BURN NOTICE

For me, one of the hardest things to deal with in my normal enjoyment of televised entertainment is watching the end of a favored show, particularly one that ran for a long stretch and provided a good cast of characters. Some of the ones that left me melancholy with their passing were BATTLESTAR GALLACTICA, FIREFLY, DEADWOOD, OZ, SONS OF ANARCHY, all of the TREKs, especially VOYAGER. So tonight I bid a fond adieu to BURN NOTICE, which over seven seasons chronicled the fight of masterspy Michael Westen (Jeffrey Donovan) to understand and overturn his sudden expulsion from the CIA (getting burned, cut off from any support). We followed his love affair with the Irish beauty and deadly shooter Fi (Gabrielle Anwar, obviously not Irish though), his friendships and partnerships with Sam Axe (Bruce Campbell) and later Jesse Porter (Corby Bell), and with his mom Madeleine (Sharon Gless) and dysfunctional little brother Nate (Seth Peterson). Many of the bad guys and support personnel were very good. While searching for answers the generally decent Michael helped many people with sticky problems under the radar, while explaining to his viewing audience (kind of like a running commentary) the secrets of spycraft. Sure, the acting was often stiff and overdramatic, the scenes repeatedly used, the explosions often as fake as they come, not to mention that the story probably went on for two more years than it should have. But I enjoyed it nonetheless. The part I liked best, especially in the later seasons, was the relationship and banter between Sam and Jesse. So now it is off to new stories. Goodbye, Miami.