Burn Notice: Q&A with Matt Nix

This morning, I got to participate in a conference call with Matt Nix, the creator and showrunner of USA’s hit Burn Notice, now halfway through its third season. After enduring twelve minutes of listening to insipid muzak waiting for the damn thing to start, Matt came on the line (everyone called him Matt as if we were all longtime close chums) and the slightly creepy PhoneLand Moderator Automatons moderated all of the questions. Since technology has always hated me (I’m not a complete Luddite I swear), naturally I didn’t get to ask my question.

I was going to ask if there were any plans to do a flashback episode showing Michael when he was a globetrotting spy, before he got burned. I think that would be a really cool idea, because we’d get to see Michael operating out of Miami and in a very different geopolitical context. We’d get to see how he became the cool-fire, noble hero he is today. But I didn’t get to ask my question, so unless Matt thinks of it (or has thought of it) on his own, we’ll never see that episode. I’ll bet Matt has thought about it though, because he seemed like a really smart, savvy guy.

He talked about all the right things—thematics, character arcs, evolving relationships, plans for the future, etc. There’s a reason why every episode of Burn Notice always feels smooth and polished and that reason is Matt Nix. He wrote the right pilot (although his original concept for the show was much darker and was set in Newark I think) and put together the right cast and a great crew. Unlike a lot of show creators that soon hand off the major duties to writing teams and supervising producers, this guy clearly still plays a very active role.

Matt was also a good sport and answered all questions, including some very stupid ones. One guy asked if they cast Chris Vance, who plays baddie Gilroy, because he looks like Dougray Scott, the bad guy from Mission: Impossible 2 (he was also supposed to play Wolverine before Hugh Jackman but Mission: Impossible 2 ran over-schedule). Matt’s answer: um…no…Then, get this: someone, completely serious, asked if Sam and Michael’s mother Madeline were ever going to get romantically involved! I nearly wet my pants when I heard that. Madeline is twenty years older than Sam; she’s the mother of his best friend. No one in their right mind who watched the show would ever imagine them as a couple. Matt referred to the idea as really creepy. I think that’s an understatement. If I were Matt, I would have ended the call right then and there.

The rest was pretty much what you would expect. He promised some strong guest spots coming up and hinted that later on in the season, Gilroy’s relationship with Michael will change in a really unexpected way. Can’t wait for that. Hopefully I’ll get to ask a question the next time this thing comes around. If anyone has anything they’d like me to ask in case the opportunity arises, let me know below. Just try not to be a moron who asks creepy and insane questions.

For more on Burn Notice, click here.

Thursdays at 10/9c on USA

Photographs courtesy of NBC Universal, Justin Stephens, and Joe Pugliese.