“Nixin’ It Up” featurette, deleted scenes, gag reel, scene specific commentary tracks

Spies spend a lot of time alone and it usually isn’t pretty. Being alone and being idle is one thing that spies don’t do well. They are always itching for the next assignment, the next game. Michael Westen (Jeffrey Donovan who reminds me of a action hero version of Jerry Seinfeld although much better looking)former spy burned and left to smolder found out that he was being pursued by another agency. They might be the folks behind his burn notice and Michael desperately wants to find out why this was done to him and his life back. ***

At the end of the first season Michael took a long ride in a big truck hoping to finally meet the people who had him burned. Instead, he walks out into a scene from hell with dead bodies, a burning airplane and police hot on his trail that assume he had something to do with the scene of carnage before them. He finds he has a new client he has to help before he gets to meet the people that burned him and find out what motivated them to destroy his career. ***

“Burn Notice” has always reminded me of “MacGyver” mixed with a little bit of “The Prisoner” with a unique sardonic sensibility straight out of “The Rockford Files”. In fact, if Jim Rockford were around today he would be Michael Westen with a mom (Sharon Gless marvelous but under used)that drives him crazy, a brother who seems to have a dozen shifty deals going on all the time, a best friend formerly in the spy business named Sam (the always fun Bruce Campbell) and an ex/current sort of girlfriend Fi (Gabrielle Anwar who manages to embody both sexy AND deadly all in the same moment)who has a passion for guns and served in some capacity with the IRA. ***

Created by Matt Nix “Burn Notice” has deservedly gained quite a following. The shows are well written, involving dramas with just the right level of sardonic humor. While “Burn Notice” may be unconventional on the surface Nix has combined a number of unusual ideas creating a unique hybrid that’s always appealing. Add the appealing supporting cast to the mix and you have a terrific show that puts most of the network fare to shame. ---

Image & Sound:

Fox has released some stellar Blu-rays many of them reference standard. This isn't one of them. At first glance, it's understandable why "Burn Notice" is so grainy; it's the intended look of the show. Most of the premiere episode looked fine but contrast was muddy at times. As you move further into the season the show has some sharp, colorful looking episodes while others look like they are pulled from a 35 mm movie shot over twenty years ago. Certainly some of that is intentional since Matt Nix takes his inspiration from 70's paranoid spy thrillers like "Marathon Man", "Seven Days of the Condor" and other classic films but the transfer varies here between exceptional to quite poor. *** The show is shot on HD video and the grainy look, textures, etc. ARE intentional (much as they are for "Battlestar Galatica" or "The Shield" BUT there's no excuse for the often murky contrast and poor definition that crops up from time-to-time. Compare, for example, "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" which also goes for the same gritty, grainy look and you'll note that there are no scenes where the a close up has such poor contrast and detail that it appears almost out of focus. This is, all around, a so-so job by Fox and I'm disappointed particularly since fans will be plunking down at least $10 more for Blu-ray. While there is something to be said for adding grain and texture to a show there's also something to be said about moderating that grain and controlling contrast better.

The extras are the one area where Fox lets fans of “Burn Notice” and Blu-ray viewers down. Essentially, this is exactly the same as the DVD in terms of content. Aside from the fancy Java menus (did I mention that I hate Java—it’s unnecessary and interferes with the BD player’s ability to resume where you left off watching your show also preventing you from often bookmarking specific episodes), “Burn Notice: Season Two” doesn’t give BD players anything extra. I’m disappointed that the project coordinator/ producer for this set didn’t provide any exclusive BD content whether it comes in the form of BD Live material or not. I’m a bit disappointed at how unimaginative the special features are on the Blu-ray. You are, after all, spending about $10.00 retail now granted you’re getting a better picture but the DVDs are sourced from the same high def transfers. ***

We get scene specific commentary tracks with Nix and various members of the cast and crew. We also get “NIXin’ It Up” a featurette focusing on the episode “Do No Harm” with writer-producer-creator Matt Nix. There’s a humorous gag reel and deleted scenes round out the sparse extras for the Blu-ray set. ***

Oh, and we get an annoying promo for the third season of the series at the beginning of each disc. That’s the same tactic that Fox used with the first season set. Someone needs to clue Fox into the fact that fans are BUYING this set or renting it so they can WATCH the show and are probably AWARE that the third season just premiered. Memo to Fox: spent your money on something more substantial next time rather than annoy your customers. ***

The good news on the packaging is that Fox doesn’t use those annoying “eco-friendly” Blu-ray packages that have holes under the disc. Those packages are disaster as they allow potential damage to the Blu-ray discs should something puncture the thin plastic outer packaging and the thin sheet of paper that’s adorns the outside of the package. I’m sure we’ll get those NEXT season but for now we are spared them. They’ve cropped up on a couple of Fox distributed titles lately such as “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly” and they are both Bad and Ugly and NOT good for consumers. ---

Final Words: