Burn Notice
By Marshall Fine
Rating:
Thursday, July 10, 10PM, USA
This breezy action-comedy was one of last summer's surprise hits. It focused on American spy Michael Westen (Jeffrey Donovan), who was tossed out of the service and wanted to know why. For the second season, it picks up where it left off - with Westen driving his car onto the back of a semi, which drops him into the middle of new action, once again battling high-tech, high-powered Miami criminals. He gums up operations for everyone from vicious security companies to sleazy import-exporters (read: drug traffickers), while helping little people get out from under bad situations. Donovan has a likeably casual style that's nicely matched by his sidekicks: Gabrielle Anwar as the intense, sexy operative (who is a former girlfriend) and Bruce Campbell, as the blustery over-age gigolo (with FBI connections). The writing is still sharp, the scams still tricky - and Donovan is the nicely chiseled, wisecracking centerpiece.
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