Burn Notice: Difference between revisions

[[File:BurnNotice.jpg|frame|I'll need a few cell phones, some C4 and my sunglasses.]]

 

 

 

Michael doesn't have any money or income, and he can't exactly get a job recommendation from his former employers -- to make ends meet, he reluctantly accepts clients from around the Miami area and works to help them with their problems under the table. These problems usually involve saving said clients from various life-threatening situations, mostly of the "good guy gets deep in debt to bad guys" variety. While these tasks take up the majority of an episode, time is also spent on Michael's various attempts to figure out who in the government burned him (and why), as well as his interpersonal relationships with his friends and family.

Michael relies on Fiona Glenanne (his girlfriend and a former [[Western Terrorists|IRA]] operative) and Sam Axe (a retired spy/ex-Navy SEAL who Michael worked with in the past) to watch his back as he takes on con artists, mobsters, gang leaders, and various other underworld riff-raff. From Season Four onwards, the team is joined by Jesse Porter, another former spy {{spoiler|who was burned -- accidentally -- by Michael}}. All of the members of this team are very good at crafting primitive explosive devices and homemade spy gear out of household items. Unconventional warfare is something of a theme; at one point, Michael says, "Guns make you dumb. It's better to fight your wars with duct tape; duct tape makes you smart." The other theme is crafting ''identities'' out of nothing; when dealing with the bad guys, Michael and company often pretend to be criminals (be they rivals or friends) or even innocent civilians, but they never show their true colors unless their hand is forced.

 

 

Michael is the show's [[Narrator]], explaining to the viewer why he chooses a particular course of action -- but instead of being done as a real time [[Inner Monologue]], the voiceover is done as if he's giving a lecture to a class of students. Viewers can think of Michael the Narrator as a slightly different character from Michael Westen. Through this method, the show addresses a large number of tropes (most of them spy-related) and [[Playing with a Trope|plays with them in a variety of ways.]] The writing is surprisingly aggressive in avoiding the typical action movie clichés: cars don't [[Every Car Is a Pinto|explode unless someone plants a bomb on it]], characters get hurt and are forced to spend [[Walk It Off|several episodes limping around]], and making escapes involve either [[Try and Follow|dangerous stunts]] or being small enough to squeeze [[Air Vent Passageway|through an air vent]].

 

 

A prequel movie, ''[[Burn Notice: the Fall of Sam Axe]]'', premiered on USA in 2011. Campbell, of course, starred in the film -- and Jeffrey Donovan served as director.

 

 

== Tropes A-H ==

* [[Abusive Parents]]: While there was some family love, Michael's father was not a good guy at all (a little scar next to Michael's eye is his biggest memory of him). It's mentioned that Frank Westen was the main reason Michael left for the army at 17, and why he rarely came home to visit before he got burned. While Michael loves his Mom, Madeline was also abused (while insisting they still had a decent household). These are some of the primary reasons behind all of their present day issues with each other.

* [[Actor Shared Background]]: Jeffrey Donovan comes from an impoverished family and has twenty years of martial arts experience (including a black belt in karate).

** Many of the things he recommends in the web-based "Ask A Spy" segments fall into this category. For example, he recommends keeping your valuables stored in the walls, because robbers and thieves don't have the time to look there. Unfortunately, it means that getting to your stuff means breaking down the walls.

*** In fact, the hiding in the wall part ends up getting used in season four by {{spoiler|Kendra.}}

* [[Awesome Yet Practical]]: Because he knows what works, Michael doesn't waste energy in unnecessary endeavors. This is not the same as "guaranteed", mind you.

** Tying into the previous trope, he'll usually point out when something is impractical and then proceed to explain how to make it practical. For instance, he hid something important inside the frame of his door behind a hinge panel.

* [[Cell Phone]]: Hoo boy. Michael goes through these like toilet paper. Not just his own, but any he can grab from other people at need. Sam and Fiona probably don't get a lot of mileage out of their caller ID!

** [[Word of God]] jokingly mentions that spies did not exist before cell phones - that cell phone companies invented spies. Same commentary then explains why they use cellphones a lot: "It's not that we're in love with cell phones - though we are - ..."

* [[Cerebus Syndrome]]: As time has gone on, the series has become darker, and this has become much more apparent in season 5, what with major recurring villains dying, allies nearly dying, and [[Bittersweet Ending|Bittersweet Endings]] becoming much more common.

* [[Character Development]]: In a season five episode, Fi actually decides against placing C4 on a building, as she would risk blowing the whole thing up instead of just blasting a small doorway. Contrast that with the Fiona of early seasons, who gleefully risked massive destruction at the slightest provocation.

** The congressman Maddie blackmailed in "Past and Future Tense".

* [[Choke Holds]]: Michael Westen is adept at the blood choke. His victims rarely cry out, but they rarely have time. It's almost his signature move for taking out people who don't deserve injury.

* [[Clear My Name]]: The new plot since {{spoiler|Michael's [[Artifact Title|Burn Notice]] was lifted}}.

* [[Cliff Hanger]]: The focus is on the [[Myth Arc]], with only one two-part [[Villain of the Week]] episode.

* [[Companion Cube]]: In the S3 summer finale, anyone else feel a stab of fear when {{spoiler|Mike asks Sam for the keys to the Buick?}}

* [[Confusion Fu]]: Frequently used by Michael to get that split second advantage when someone has a gun on him or is otherwise threatening someone. Telling someone the safety is still on, that his (not-)girlfriend is pregnant or starting to talk about cat magazines are good ways to temporarily sow confusion.

* [[Con Men Hate Guns]]: Sometimes played straight (with white-collar crooks who often have hired muscle to do such unsavory deeds for them), but averted with others, as one con-man had a customized gun and was very willing to use it.

* [[Conspiracy Theorist]]: Spencer in "Signals and Codes". He's also [[The Schizophrenia Conspiracy|legitimately mentally ill]].

* [[Evil Mentor]]: (Dead) Larry Sizemore, Michael's former mentor, who faked his own death in Bosnia and is now a [[Psycho for Hire]] [[Professional Killer]] whose solution to ''everything'' is [[Kill'Em All]]. Larry also likes to invoke [[Not So Different]] in regards to himself and Michael. Particularly notable in the season 4 finale when Larry wonders where all the darkness and anger Michael had went. On par for being the evil mentor, Larry also laments that Michael is losing those things that made him do bad things with a smile and so good at his job.

* [[Executive Meddling]]: A rare positive instance; [[Word of God]] has that some moments like the driving into the truck finale scene were a result of the USA network head challenging them to do something cool or different and subsequently having a back and forth exchange of ideas.

* [[Expository Hairstyle Change]]: Whenever Madeline's hair is down, so is she.

* [[Failure Is the Only Option]]: The burn notice is the only thing that keeps Michael in Miami. [[Word of God]] is that because of the way the shows production process is set up, shooting outside of the Miami area is inconvenient to the point of impossibility (though they have shot in the Bahamas for a couple of scenes in season four, involving Fiona and Jesse, but not Michael). Therefore, it is doubtful the burn notice will ever be taken out of play.

** At one point, Michael was willing to risk it and got a cover ID from an old friend (a former contact who only showed up in two episodes, the first and hers as a client) to go to Washington; story contrivances had the people Michael wanted to see come to him right before he was going to get on the plane, thereby keeping him in Miami.

** He got out of Miami for the Season 4 premiere, but it's rather obviously still filmed in South Florida. In any case, after one trip to an undisclosed private holding facility and a generic jungle location, it's back to Miami in time for the first commercial break.

* [[Fake Buzz]]: Pretending to get drunk is one of the spy skills Michael has cultivated. Sam also pulls out the trick on occasion.

* [[Fake Crossover]]: A [[USA Network]] staple. In a commercial, Michael sends a care package to Hank from ''[[Royal Pains]].'' A care package that contained sunglasses, suntan lotion, and ''C4 plastic explosives''. Because "you never know when you might need a stable plastic explosive." ''To a concierge doctor!'' Hilarity ensues.

* [[Groin Attack]]: Fiona shoots a thug in the crotch with a shotgun (It was only a [[Incredibly Lame Pun|beanbag]]) in episode 5x04 "No Good Deed" after he had been tossing Sam and Jesse around.

* [[Guile Hero]]: Three of them, actually, but Michael most of all.

{{quote|''"I think we should call him Dennis Wayne Barfield for that extra serial-killer flavor."''}}

* [[Hand Wave]]: Arguably, the finale of Season 2/the beginning of season 3 handwaves the [[Fridge Logic]] of "Why doesn't Michael get the cops on him for doing crazy stuff constantly" and "Why don't more of his old enemies show up" by saying {{spoiler|[[Big Bad|The Management]] was "working some magic" to keep him off the radar; the moment he returns from meeting with them, he is set on by the police, and his bail is paid by someone else who's now able to locate him}}.

* [[Hannibal Lecture]]: Usually averted at least in the case of Team Westen; they almost never answer any questions their prisoner may ask. The few cases it happens is when it's untrained interrogators or when Team Westen is playing a [[Batman Gambit]] and allowing the lecture to happen. The most overt (and well written) example would be when Jesse interrogates Kendra. He starts off doing things properly and refuses to answer questions. Over time, he allows her to get the upper hand until she's talking and he's reluctant to answer. Of course, this is what they want and so it becomes reverse-interrogation, resulting in the new 'interrogator' (Kendra) slipping up and giving them information.

* [[Happy Place]]: Subverted beautifully, in a standard psychologist joke.

'''Michael''': Fi! }}

* [[Hard Work Montage]]: In preparation for bringing down the [[Monster of the Week|Villain Of The Week]], usually involving the construction of explosives.

* [[Hero Stole My Bike|Hero Stole My Car]]: Michael does this so often, he sets "rules" for himself: he will always try to return the car "reasonably intact," and if stolen from a workplace during working hours, the car will be returned by 5:00 PM if at all possible.

* [[Hero-Tracking Failure]]: Invoked in 3x07, "Shot In The Dark" to scare the target silly.

* [[Hidden Supplies]]: Whenever things get a little tough Michael and co. have random supply spots with guns, explosives and other spy gear. Almost goes sour when Detective Paxson gains wind of where one of these spots are.

{{quote|"Spies hide guns like squirrels hide acorns."}}

* [[Hot Men At Work]]: one of Fiona's undercover acts has her introducing herself as an agent for a company that makes calendars specializing in this trope.

* [[Hyper Awareness]]: Played straight in the pilot. In season 5, it's played with hard - Michael spends the first couple of episodes suffering from what he calls post-operation paranoia; he starts seeing things everywhere.

 

== Tropes I-P ==

** Also invoked by Sam on occasion, usually when he wants to avoid talking to Fiona and usually involving buying Mike some yogurt.

* [[Inspector Javert]]: Michelle Paxson.

* [[Investigator Impersonation]]: Michael's favorite trick.

* [[It Has Been an Honor]]: One slight variation in the third season finale. Sam and Fiona are disarming a bomb they were both well aware could go off. As they reach the crucial stage, Sam says to Fiona, "It's been real."

* [[Lost in Translation]]: The subtitles in "The Hunter" don't always match up with the Russian dialogue.

* [[Love Triangle]]: From Jesse's perspective, he was in one with Michael and Fiona for some of season 4. It's really more a case of unrequited love on Jesse's part, as Maddie gently points out. Though Fi does acknowledge the tension between the two of them in the season 4 finale.

* [[MacGuffin]]: Many miscelleneous items being sought after and finding out the exact nature of a certain mission someone else is planning turn out to be irrelevant. It is only something to get the characters involved and add a sense of "I don't know what they're trying to do, but we have to stop them." Of course, it makes the "mysterious prisoner" of late season three a bit more surprising.

* [[MacGyvering]]: One of the two main gimmicks of the series. An online game is actually all about mixing and matching various items to Macgyver into a useful tool.

* [[Seen It All]]: Incidentally, you ''know'' the excrement's hit the cooling-device when something comes up that neither Michael, Sam, nor Fiona have ever encountered in some form.

** Lampshaded by a client, Emily, when the crew came up with their third improvised plan against the bad guy and she wondered, "Do you guys have a manual on this stuff?"

* [[Selective Obliviousness]]: Voiceover Michael calls Madeline out on this in an early episode. Her knowledge of what he did for a living was said to vary depending on what she needed from him at any given time: at one moment she thinks he works for the post office, another she can name all the members of the National Security Council.

* [[Shaggy Dog Story]]: Done intentionally, Michael spends a good three episodes tracking down who Carla is only to have been played with. Michael is just as frustrated as we are.

** The details of what exactly Carla's operation in the second season mid-finale was turned out to be irrelevant.

** Though probably prettied up for TV, the production actually does have a retired spy on staff as a consulting producer. They'll usually come up with something and then ask him how he might do it.

** [[Show Runner]] Matt Nix films short commentaries for each episode online. He frequently mentions how each episode they usually call up Michael Wilson (Retired espionage advisor) or another specialist (ie an X Ray technician for the trunk x ray machine) so they can get things right.

* [[Sibling Rivalry]]: Michael and Nate ''constantly''.

* [[Sibling Team]]: Michael and Nate, ''occasionally''.

{{quote|'''Henry:''' [[Lampshade Hanging|How many times do I have to get myself shot before I start listening to you?]]}}

** Jack Yablonski, in "Enemies Closer", is so annoyingly befuddled as to almost make Mike regret saving his life. [[Word of God]] mentions that this was intentional; they wanted to try out a situation where in order to save someone's life, one has to deceive and manipulate that person.

{{quote|'''Sam''': I need your help to kidnap a congressman.

'''Madeline''': [[Deadpan Snarker|I'll be there in a half hour]]. }}

** And then played with in the season 4 summer finale. Fi provides the distraction precisely because she is an attractive female and needs the attention on her.

** '''Michael:''' A good trap makes people curious.

* [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]]: Gabriel in the third season episode "Good Intentions," who is a thinly-disguised [[Che Guevara]]: he's from Argentina, used to be a physician, and he joined a group of [[La Résistance|guerilla fighters]] as part of a plan to get revenge on the [[Corrupt Corporate Executive]]s who {{spoiler|dumped toxic waste in his hometown, poisoning the locals and causing the death of his daughter.}}

* [[Western Terrorists]]: Fiona used to be one.

{{quote|Fiona: ''"You know, you were captivating over there."''}}

* [[You Are Not Alone]]: Nate does this for Michael in "Enemies Closer".

* [[You Have Got to Be Kidding Me!]]: In "Army of One", when bad guy Holcombe sees that not only is Michael working with the cops, but that he's [[It Makes Sense in Context|not dead.]]

* [[You Have Outlived Your Usefulness]]: {{spoiler|Gilroy's}} fate in the penultimate episode of season 3.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Notable Quotables]]

[[Category:American Series]]

[[Category:Dramedy]]

[[Category:Crime and Punishment Series]]

[[Category:TV Series]]