Characters

Michael Westen (Jeffrey Donovan):  A former spy who has been burned and thus, forced to survive off of his wits, special ops training, private investigative jobs, and help from his friends and family. He is highly skilled, clever, and creative, displaying these skills by improvising with the limited resources he is given during stressful situations. Furthermore, Michael posses the uncanny ability to assume multiple cover identities ranging in languages, accents and appearances. Throughout the series, Michael tries to discover who burned him and hopes that he can get back his old job. Many viewers can identify Michael as the hard-boiled masculine hero for he is emotionally detached, physically active, rebellious, and an individualist. He displays a hard-boiled and cynical exterior and argues that this mentality resulted from his abusive father and unhappy childhood. As a result, Michael struggles with developing a strong and loving relationship with his family and ex. However, as the show progresses, viewers discover that he does posses a vulnerable and sensitive side, thus deviating from the stereo-type of the hard-boiled detective.

Fiona Glenanne (Gabrielle Anwar):  Michael’s ex- girlfriend, who is a former IRA operative and an expert in explosives and guns. Fiona re-enters Michael’s life soon after he is burned in Miami and decides to assist him with his private jobs.  Like Michael, Fiona has the ability to adapt and transform her appearance; she alternates accents and lures in men with her physical appearance with revealing clothing.  Because Fiona is both a complement and foil to Michael, many see her as the modern-age or neo-noir femme fatal. But she is more complex and independent than the film noir femme fatal. Furthermore, she is considered an equal to Michael physically and intellectually; however, she uses her sex appeal to manipulate many situations that Michael would be helpless in.  While Fiona and Michael are broken up, they often have sexual tension, adding a whole new element to the plot.

Sam Axe (Bruce Campbell):  A former Navy SEAL and semi-retired intelligence operative who serves as an aid to Micheal. While he does inform to the FBI on Micheal, he often gives them false information to throw them off. Also, his connections with the FBI allow Michael to still have some contact with the official spy community. Sam helps Michael with his private jobs and serves as the witty sidekick, often adding comic relief to intense scenes. Unfortunately, he still suffers from money shortages and as a result, he spends a lot of his time sleeping with older and wealthier Miami women in exchange for food and shelter. 

Madeline Westen (Sharon Gless): Michael’s overbearing mother.  She is very supportive and loving of her sons(Michael has a dead beat brother named Nate); however, Michael does not always appreciate her company. His abusive childhood resulted in Michael entering the war and becoming a spy and during that time, he lost contact with Madeline. He also blames her for not stopping his father's abusive nature. Thus, they currently struggle with bonding as a true family. Fortunately, Michael still remains loyal to her and her pleas for help are one of Michael’s greatest weaknesses. In fact, Madeline provides quite a few of Michael’s private jobs. 

Because the definition of good and evil, right and wrong are blurred in this show, there is not always an evident winner or loser. Though in general, one would probably argue Michael, Fiona, Sam, and the “clients” as the “winners” because they always solve the cases. The “losers” of this show would probably be the criminals who often skip town, get arrested, or even tragically die.