Despite his intention to quit the espionage business, Michael Westen finds himself forced into one last rodeo with the CIA, trying to take down a freelance organisation the agency has been chasing for over a decade. To do this, he will have convince the targets that he's a worthwhile recruit. by going into deep cover and avoiding his previous associates.
And in one paragraph, we identify two key issues with this final season of Burn Notice. A huge part of the show's appeal is the camaraderie and interaction between Michael and the other central characters, so it's strike one for forcibly keeping them apart (even if it doesn't last, because of course it doesn't). Strike two is that after six years of battling one ultra secret, independent espionage group that answers to no-one but themselves, Westen suddenly faces another such organisation: one with enough profile to have been hunted for the CIA for more than ten years, and yet never previously mentioned. In reality of course is because they only just got made up by the writers, but in-show it feels very unlikely. Creating a wholly new enemy now is also just too late, I think. I agree with the decision that the show couldn't go to the well of the original conspiracy again: they'd arguably done that for at least one too many years, probably two. But the new antagonists simply aren't engaging enough, and the show's efforts to create drama by asking "are they even really bad guys?" (when clearly, yes they really are, even if they do act with loyalty to each other) don't help.
Seven years in, the show's formula has become strained, and with the original meta-plot well and truly resolved, there's not a lot here for me to recommend season 7 unless you are a huge, huge fan of the show.
My personal recommendation would be to just watch seasons 1-4 of Burn Notice. On that basis, it's sharply made TV with a satisfying conclusion.
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