What I’m Watching: Burn Notice (Season Premiere)

Burn Notice: Season 4, Episode 1 “Friends and Enemies” (B+)

What an exciting start to the season for this show. When last we see Michael, he had been taken into some highly secure facility somewhere and ended up in a living room. As has been the case in past seasons, he has a handler who we don’t know much about and who isn’t terribly keen on providing more than answer at a time at the most. In this case, it’s Robert Wisdom, who works much better playing a nice guy here than he did as an obnoxious villain on “Prison Break.” The crucial difference is that Vaughn admits that Michael has had some bad experiences with some of their operatives and even doesn’t mind his extracurricular activities taking on cases, acknowledging them only by laughing at their ridiculousness. I enjoy their back-and-forth: “You want to shoot me, go for it” / “I’ll take a rain check.” I really liked the different music that played over the opening credits as Michael gets asked whether he’s in or not. It’s great that Sam and Fiona took cases while Michael was gone, and their interactions are hilarious as always. Rich Sommer from “Mad Men” is a fun guest, and I like the categorization of Big Ed as a Big Problem. Michael almost getting his head shot off by a shotgun was really funny, and I was very impressed with the way that he was able to turn most of the bikers against the truly dangerous ones. Michael’s lack of a plan B was entertaining, as was Sam’s. The ending conversation about doing bad things between Madeline and Michael was a very moving scene. Michael burning a spy makes for a great ending, and I wonder if that unseen character is going to become a major player in this season.