Burn Notice - General Discussion

[Meredith Quill]

Your Burn Notice Topic!

[Trini]

So this is in syndication now, and I've finally seen the origins of the yogurt gag! I've seen most of the episodes, but it's mainly been the later seasons.

[rujasu]

I've seen the earlier seasons, and parts of the later seasons.  I can't remember the first appearance of the yogurt gag though, was it in the pilot?

[Trini]

It was in the pilot. I only know that because someone on TWoP linked an interview with the producer that talked about the origins of the gag.

[John Potts]

Not only that, but one of his clients actually offered (partial?) payment in yoghurt for dealing with their problem (I forget which episode - either Season 1 or 2)!

[Trini]

Ha! I don't know if it's the same episode you're thinking of, but there was an episode where Mike's "payment" was free frozen yogurt for life (from a yogurt shop owner).

[Jediknight]

Ha! I don't know if it's the same episode you're thinking of, but there was an episode where Mike's "payment" was free frozen yogurt for life (from a yogurt shop owner).

I loved that when Nate and Michael first left the yogurt shop, Nate had a small stack, and Michael had his yogurt stacked high.  That had to be Michael's favorite payment ever.

[Ailianna]

And then there was the time Carla tried to bribe him with the basket of yogurt. Fiona--She sure knows the way to your heart!

[Jediknight]

While watching the Cloo marathon on Sunday, it completely reaffirmed that I hate the final season.  They were showing "Where There's Smoke", and in addition to laughing my ass off at Michael freaking out about Maddie getting arrested when Jesse told him she'd only get a small fine, and then Maddie appearing, it made me miss scenes like that.  We didn't get stuff like that in the final season, the fun and comedy disappeared.  Sam and Jesse were the only ones that had some semblance of fun.

[PreBabylonia]

Here it is 2015, and these shows still hold up in entertainment value, as well as inspiring me to try out....spycraft. (In my imagination, at least).  I've been catching the 2008 season weekly up here in Canada, and as always, I wonder if all of Michael's devices and gadgets will work. As compared to McGyver, which has been completely debunked. 

I expected a vibrant forum of discussion and sadly, it looks like Burn Notice didn't have a lot of fans. sigh...

[rujasu]

Well, plenty of people liked Burn Notice, but a lot of forums for older shows are slow around here.  Also, I think plenty of people "burned" out watching the last couple of seasons which, as Jediknight says, lost all of the "fun" of the earlier seasons.

 

Somewhat unrelated thought: I think Jesse Porter is a really underrated character on the show.  He's one of the rare examples where a show brought in a new additional character (someone who wasn't replacing anyone but was just extra) after several seasons and it actually worked (at least for a couple of seasons before the whole show went downhill).

[supposebly]

It's still one of my favorite shows, well except for the last season. I can't watch that again. I started a bit of a rewatch last fall and got to the end of season 3.

 

I still want that water saw thing they used to cut through the rear wall at that storage space. Don't ask me what episode that was, I think that annoying female cop was involved.

Edited February 27, 2015 by supposebly

[Ailianna]

And also that annoying Natalie villain!

[kat165]

I've also been watching this show on Esquire. They're at the point where Jessie's found out that Michael burned him. I loved this show and miss it a lot. I didn't care for the last season either. It was very boring. I hated them being on the run & ultimately what happens to Maddy.

[Jediknight]

I've also been watching this show on Esquire. They're at the point where Jessie's found out that Michael burned him. I loved this show and miss it a lot. I didn't care for the last season either. It was very boring. I hated them being on the run & ultimately what happens to Maddy.

I hate what happens to Maddie as well, but man Sharon Gless and especially Coby Bell knocked it out of the park in that scene.  Jesse had already lost one mother as a child, he never got closure on it, and never got to say goodbye, but with Maddie, while he was losing another mother, he got closure, got to say goodbye, and got one last hug.  He had to keep it together because of Charlie, and having to fight his way out, but he barely kept it together.

[kat165]

Jedi, you're so right. That was excellent work on the part of both actors. I bawled my eyes out at that scene. They both did an outstanding job. I miss Sharon Gless on my tv. I'd love to see her come back and do another series.

[biakbiak]

Wow I was successful in doing something that I swore I would do, block out the last few seasons of this show, because I completely forgot how Maddie died!

 

I pretend the show ends with Michael and Fi hunkered down at the hotel about to launch a suicide mission against Vaughn!

Edited March 17, 2015 by biakbiak

[Trini]

I need some help for a Burn Notice entry for the homepage poll. I want to enter the yogurt thing, but I'm having trouble coming up with some good text/arguments. Anyone have any good ideas? You can also message me.

[FormerMod-a1]

The key to being a badass spy?  Yogurt.

[Trini]

Thanks! Anything a little longer? There isn't going to be a video to go with it. (Haven't found a good one.)

[betsyboo]

What grudge? USA didn't end the show. Matt Nix did. He made the decision to end the show because he said 7 years was good enough and the actors wanted to do other things. Don't blame USA or the creators decision. USA didn't want to lose the show.

Understood that USA didn't cancel it. And understood that Matt Nix made the creative call. Perhaps my "I will never let go of that grudge <against USA> for how Burn Notice ended" was a little facetious, since it wasn't really USA's fault, but i did NOT enjoy the last season. That's what I meant about how it ended - how the storyline turned out - not how it was ended/retired/closed out. It was dark, it was sad (RIP Maddie), I felt like Michael was so deep into trying to fix things and more things kept getting destroyed/broken and then the cycle started all over again. I would watch the HELL out of a Sam/Jessie spin-off however.

 

If Royal Pains goes out on a high note I might think about forgiving USA for how Burn Notice ended. I'm still sad the Blue Skies are clouding over -- this is just about the last one.

CoderLady -  I didn't know how to tag you so you could see my response above, so I re-quoted you.

[Reishe]

I totally agree. It wasn't quite a letdown of How I Met Your Mother-like proportions, but close. The ending of Burn Notice really tarnished my memory of the series.

[betsyboo]

I totally agree. It wasn't quite a letdown of How I Met Your Mother-like proportions, but close. The ending of Burn Notice really tarnished my memory of the series.

What could be!!??  :-))  It will be remain the standard-bearer of all time in disappointing all facets of your fan base.

[Moose135]

It will be remain the standard-bearer of all time in disappointing all facets of your fan base.

 

They took a fun, quirky show and turned it into a huge steaming pile of crap.

[Happycatisfine]

I miss this show.  But I think Sam is on some show now (that I don't watch), so I'm glad he's working again.  What about Michael and Fionna?

[giovannif7]

Bruce Campbell (Sam) is starring in the new Starz series Ash vs Evil Dead, a contiuation of the saga of his character from the Evil Dead movies (Evil Dead, Evil Dead II, Army Of Darkness). Jeffrey Donovan (Michael) is in the ensemble cast of the currently-running season of the FX series Fargo. I haven't heard about any new projects for Gabrielle Anwar (Fiona.)

[Happycatisfine]

Bruce Campbell (Sam) is starring in the new Starz series Ash vs Evil Dead, a contiuation of the saga of his character from the Evil Dead movies (Evil Dead, Evil Dead II, Army Of Darkness). Jeffrey Donovan (Michael) is in the ensemble cast of the currently-running season of the FX series Fargo. I haven't heard about any new projects for Gabrielle Anwar (Fiona.)

Thanks, I have to check out Bruce Campbell's new show, I didn't want to watch Fargo the TV show since I loved the movie, but I think I'll check it out now.  That was a great ensemble cast on Burn Notice.

[Slider]

Held off on watching the final season as long as I could, but gave in and just finished.  The whole final season was crap.  It was basically Michael joining a cult, not a terrorist organization.  It was a cult down to the the awkward martyr talk from Kendrick, the way he looked and touched Alona Tal's character, the way he spoke, the whole psychedelic drug episode, the "come to our side" talk, etc.  It was just bad.  I always loved the case of the week, and hated the stupid CIA crap.  I really wish a spin off had happened with Jesse, Sam, and even Elsa! Throw in Barry!  That would be a great show.

 

And don't get me started on the death of Maddie.  Not. Cool. Show.

[Moose135]

I watched it as it happened, and couldn't believe the way they turned our fun, quirky little show into an enormous stinking pile of crap.  I wasn't a big fan of bringing Jesse into the team originally, but would absolutely watch a Sam & Jesse spin off.

[rujasu]

I was just about to comment about how I liked Jesse, then realized I already made that comment halfway upthread.  In my defense, it was over a year ago.

[Ailianna]

I LOVED early seasons Burn Notice.  Some of the things people have already mentioned--the fun, the snarky dialogue, the energy n the characters.  But one of my favorite things hasn't been mentioned--duct tape.  Michael used to solve his problems using his brain instead of a huge armory.  I never forget Sugar getting all hyped about things getting real when the duct tape came out!

[CoderLady]

Burn Notice was so good those first seasons before the show decided to go grim, dark and humorless. I learned lots of things about never giving up, keeping your wits about you, and improvising which I hope to never have to use. I will keep it in mind however, that if someone grabs me to use as a human shield I should immediately go limp because for a bad guy dragging a limp human is just not worth the effort.

[John Potts]

Ailianna But one of my favorite things hasn't been mentioned--duct tape.

 

 

"Guns make you stupid. Duct tape makes you smart" - M Weston (I think I'm remembering the quote right)

[Moose135]

Yes, that's the quote.

[zxy556575]

I started watching for the first time last month and am currently halfway through season 4. I'm enjoying it, so it's a little disappointing to hear that the show goes downhill. Truthfully, it's kind of heading that way already, if downhill means concentrating less on cases of the week and more on complex international espionage blah blah.

Some of my slight boredom may be due to binge fatigue, but I appreciate the warning about skipping season 7. I'm not really attached to either Jesse or Maddy but don't especially care to watch her die.

[Jediknight]

17 hours ago, lordonia said:

I started watching for the first time last month and am currently halfway through season 4. I'm enjoying it, so it's a little disappointing to hear that the show goes downhill. Truthfully, it's kind of heading that way already, if downhill means concentrating less on cases of the week and more on complex international espionage blah blah.

Some of my slight boredom may be due to binge fatigue, but I appreciate the warning about skipping season 7. I'm not really attached to either Jesse or Maddy but don't especially care to watch her die.

Jesse really hits his stride towards the end of season 4, and in season 5.  He and Sam start to get paired up more, and they are a fun team.  They continue to be a fun team in season 7, hell they were the only ones that were consistently fun.

The tone in season 7 could have worked in season 2 or 3, but not season 7.  It could have worked early as a way to show Michael that he really didn't want to be in the CIA, it wasn't where he belonged, and where he belonged was in Miami helping people, and that was what he loved.  But nope, we got a beyond dark tone that went against everything that had been set up, regressed Michael as a character, and didn't give Michael that chance to say to the CIA "I appreciate the offer to come back, but I can't accept it.  I belong in Miami, with Sam, Fiona, and Jesse, helping the little guy.  Maybe we might do some freelance work for you guys, but you've got to help us out as well."

There's one other character I wanted to mention, but you haven't reached her introduction, and I'll tell you now, she's awesome.  I wish she would have joined the team in a full capacity.

[Partly]

I liked the series as a whole.  While I would have enjoyed a show based on Michael, Sam and Fi helping people (kinda an updated A-Team vibe), I feel that the path Michael took is the one he needed to in order to make the end choices he did.  My favorite part of the show is the fact that ALL of the characters are made better by the the fact that Michael gets burned and dropped in Miami -- especially Michael.  The fact that it takes as much as it does to get him to realize that he can't be a spy without losing all of the good things he gained from his friends and by not being a spy in Miami, well, that fits the who the character is.

[peacheslatour]

Yeah, but we already had a Leverage. Burned Notice just started in syndication on ION here and I'm really getting into it. Michael and Fi have so much sexual chemistry it makes me want to open a window. Whew. *fans self*

[Partly]

2 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

Yeah, but we already had a Leverage. Burned Notice just started in syndication on ION here and I'm really getting into it. Michael and Fi have so much sexual chemistry it makes me want to open a window. Whew. *fans self*

I don't ship -- except for Michael and Fi.  Michael and Fi. Fi and Michael.  They are so perfect for each other.

[SparedTurkey]

I love Michael and Fi. And Michael and Sam. And Sam and Fi. That was a pretty good cast they got. And I like they were all within spitting distance of eachother's ages. You know when they remake it Fi will be like 25 years younger. And blond probably.

I also liked the addition of Jesse. I thought they pulled it off really well having a new person come into the cast. Didn't force you into likng him immediately but let him grow on you. More shows could take a leaf out of this book.

[stuckin60s]

Sharon Gless is great.  She does a wonderful job as she learns about Michael and what he has become.

 

I have always adored her and wished we saw more of her

[peacheslatour]

Burn Notice is on ION, marathons every Friday!

[hatchetgirl]

I love early Burn Notice.  Michael, so suave, Fiona, a pain in the behind, Sam, hilarious, Maddie, just a mom who wanted her son around to do good.... loved it. 

[Moose135]

On 1/13/2017 at 5:21 PM, peacheslatour said:

Burn Notice is on ION, marathons every Friday!

I just discovered this a couple of weeks ago.  I work from home most Fridays, and I just leave it on all afternoon in the background.

[biakbiak]

My tivo has been randomly recording repeats, one was a season 7 episode. I was bored and thought to myself that it couldnt be as bad as I remembered so decide to watch and good lord it's even worse than I remembered! 

[supposebly]

I pretty much ignore the last season ever happened.

[biakbiak]

On 4/9/2017 at 2:34 PM, supposebly said:

I pretty much ignore the last season ever happened.

Michael and FI firing their last ammo against Vaughan is my stop!

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Jeffrey Donovan discusses Shut Eye, Burn Notice, auditioning, and sleight of hand card tricks on Build:

What he had to say about Burn Notice:

[MissL]

Wow. I think I have a super unpopular opinion but I never saw chemistry between Michael and Fiona. Don't get me wrong I LOVED the show and came to appreciate her as part of the team but the romance felt forced. I'd say it's Gabriel's acting but I did enjoy her friendship with Sam so? Don't know. All I know is I shipped Jeffrey Donavan hard with Vera Formiga on Touching Evil so I've felt the chemistry with him before just not with these two. Fiona can really annoy the hell out of me in an episode. 

Gonna go hide now.

It's just I started rewatching some season 1 because I missed the show and Jeffrey's voice. I love his voice. I wanted to come see what people had to say.  (and rewatch is reminding me I've always wanted to really Try breaking a lock with compressed air and a hammer).

[andromeda331]

On ‎4‎/‎18‎/‎2019 at 9:01 AM, MissL said:

Wow. I think I have a super unpopular opinion but I never saw chemistry between Michael and Fiona. Don't get me wrong I LOVED the show and came to appreciate her as part of the team but the romance felt forced. I'd say it's Gabriel's acting but I did enjoy her friendship with Sam so? Don't know. All I know is I shipped Jeffrey Donavan hard with Vera Formiga on Touching Evil so I've felt the chemistry with him before just not with these two. Fiona can really annoy the hell out of me in an episode. 

Gonna go hide now.

It's just I started rewatching some season 1 because I missed the show and Jeffrey's voice. I love his voice. I wanted to come see what people had to say.  (and rewatch is reminding me I've always wanted to really Try breaking a lock with compressed air and a hammer).

I never did either. Fiona always seemed way more into Michael while he never seemed interested in her.  Also, Fiona always seemed like she didn't really know Michael or understand him. Which is odd given however long they dated in the past you'd think she'd realize at some point he wasn't violent, blowing stuff up guy she seemed to think he was like. In that one episode where they pretend to be car thieves to go after guy who assaulted their client's sister Fiona says something about how this cover ID reminds her of the guy Michael pretended to be when they met and she wonders if that was who she fell in love with. You really would think this would be the light bulb on the relationship. That Fiona never actually fell in love with Michael. But his cover ID. It makes sense but it never comes up with again. For supposedly in love with Fiona he never makes the effort when their dating he forgets to make dinner reservations and doesn't take her out on dates. I have no idea why they are together. The way they play it out. It really seems like they would have been going in the used to date and end up as friends. 

Edited May 4, 2019 by andromeda331