Burn Notice, Season 5

BURN NOTICE, SEASON 5 (TELEVISION)
20th Century Fox Home Ent.

Release date: December 26th, 2012
Running time: 756 minutes

Creator: Matt Nix

Cast: Jeffrey Donovan, Gabrielle Anwar, Bruce Campbell, Sharon Gless

Over the years there’ve been lots of professions I toyed with the idea of getting into; funeral director, crime scene investigator, FBI agent, psychic medium and grim reaper, to name but a few. Yes, perhaps I do watch a little too much television and should really work on that, but nevertheless these shows really gave me food for thought for some minutes. I found myself asking questions like “Would I have what it takes to do such a job?” and “What kind of lifestyle changes would I have to make?”

Eventually I decided I’d make a good spy, based on watching Season 5 of Burn Notice. I came to the conclusion that to be good at this I’d need to have a certain set of traits. Fox example, I’d need to be able to do reconnaissance, have a knack for going undetected in certain situations, and most of all, not put those I love in danger every time I take on a mission. Michael Westen (Jeffrey Donovan) seems to fail almost routinely at all of these in many episodes throughout the show, despite having a physical advantage and years of training.

Season 5 picks up with him half a year after the events of Season 4 which saw him trying to retrieve a list of spies the CIA lost. Michael’s been working with the CIA to capture, imprison, or execute all of the people that worked for the organization that burned him. When he returns home to Miami he faces a cold reception as he never informed anyone of his whereabouts during the time he was gone, and he struggles to get back into the swing of civilian life.

When he finds himself framed for the murder of Max (Grant Show), a CIA operative he was working with, Sam (Bruce Campbell) and Fi (Gabrielle Anwar) help him investigate, but with the CIA running their own investigation, lead by Agent Dani Pearce (Lauren Stamile), the evidence might not match up, especially as Michael, in his attempt to cover his own tracks, has also managed to cover up the real killer’s.

It’s this investigation which forms the bulk of this season, though we do see familiar characters such as Michael’s brother, Nate (Seth Peterson), “Dead” Larry Sizemore (Tim Matheson) and money-launderer Barry Burkowski (Paul Tei) turning up along with guest stars like Gavin Rossdale who plays one of Fi’s ex boyfriends and Charisma Carpenter who plays Nicki in the 11th episode Better Halves.

As well as those, Season 5 also brings in CIA operatives Ryan Pewterbaugh (Dean Cain) and (Rebecca Lang) Kristanna Loken to help Michael take down Reed Perkins (Eric Roberts), a man who seeks out assets who are willing to sell U.S. secrets to foreign powers. This leads to the season finale, Fail Safe which ends on another cliffhanger.

Season 5, unlike the first couple of seasons of the show, didn’t really pull me in and I found it difficult to keep going. The problem I found was Michael has already been through much of the same things; being framed, having to rescue his friends, finding out his mom is in danger and being unable to move on with his life without the CIA’s involvement. Though the guest stars were great to see on the show, sadly these episodes felt more like fillers as I waited to find out where the season’s underlining story would lead.

What got me interested in Burn Notice in the first place was the dynamic between Michael, Fi, Sam and Maddie, but as the season progressed I felt these characters weren’t growing with the show and this is down to the writing. While I think Michael makes for a great spy and has learned a lot along the way, I would’ve enjoyed seeing the show taking a few more risks and Michael being able to either make a choice or do his job without putting others at risk.

Patrick Samuel

The founder of Static Mass Emporium and one of its Editors in Chief is an emerging artist with a philosophy degree, working primarily with pastels and graphite pencils, but he also enjoys experimenting with water colours, acrylics, glass and oil paints.

Being on the autistic spectrum with Asperger’s Syndrome, he is stimulated by bold, contrasting colours, intricate details, multiple textures, and varying shades of light and dark. Patrick's work extends to sound and video, and when not drawing or painting, he can be found working on projects he shares online with his followers.

Patrick returned to drawing and painting after a prolonged break in December 2016 as part of his daily art therapy, and is now making the transition to being a full-time artist. As a spokesperson for autism awareness, he also gives talks and presentations on the benefits of creative therapy.

Static Mass is where he lives his passion for film and writing about it. A fan of film classics, documentaries and science fiction, Patrick prefers films with an impeccable way of storytelling that reflect on the human condition.

Patrick Samuel ¦ Asperger Artist

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