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Burn Notice Season 3 Premiere Review « multipleverses.com 
Fri, Jun 12
Review by baudyhallee, Multipleverses Moderator and Reviewer. FRIENDS AND FAMILY Season 3 Episode 1 Written by Matt Nix (the creator of the series) and directed by Tim Matheson. Yea, Tim! Jeffrey Donovan is sporting a producer credit now. This season premiere picks up where season 2’s finale left off. Michael is still swimming towards Miami after leaping from a helicopter. He left his infamous shades with the Management who had been protecting him from the cops and foreign agencies. Season 3 appears to be about how Michael will survive on his own without any agency protection of any kind and no identity to mention. He is not alone. He has . . . friends and family. Everything we love about Burn Notice is in this episode. Michael has the heart of a superhero. He always tries to do the right thing and not allow anyone to get killed on his watch. Fi protects her man with bombs and guns. Sam’s intel is spot on and he has a new lady friend and car. Madeline is still proving to be Michael’s inspiration for his career choice as she continues her multipack a day habit. Barry, who I personally adore, proved to be a true friend in the end. Mojitos, beer, coffee and ice teas flow. Yogurt gets eaten and there are numerous cell phones used for everything under the Miami sun. And, of course, there’s the Mopar classic muscle car. YES!!! One thing about the Michael Westen character, he is well defined. You know who he is. Michael is about sacrifice and protection as all heroes are supposed to be. But Michael being an operative also allows Jeffrey Donovan to play all kinds of characters. Tonight’s alternate personality was mildly annoying and somewhat lame. Maybe appearing weak makes you have more control over the situation? This episode’s case is very simple. They help a young woman to save her family farm. We are introduced to an old buddy of Michael’s named Harlan who introduces the client and tonight’s villain, Rufino Cortez, El Jefe (the Boss). The baddie is to be captured and extradited to Venezuela and is supposedly responsible for buying up all the farms in the client’s area. Harlan appears to be a bit of a screw up which begs the question, ‘why is Michael tolerating his sloppy work?’ We aren’t particularly emotionally involved with the victim. She’s trying to save her farm, not her son. Michael saved a lot of sons last season. A tie-in with his own childhood and family. We got some great moments and further insight into Michael’s character in almost every episode last season, but not so much in this one. Jeff Kober, ‘Dodger’ of China Beach, appears as Cortez’s muscle, who smacks around Michael’s ’sinus challenged’ front. There are booms and fire, lots of action but no introspection. Sam (Bruce Campbell) called Harlan, ‘Hercules.’ [big grin] Fi is going particularly anti-government. She’s not happy about what’s happened to Michael. She wants Michael to get a real life. And Madeline pretty much sums up what will or won’t be happening the rest of the season. “You three need to stick together.” This initial episode was an example of what we might expect from multiple factions closing in on Michael this season. We had one case with no agency involvement for this story. We should be seeing Michael in a mess of trouble because he has alienated himself from the powers that be who have all the connections and credos that protect operatives. Last season, he was under a lot of pressure, they had cases being worked on along with trying to handle Carla and her demands. Maybe this is just the lull before the oncoming tsunami of trouble. A breather, so to speak, for our hero to realize what he’s truly up against. The Management returned his shades along with the usual ‘innocuous’ greeting card and message. ‘Let us know when you’ve had enough.’ Apparently they are still in the picture even though they did not have much of a presence in this episode. And maybe that’s the point, no management or handler means Michael is a moving target with a lot of competitors for the bullseye. The ‘cool factor’ which is always dominant on this show seemed less fleshed out. Maybe it was the case they were dealing with, but there was a definite lack of intelligent subtlety. Fiona drives a dump truck into an SUV where Michael is conducting business. All pre-planned, of course. And there wasn’t much in regards to Michael and Fi’s relationship. It was constantly being cut short or interrupted. Michael and Sam discuss him needing an agency which Michael denies, but no government will touch him as an operative. It occurs to this viewer that maybe he could somehow set up his own agency — maybe that will be explored later on. Michael remains still out and trying to find a way back in. Will this season be his realization that he can never go back? Rating: 4 out of 5. I thought the client storyline was a bit weak. Harlan was a little too predictable. But there was lots of action. Great casting as always. Madeline and Sam’s usual rhetoric seemed a bit subdued. John Dickson’s score is primo! Michael learned he could trust his family even Barry, but for the so-called friends of his past — he’s going to have to keep a wary eye in their direction when they appear. This entry was posted on Thursday, June 4th, 2009 at 6:19 pm and is filed under Action & Suspense, Burn Notice, TV. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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