After a nearly 10-month hiatus, Burn Notice is back on the air! Last night’s Season 2 premiere was called “Breaking and Entering” and served, as expected, as a bridge between S1 and S2. The action picks up with Michael sitting in Sam’s Cadillac in the back of an 18-wheeler after having been led there by the mysterious woman who seems to know all about Michael’s burn notice.

Michael sits around for hours, then hears a gunfight outside and gets another call from the mysterious woman. She says Michael can call her Carla, and she needs Michael to do a job for her. That opening segues into a typical Burn Notice episode with Michael performing some odd job and getting a bit more information about why he was burned.

Odd Job of the Week: Carla needs some computer data from a private security firm, but since she doesn’t want to get her hands dirty, she’s going to make Michael retrieve the goods for her. To help him out, she has provided him with a helper: Jimmy, a computer geek who is responsible for encrypting the security firm’s computers. As extra incentive, Carla is holding Jimmy’s wife and daughter as hostage.

With Sam and Fiona’s help, Michael poses as a big shot mining company owner from England. He pretends he needs mercenary support in Kenya, and uses that ruse as a means of scoping out the security firm’s floor plan. Later, he gets into the building by pretending to be a construction worker who needs to do some work on the floor directly above the security firm. Michael and Jimmy go in, get the data, get shot at a few times, and make their escape.

Later, Michael helps Jimmy set a trap to lure Ryder Stahl, the dangerous president of the security firm, right into the hands of the ATF. Stahl is arrested, Jimmy reunites with his family in Argentina, Carla gets her data, and Michael gets Jimmy’s SAAB convertible out of the deal.

Burn Notice Progress: Not much happened on this front at all. Michael got a few clues about Carla, including the fact that she keeps her word and appears trustworthy in that regard. She’s also beautiful, as Sam found out when he unknowingly flirted with her at the bar. Oh, and she was responsible for busting Madeline’s coffeemaker, resulting in another “emergency” that Michael had to handle.

Character Development: Fiona and Michael have FINALLY come to the conclusion that they can no longer be in a romantic relationship with each other, as there’s just too much going on with Michael right now. They’re still going to work together and be friends, but the romance is off — at least for the time being.

My Reaction: I thought “Breaking and Entering” was an excellent start to the second season. Not too much happened in the ep, which for once is a good thing as it allows fans to reconnect with the characters and the major storyline from last year. That was particularly important in this case, since so much time elapsed between the S1 finale and the S2 premiere.

I was glad to see that the writing remains pretty much the same as it was in Season 1. There’s still a healthy dose of sarcasm and humor along the way, and I found myself laughing out loud at several points in the ep. That “shootout” between Michael and Fiona was awesome — especially when she bounced a bullet half an inch from his foot and he shot back at her. The looks they gave each other were hilarious!

I’m very happy about Michael and Fiona officially breaking up. While I started to warm towards Fiona near the end of S1 and while she was actually likable in last night’s ep, I do not like Michael and Fiona as a couple and couldn’t stand the eps from S1 that dealt with their relationship.

I think Carla has the potential to be a very interesting character, so I’m looking forward to seeing what she’ll bring to the table for the rest of S2.

What a great premiere; I can’t wait for next week!!!