Burn Notice Q&A: 9 Things I Learned From Matt Nix

In a Q&A teleconference with Burn Notice creator Matt Nix ahead of the fourth season premiere Thursday night on USA, 9 things become apparent. Here are the 9 Things I Learned From Matt Nix:

1. Sometimes your friends actually make sense
Burn Notice originated from the ongoing advice of a friend. Michael Wilson, Nix’s friend and now a producer on the show, worked in a private intelligence agency and was constantly giving Nix advice on what he should do if situations came up. For instance, what he should do if he ever ran of out ammo. The improbability of this notwithstanding, the advice did give Nix the idea of creating a show based on advice from a spy aspect. Thus Burn Notice was born.

2. Confidence is Key
Jeffrey Donovan was cast as Michael Westen largely because he was so confident with the role. In the casting of the character, Nix says they were looking for actors who could improvise, those who showed an understanding of the character on a level deeper than words. They were looking for someone who was Michael Westen. And from his audition, Donovan “just acted like [the role] was his.” He knew exactly what he wanted to do with the character thus earning admiration from those casting. As one of the producers put it, it was “the most confident audition I have ever seen in my life.”

3. Magic Happens
Nix is still excited about going to the set.  From writing something on paper to seeing it realized in front of you, it is “as close to magic as you can get.” There might be some day that he could get over the magic, but there’s no danger of that just yet.

4. Surround Yourself With Like-Minded People
When asked how Burn Notice keeps its singularity of voice with different writers set to the task Nix answers simply: everyone is crazy about Burn Notice. Add to that the love of spy craft and the techniques that make the show, it’s just hiring people you want to talk about this stuff with all day. It’s a culture, and a collaboration. They are all lead by a guiding vision, and the different voices allow for the discovery of something he didn’t know.

5. Learn to Love Puzzles
When asked about one of the biggest challenges in creating this show, Nix states that the hardest part was getting the concept from his head to the paper, moving it from an idea to something tangible. As an avid enthusiast of spy fiction and technique, Nix found that the story drew heavily on his own background. So, in Season One, expressing his ideas to someone unfamiliar with his process of thought was very difficult. He had to figure out how to “download the contents of [his] head” into something the writers could understand. In fact, in the writing of the second season, fellow writer Alfredo Barrios insisted that all of Matt’s thinking be done out loud, so that everyone would learn how to do it.

6. You Can’t Hide Forever
On describing what people should expect in the upcoming fourth season of the show the problems become a lot more personal. Last season, Madeline finally learns the dangerous actions her son is accused of. And Michael, who spends most of the time working with the bad guys, has to figure out how to “maintain his clarity of moral vision.”  This season Michael straddles the line between working with bad guys and being one of them. And while it may seem that the series is taking a darker tone, Nix states that things are just becoming more personal. Sam, who glories in creating fiction and becoming someone new with each case, is on a job when the bad guys discover the truth about his real life. He can no longer keep himself separate from his job and this becomes quite distressing to him. And the team finds they have a personal debt to repay. Also, this season Michael will have a new relationship with the people who burned him. Robert Wisdom joins the cast as Vaughn, a reasonable face to the organization.

7. Diversifying, Good; Losing Your Focus, Bad
While Nix is interested in cross merchandising Burn Notice into action figures and video games, the challenge is how to keep the characters from becoming these one-dimensional figures of people with guns and bombs. How do you incorporate their stories and make these characters in a way that preserves the show.

8. Two is Busier than One
Matt Nix, along with Burn Notice, has a new show to look out for. The Good Guys, a fellow brainchild of Nix’s, premieres this season on Fox. When it comes to what changes this will have to the production of Burn Notice, Nix seems unconcerned. Although he will, by necessity, be on the set less, Nix promises the same level of involvement as before. His offices for the two shows are right next door to each other allowing for a lot of back and forth between the two. In fact, the only real difference there will be is that he’ll sleep less, work more.

9. Debts Must Be Paid
The fourth season brings a new regular to the show. The character of Jesse, briefly mentioned in the third season, will join Michael, Fiona and Sam on a weekly basis. Adding a new character that will willingly put himself in harm’s way requires a significant history, Nix says. Over the past seasons Michael, Fiona, and Sam have a shared history, and we have seen how their characters have evolved. Why then, in the fourth season, do they care so much about Jesse that they are willing to include him? And the answer is simple: they ruined his life. The three owe a great debt to this character and over the next season we see how this plays out; also we learn more about Michael’s relationship with Jesse. And in the second episode of this season Jesse will learn that these people are worth working with.

Burn Notice has been picked up for a 5th and 6th season, so after this, fans have at least two more years to look forward to Michael and his crew. When asked how long he wants to take these characters, Nix says that while the serialized elements can evolve for some time (discovering the burn notice could go on for a while) he is more interested in maintaining a relevant case of the week. Making sure the characters do not end up rehashing techniques, or shooting people just because. With this in mind, I feel positive that the upcoming three seasons will be as rewarding as the last.

Guest stars in the upcoming season include Frank Whaley, Benito Martinez (of The Shield), Burt Reynolds and Richard Kind.

Fun fact: Jeffrey Donovan will be directing the third episode.

Burn Notice returns tonight, June 3rd, at 9/8c on USA.

For more on Burn Notice, click here.

Photographs courtesy of USA Network, Justin Stephens, Nigel Parry and Glenn Watson.