TV Rewind: Burn Notice Was the Best Show of USA Network’s Blue Sky Era

Donovan is perfectly cast as Michael, an international man of mystery with the heart of a tech geek and a soft spot for underdogs, he’s the kind of hero who ends up doing half his freelance jobs at a discount because he just can’t stop helping people that need it. A smart, charming try-hard who ended up in the CIA to escape an abusive home life, Michael’s a genuinely good person, albeit one who’s willing to do bad things when the situation calls for them. And he makes for a compelling hero, a man who is clearly better than the system he once served, and his frequent fourth-wall-breaking voiceovers both instruct viewers at home in the art of espionage and allow us to feel closer to him than we might otherwise.

As with any good USA series, Michael is joined by a charming cast of supporting characters who help him out with his various missions, and their relationships with one another form the true emotional backbone of the show. There’s his former IRA operative ex-girlfriend Fiona (Gabrielle Anwar), with whom he shares something of a star-crossed, occasionally combative romance for much of the show’s run. (And to be fair, they’re adorable, in a sort of hot and simultaneously dangerous way.) Fellow washed-up spy Sam Axe (Bruce Campbell) feeds the feds information about Michael even as the vaguely-professional connection between the pair deepens into a real friendship. And there’s his chain-smoking mother Madeline (Sharon Gless), who hides a soft heart under a veneer of blowsy attitude and with whom Michael slowly rebuilds a real relationship after years of semi-estrangement. 

There’s certainly plenty of joy to be found watching Michael don disguises and embrace a variety of slightly ridiculous personas, whether the end goal is to infiltrate buildings (messenger outfits are a regular go-to) or to bring down local criminals (there are an awful lot of low-level drug dealers and insurance fraudsters in Miami). A key part of the fun of Burn Notice is that it lets the audience in on the con, laying out key pieces of Michael’s complex plans and explaining the technical details behind his homemade gadgets before allowing viewers to watch the events unfold onscreen. And Donovan’s everyday Bond vibes certainly help make the more ridiculous aspects of Michael’s story seem believable. 

But Burn Notice shines brightest when it’s focused on the complex character dynamics at its core. Sure, we’re all curious about who burned Michael—and the show does answer that question eventually, before branching off into another, more complex conspiracy—but what inevitably keeps viewers coming back each week is the warm, messy found family at the series’ center. Michael, Sam, Fiona, Madeline, and, later in its run, a new team member named Jesse (Colby Bell), have all hurt and betrayed one another. But they also forgive, fight for, and put themselves in endless peril to save each other, and while Burn Notice never shied away from showing us the emotional damage this group repeatedly caused, it also did the work of showing us how those broken bonds not just healed, but grew stronger in the aftermath. 

Look, Burn Notice probably isn’t ever going to land a spot on anyone’s greatest television shows of all time list. It’s not trying to make any sort of grand pronouncements about the moral state of humanity, wrestle with the complex tensions of global geopolitics, or make a case in either direction for the usefulness of the intelligence industrial complex. Instead, it is simply content to be what it is—a good story. And, let’s face it: a lot of shows have done far worse.

Watch on Hulu

Lacy Baugher Milas is the Books Editor at Paste Magazine, but loves nerding out about all sorts of pop culture. You can find her on Twitter @LacyMB.

For all the latest TV news, reviews, lists and features, follow @Paste_TV