael takes on a persona identical to his father and Maddie must remain undercover while allowing Michael to slap her around.
  • Hypochondria: A characterization that didn't stick past the first episode.
  • Mama Bear
  • Mama Didn't Raise No Criminal
  • Meddling Parents: Maddie starts out as this. It does not help that Fiona encourages her. She's gotten a lot better, though.
    • Of course, with Jesse around, she picks it up again due to Jesse's Honor Before Reason tendencies.
  • Parental Substitute: To Jesse.
  • Team Mom: Even though she can't cook.
  • Took a Level in Badass: The poster girl for the trope. We've lost count of the actual levels she's taken, but she starts out a nagging, hypochondriac chain-smoker in the pilot and over three seasons, has become virtually equivalent to a spy herself.
    • Best demonstrated in "The Hunter", where Sam and Fiona are interrogating a pilot to find out where Michael has been taken. Sam gives up the questioning when the pilot makes it clear he's not afraid of anything, and goes to think through new options with Fiona. Madeline calmly walks out to the garage where he's being kept, lights a cigarette, and comes back 4 minutes later with the coordinates, having not even had to TOUCH the pilot.
    • There's an excellent moment in the season 3.5 opener, "A Dark Road", when she outright blackmails a woman she's become friends with because the woman possesses information that Michael needs to save lives. She hates it, but she stonewalls the woman and gets the files.
    • She shows off her Mama Bear status in the season three finale when she stalls and misdirects a set of government agents who only very slowly come to realize that she's not an innocent old woman. She tips Michael off that the FBI is at the house, then sends the feds on a wild goose chase. This whole time she is interrogated in her own home, given photographs of bad stuff Michael has supposedly done and she doesn't even flinch, but she pretends to crack to keep the agents fooled. When they finally threaten to arrest her for aiding and abetting, she practically puts the handcuffs on herself, and oh, yes - slaps a federal agent.
    • To show her new badassery, when Michael tells Sam and Fiona that she's trying to hold them off, Sam says "She's good, but she's not that good." When a former Navy SEAL thinks you're tough, that's saying something.
      • Of course, this isn't the first time said Navy SEAL acknowledges her badassery - from "The Hunter":

Madeline: Sam, let me remind you you're sleeping in my guestroom. You call me or God as my witness I will smother you in your sleep.
Sam: Okay, we'll call!

    • Season Four has her delivering multiple What the Hell, Hero? moments to Michael, helping Sam blackmail a senator, searching a suspect's house, distracting a cemetery guard for Fiona, and pulling a Crowning Moment of Funny / Crowning Moment of Awesome Stealth Hi Bye on Michael and Jesse. Maddie has become a full-fledged Badass.
    • Season Five's "Bloodlines" sets a whole new record for Maddie. Successful undercover operation, where she poses as a nurse to a Yakuza drug lord? Check. Keeping her cover while her son masquerades as his father and reenacts the abuse she used to suffer? Check. Pulling a faked escape with said drug lord and after he leads Team Westen to his hideout, triple-crossing him and holding him at gunpoint with a shotgun? CHECK.
      • Later in S5, she's searching a house for evidence and picking the locks in the process.

Jesse Porter (Coby Bell)

A former spy, introduced in Season Four as a foil for Michael.

  • Ambiguously Brown: The actor who plays Jesse is bi-racial. Based on the picture of his mother that he showed to Maddie, Jesse may not be. Word of God mentions that this is in part intentional; since you really can't peg Coby Bell as one thing or another, this allows him (and by proxy, Jesse use as a cover) to play different sorts of characters.
  • Bald of Awesome
  • Cowboy Cop: Why he got demoted to a desk job. Eventually, the influence of Team Westen results in him quitting said job.
  • Et Tu, Brute?: He took it very badly when he found out Michael had gotten him burned.
  • Fake Guest Star
  • Generic Guy
  • The Lancer
    • More like The Smart Guy since he crunches data better than anyone. Which is something of a play, since out of the main cast, he's the tallest and most athletically built, attributes more commonly associated with other archetypes.
  • Sharp-Dressed Man: In season five, since he's got a high-profile security job.
  • One-Hour Work Week: Even after finding a new job, Jesse still has plenty of time to help team Westen.
  • Sixth Ranger
  • What Exactly Is His Job?: Jesse's job in season four for some security company. Nebulous in nature enough to give him access to all sorts of things, a One-Hour Work Week and with varied enough duties to give team Westen new adventures.

Nate Westen (Seth Peterson)

Michael's younger brother and Madeline's youngest son. He started out as a Con Man with a gambling problem, but now owns his own limo business, has a wife and kid, and sometimes is a support member in Michael's jobs.

Villains

Jason Bly (Alex Carter)

A CIC agent sent in ostensibly to investigate Michael, but really to convince him to sit down and shut up about wanting his job back.

Carla (Tricia Helfer)

Agent of the shadowy organization that burned Michael. Spent Season 2 as Michael's primary source of "do this or we'll kill you" tasks.

Victor Stecker-Epps (Michael Shanks)

Agent of the shadowy organization that burned Michael, working under Carla. Calls himself a "wrangler" of the burned spies.

Larry Sizemore (Tim Matheson)

Michael's whackjob ex-partner. Was apparently not dead...but may be now.

Tyler Brennen (Jay Karnes)

An arms dealer who constantly makes trouble for Team Westen.

Anson Fullerton (Jere Burns)

DIA psychiatrist and latest victim of Dead Larry, who is holding his wife hostage in exchange for helping break into the British consulate. He is later revealed as the "client" who hired Larry for the job in the first place. After blackmailing Michael to do his bidding, he outs himself as the founder (and last remaining member) of the Burned Spies organization.

  • Authority Equals Asskicking: Played with. Upon hearing Anson's name, Vaughn's visibly disturbed, and implications are that he alone could easily restart the operation that burned Michael. In terms of actual fighting, however, he's probably the least capable recurring character in the show's history -- including Maddy. That said, when he has the psychological advantage, he can at least delay someone like Michael long enough in a fight to come up with an exit strategy.
  • Best Served Cold: Not terribly happy about Michael dismantling his organization.
  • Blond Guys Are Evil
  • The Chessmaster: Has had a personal interest in Michael for years prior to the first episode. To put this in perspective, Madeleine complains to Michael that he missed his father's funeral by eight years. Anson was using Frank to learn about Michael and was the one who had him killed.
  • Decoy Damsel
  • Diabolical Mastermind
  • Four Eyes, Zero Soul
  • Hidden Villain
  • Internal Affairs: Before becoming disenchanted with his job. "Hated to see all that talent go to waste."[2]
  • Jerkass: Revealed at the end of "Acceptable Loss" that Frank Westen wanted to make up with his son shortly before his organization decided he knew too much and killed him, apparently for no other reason than to hurt Michael.
    • There is also an argument to be made that he really thought he was helping Mike get closure on his Dad. He is, after all, honestly interested in Mike's mind and mental health, and pointed out that Mike did used to say he wanted his dad dead.
  • Mad Bomber: His preferred method of killing.
  • The Man Behind the Man: Turns out there wasn't any "wife" being held for ransom. "I think her name was Some Lady."
  • Manipulative Bastard: He literally asks Michael to tell him insights into his psychology as part of payment for an Enemy Mine situation.
  • Porn Stache
  • Psycho Psychologist: While affiliated with Internal Affairs, he analyzed spies like Michael to determine whether they should be burned; This became the seed for the burned spies organization. Unbeknown to Michael, he also stood in as his parents' therapist.
  • Smug Snake: Becomes incredibly smug and cocky when his true nature is revealed. Given his sheer skill at manipulation, he may have the right to.
  • Waistcoat of Style


Recurring Characters

Sugar

Barry (the money launderer)

Seymour


Other

Frank Weston

Michael: "Well, the last thing he said to me was 'I'll see you in hell, boy', so I figured we had something on the books."

Though never appearing on screen, the patriarch of the Weston family nevertheless remains something of a central mythical figure in the series due to the incredible influence he has over the Weston family, even after he died of a heart attack prior to the series. This influence only grows as of season 5 with The Reveal that Anson used Frank to gain information on Michael and arranged for his heart attack.

  1. ↑ It was Strickler, who didn't have his finger on the trigger, because he was attempting to get Michael to stand down.
  2. ↑ Translation: "Hated to see all those sociopaths go to waste!"
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