Burn Notice: Season 4

When you're a spy, you learn a special set of skills that help you do your job and stay alive. But what do you do with those skills when you are fired? That's the dilemma that Michael Westen has been facing ever since being fired from his job at the CIA and dumped in Miami. And it's also the premise of Burn Notice. Season 4 is as hot and exciting as the previous seasons have been. This season finds a big shake up to the cast. Yes, Michael (Jeffrey Donovan) is still the main character. When he gets in situations that are over his head, he still calls on former girlfriend and gun dealer Fiona (Gabrielle Anwar) and ex-seal Sam Axe (Bruce Campbell). His mom Madeline (Sharon Gless) is even still around to drive him crazy. So what's the change? They've added Jesse (Coby Bell) to the team. In the season 4 premier, Michael is trying to get some information for the puppet masters that burned him (so he can use it against them) and inadvertently burns Jesse in the process. So Jesse joins their team, all the time vowing to take down the person who burned him, not knowing its Michael. Even given this extra character, the setup of each episode is pretty much the same. There's a case of the week that Michael is reluctantly drawn in to. They help a lawyer targeted for death by a biker gang. Michael and Sam get taken hostages while trying to help a conned man get his money back. A clinic doctor is harassed by drug dealers. Fiona and a client's wife get kidnapped. Michael even goes to prison to help a man escape before he is murder. But each episode also continues the overall storyline. This season, Michael is closing in on a list of those who burned him, but he's in a race for that list with some very bad people. Will he get it and clear his name or will he wind up dead? People seem to be in two camps on the new character of Jesse. Some argue that it messed with the chemistry of the characters and was an unnecessary change to the show. I usually fall into the "If it ain't broke, why are you fixing it" camp myself, and I can certainly see their point. However, I liked Jesse. The fact that he shook up the dynamics on the show is a good thing, in my opinion. They play a bit with a love triangle involving Michael, Jesse, and Fiona, which actually adds something to the will they/won't they tension that Michael and Fiona have had all along. Plus the storyline he gets in the second half of the season adds a depth to the show that it hasn't had before. No, Jesse wasn't a necessary change, but I think he was a good one. Even without Jesse, this show is still great. The case that the gang works on each week is always very entertaining. I watch the show for that more than anything else. They always manage to throw in some twist I didn't see coming, and I am always wondering how they will get out of the mess they are in. Naturally, they do it with lots of car crashes and explosions. This is the best action show currently on TV. I don't know what their budget is, but I buy just about every moment of their effects and stunts. The ongoing story is a bit of a mixed bag. Either I'm bad at remembering what is happening from week to week or they throw things in at random that don't necessarily make sense from what happened last week. I've given up trying to keep track of all the twists and turns and just let the story unfold. While it doesn't seem to be as tight as I would like, I still find this aspect of the show fun and entertaining. I will say this, with how they left things in season 4, I don't see how they will move forward in season 5, but I can't wait to find out. The acting on this show is top notch as well. The main cast knows their characters and does what each scene calls for whether it is action, a bit of humor, or more dramatic emotional stuff. And the guest stars never let us down either. Season 4 upped the usual episode order to 18, and all those episodes are in this four disc set in widescreen and full surround sound. Extras include deleted scenes, a gag reel, a featurette about the stunts, audio commentaries, and "Sam Axe's Guide to Ladies and Libations." The creators of this show and White Collar are friends and have a lot of fun giving each other a hard time, which explains the pair of features "Burn Notice Roasts White Collar" and "White Collar Roasts Burn Notice," both of which can be found on the season two set of White Collar as well. Burn Notice has always been a fun, action packed show, and season 4 is no different. You'll soon find yourself caught up in the action and twists of these fun stories.

+++ Warning, this contains spoilers for the prior season, but no major giveaways from the fourth season +++ Season four of Burn Notice picks up almost immediately after the events at the end of season three, with Michael still in prison, having been framed for the crimes committed by Simon Escher. He is given a deal, basically that he can be let out of jail if he starts working for the organization that burned him. He reluctantly agrees and is assigned a handler named Vaughn, played by Robert Wisdom. As you can imagine, the relationship does not stay on good terms, and by the end of the season Michael (and everyone around him) is in danger yet again. This season sees a new addition to the cast with Coby Bell being brought on as Jessee Porter, another counter-intelligence agent who is burned. The big story arc of the season involves a NOC list, naming members of the organization, and the team trying to get possession of the list. The season ends on yet another cliffhanger (not with the life of a character hanging in the balance) teasing yet another new direction. There are several recognizable guest stars this season including Richard Kind, Tim Mattheson, John Doman, and Dylan Baker. For those who get the DVD set, the extras include a commentary track on the season premiere, deleted scenes, a gag reel, a feature on the stunts, and a feature in which the casts of Burn Notice and White Collar roast the other show, a feature on the stunts of the show, and a feature called Sam Axe's Guide to Ladies and Libations, which is basically a fun bit with Bruce Campbell. Overall, the series continues to be well-written and acted. You still have to suspend your disbelief, but not so much that anything comes across as just plain stupid. It has a good mix of action, comedy, and drama, and the cast has very good chemistry. So, if you have liked the prior seasons of the show you will probably enjoy this one as well.

Great idea for a television show! Very entertaining! The show’s main story line allows for every episode to be exciting and truly entertaining. Clean viewing!!

Great DVD even though it's pre-owned it's just like new

Après trois saisons de très bonne facture, voici la suite des aventures de l’ex-espion Michael Westen, aidé par ses amis, toujours à la poursuite de ceux qui l’ont grillé. Toujours brillamment écrite, on suit avec un plaisir certain les protagonistes, pris dans leurs missions situées dans des épisodes indépendants, mais cette fois, l’accent est plus accentué sur le fil rouge de la série depuis le début et la majorité des épisodes est centrée sur la quête de Michael qui cherche des réponses, qui n’a jamais été aussi proche de la vérité. Nouvelle saison, qui voit l’arrivée d’un nouveau personnage principal qui intègre l’équipe, un ex-espion du nom de Jesse Porter, qui est lui aussi victime d’une « Burn Notice » à son nom, sauf que le fautif n’est autre que notre ex-espion favori, Michael Westen. La série fonctionne donc sur de toutes nouvelles bases et parvient à créer une dynamique très intéressante entre les différents personnages. Les intrigues sont très solides et très riches, comportent beaucoup d’action, d’où des séquences parfaitement gérées et réussies, menées avec rythme, habilement parsemées d’humour et qui conduisent vers un dénouement final assez surprenant, où l’on se demande vraiment quelles vont être les retombées pour la saison suivante. Le coffret est un Import USA, le boitier plastique comprend les 18 épisodes, répartis sur 4 disques, tous séparés par un intercalaire, les DVD sont bien calés. L’image est de très bonne qualité, tandis que l’audio comporte seulement la Version Anglaise, que l’on peut visionner avec les Sous-Titres Français, également présents, cela ne me gêne absolument pas, l’ayant pris pour voir la série en VOST, ce qui est essentiel pour profiter de sa qualité, tant les vraies voix des acteurs sont uniques, afin de bénéficier pleinement de la très grande qualité du show. A noter : qui dit Import USA, dit Zone 1 dans ce cas, il faudra donc un lecteur DVD multizones, afin de pouvoir visionner les disques. Excellente série qui poursuit intelligemment sur sa lancée et qui sait ouvrir de nouvelles portes. La suite est attendue avec grande impatience.

面白い

Rezension zum DVD-UK-Import !! Da es der deutsche Verleih ja nicht schafft die Staffeln weiter zu veröffentlichen und der deutsche Fan wieder mal in die Röhre guckt (Stand Juni 2013), habe ich wiedermal zu einem UK-Import einer Serie gegriffen. Das Wichtigste zuerst: die Staffel enthält einzig die englische Originaltonspur in DD 5.1. Es gibt französische, spanische, portugiesische und englische Untertitel. Die englischen UT sind allerdings für Hörgeschädigte, d.h. es werden auch Geräusche ect. beschrieben. Die 4 DVDs erscheinen in einem 4er Klarsichtamaray, bei dem zum Glück nicht wie in Deutschland alle Discs übereinander gestapelt sind, sondern immer nur 2 versetzt. Allerdings hat meine Ausgabe keinen Pappschuber...habe die Staffel sehr preiswert gebraucht gekauft...also keine Ahnung, ob normalerweise ein Schuber wie in Deutschland dabei ist. Das Innencover bietet Episodentitel und Auflistung der Extras. Die Staffel selbst ist richtig gut geworden. Michael arbeitet nun doch für das Management. Dabei "verbrennt" er gleich in seinem ersten Fall für den neuen "Boss" einen anderen Agenten. Und ausgerechnet dieser wird auch noch Teil des Teams und wirft ein Auge auf Fi. Also richtig schön kompliziert ;-). Neben der Arbeit fürs Management, in der es gegen eine geheim agierende Terrororganisation geht, gilt es natürlich wieder Geld zu verdienen. Es wird gegen Biker-Gangs, Waffenhändler, Drogendealer und allerlei andere Bad-Guys gearbeitet. Reichlich Humor, Basteleien, Intrigen, Kabbeleien innerhalb des Teams und Action (Explosionen, Shoot-Outs, Verfolgungsjagden, Stunts) dominieren auch diese 18 Folgen. Neue Gegner und alte Bekannte treten auf den Plan. Gastauftritte absolvieren z.B. Robert Patrick ("Terminator 2", "The Unit"), Burt Reynolds ("Boogie Nights", "Ein ausgekochtes Schlitzohr"), Michael Ironside ("Total Recall", "Scanners")...wenn auch nur ein sehr kurzer Auftritt, Michael Rooker ("The Replacement Killers", "Slither"), Navi Rawat ("Numbers", "24") und auch Jay Karnes ("The Shield") schaut wieder mal als durchtriebener Brenner rein. Bild und Ton der DVDs sind wirklich sehr gut. Irgendwie ist das Bild nicht mehr so extrem grobkörnig wie in den Staffel 1-3. Könnte aber auch am Import liegen, da ich bisher nur die deutschen Ausgaben hatte...obwohl das eher unwahrscheinlich ist. Vielleicht wurde einfach ein wenig am Stil der Show "gedreht". Jedenfalls dominieren tolle Farben und Weichzeichner das Bild. Die Qualität des Bildes könnte allerdings bei einigen Playern oder Tvs schlechter wirken, da die UK-DVDs im NTSC-Videoformat vorliegen und nicht in PAL wie die deutschen Staffeln. Ton wie gesagt sehr gut...alles klar und deutlich verständlich, toller Raumklang und guter Bass während der Action. Im Original kommen vor allem die "Rollenwechsel" von Michael viel besser rüber...durch die verschiedenen Akzente und Nuancen der Aussprache. Im Deutschen funktioniert das irgendwie nicht so gut. Extras (ohne irgendwelche UT !!) - Audiokommentar zum Staffelfinale - "Sams Guide To Ladies And Libations" (6:02 min) - Stunts (4:37 min) - GagReel (5:10 min) - Deleted Scenes - "Burn Notice" Roasts "White Collar" (6:01 min) - "White Collar" Roasts "Burn Notice" (5:36 min) - Pilotfolge von "White Collar" (60:33 min)...mit allen UT Fazit: Auch in Staffel 4 hat die Serie nichts von ihrem Schwung verloren. Es gibt wieder viel zu lachen, es wird wieder reichlich gesprengt und geballert und sonnige Locations sorgen für gutes Feeling im heimischen Wohnzimmer. Diesmal gibts wie gesagt sogar 18 Folgen. Wer nicht auf eine deutsche Veröffentlichung warten möchte und gut Englisch kann, der kann bei diesem Package unbedarft zugreifen.

Another great season of one of my fave shows ever

One of the best and greatest TV series to hit the UK over the past years. Every episode of each series is great, action and good sprinkle of comedy where and when needed, and most of all, a great cast. I have all four current series, looking forward very much to series five. It is one of those TV series to slip under the radar but i am sure now it is on everyones screen.