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6 Degrees Entertainment

'Burn Notice: Season Four'
(Jeffrey Donovan, Bruce Campbell, Gabrielle Anwar, Sharon Gless , et al / 4-Disc DVD / NR / 2011 / 20th Century Fox)

Overview: Michael Westen (Jeffrey Donovan) gets an irresistible offer to work for the very people who relieved him from spy duty, so he rejoins Fiona (Gabrielle Anwar) and Sam (Bruce Campbell), while working with Vaughn (The Wire's Robert Wisdom) on the side. "Good name for a vampire," quips Sam, who doesn't trust the guy. When Michael burns another spy in the process, he adds Jesse (Third Watch's Coby Bell) to the team and tries to remove the burn--all without admitting his guilt.

DVD Verdict: 'Burn Notice' is a show that is always surprising me and delighting me with its characters who have to constantly improvise left and right and cleverly BS their way out of tricky situations every episode!

But then again, how could you refuse a show that stars Bruce Campbell as, well, as himself basically? Am I right folks? Jeffrey Donovan is amazing as Michael Westen, I mean I have no idea how spies act in real life, all I have is second-hand knowledge, but this show is always convincing me of its authenticity through its amazingly clever story lines - with equally clever story twists that will hold your attention and keep you excited until the end of the show. And let's face it, Fiona(Gabrielle Anwar) is pretty easy on the eyes even if she does play a psychopathic yet lovable arms dealer!

This was to put it mildly, an excellent season (once again). The fourth season opens with 'Friends and Enemies' and Michael sitting alone in a well furnished room. He then gets to meet his new handler, Vaughn (Robert Wisdom). Vaughn attempts to lure Michael into the organization by attempting to befriend him, and tells Michael the organization is now on the hunt for a terrorist mastermind.

Michael agrees to work with Vaughn on the condition Vaughn does not interfere or question his methods. Vaughn agrees, but as they begin their search, Michael is duped into burning another domestic spy, a counter-intelligence agent named Jesse Porter (Coby Bell). Jesse, unaware of who burned him, seeks out Michael for assistance. Michael brings Jesse into his team in an effort to restore Jesse to his previous position, but soon learns Jesse plans to kill whoever burned him.

In 'Fast Friends,' Jesse seeks Michael's help to escape a drug trafficker out for revenge for supposedly stealing money from him. Then in 'Made Man,' a port worker is threatened by dangerous mobsters, and so Michael and Jesse step up to help him. In 'Breach of Faith,' Fiona and Jesse seek information on a gun runner, while Sam and Michael get into a hostage standoff at a private accounting firm. In 'Neighborhood Watch,' a local town doctor reluctantly turns to Michael for help when a group of vicious drug dealers terrorize his neighborhood clinic. In 'Entry Point,' and with super assassin Kendra (Navi Rawatin, Numbers) their faces, Sam and Jesse interrogate her in order to find out who ordered a recent assassination. Meanwhile, Michael and Fiona pose as security consultants to stop a notorious antiquities thief from stealing a priceless artifact.

In 'Past & Future Tense,' while Jesse and Fiona try to reach out to Jesse's old boss, Marv, (Richard Kind, Spin City) for intel, Michael and Sam protect an aging former spy (Burt Reynolds) from a Russian black ops team. Now this episode, unlike any of the others is a real comical caper re: the inclusion of should-be-a-show-regular Burt Reynolds! In 'Where There's Smoke,' Sam and Fiona agree to provide security for a valuable company asset during a house party, but the owner's wife turns out to be the target. Fiona must allow herself to be kidnapped too in order to protect her and suddenly she becomes the female MacGyver of the team!

In 'Center of the Storm,' in the aftermath of a hurricane, FBI Agents Harris and Lane ask Michael to locate a missing witness being targeted by assassins. Meanwhile, Michael tries to convince Vaughn to let him meet with Simon regarding the Bible. In 'Hard Time,' Michael shows anything can be accomplished when he goes behind bars to protect a friend of Sam's being targeted by a ruthless gang leader. In 'Blind Spot,' Sam and Fiona are hired to take down a sleazy womanizer who stole the life savings of one of Fiona's friends. Meanwhile, Michael and Jesse track down the man who wants Simon's Bible (Robert Patrick, Terminator 2), but in the process, Jesse learns that Michael is the one responsible for getting him burned and temporarily holds Fiona at gunpoint.

In 'Guilty as Charged,' Fiona finds Jesse and convinces him to meet with Michael. At the meeting Jesse tells Michael that he will not attend Michael's meeting with Barrett to discuss Simon's bible. Meanwhile, Michael helps a criminal defense attorney rescue his daughter after she is kidnapped by one of his clients - the always-brilliant Michael Rooker (Cliffhanger). In 'Eyes Open,' after the hand off goes horribly wrong in the last episode, Fiona and Sam are next to Michael in a hospital room, with Michael is lying unconscious in bed. Michael wakes and Fiona tells him that Drake Industries is being tried for their crimes. So, of course, he unplugs himself and they set out to try and track down the highly sensitive document that's been stolen. Oh yeah, and there's a bomber loose in the city too!

In 'Hot Property,' Michael and the crew team with an old enemy to retrieve a stolen chemical weapon from Venezuelan mobsters. Jesse meets once again with his old boss Marv (Kind) for intel on an auction where the list of the people who burned Michael is up for bid. Produced by Jonathan Frakes (Star Trek: The Next Generation), it also features Natalie, an old enemy of Michael's! In 'Brotherly Love,' when Nate gets in over his head tracking down a stolen car filled with a drug kingpin's merchandise, Michael brings back an old alias to save his brother's life. And, in a fashion, the bible/book is found.

In 'Dead or Alive,' Michael decides to give the flash drive containing the information on the people who burned him to the government. He meets with Jesse's old handler, Marv, who tells him that even though he does not trust him, he will make sure the information is kept safe by the government. When one of Sam's naval partners, a cop, is accused of crimes and then murdered, it is up to Michael and Sam to clear his name and find who's responsible. And come the final few scenes, a BIG reveal is, well, revealed!

In 'Out of the Fire,' Michael's enemy, the ruthless arms Tyler Brennen (Jay Karnes) and Michael's former friend and mentor, Dead Larry Sizemore (Tim Matheson) team up to pressure Michael into killing the individuals on the stolen NOC list. Brennen has a voice recording of Michael revealing the details of Vaughn's organization to Marv; this evidence will automatically be emailed to Vaughn at 5 am, unless Michael complies, in which case Brennen will delay delivery by another 24 hours. Here a big character DIES very unexpectedly! In the final episode, 'Last Stand,' Vaughn tells Michael that he now considers him an enemy and demands Michael turn over the NOC list. When Michael is trying to receive help he is spotted by Vaughn's men and a car chase ensues, leading to Jesse with a compound fractured leg. Michael, Fiona, and Jesse hide in an abandoned hotel which is surrounded by Vaughn's men. This is a thrilling way to end the season, although the true finale is a little, well, weak, you knew it had to play out that way. This is a Widescreen Presentation (1.77:1) enhanced for 16x9 TVs and comes with the Special Features of:

Sam Axe's Guide to Ladies and Libations (where our beloved Sam reveals he has created a real-life drink called The RumDinger!)
Best-laid Plans: The Stunts of Burn Notice (where a 'live' press conference is held quite like no other I've ever witnessed!)
Gag Reel
Friends and Enemies - Deleted Scenes
Where's There's Smoke - Deleted Scene
Blind Spot - Deleted Scene
Guilty As Charged - Deleted Scenes
Eyes Open - Deleted Scenes
Audio Commentary for Last Stand
Burn Notice Roasts White Collar: Rivalry of the Writers' Rooms
White Collar Roasts Burn Notice: Rivalry of the Writers' Rooms
Out of the Fire - Deleted Scene
White Collar Pilot

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