Spies don’t get fired, they get burned.

Genre: Action, Comedy, Drama, Thriller
Episode(s): Season 2, 8/16 episodes
Role: Carla (guest role, recurring)
Status: Season 2 aired July 10 2008 – March 5 2009 (U.S.)
Series Creator(s): Matt Nix
Other Cast: Jeffrey Donovan, Bruce Campbell, Gabrielle Anwar, Sharon Gless
Network: USA Network

• Overview
• Memorable Carla Quotations
• Said of Burn Notice
• Burn Notice Season 2 Trivia
• Reception: Awards & Personal Thoughts
• Burn Notice Online

More Burn Notice images of Tricia in our Burn Notice Photo Gallery!

Series and season overview by Tricia Helfer Fan:

Burn Notice is USA Network’s fun, inventive and fast-paced spy series carried in the spirit of MacGyver. The series follows former U.S. government agent Michael Westen (Donovan) after he unexpectedly receives a “burn notice” from his agency, leaving him without a job, finances or the protection of his employer. With the help of the few friends and allies he has left, Michael uses his abilities and resources to help ordinary people in trouble, while at the same time trying to find out who burned him and why.

In Season 2, Michael is introduced to his mysterious new handler Carla, who makes him an irresistible and lucrative offer to work for the organization behind her. Despite Carla’s best and most compelling efforts, Michael soon proves himself difficult to rein in even to Carla, but as Michael himself gradually discovers as he inches his way closer to the truth behind his burn notice, when pressured by her own bosses the influential Carla is not one to play with.

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Tricia Helfer portrays Carla, Michael’s mysterious new handler and the new public face of the people responsible for his burn notice. Throughout the show, very little is known about the smoldering and unpredictable Carla, including her real name, but as the season progresses, what does become evident is that she is far more vicious than her appearance lets on.

* * * *

List of Episodes

Tricia appears in the following episodes of Burn Notice:

Season 2 (Jul 10 2008 – Mar 5 2009)
2.01 “Breaking and Entering”
2.02 “Turn and Burn”
2.03 “Trust Me”
2.04 “Comrades”
2.05 “Scatter Point”
2.06 “Bad Blood”
2.07 “Rough Seas”
2.08 “Double Booked”
2.09 “Good Soldier”
2.10 “Do No Harm”
2.11 “Hot Spot”
2.12 “Seek and Destroy”
2.13 “Bad Breaks”
2.14 “Truth and Reconciliation”
2.15 “Sins of Omission”
2.16 “Lesser Evil”

“Come out, come out, wherever you are.”

“We need to talk, Michael. We’ve been trying to bring you in. We’re so looking forward to meeting you.”

“No need for that, Michael, the shooting’s all over. Hope you’re not too disappointed.”

“Why don’t you call me Carla. Go over to the car. We have something we want you to take care of for us. Don’t call it a job, call it a favor.”

[Michael: "Oh I see, so this is your employee retention program?"]
“You… could call it that. He needs to go back to Miami and do what he’s told.”

“Maybe, maybe not. If I get what I want, you don’t need to find out.”

“Of course, Michael. We want this to be a good experience for everyone.”

“See how that worked out? He’s happy, we’re happy, you’re happy.”

Select quotations regarding the show from Tricia Helfer and her co-workers: Coming soon/not available.

• In a 2008 USA Network interview, creator and producer Matt Nix describes how he had just found Tricia “perfect” for the role of Carla when he realized she had already signed a talent holding deal with another network, FOX, making her unavailable for USA. However, via a connection between FOX Studios and Burn Notice, the producers were able to work out a deal with the network regarding Tricia’s involvement in the series.

• In episode 2.09 “Good Soldier”, Carla is twice seen riding a motorcycle. The scenes showcased the little known fact at the time that Tricia is in fact a great motorcycling enthusiast. She rides the bike herself in the episode.

• It is never actually confirmed in the series whether or not “Carla” is actually Carla’s real name. However, considering the importance of identity in the “spy world” in general, “Carla” is likely an alias.

• Although Carla is gunned down by Gabrielle Anwar’s Fiona at the end of the season, it is unclear in the episode whether the shot actually kills her or merely leaves her wounded and unconscious (from the fall). Tricia was never signed for a third season, however, and as she herself confirmed during an Acting Outlaws “LA La Ride” live broadcast in October 2010, to her understanding Carla is dead and she will not be returning to the show.

Awards & Nominations

Burn Notice Season 2 has received the following awards and nominations:

• Nominated for the 2009 Emmy Award for Outstanding Stunt Coordination
• Nominated for the 2009 WGA Award for Episodic Drama
• Won the 2009 ASCAP Award for Top TV Series

Personal Thoughts

Sandra: When Tricia’s involvement in Burn Notice Season 2 was announced, I had no prior knowledge whatsoever of the series, primarily as it wasn’t on TV in my country at the time. Which really made the show all the more a breath of fresh air to me, being neither stuffy nor exaggeratedly severe. In fact, the show, or at least its second season, to me really harkens back to the bucketload of fun that was MacGyver in the ’80s, one of my absolute favorite shows as a kid. Even though definitely tinted with the severity of the modern day, Season 2 never makes the mistake of taking itself too seriously, therein maintaining a certain early ’70s childlike innocence that I so wholeheartedly miss in today’s television.

Tricia Helfer as Carla was also such a wonderful addition to the series, and Burn Notice definitely ranks among my favorite of Tricia’s TV projects, both series-, performance- and character-wise. What Burn Notice showcases so well is that which makes Tricia such a terrific actress — her command of voice. This is particularly evident in the season premiere, in which Carla is almost throughout only known as just a voice at the other end of a phone call. It’s really I think something that a lot of today’s actors lack; they have their expressions down, but when they start talking it’s a two-note deal at best. It’s a crying shame they killed her off.

Favorite Episode(s): Episode 2.02 “Turn and Burn”. Some truly great Carla moments in there.

Below are some Burn Notice related links that may be of interest to you.

• Burn Notice official site
• Burn Notice TFL-approved fanlisting
• Burn Notice TFL-approved Carla character fanlisting
• Burn Notice on IMDb.com
• Burn Notice on MetaCritic.com
• Burn Notice on Wikipedia.org

• Bruce Campbell on Bruce-Campbell.com
• Jeffrey Donovan on Jeffrey Donovan Fans