Burn Notice

[Teelie]

I find it funny that the same actor played the main villain in two of my saddest series finales of late. John Pyper-Ferguson played Stanton Parish in Alphas, and here he played James Kendrick. He was excellent in both roles. The comic nerd in me is now thinking of a lot of characters he could portray.

In a coincedental note: He was also a recurring villian in Adventures of Briscoe County Jr. starring Bruce Campbell. He "died" several times in the series only to come back from being only nearly dead. It's too bad they never made a second season of that series as "Pistol Pete" was one of my favorite recurring characters.

 

[Ramsay Snow]

rogue_agent: That's an interesting point. Fiona did say to "start from the beginning", why wouldn't he recount how he got from being a spy to the cabin? Nice catch.

I see. Yeah, then I guess it does make sense. I stole that idea from someone who commented on SpoilerTV lol.

 

[Spider-Man Luvr28]

Matt Nix did an interview with EW talking about the finale & the possibility of bringing the characters back in the future:

EW: Is Burn Notice really gone? To me, this feels like a franchise that could pump out a TV movie from time to time, like The Fall of Sam Axe one that you already did.
NIX: I would love to do that. I totally think it could. It’s sort of a question for the brass at USA and Fox TV studios as to whether they want to do that. The standalone movie model is not something we do a whole lot, but we did it for the Sam Axe movie and it seemed to go well, and I have a general sense that that’s be something the actors would be up for. So yeah, if we could get something like that going, I would love to do it. It would have to be something that made sense dramatically. I don’t think we would want to do something trivial after we brought the series to a close in a particular way, but I think there are ways around that so, at the same time, no matter what you do, it’s never the same experience as making the series itself. The Sam Axe movie was a blast to do, but it was made mostly with an entirely different crew in Bogota, Colombia, so maybe there will be an opportunity to revisit these characters, but it’s not going to be with the same crew, it certainly wouldn’t be with all of the same cast, so some elements may continue in a certain scenario, but many elements are certainly done.

Full interview: http://insidetv.ew.com/2013/09/12/burn-notice-series-finale-matt-nix/

& Sharon Gless talked to THR about them killing her characer off & her experience on the show:

What was filming like for Madeline’s death scene?

Gless: It was an upsetting day. It was surreal. It was a late day, and it was all me.

Was there added weight to the moment because Burn Notice was finished after that scene was completed?

Gless: I didn’t hold on to the fact that it was my last scene ever shot as that character. I just thought this was the last chance I had to do this particular take. I tried to do the best I could for Matty but it’s so fast. It doesn’t take long to blow yourself up, but she does have stuff she goes through before she does it. She knows she’s right -- that part I did read enough. There was no other choice, there just wasn’t. I hope the audience doesn’t know early on what happens.

Was that the most difficult part of filming this episode?

Gless: In the early part of the episode, when Michael says goodbye to me knowing he’s going to die, for me that was the hardest scene to play. For me, to take myself out was not as hard as saying goodbye to him because I thought he was going to be hurt and I would never see him again.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/burn-notice-series-finale-matt-628490

 

[Teelie]

I can see how they could do a movie or spin off without trying to negate the series finale but it would also take a lot of planning and development to get it right without angering a majority of the fans.

 

[E-Man]

In a coincedental note: He was also a recurring villian in Adventures of Briscoe County Jr. starring Bruce Campbell. He "died" several times in the series only to come back from being only nearly dead. It's too bad they never made a second season of that series as "Pistol Pete" was one of my favorite recurring characters.

I never watched that show, but I feel like I have to since I'm a fan of Bruce Campbell and now John Pyper-Ferguson. That's sounds pretty funny and cool that he dies and keeps coming back. In Alphas he was immortal, and in Burn Notice I kept thinking that he could never die because of his alpha powers. lol

 

[Teelie]

It's a light-hearted western semi-comedy. The show was on Fox so you can see why it was cancelled. There are a few notable names that showed up there before they were famous too. And a few who were already notable.

 

[Matt]

It was a good finale. Should've come a couple seasons ago as the journey to the end was terrible. But the ending was good, none the less.

 

[Spider-Man Luvr28]

I can see how they could do a movie or spin off without trying to negate the series finale but it would also take a lot of planning and development to get it right without angering a majority of the fans.

I agree.

And the show got big ratings with the finale.

USA’s “Burn Notice” wrapped its seven-season run Thursday with its largest audience in two years, standing as TV’s most-watched scripted program of the night.

The series created by Matt Nix and starring Jeffrey Donovan averaged a 1.3 rating/4 share in adults 18-49 and 4.97 million viewers overall, rising about 1 million viewers from its penultimate episode of last week, which went up against the first NFL game of the season.

The last time “Burn Notice” drew a larger audience than Thursday was midway through its fifth season in 2011, when it bagged 5.21 million.

http://variety.com/2013/tv/news/usa...r-ratings-high-with-series-finale-1200610783/

 

[Wyrminarrd]

I liked the ending, it wrapped up the series nicely.

As for stand alone movies... I can see them doing a movie that takes place before the series finale. A big stand alone mission with no baring on any of the plot lines of the show might be interesting if done right.

 

[KenK]

I'd watch one focused on Fiona back when she was IRA.

 

[Hunter Rider]

"Fiona is not my past!"

That is the most memorable line in the most powerful scene in the shows entire run IMO, and so I felt the finale was fitting as it called back to it from the central theme all the way up to the final scene.

I admit the ludicrous over involvement of Maddie in missions in the last few seasons has irritated me, but her death scene was a heart breaker and she went out in classic style, head up high, cigarette in her hand!

I don't want any TV movies, prequels or one-offs, the show had ran it's course and they gave it a good ending, I want to just remember Mike and Fi in the last scene as them moving beyond the spy world.

 

[Asgard]

Good finale.

Sad to see the show go.

Maddy dying was tough to see but it was a badass death.

Are Mike, Fiona, and Charlie in Ireland? I like the theory that the entire show is Mike telling Charlie the story about how they all got where they are. Pretty cool.

 

[Spider-Man Luvr28]

Good finale.

Sad to see the show go.

Maddy dying was tough to see but it was a badass death.

Are Mike, Fiona, and Charlie in Ireland? I like the theory that the entire show is Mike telling Charlie the story about how they all got where they are. Pretty cool.

If you read the interview I posted... Nix answers that question though.

EW: You mentioned that in the finale we see Michael and Fiona and Charlie off somewhere at the very end. We see them living off the grid in what I’m assuming is Ireland, right?
NIX: It is certainly like Ireland. It is probably Ireland, yes. It’s not something I want to answer definitively, but Ireland is something that felt right. It was where they met, it was where they got together first, it’s somewhere that Fiona has connections. It’s a base, so it could be anywhere in the world that has snow, so there’s certainly a reason that we get into that scene with Irish music, so…

EW: Did you ever consider having Fiona going back to her Irish accent that we saw her with at the start of the series, or would that have been too jarring for the audience?
NIX: We never really discussed it because the idea was it wasn’t necessarily Ireland. I didn’t want to definitively say now they’re back in Ireland doing Irish things. It’s more they’re someplace in the world living as a family and I also think that to the extent that I even thought about if she’s talking in a accent then he’s talking in an accent, and it sends the wrong message. The idea is they to some extent have left that behind. They’re not living as spies now. Michael’s not undercover in Ireland as Michael McBride, so that felt wrong to me.

 

[Asgard]

So it's most likely Ireland or not, but definitely is.

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

So the TV movie is Charlie going on off on some super secret mission because he was trained by Mike. The whole series was his actual training, all the tips were what he was being told throughout his training and Charlie goes back to take down the corrupt American gov't that led to his families death and banishment

 

[Dark Raven]

Great finale. Sad to see the series end. And sad to see Maddy sacrificing herself like that. It was actually a little similar to the way Adrian Pasdar sacrificed himself by blowing himself up earlier this season so that Michael and Sonya could escape.

I do kind of miss that, in the final season, there wasn't at least one episode where Michael was helping someone out like in the early seasons. It could've been a standalone episode and just a change of pace from the main James Kendrick plot.

I caught most of the lines from the show opener, but missed Fiona and Maddy's lines. When did they say it?

Fiona said Michael's line though, not Michael himself. Would've been cool if the end scene was in fact Michael telling an older Charlie about his past and if he actually said the line "My name is Michael Weston - I used to be a spy until..." and it ended with the line "I've got a burn notice on you."

 

[X-Ray]

Fiona says her "shall we shoot them?" line right before she and Michael pull out their guns as they were "surrendering" to James.

Don't remember when Maddie says her "people need help" line.

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

His name was Michael Weston... He used to be a spy until...

I know I am late, late late... But it took me a while to WANT to see the finale. But I was satisfied. I say let Fi and Mike now live through the new adventures of instant familyhood, and let's leave them to it. No need to revisit them years down the line.

I truly wish this entire team the best. I hope both Donavon and Anwar go on to even bigger and better things. Coby Bell? We never learned what was the deal with your character on Archer. Please ask them to for some closure on that. Bruce of course could pee in a cup and I'd want to see it. Sharon Gless is one of our finest actresses and like Bruce I am interested in anything she does next.

I hope most of all that show creator/runner Matt Nix can find a place that can and will nuture and support his vision for fun action adventure programing. The Good Guys should never have been on FOX and it's a shame it got cancelled so early. Nix has more potential in him than most have given him credit for. I hope he is allowed to develop new things for USA with little interference, or that he finds someplace to keep on doing what he's doing.

I am going to miss this show, but it gave us one of the great TV heroes, so it did it's job. I feel like having a yogurt and a mojito now.

 

[TheVileOne]

Killing off Mike's brother was the stupidest move of the show. They killed him after they basically wrote him out too.

Also we never really learned what was going on with Management and what they were recruiting Mike for. Who were the terrorists in the jungle that nearly killed Mike and Vaughn?

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

Killing off Mike's brother was the stupidest move of the show. They killed him after they basically wrote him out too.

Also we never really learned what was going on with Management and what they were recruiting Mike for. Who were the terrorists in the jungle that nearly killed Mike and Vaughn?

Brothaman, I'd say it's time to let that go. They seemed to let go of making the show a tightly plotted show with a deep "mythology" the season after management made his last appearance. The conspiracy was never allowed to make that much sense after that. It's a large minus in the show's history. No doubt. However since the characters and the set up were so charming and fun and it was the characters of Mike, Fi and to a lesser extant Sam and Maddie that drove the show the overall plot of the "Who/What/When/Where/Why" of Mike's Burn never mattered much to the audience past season 3 I'd say. That happens a lot in entertainment. Doing incredible work in all other areas can cover up a deficit in one area.

As for Nate, he was a part of the early conception of the show, was seemingly out for a while, then came back. I liked the character and that he was not exactly the same at his death than he was when we first meet him. His presence in the series continued in my mind even after his death. It certainly made for some good dramatic fireworks between Jeff D. and Sharon G. to my mind.

 

[carrrnuttt]

Talk about a burn: http://live.huffingtonpost.com/r/ar...-year-old-girlfriend/52d0164cfe3444309f000457

 

[Teelie]

Nate always was getting himself into trouble.

 

[Dark Raven]

Looks like someone...

... just threw the baby out with the bathwater.

 

[Batmannerism]

I started watching this show back in 2007, but our TV schedules down here are pretty random- they change and shows appear and disappear.

Anyway, I saw enough episodes to enjoy it - and now I'm working my way through the whole series on Disney +

All in all a great show that managed to balance, action, drama and comedy seamlessly. It pushes the suspension of disbelief, sometimes really far, but I have really enjoyed it.

Jeffery Donovan is definitely an underrated actor - can't believe we haven't seen him in more high profile stuff recently ( mind you, I live under a rock, so I might just be missing it).

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

I started watching this show back in 2007, but our TV schedules down here are pretty random- they change and shows appear and disappear.

Anyway, I saw enough episodes to enjoy it - and now I'm working my way through the whole series on Disney +

All in all a great show that managed to balance, action, drama and comedy seamlessly. It pushes the suspension of disbelief, sometimes really far, but I have really enjoyed it.

Jeffery Donovan is definitely an underrated actor - can't believe we haven't seen him in more high profile stuff recently ( mind you, I live under a rock, so I might just be missing it).

Welcom to the pary pal!