Burn Notice

[jazzfish]

After two seasons, I am saddened to report that Burn Notice is not My Show.

It had all the hallmarks of being My Show. In each episode Michael Westen and his small but devoted crew tackle another case, while character relationships develop and Michael takes an incremental step towards getting his old job back. There's good writing, including a great deal of snark; there's movement on both the "big plot" and "character development" fronts; there's some great casting, including but hardly limited to Bruce Campbell. And I very much appreciate the voiceovers describing aspects of cinematic covert work. Fun times.

But it's also got a ton of little things that have grated on me, episode after episode. For instance:

• Power games. The big plot has a running theme of someone showing up and saying "Here's how it's gonna be," taking an obscene amount of joy in dictating terms in such a way that Michael et al can't do anything about it (with threats to loved ones, etc). I didn't realise quite how twitchy this was making me until about halfway through the first season, when Michael can suddenly do the same thing to one of the antagonists and it still felt deeply wrong. Apparently powerlessness is a big squick point for me.
  
• It's the Michael Westen show. Other characters are only important so far as they relate to Michael, which reduces the character-driven complexity of the show quite a bit. This wouldn't be so bad, except for how
  
• The character dynamics are poisonous. As a graduate of the School of Dysfunctional Families[1] I get twitchy every time Michael's mother or brother show up, because I really don't need to see that played out onscreen. And Fiona's perfectly capable of being a manpulative bitch herself. I'm thinking in particular of the S1 episode where she starts mackin' on some poor client to make Michael jealous. More frustrating than fun, for me.
  [1] Q: How many children of a dysfunctional family does it take to change a lightbulb? A: Your BROTHER would know.
  
• Miami. I could happily go the rest of my life without another five-second jump cut of Miami beaches and/or bikini'd Hot Chicks.

And so, after two seasons and with a slight sense of regret, I leave the world of Burn Notice to people who aren't as bothered by those things as I am. I like to think that Michael and Fiona get over their respective issues and hook up again, for good this time, and Michael brings down the big shadowy organization that Number Six and Frasier's dad Carla and, um, John Mahoney are working for. Then fade to Miami sunset, because he's grown up enough to be sick of the whole spook lifestyle.

Comments

[mycroftca.livejournal.com]

I was watching season one episodes on Netflix, but dumped the series; some of your complaints ring very true for me about the show, but I have such a long Netflix queue that I'm not willing to give most shows forever to pull me along.

[jazzfish]

The thing is, I enjoyed it except for the little issues, which gradually became bigger and bigger issues for me. (Actually, Michael's relationships get better in season 2. But there's still everything else.)

But yeah, there is definitely no dearth of good stuff, and when something's not your thing it's not your thing.

[mycroftca.livejournal.com]

I thought I was going to like it, but I was wrong. Maybe I gave up too soon, but I don't think so.

Enjoy your next choice!

[blaisepascal]

I had been told that Burn Notice was a good show worth watching. When I finally pulled it up on NetFlix, I couldn't get through the first episode. None of the characters were likable, including Michael Westen.

I had similar issues with Breaking Bad.

[jazzfish]

Huh. I liked both Fiona and Sam pretty well (Fiona less so after a few episodes). Flawed but not in a way that prevented me from enjoying the company. De gustibus et cetera.

(Damages, on the other hand, was entirely filled with dislikable characters. Although they were all equally dislikable in different ways.)