The big network schedules may look like a veritable wasteland at the moment, but all is not lost. If the temps are up, that must mean that our friends on cable are ready to rejoin the party. Michael and the gang over at Burn Notice are back this week. And hot on their heels? Brenda and the Major Crimes Division of The Closer. It’s fitting that the two premiere so close together. While TNT promotes The Closer as ad-supported cable’s number 1 series of all time, Jeffrey Donovan has eyes on being a contender for the throne. In a message posted on twitter, he’s calling for 8 million viewers of the Burn Notice premiere. We’ll have to wait and see which show comes out on top, but the big winner will be the viewers.
As for our friends in Major Crimes, season five looks to take on the idea of change. Certainly things have changed for Brenda and Fritz now that they are married, but there are changes inside the squad room as well. The conflict between Daniels and Gabriel is finally resolved, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be after effects. The early press release also hints at a complete attitude change for one member of the team. The first episode back doesn’t give that away, but it certainly advances the idea that something is amiss.
Through much of the first episode, “Products Of Discovery,” it just feels like something is off. Not in the ‘dropping the ball’ way, but in an ‘other shoe is going to drop’ way. It’s a bit unsettling, but also very intriguing. That uneasy feeling is pushed along by one of the more grisly cases the show has seen. Of course, as the saying goes, the more things change, the more they stay the same. While many of the team will be dealing with changes, they’ll still be tackling the mysteries that have made the show a hit. We’ll even see Brenda running afoul of another department right off the bat.
The only drawback to the first episode is the return of everyone’s least favorite reporter, Ricardo Ramos (Stephen Martines). For me, that character never really worked in season four, and I would have been good with putting all of that behind us. I’m perfectly fine with Brenda having problems with an anonymous press that we never see. On a brighter note, Ramos is joined by some nice guest stars. Lee Tergesen (Oz) appears in the premiere, and he’ll be followed in a couple weeks by David Hewlett (Stargate: Atlantis). Hewlett was rather excited about his time on the show.
Without giving anything away, the show is what it is. There are no real surprises with the premiere. Instead, the show is just continuing to evolve. If you already count yourself a fan of The Closer, you’ll feel right at home. If you’ve never given the show a chance, now is a good time to start. And since I tossed out the idea of a Closer/Burn Notice showdown for cable supremacy, I’ll go ahead and take a side. I expect The Closer to remain a steady hit, but I think Burn Notice is still growing, so I give Michael the edge over Brenda. That said, I’m very much looking forward to both.
Clacked by Brett Love 
on Jun 02, 2009 @ 15:00 EST5EDT
For me it’s “The Closer” by a mile but that might just be because I find the Burn Notice voiceovers to be annoying as hell. It’s as if I was blind or something.
American Dad put it quite perfectly in the season finale “Of course we all know what that means but let’s explain it to the janitor here who doesn’t know anything about espionage”
Meh…