Let Me Tell You A Story...

Thus begins the opening of a delightful TV series in the US, Burn Notice.

The protagonist, a spy, finds himself 'burned', made a non-person, and dumped in Miami, where his mother, brother and two friends reside. He has to survive by his wits as he makes his way back to a semblance of a respectable life. Along the way, he does a lot of good for a number of people who need his particular gifts employed in their service--thus the plots of the individual episodes.

There is a certain black humor approach taken, as our protagonist narrates his way through each of the episodes, which at points are truly hilarious. Sooner or later, any viewer who has spent any time in this 'vale of tears' ends up saying, 'You know, I know these people!

It's a wonderfully written and executed piece of entertainment, the kind that lends insight to our lives. Hard to say that about much of anything on TV for the past thirty years or so.

It's also a bit of a 'canary in the coal mine' for the culture: The dark humor resonates with so many people now, as what they see on the tube corresponds with what they experience.

Here's hoping for the day when we won't need this sort of hero to narrate our lives.