Time have really changed in regards to the standard TV fair seen during the summer months. It used to be that all we had in the summer was reruns of the previous season’s prime time shows. Now, in addition to those reruns and really cheaply produced “reality” programming, the cable networks have started to produce original programming for summertime viewing. Once of the leaders in this regard is TNT with their critically acclaimed and popular Closer series. Another strong effort in this category is USA Network’s Burn Notice, whose second season is now available on Blu-ray. I was never really impressed with the look of the show on USA’s HD channel. Will the Blu-ray be much of an improvement?

Series

Burn Notice tells the tale of former CIA agent Michael Weston who was “outed” or “burned” from someone inside the intelligence community. Having lost his secret identity and position within the CIA, he was dumped in the city of Miami without any money and without a means for earning a living. Needless to say, he was not happy with his burning and is seeking to discover who was that was behind his outing as an intelligence operative, so he can recover his former position and role inside the agency.

It would be difficult to build a weekly series around this single pursuit although the Fugitive back in the 1960′s was able to pull it off. Michael Weston’s pursuit of those who outed him is therefore a weekly subplot. The main plot line each week is based on the fact that he hires himself out to help people out of jams, whether they be with the law, organized crime, loan sharks, trafficking in women, con artists, and so on. In Miami, the possibilities are endless. Michael teams up with two others in his pursuit of his future as well as his more altruistic efforts, the beautiful and sexy Fiona, an ex- CIA agent and Sam, a former special ops agent and former government informant. The series is a nice combination of action, suspense and humor and is well worth a look. Rated as a rental only.

Video

I must admit that I was disappointed with the quality of the video on this release. While I was not really blown away by the video quality of the series on TV, I was expecting a lot more here. Frankly, the video here is barely above that you expect on DVD. The show has an over saturated color palette with skin tones that are too red/orange for my taste. While blacks are good, the image lacks much in the way of clarity, detail and depth, resulting in a very flat image. The overall look of the series can best be described by the term fuzzy. There is little in the way of visible detail with the image appearing very soft in addition to fuzzy. Like I said, the picture quality here is barely above that I would have expected with the DVD release. Dark scenes are also plagued with a good bit of video noise which is visible for a normal viewing distance. Overall, this is a really disappointing looking release. Given the overall quality of the show, this is a series that really calls out for much better looking visuals.

Audio

While not as disappointing as the video, I found the audio on this release to be a bit disappointing as well, sounding just OK, even for a TV series set alone a motion picture. On the plus side, the surround speakers are active throughout, giving a nice sense of immersion. My main complaint with the audio is with the balance between the 6 speakers. The dialogue track, while being well recorded, is simply too prominent in the mix overwhelming the sound from the left and right front speakers. I also found the surrounds to be a bit to prominent as well. I also found the overall dynamics of the mix to be a bit weak with explosions and gun shots lacking the heft and punch that we have come to expect in action films. In addition, while not sounding shrill by any means, the sound here lacks the fullness and smoothness of the better sounding audio encodes as well as the transparency and imaging found in the best sounding TV series on Blu-ray to date, Dexter, seasons 1 and 2.

Special Feautres

Frankly, there aren’t a lot of interesting extras included with this release. There are audio commentaries included with a several of the episodes, but not all. Also included are deleted scenes as well as a gad reel. Also included is the rather pedestrian featurette Nixin’ It Up with series creator, Matt Nix. If you are really a fan of the show, you may want to check out the Nixin’ It Up featurette. The rest you may want to skip entirely.

Final Thoughts

While Burn Notice is a fine TV series, season 2 on Blu-ray is disappointing both in terms of its video and audio presentations. Recommended as a rental only.