Madeline Westen
| Madeline Westen | |
|---|---|
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| Last appearance | Reckoning |
| Created by | Matt Nix |
| Portrayed by | Sharon Gless |
| Information | |
| Spouse(s) | Frank Westen (Deceased) |
| Children | Michael, Nate (Deceased) |
Madeline Westen is a fictional character in the television series Burn Notice portrayed by Sharon Gless. She is Michael Westen's neurotic, chain-smoking mother.
It is unclear how much Madeline knows about her son's life as a spy. All she really seems to know is that he tends to be in a different city, in a different country, or generally in a different place, and that he can not disclose where he is. Madeline is thrilled when Michael is back in Miami and hopes that he will stay. She occasionally asks him for help with her friends' problems.
Madeline's relationship with Michael has been tumultuous, and complicated by the fact that her husband, and the father of her children, regularly abused them. Madeline believes that Michael aggravated his father, and that this was the reason for Michael's father's beatings. She later allowed Michael to join the military at 17 by forging his father's signature on his enlistment forms. Madeline has been angry at Michael for years for an assortment of reasons, such as not attending his father's funeral. Upon his arrival in Miami, she asked Michael to visit his grave in exchange for his father's vintage Dodge Charger automobile.
Madeline keeps up with her son Michael's actions through his friend and ally Fiona Glenanne.
Over the course of the series, Madeline has often been drawn into events in one way or another, which has made her more aware of what Michael and his friends are actually doing. In the pilot episode, Madeline is depicted as an unstable hypochondriac woman. This characterization was discarded in future episodes to be replaced by the more no-nonsense, self-supportive woman that she would remain for the rest of the series. This change is also characterized by the haircut she receives.
While she's still not "officially" told about Michael's position as a spy, she has actively helped out on occasions, such as assisting with surveillance in the season 3 episode "Friends Like These", or even successfully interrogating a captive about Michael's whereabouts in "The Hunter", while Fiona and Sam were still arguing about the best approach. She does not like the truth about Michael's life, and her fears are brought to light when she is forced to defend him in an FBI interrogation, in the third season finale; the bureau questions her concerning his activities that got him burned, along with many other actions in his spy career. While she is able to deter Michael from returning, she is ultimately detained. However, when Michael disables Simon, both disappear and Madeline is freed, but she anguishes in the disappearance of her son.
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Wikipedia