Review: Burn Notice Season 2 Premiere

Compared to the plethora of gadgets most cinematic spies usually have (exploding pens, cars with machine guns, x-ray goggles) the reserve of gadgets used by Michael Weston of USA’s “Burn Notice” like duct tape, cellphones and a fire extinguisher may seem tame at first, until he puts them into action and the butt-kicking ensues.

The ingenuity of Weston (played by Jeffrey Donnovan) adds a MacGyver like originality to his character; a spy who is now confined to his hometown of Miami after being disavowed and blacklisted (otherwise known as being “burned”).

The first season was impressive with its mix of comedy and action. Bruce Campbell and Gabrielle Anwar added spice and attitude as Weston’s sidekicks Sam and Fiona and Sharon Gless was nominated for supporting actress as Weston’s caring but often shrewish mother.

After being burned Weston began working as a sort of private detective while he tried to figure out who burned him and why. The first season ended with Weston driving to meet the people who claimed to have burned him saying that they wanted him for a job.

Last night’s second season premiere picked up right where last season left off and started out at the fast pace that characterized the first season. Although the episode itself hit the ground running, story-wise it offered nothing that audiences had seen before in the previous season. Despite the shows episodic nature, this episode entitled “Breaking and Entering” showed improvement over the first season’s major flaw of often not focusing enough on the (very interesting) overall storyline as it focused on the Michael’s reaction to the mysterious organization that burned him.

Hopefully season two will keep with that spirit and provide audiences with more of this original and entertaining spy game.

-Beans

~ by beanseboy on July 11, 2008.