Spoiler alert: Sharon Gless talks about ‘Burn Notice’ series finale

Spoiler alert: If you haven’t yet watched the season finale of “Burn Notice,” close this post now; it contains a major spoiler.

Fans of USA’s popular spy show “Burn Notice” cried their way through the final scenes of the series’ finale thanks to the tragic, yet dignified, death of Michael Westen’s mother, Madeline, played by Sharon Gless.

Madeline sacrifices herself to protect her son, played by Jeffrey Donovan, and grandson in a literally explosive scene during which she enjoys a final cigarette after quitting earlier in the series.

The L.A. Times got an advance look at the episode, titled “Reckoning,” and asked creator Matt Nix, as well as Donovan and Gless how they felt about the death.

Q: After seven years, what did you feel when you read the final script?

Sharon Gless: I had known about it because I had called Matt to ask if my character could quit smoking because I had quit smoking in real life and he said: “Your grandson is 3 and you’re going to get custody of him, so we don’t want you to smoke either.” And he sort of told me about how he thought the show might end. He said: “You’ll get one cigarette.”

Q: Was the cigarette you smoke in your death scene fake?

SG: The day I did that scene it had been one year since I quit smoking. It was — I forget what they call those things made out of tea. Herbals. I had a choice of whether to do Maddy’s Marlboro or the herbal, and I went with the herbal. I thought that was a very strong choice. Jeffrey’s probably going, “Who are you and what have you done with my friend Sharon?”

Jeffrey Donovan: I thought that would have been your dying wish. But that one would be a gateway to a whole pack.

Q: What about you Jeffrey, how did you feel reading the final script?

JD: It’s difficult because when you’re shooting an episode, you’re so caught up in what you’re doing that day. You’re trying to shoot under a grueling schedule and be true to your character, so you lose track of the scope of the finality. At least I did. It didn’t really hit me until I started shooting it. There’s a scene where Sharon and I are on the phone and she’s basically telling me she’s going to die for me and it just hit me. And Sharon, God bless her, showed up on an off day to be on the other end of the phone call. That’s just not done. That’s when it hit me that figuratively I was losing my mother, and that I was literally losing my day-to-day interactions with a woman who has been my pseudo-mother for seven years. So that scene is a mix of me saying goodbye to my mother and to Maddy.

SG: You’re wonderful in it, honey. And I thought it was a really cool way to go, that’s all I can say.

Matt Nix: Sharon, everyone was crying during the spotting session, the assistant editors were crying. Jeffrey, the other day I was watching you on the phone with Sharon and it just got me again. It was pretty magnificent.

JD: Thank you guys. I appreciate that.

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Matt Nix, Jeffrey Donovan and Sharon Gless dish on ‘Burn Notice’ series’ finale