Burn Notice

Fight or Flight

Season 1, Episode 3, Aired 7/12/07

Episode Summary

A single mother witnesses a drug dealer brutally beat up a man. Oleg asks Michael to help the woman, Cara, his best waitress, after she stops showing up for work.

9.0

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Cast & Crew

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Jeffrey Donovan

Michael Westen
Sharon Gless

Madeline Westen
Bruce Campbell

Sam Axe

Fan Episode Reviews (10)

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A fun, well-acted episode. Nothing to write home about, though.

5.5

"Mediocre"

By MovieMark, Nov 10, 2011 Report Abuse

As light as air, but very much watchable, Burn Notice is in no hurry to change gears anytime soon. The main plot this week is benefited by an injection of lighthearted action-scenes, but the rest of the episode never really kicks off in any significant way: Fiona is still trying to bed Michael before he leaves town, and we discover that Michael has some serious daddy issues. And, once again, we're teased about the overall arc during the final moments of the episode. Michael comes off a lot more competent as an agent during this episode, and the fact that we're being introduced to agents from his past fleshes out the character a wee bit, but the show still feels too self-contained, too restricted, and very by-the-numbers. And I really am trying to get my head around Fiona's Americano accent, I am, it's just...well...it's ridiculous. Still, it tickled me when Dublin was casually thrown into conversation in certain scenes.moreless

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Michael helps a mom and her daughter escape from a drug dealer who's trying to get them killed.

10

"Perfect"

By sebzx, Jun 17, 2011 Report Abuse

In this episode, Michael's landlord asks him to help a waitress who witnessed a drug dealer kill a man. The drug dealer wants to kill so that he wouldn't get in jail. Michael tries to talk to the cartel's lawyer, but only to get refused and making things even more difficult. Now he has to frame the drug dealer so that it would seem he's an informant for the fbi. Meanwhile, he gets in touch with an old spy-friend who can get his burn notice. And Fiona convinces him he should get his dad's car and to give her a key to his apartment.moreless

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Michael keeps looking for answers

9.0

"Superb"

By OnePerCentClub, Dec 22, 2009 Report Abuse

Michael is still looking for those who burned him but hey, he needs to pay the bills and he takes this 'case'. Now that I've seen every season, it's good to go back and watch the old episodes and how every character was well defined from the beginning, specially Fiona. I liked the whole key situation and how Fiona made Michael give it to her. Michael fixing his father's car was really nice, he's finally trying to find some peace of mind.

Ugh, I hated the young girl for a moment but I understand how hard it must be to leave everything behing all of a sudden and start over somewhere else. Great episode... Keep them coming!moreless

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Good.

7.5

"Good"

By PabloExobar, Aug 21, 2008 Report Abuse

I find this show to be very interesting. It's got a really weird atmosphere - almost feels like Magnum, or like, any show from the 80's. I enjoy Michael's character, but as far as the characters go, thats pretty much it. Fiona's cool too, but can be a little annoying in high dosage. The rest is not really all that interesting.

The case of the episode - hmm. Intersting but this is supposed to be a spy show yet the episodic cases tend to be, well, rather low-scale. Although I enjoy the McGyver-like weapons and solutions, I think the main reason I tune in to this show is because I want to see a spy show.

Michael's father being mentioned here and there and Michael finally visiting his grave was a nice touch, hopefully the show will continue to develop his character.

The "overall" arc progression was laughable, I honestly believe it's actually unneccessery to be included in the show at this point. One of the main reasons though I enjoy this show is how witty it is. I like Michael's commentary and the subtle humor and light heartedness is awesome too. Also, the camerawork is often outstanding.

Overall, an ok episode, but it almost feels as if im enjoying this show for the wrong reasons.moreless

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good episode...

8.9

"Great"

By Fwirrel, Jul 27, 2008 Report Abuse

Again, another solid episode of Burn Notice. I really liked the story in this one. One of the landlord's waitresses is being threatened after seeing an assault and Michael must protect her and her daughter from the attacker. I loved how he ended up fixing the problem; halarious. I think this episode developed Michael's character a lot, especially when he was talking to the waitress's daughter. I feel like every time I watch an episode I'm watching modern-day MacGyver. Michael makes weapons and booby-traps out of common goods. It's funny...anyways, overall, this episode had an intersting story and great character development.moreless

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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Trivia
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- Michael's hand on the mug (after it being given to him by Cara) changes position between shots.
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- The alphanumeric tracking code and special access program code name on the Homeland Security Directive were 37104:AA920435:GTVKNJ37 and Cold Sunshine, respectively. Edit
Notes
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- When Michael gives the newspaper to Bruce, the journalists who wrote the cover story (Craig O'Neill and Jason Tracey) are the writers for this episode.
  
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- International Episode Titles: Czech Republic: Bojuj nebo uteč! (Fight or Run!) Edit
- Original International Air Dates: Brazil: October 16, 2007 on AXN New Zealand: November 18, 2007 on TV3 Australia: February 5, 2008 on TEN Czech Republic: February 27, 2008 on Prima Sweden: March 2, 2008 on TV6 United Kingdom: October 19, 2008 on FX Germany: October 12, 2009 on Vox Slovakia: February 17, 2010 on JOJ Finland: February 15, 2010 on MTV3 Edit
Quotes
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- Michael: (voice-over) A drug cartel is a business. If killing a witness to protect a valued employee from jail time is the best way to keep making money, they'll do that. If it looks like that employee is testifying to the FBI though, they're just as happy to leave the witness alone and take care of their problem another way. Edit
- Bruce: You have no idea who you're dealing with... Michael: No, I read the article. Most of it anyway. Scary guys, drugs, guns... Did I miss something? Edit
- Michael: (voice-over) I love commuters. Anybody who drives the same route to work everyday, it's like they're doing all the work for you... and a punctual commuter, a guy who's in the same place every morning at 8:36am, it's almost too easy. Edit
Allusions
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