Burn Notice – Season Two (Fox Blu-ray)
Picture: C Sound: C Extras: C+ Episodes: B+
Burn Notice is one of those rare shows that
has success written all over it. The
characters are well written, the action is fun, dialogue is witty, sarcastic
and often amusing, suspenseful and dramatic scenes included are all top notch. The show rarely misses a beat, and when it
does, it still exceeds most of the junk on television today. The show is perfectly cast and the actors fit
their characters flawlessly.
Jeffrey
Donavan carries the show and has star-making potential written all over him. Donovan is Michael Westen, the burned
operative searching to get his life back with the help of his
"girlfriend" Fiona (Gabrielle Anwar) and best friend, and ex agent
Sam (Bruce Campbell). Both supporting roles are key to the success of the
show and neither actor disappoints. Bruce
Campbell is always entertaining and has a following that I am sure has helped
the show gain popularity. Gabrielle
Anwar's only memorable performance was in the incredibly over-rated The Tudors, but here she manages to
play the heroine perfectly.
Without giving any plot away, Season 2
picks up right where Season 1 left
off, with Michael en route to meeting the person that potentially burned him. After some quick phone calls Michael is thrown
into working for these very same people. Reluctantly agreeing in exchange for
answers, he helps them pull off a number of tasks that he grows weary of. Throughout the course of the season, Michael never
dissuades from his overall objective, to find out why he was burned. Along the way he always has time to pull a job
helping an innocent person who was wronged. The show goes into detective mode for these
side stories and often plays like an episode of Monk. Michael uses his
special skills to solve cases that "normal" people could not. His
MacGyver-esque skills come in handy often, and are a really nice and fun
addition to the stories. The monologue
the show uses is also never boring or used as a scapegoat to wrapping up a
storyline. This season also has 2 great
guest starring roles from Battlestar
Galactica goddess Tricia Helfer, and Stargate
SG1's Michael Shanks. These were
great casting choices as they both are superb in their roles and helped gain
some of the Sci-Fi junkies as viewers.
With the show using the brighter, flashy side of Miami as a backdrop, one would
think the Blu-Ray would shine wonderfully, it however does not. The 1080p AVC @ 17 MBPS 1.78 X 1 digital High
Definition picture is so grainy and distorted that it takes all the wonderful
colors away and ruins them. Despite the
50GB dual layer discs used here, it would be hard to imagine the picture being
top notch when 6 episodes are shoved onto one disc. People like the smaller packaging but we are
paying for enhanced picture not a small packaging. If shoving episodes to make room decreases the
quality of the actual program, I for one vote for using more discs. Also disappointing is the 5.1 DTS-HD lossless
Master Audio 5.1 track. While the
dialogue is usually crisp and clear, the action scenes are not. Often muffled and echoing badly, the audio
track does not enhance what Blu-Ray is all about. The surround sound is never quite fully there.
Extras include Select Episode Commentaries, Deleted Scenes, Nixin It Up Featurette with the series
creator on the “Do Not Harm” episode and
a Gag Reel all worth your time after seeing the shows.
Despite an extremely disappointing transfer, Burn Notice is show that should not be missed. Fans of such shows as MacGyver, Monk, and even
24 definitely should give this show
a shot as it combines elements from all of them but with a sexier style and
tone. Hopefully with future seasons and
eventual Season 1 release Fox will
not deliver such a poor Blu-Ray.
- Nate Rutkus
