Not Burned, but Smokin'

I think I've found my new summer obsession. Burn Notice is the story of freelance spy Michael Westen (Jeffrey Donovan), who has the rug pulled out from under him in the middle of negotiations with a Nigerian warlord. Wounded, with his cover shredded and his bank accounts frozen, Westen is dumped in Miami, where he must navigate between the Scylla of FBI watchers and the Charybdis of his neurotic and demanding mother (Sharon Gless) while trying to figure out who burned him and why. His only allies are his violence-loving, IRA-gun-running ex-girlfriend Fiona (Gabrielle Anwar); an alcoholic, livin'-off-the-alimony ex-spy who quit one second ahead of being burned himself, Sam Axe (Bruce Campbell); and his extremely reluctant handler (I don't know and you can't make me tell).

This is not a show that goes in much for toughness or edginess, but I do enjoy Westen's way with a one-liner and his James-Bond-meets-McGuyver approach to problems (going through the wall rather than the mega-reinforced door, "guns make you stupid, duct tape makes you smart.") It doesn't hurt that Donovan is so easy on the eyes. And while Campbell may not be as slim and chiseled as in the days when he was Briscoe County, Jr., he still looks pretty good to me.

Pass the mojitos.