The fourth season of Burn Notice seems to do what most television shows admittedly working towards a point put off for the entire run of their series: it gets to its point. Having had Michael Westen race about Miami for the last three seasons, tracing one lead to the next and so on, the seasons mixed the essential story in with “Job of the Week” episodes. For a while, it seemed like the writers were content passing the buck from one “handler” to the next as the paper trail for his burn notice led him further down a rabbit hole. That is, until the fourth season. Now, Michael has the chance to put the men responsible for his termination out in the open, but the allies he needs to get there might end up killing him.
Like all seasons of Burn Notice, the fourth season starts with Michael bound and on the verge of meeting someone new. This time around it’s Vaughn (Robert Wisdom), who has squirreled away the murderous former-agent Simon (Garret Dillahunt) and has asked Michael to get whatever information he can out of him. What Vaughn doesn’t realize is that Simon clues in Michael to the secret he was trying to hide: the list of people responsible for burning Michael (and other spies). With control of that list and the help of newly burned spy Jesse (Coby Bell), Michael, Sam (Bruce Campbell), and Fi (Gabrielle Anwar) go after the men responsible in a final showdown that could get Michael reinstated or them and everyone they know killed.
The series’ format of “Client of the Week” has made noticeable changes thanks in large part to the show getting too repetitive to hold viewer interest. Sam and Fi have slowly started to play increasingly larger parts and the introduction of Jesse makes Burn Notice even more of an ensemble piece instead of just the Jeffrey Donovan show with Bruce Campbell and Gabrielle Anwar with special guest Sharon Gless. Gless’s role has gotten better and better hitting its pinnacle in the previous season as she fully came to understand what her son has been doing for the last three years. In the fourth year, she’s much more sullen and resigned to the idea that her son’s work is less honorable than she ever imagined.
The addition of Coby Bell as Jesse isn’t an unheard of tactic in television; the introduction of new characters or placing the protagonist’s life on the line are two overused ways of getting interest to return. To Burn Notice’s credit, Jesse starts off as a very simplistic caricature, but thanks to a certain turn of events, becomes a really interesting fourth party for the team. Assuming the writers keep him on for the next season, it’ll add a much needed dynamic as he’s become a much more volatile persona.
Shooting in Miami has always made the show very photogenic and when Fox released the second season on Blu-ray they did right by the show’s aesthetic and its fans. That it hasn’t released a Blu-ray version of a season set since then is too bad as it’s incredibly beneficial to the show’s appearance. Even so, in standard definition the visuals are still impressive in its mix of gritty and crystal clear style.
The fourth season is a definite improvement over the prior two seasons, especially with its great finale piece. It’s easy to fall out of love with a television show as it wears on, but Burn Notice’s fourth season should have enough of a hook to reel wayward fans back in. If you didn’t catch it on TV, the DVD set’s a good way to go, what with it being sans commercials and all.
DVD Bonus Features
The fourth season set has a fair number of extras including the very funny “Sam Axe’s Guide to Ladies and Libations”, a piece on the stuntwork of the series (specific to this season), deleted scenes, and two complementary pieces where the creative crew of Burn Notice and White Collar point out the formulaic foibles in each others’ shows. It’s cheesy, but some funny points are made. A pretty funny gag reel rounds out the set.
"Burn Notice: Season Four" is on sale June 7, 2011 and is not rated. Action, Comedy, Crime-Thriller. Directed by Dennie Gordon, Jeremiah Chechik, John T Kretchmer, Tim Matheson. Written by Matt Nix, Rashad Raisani, Michael Horowitz. Starring Bruce Campbell, Coby Bell, Gabrielle Anwar, Jeffrey Donovan, Sharon Gless.
