My name is Michael Westen, I used to be a spy. (Burn Notice)

[Agrippa]

Has anyone here heard of the USA show Burn Notice? It's about the adventures of a burned (read fired) spy named Michael Westen, played by Jeffery Donovan, dropped off by the CIA in Miami and his quest to clear his name and rejoin the CIA. Along the way he meets some old friends, Sam Axe, an ex-Navy Seal spying on our hero for the FBI (with Michael's support), played by Bruce Campbell and Michael's ex-IRA former girlfriend, Fiona Glennane, played by Gabrielle Anwar. Michael also goes to his family for support and assistance, when he's desperate. Namely his mother Madeline Westen, played by Sharon Gless and his little brother Nate, played by Seth Peterson.

Mikey also makes a few new friends, like Sugar, the drug dealer who tried to kill Michael and ended up with a bullet in his thigh for his troubles. He later contacted Weston looking for help, not for himself but for his brother Dougie, who'd fallen in with a gang of vicious thieves willing to use him as a pawn and then dispose of him. Omar, the leader of a small street gang that grew with our hero's backing. This Omar went from stealing car radios to stealing food and medicine for his barrio and selling stolen electronics to pay his crew and for the up keep of his commuinities shops and homes. Then there's Jesse Porter, played by Cody Bell, the former intelligence agent Michael Westen accidentally burns in season four.

Add to that the list of not friendly acquaintances and innocents to help or rescue our hero, Michael Westen has his work cut out for him. It airs every Thursday night at 9 PM / 8 PM Central. So, does anyone want to talk about the show?

[Mark]

Yep, I watched a few episodes. It wasn't bad but seemed but my interest waned after a while.

[Adapt]

Not a bad show, all in all, but I couldn't get into it. Something about Jeffery Donovan makes me want to slap his face repeatedly.

[Simon W]

Not a bad show, all in all, but I couldn't get into it. Something about Jeffery Donovan makes me want to slap his face repeatedly.

Yeah, he's a bit smug.

I like the show - the character mix seems to work well. Actually the characters around Michael Weston are more interesting than he is.

[John Adams]

I never miss it.

[harmyn]

you forgot to mention Barry. Everyone needs a good money-launderer on speed dial.

Not to mention that we have gotten to watch Michael's brother Nate go from being a general screw-up in to a (somewhat) responsible adult and I like how the occasional people from past jobs work their way back into later issues. One example of that being Tony Soto, Miami's top guy when it comes to car theft.

I love this show. I own the first 4 seasons on DVD and while on occasion it might stumble a bit I think overall it keeps a good pacing. I was worried about this season with the first episode but it has turned out to be a really solid season with some great episodes.

You could even use the Leverage RPG to make a pretty good game of it by just tweaking the Hacker roll a bit:

Michael - Grifter/Matermind
Sam - Hacker/Hitter
Fi - Hitter/Thief
Jesse - Hacker/Mastermind
Nate - Thief/? (but nate is only an occasional character in a game - I'm thinking his player couldn't make it often)

[Alan]

My wife and I started watching Burn Notice in the middle of the first season, and caught up with all of the episodes we missed when we found that we really enjoyed the show. We've been on board ever since.

It is interesting to me that the #1 problem that others have with the show (that I have heard) is that they don't care for the lead actor. Even my wife doesn't care for him too much - maybe it is lack of emotion... Sometimes the show makes him seem less than human.

And don't forget the yogurt!

[harmyn]

I've heard people complain about the lead character but to me the gruff, stand-offish nature is a part of how he is supposed to be. The recurring character Larry represented Michael's possible future if he didn't change. His getting burned has brought about a change in him as he reconnects to friends and family becoming more "human" again. I guess that is part of why I really liked the episode where he had to act so mean toward his mom this season by sort of channelling the ghost of his abusive dad.

And if you like yogurt, he is the guy to hang out with; pretty much all you can eat.

[Agrippa]

Sorry about forgetting Barry, I shouldn't have. I also have to agree with harmyn that MIchael's kind of smug nature is a substantial pert of who he is and that he's learning to change.

[Mark]

I lost interest mainly due to the writing. A few episodes were quite good but many others were repetitive. The lead character reminds me a lot of Harrison Ford acting. No matter the situation, he's the same. I did like the concept and implementation for the most part.