Burn Notice is yet to really excite me but season 3 is the first season where it really seems to be getting to grips with the idea that it is here to stay and that it has viewers on board. The announcement that it has been green-lit for several seasons after this one will hopefully see further confidence in the future in the way that it seems to have done in this third season. Taking the lead from season 2's structure, 3 sets up a season long narrative of Michael being "out there" without the implied protection of the Management that burnt him. As a thread it isn't quite as strong as the previous season but it is good enough to provide a structure while also making some of the "case a week" stuff be more exciting and involved as well.
It is still very much light entertainment but the individual episodes generally carry a bit more weight and some of the weaker/sillier plots are dropped. Those episodes that are still a bit daft tend to benefit from the improved budgets and focus on action that this season generally has. I have always liked the narration device and this is kept and used well with scenarios that have pace and energy in the way sometimes the stop/start "case of the week" structure did not produce. Of course one should not expect too much because the improvements to this glossy piece of entertainment have mostly served to make it a more pleasing and glossy piece of entertainment, not to make it something more than it aims to be.
No the same grumbles I've had already are still in place. It doesn't really seem to build particularly well and, although old characters and beefs are brought in to create a case for that week, there is never a sense of things closing in or getting worse within the narrative. Specifically I think I'm looking for some sort of building tension or urgency to the show but this is generally put to one side in favour of the glossy in/out aims of the light entertainment viewer – which is fine while it never claims to be more. Problem is that in this season more than others it does seem to be trying to be more, and this is the sort of "confidence" that the show could either do without or make a conscious decision to do well. There are more serious moments and more "proper" relationship tensions in this season and none of them particularly work – it is a bit like a great children's party clown doing a great job for 40 minutes then trying to spend 5 talking seriously about a humanitarian disaster – it doesn't work and the sudden change in content is a little jarring. Of course this is a show that has scripts full of gloss and convenience and, since they deliver the fun one requires from them, it is not that big a deal that they do not cover all bases for all viewers.
The cast continue to grow in confidence and benefit from the resources put into the show and the support from the network. Donovan is a great presence and he is very easy to watch; he cannot do an Irish accent to save his life but the show is confident enough in itself now that it can make a joke out of that (by having Fiona's Irish brother say his "fake" American accent is a bit ropey). Of course it is all relative and the opening credits continue to remind us how awful Anwar's accent was in the pilot ("should we shoot them?") – although thankfully she doesn't have to do this in this season. She has gotten no worse or better here; she continues to be physically impressive but manages to look young and old at the same time – perhaps not fair of me to talk about her performance in terms of her looks, but she started it since her performance is mostly about her being sultry and on a cat walk. Attempts to use her as an emotional driver for the plot with Michael mostly falls flat, although this is only partly her fault as the material is mostly to blame. Campbell is great – he has a real gift for self-effacing comedy and he is a great presence in the show when used well; his living CSI Miami meme was the highlight of the season for me. Gless is used better again this season, involved enough in the stories to feel like part of the show without ever doing too much to feel forced into it. The various guests are mostly good enough for this sort of thing whether they be the camp Vance, Michael's contact Garza (Sanchez), the in-joke of Daly or the solid but not special work of various renta-villains and others.
Burn Notice may not have become a show that deserves "catching up on" or one that risks doing anything particularly novel or special, but the third season has brought more confidence to relax and be the glossy, easily enjoyable adventure stuff that most viewers want. It has hints at wanting to be more and season 3 suggests it may not be able to do that but perhaps this can change with the support of seasons 4, 5 and 6 already approved. Good glossy entertainment then, easy to enjoyable on that level and mostly professional and distracting enough to stop me worrying too much about what it isn't.
