The BEST episodes of Burn Notice

Every episode of Burn Notice ever, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Burn Notice!

Covert intelligence operative Michael Westen has been punched, kicked, choked and shot. And now he's received a "burn notice", blacklisting him from the intelligence community and compromising his very identity. He must track down a faceless nemesis without getting himself killed while doubling as a private investigator on the dangerous streets of Miami in order to survive.

Last Updated: 12/19/2023Network: USA NetworkStatus: Ended
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Game Change
star
8.18
552 votes

#1 - Game Change

Season 6 - Episode 18 - Aired 12/20/2012

Michael is nearly killed when a powerful enemy sends a crew of cartel assassins after his entire team. Michael realizes that in order to protect the ones closest to him, he must eliminate the threat once and for all.

Directors: Matt Nix
Writer: Matt Nix
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Reckoning
star
8.11
1444 votes

#2 - Reckoning

Season 7 - Episode 13 - Aired 9/12/2013

Michael must regain the trust of those closest to him in order to finish what he started.

Directors: Matt Nix
Writer: Matt Nix
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
You Can Run...
star
8.07
1303 votes

#3 - You Can Run...

Season 6 - Episode 17 - Aired 12/20/2012

Michael attempts to leave the country, but when the escape is ambushed, Sam and Jesse are taken captive. Racing against the clock to save Sam, Michael must also figure out how to rescue Jesse before time runs out.

Directors: Nick Gomez
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Guilty as Charged
star
8.02
2431 votes

#4 - Guilty as Charged

Season 4 - Episode 12 - Aired 8/26/2010

Fiona attempts to find Jesse and convince him to meet with Michael. Meanwhile, Michael helps a criminal defense attorney rescue his daughter after she is kidnapped by one of his clients.

Writer: Matt Nix
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Lesser Evil
star
8.01
1895 votes

#5 - Lesser Evil

Season 2 - Episode 16 - Aired 3/5/2009

Michael gets to know Victor's motivation and his connection to Carla after capturing him. When the truth about Carla's organization is revealed, everyone is put in danger.

Directors: Tim Matheson
Writer: Matt Nix
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Last Stand
star
7.95
2256 votes

#6 - Last Stand

Season 4 - Episode 18 - Aired 12/16/2010

Michael, Fiona, and Jessie try to keep the NOC list away from Vaughn and his strike team. Meanwhile Sam and Madeline try to convince Congressman Cowley to pass the list higher up.

Directors: Stephen Surjik
Writer: Matt Nix
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Loose Ends
star
7.94
1031 votes

#7 - Loose Ends

Season 1 - Episode 12 - Aired 9/20/2007

Michael must rescue Sam from heroin smugglers, who happen to be ex-Special Forces, while also evading agents who are out to get him.

Directors: Stephen Surjik
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Fail Safe
star
7.89
1932 votes

#8 - Fail Safe

Season 5 - Episode 18 - Aired 12/15/2011

As the team reaches a breaking point with Anson and his sinister plans, Pearce puts Michael in charge of his biggest CIA mission yet.

Directors: Renny Harlin
Writer: Matt Nix
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Shock Wave
star
7.87
2033 votes

#9 - Shock Wave

Season 6 - Episode 6 - Aired 7/26/2012

Michael and the CIA get closer to discovering Anson's location, allowing them to release Fiona from prison. However, an MI6 agent attempts to put the operation to a stop in favor of bringing Fiona into British custody. Elsewhere, an assassin traps Sam and Barry in a secluded beach house.

Directors: Renny Harlin
Writer: Jason Tracey
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Sea Change
star
7.86
1280 votes

#10 - Sea Change

Season 7 - Episode 12 - Aired 9/5/2013

Michael must expose his identity to James and Sonya. Meanwhile, Fiona, Sam and Jesse form a plan to retrieve Michael.

Directors: Stephen Surjik
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Enemy of My Enemy
star
7.84
2073 votes

#11 - Enemy of My Enemy

Season 5 - Episode 6 - Aired 7/28/2011

The CIA abandons Sam after he goes undercover with a heroin dealer while trying to recover a weapon. Meanwhile, Pearce continues searching for Max's killer.

Directors: Jonathan Frakes
Writer: Jason Tracey
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Bad Breaks
star
7.84
1977 votes

#12 - Bad Breaks

Season 2 - Episode 13 - Aired 2/12/2009

A federal agent with a knack for giving Michael trouble returns to Miami to force Michael to hand over blackmail materials; the two enemies must work together during a bank robbery.

Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Tipping Point
star
7.84
1292 votes

#13 - Tipping Point

Season 7 - Episode 11 - Aired 8/22/2013

As Michael becomes ever more conflicted with his mission, he travels to Mexico with Sonya in order to help James with an important job. Anxious to finish the operation, Strong hires freelance mercenaries to extract James on site... but brings along an unexpected guest.

Directors: Scott Peters
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Dead to Rights
star
7.83
2221 votes

#14 - Dead to Rights

Season 5 - Episode 12 - Aired 9/8/2011

With convincing from Sam and Jesse, Pearce begrudgingly lets Michael take drastic measures attempting to clear himself of Max's murder. Meanwhile, Larry returns, having kidnapped a government psychiatrist, and insists that Michael help him with a job.

Directors: Matt Nix
Writer: Jason Tracey
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Dead Drop
star
7.83
1966 votes

#15 - Dead Drop

Season 1 - Episode 11 - Aired 9/20/2007

Sam takes on a case for a woman named Gillian, who is being blackmailed into using her security clearance to help smuggle heroin into the United States. Meanwhile, Michael is busy trying to arrange a meeting with Philip Cowan.

Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Hard Time
star
7.82
2441 votes

#16 - Hard Time

Season 4 - Episode 10 - Aired 8/12/2010

Michael infiltrates a high-security prison in order to protect an inmate (a good friend of Sam’s) who is marked for death by a fellow prisoner. Elsewhere, Michael interrogates Simon in order to gain more information on the cipher he found

Directors: Dennie Gordon
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Desperate Times
star
7.82
1873 votes

#17 - Desperate Times

Season 6 - Episode 10 - Aired 8/23/2012

The gang travel to Panama to take down an assassin, but their target discovers their plans and sets up a trap of his own. Elsewhere, Madeline grills Card for answers.

Directors: Renny Harlin
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Over the Line
star
7.79
1563 votes

#18 - Over the Line

Season 6 - Episode 13 - Aired 11/15/2012

Michael becomes the target of a CIA task force after he’s accused of a crime at a local hotel. Meanwhile, senior officer Olivia Riley brings Sam in for questioning, and attempts to use him to find Michael’s whereabouts.

Directors: Marc Roskin
Writer: Ben Watkins
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Official Business
star
7.78
1792 votes

#19 - Official Business

Season 6 - Episode 9 - Aired 8/16/2012

The CIA recruits Fiona to break into a guarded safe after a civilian asset winds up in over her head with a black market entrepreneur. Meanwhile, Sam and Jesse visit a mercenary training camp in hopes of finding the whereabouts of an exceptionally skilled sniper.

Directors: Jonathan Frakes
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Desperate Measures
star
7.78
1684 votes

#20 - Desperate Measures

Season 6 - Episode 11 - Aired 11/8/2012

After finding themselves stranded in Panama, Michael and the team are forced to hijack a plane in order to get home. Before they can leave, however, Michael must first escape the clutches of a sadistic Panamanian drug-runner.

Directors: Stephen Surjik
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Scorched Earth
star
7.78
2123 votes

#21 - Scorched Earth

Season 6 - Episode 1 - Aired 6/14/2012

Refusing to let Anson get away, Michael races against the clock to find him... But time may not be his only obstacle. Meanwhile, Fiona is taken into federal custody after her surrender, where she's interrogated by an old nemesis.

Directors: Stephen Surjik
Writer: Matt Nix
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Last Rites
star
7.78
1992 votes

#22 - Last Rites

Season 6 - Episode 3 - Aired 6/28/2012

When Agent Pearce learns the identity of her fiancée's killer, she enlists Michael's help to seek revenge. Things get complicated, however, when they discover the man is under protection as a CIA asset. Meanwhile, Fiona seeks out a well-connected prison smuggler to find out who was behind an attempt on her life.

Directors: Nick Gomez
Writer: Ben Watkins
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Means & Ends
star
7.78
519 votes

#23 - Means & Ends

Season 6 - Episode 12 - Aired 11/8/2012

Fiona is surprised by a visit from a smuggler she met in prison who needs her help bringing down a corrupt Miami detective. Meanwhile, Michael teams up with a former adversary in order to turn the tables on a more treacherous foe.

Directors: Ron Underwood
Writer: Jason Tracey
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Under the Gun
star
7.77
1993 votes

#24 - Under the Gun

Season 6 - Episode 4 - Aired 7/12/2012

Michael, Sam and Jesse head down to the Everglades to track a lead, but things go horribly wrong when Sam is kidnapped by an unexpected foe. In prison, Fiona finds herself in hot water with a pair of dangerous inmates. An ally offers to help, in exchange for a dangerous favor.

Directors: Dennie Gordon
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Acceptable Loss
star
7.76
1861 votes

#25 - Acceptable Loss

Season 5 - Episode 17 - Aired 12/8/2011

A friend of Jesse asks the team to help take out his boss, who has been smuggling blood diamonds into the country with the help of diplomatic immunity. Michael asks Pearce for help transferring a prisoner who may be able to provide him with information on Anson.

Directors: Jonathan Frakes
Writer: Ben Watkins
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV