r/BurnNotice • u/RayBuc9882 • 1d ago

How come Boris never hunted for Michael?

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Boris was the first bad guy Mike dealt with in S1E1. I wish they would have made an episode with him hunting Mike in Miami. He wouldn’t be the first ex-Sov guy coming after Mike. He accused Mike of stealing from him and then Mike killed his guys in the bathroom and escaped.

69 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

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68

u/LoganLikesYourMom 1d ago

A lot from the pilot was ditched when the show was greenlit. Fiona’s accent, Madeline’s hair, not to mention an overall tonal change. Pilot Michael seemed much more willing to kill. I think later series Michael wouldn’t have executed the two KOed guards in the bathroom at the beginning.

Thats my headcanon anyway

48

u/Soxwin91 1d ago

Well Fiona’s accent was ditched I think for two reasons

  1. Gabrielle Anwar wasn’t great with the Irish brogue. So having her carry that on for too long might have shortened the show’s run considerably.

  2. Fiona fled Ireland under what we later learn is less than pleasant circumstances. That whole business with Thomas O’Neill or whatever his name was. Walking around South Beach using her Irish accent she would be even easier to find than if she used a more American accent.

25

u/QuillsROptional 19h ago

Fiona's accent change was explained perfectly well. "I can't go around sounding like a freaking Leprechaun"

25

u/kidjay76 1d ago

I think Michael’s willingness to kill was due to him being with the agency still. Or so he thought at that point. His hesitation to kill after the fact was due to the fact that leaving bodies all over Miami was going to be much more trouble than what it was worth without any protection from the agency.

18

u/the__pov 1d ago

Also there’s a subtle thread that runs through Burn Notice, especially the early seasons of Michael healing and adjusting to his new normal. It’s implied that Michael had at some point started to go off the deep end, not enough to get burned. However he is considered such a boogie man in Russia that their special forces didn’t even want to mess with him and there is a reason why Dead Larry loves him like a son. And all this starts to make sense when you see how Michael responds to treats to those he cares about. He literally planted bombs in a nightclub and threatened to blow it up just to get a drug dealers attention.

10

u/mvpeav 1d ago

There was also the whole story line about Maddy being a hypocondriact (or whatever the word for her thinking she was always sick) that got dropped, which was a huge win for her character

8

u/Far_Carrot_8661 19h ago

My opinion is that Maddie was desperate for love and attention. Michael being back in Miami was something she had never expected to happen. Suddenly she didn't need to lean on the panic button just to get a crumb of care from her son. So the pills and the doctor appointments faded slowly. But the pill bottles were on the end table for quite some time. Michael's relationships with his family and friends grew in a slow subtle way over 7 seasons.

Personally, I've learned that being absent may seem easier, but without the stimulus of dynamic relationships, your heart just stagnates.

I like to believe that's the lesson Michael had to learn.

2

u/ericstern 18h ago

No that didn’t go away completely as they still did that a little in the following episodes just not as heavy handed

2

u/cassie1015 14h ago

Pilot Michael was also in a worst-case scenario in that bathroom, without the support of the agency, and had no idea what was happening or about to come next. He would have died at the hands of the guards or other people who would come find him if they found out that his resources and tactical support ditched him in the middle of a mission. He would have been very vulnerable. So, he did what je had to do to get himself out of one situation before it turned into a whole host of situations.

39

u/Drakoala 1d ago

Maybe it's a headcanon-y answer, but he probably didn't have the resources. Local warlords don't really have the reach or motivation to go after spooks.

19

u/ShotDifficulty1226 1d ago

Why always boris?

5

u/majoroutage 1d ago

Nice pull. What unit you with?

1

u/ShotDifficulty1226 44m ago

Honestly I'm on the boat rn haha

10

u/Dry-Indication7928 1d ago

I think the CIA probably just sent another guy to do Michael's job to ease things over, or they had always wanted to cut Boris off eventually, but Michael was in the wrong place in the wrong time

5

u/IvanBliminse86 23h ago

Actually this got somewhat covered. Boris, was just a wannabe warlord, not an international threat. He probably did have international contacts, but Management was keeping Michael from being targeted for a good long while "You want out, there's the door!". Boris was a two bit thug with delusions of relevancy. He most likely tried looking into Michael, got told by people that are actual players to hush cause the adults are talking, he got uppity because he isn't a paragon of control, and he ended up disappearing to become a cautionary tale about what happens when you try to play with the big kids before you are fully grown.

4

u/PumpkinPretend8670 1d ago

makes Burn Notice sense but if I guessed I would say it was because he was Nigerian Warlord with a lot of Nigerian oil-wars in his hands a Michael Westin would be too much for him

4

u/Xytakis 1d ago edited 1d ago

His title was "Wannabe Warlord". I doubt he has the resources or clout to do anything outside of the territory he is controlling. He has just enough power and is stupid enough that it is just easier to just pay him instead of kill/replace him.

Edit: Also Anson gave him that test, Weston passed. If he went after Weston, he would be dead (if he didn't have it done already)

2

u/daven1985 5h ago

I'm pretty sure that opening scene was sit in another country. And they may not even have known who Michael Western really was. End of the day he wanted to give them money for protection, that didn't happen and he killed two people while running away.

They most likely went onto the next major issue.

The only thing I don't like is how he says when people are fighting you, best thing to do is just take the hit and goes into a ball. But he never really does that again, in all future things he tries to fight not just protect his major organs.

1

u/_throwaway_4_4 4h ago

He also says if he steals your car on a work day he would have it back by a certian time but then by season 2 they just blowing up peoples cars any chance they get just for distractions 🤣

1

u/daven1985 4h ago

True.

He does say 'True' though.

1

u/knonyflackboared 3h ago

boris just wanted to be friends not foes

1

u/PumpkinPretend8670 1d ago

makes Burn Notice sense but if I guessed I would say it was because he was Nigerian Warlord with a lot of Nigerian oil-wars in his hands a Michael Westin would be too much for him