Is Burn Notice resurrecting Michael’s dead dad?
That’s the first thought that crossed my mind upon learning that Frasier‘s John Mahoney would be joining the cast as "a mysterious man with answers about Michael’s past and his future," per series creator Matt Nix.
Hmmm…..
Pressed for specifics about Mahoney’s connection to Jeffrey Donovan’s blacklisted spy, Nix — no doubt inspired by my critically acclaimed multiple choice spoiler quizzes in Ask Ausiello — confirmed that he would be playing one of the following four characters:
A. Michael’s old boss.
B. One of the "powerful people" behind Michael’s burn notice.
C. Carla’s "handler."
D. Michael’s "dead" father.
The good news? The comments section below was tailor-made for games like this! The bad news? It’ll be a while before the mystery is solved: Mahoney doesn’t show up until the thrillomedy’s second season finale, which isn’t scheduled to air until February. (The second half of BN‘s season 2 debuts in January.)
Of course, if you’re looking to kill some time before then, you absolutely must scroll down and watch the awesome interview I did with Jeffrey Donovan at Entertainment Weekly’s pre-Emmy bash. In it, he weighs in on the pivotal scene between Michael and Fiona in last month’s mid-season climax, says how long he sees himself doing Burn Notice, and reveals what he was doing with Angelina Jolie right before this Q&A was conducted. Hint: It concerns their new movie The Changeling. Enjoy!
he could be the boss who burned him who ends up being his dad with plastic surgery at area 51
He will make a great addition to the already stellar cast
What if he is “all the above” which could make sense
I’ll go for anything other than the ‘dead’ father bit. That’s a bit too soapish and I believe the abusive father idea from Michael’s past is better left intact.
I’m seconding Vin — it’s all of the above regarding Mahoney’s character/Michael’s father.
Mells said
“”ll go for anything other than the ‘dead’ father bit. That’s a bit too soapish”"
Uh hello, unless it’s got explosions or a lot of laughs it’s a soap ! ( or it’s bush on TV)
I’m going for A,B and C. All at the same time. Not D though, I think Frank is where he’s supposed to be. Wouldn’t that be jumping the shark a bit soon?
I love Jeffrey Donovan. And I love John Mahoney. I really hope he’s not Michael’s father though because I like the fact that there’s mystery involving the father and that he’s not in the picture anymore. If we’re going to find out anything about his dad it should be from his family because bringing a character back from the dead is kind of too played out and too much like a soap opera and this show is too good for that. PS: That interview was great! He seems like a nice guy.
Resurrecting the dead father would be the worst thing to happen to this show.
(Yeah, Matt Nix, I hope you’re reading this)
Let’s go with B & C.
Seems like every main character in a spy or conspiracy show has dead parent(s) and they’re always really alive. New plot twists please.
i’ll cast my token w/ those who hope he’s NOT the “dead” father, because while i would enjoy seeing Mahoney & Sharon Gless going toe-to-toe, i think the spy-show genre would be better served by shedding more light either on Carla’s group or on those who first burned Michael. Making him the dad adds another player to an already tight family ensemble–does anyone really care about that ne’er-do-well brother?
I think it’s going to be B through D. I don’t think it would hurt the show if dad came back, just add more drama.
I’m going to go with ‘the person responsible for Michael’s burn notice’. If he’s Mike’s resurrected father, they’d just be copying “Alias”. I can’t believe we have to wait until January for new eps. I love this show.
It can’t be all of the above. Well, it *could*, but it’s not likely. Remember, Michael left to get away from his father initially (and Mom signed the form). I doubt he would have worked for him and trying to integrate that to the show *now* would be disrespectful to the storyline and the fans.
Please do not ever use “thrillomedy” again!
First of all, thanks for the pretty pic of Jeffery Donovan…That made my day:)
I love John Mahoney and can’t wait to see what the writers have in store for him (and us) when the season picks back up!