‘Burn Notice’ is back and Michael Weston is back with the CIA. He’s still trying to get answers about the organization that burned him in the first place. Whatever Michael is doing, it’s just great to have the whole gang back.

Season Five of ‘Burn Notice’ premiered last Thursday with an unusual type of episode for the show. We’ve grown accustomed to Michael, Sam and Fiona helping people – doing various odd jobs in order to help ordinary people out of dangerous situations. Now that Michael is back in good graces with the CIA, I wonder if the dynamic of the show will fundamentally change? Instead of helping people, will Michael and his friends be traveling with the Agency to complete varied clandestine missions?

‘Company Man’, this first episode of the fifth season, has Michael chasing down the last remaining member of the group that burned him. The only catch is that the guy is holed up in a compound in Venezuela. In order to keep the team together, Michael insists that Sam and Fiona come along to help. You can already see a rift forming here. Sam and Fiona are asked to do meaningless tasks while the CIA gets to do all the fun stuff. Will Sam and Fiona keep helping Michael out, or will they tire of getting ordered around?

This is a particularly exciting episode of ‘Burn Notice’, though I think I miss the good old days of the crew helping out people in need. Michael’s how-to-be-a-spy narration is just as helpful as I remember. That’s one of my favorite parts of the show. This is the only series on TV that openly tells you how to make homemade bombs, or how to use an oscillating fan and an assault rifle to hold an army at bay.

I’m really hoping that Jessie isn’t back to stay. He was definitely my least favorite addition of last season. He tries to pull off the Sam Axe cocky attitude, but fails miserably. I have a feeling that he’ll be a regular co-star as the season progresses, but I really hope not.

This is one of the first times we’ve seen Michael get really emotional. When the team finally gets into Kessler’s compound, we think that Michael will get the answers he’s seeking, but then Kessler puts a bullet in his own head. Now what does Michael do?

This episode is more of a welcome back than anything. I suspect this season will move more toward the ‘Burn Notice’ formula from seasons past in the next few episodes. Most of the time, I dislike it when shows stick to a specific formula, but for ‘Burn Notice’ I don’t mind at all. The show is light and breezy, and almost always entertains. Here’s looking forward to the rest of the season.

Other Random Thoughts:

• Kessler killed himself. That doesn’t seem like the actions of a “man at the top.” I’m thinking that there’s someone above him, and he killed himself because he was afraid of what would happen if he talked.
• I’m betting that in each episode we’ll see Michael working on the Charger, and then at the end of the season the car will look brand new, and the ending shot will be him driving away in it.
• We need more Sam Axe boozing!