Michael Westen is a spy who receives a "burn notice" while on assignment. Spies are not fired, rather they are issued a burn notice to let the agent know their services are no longer required. Penniless, Michael returns to his roots in Miami where he freelances his skills to earn money. First up, Michael helps a man clear his name after valuable pieces of art and jewelery are stolen.
Michael helps Madeline's friend retrieve money from a swindler, and in return he receives information about some visitors that came to his mother's home.
A drug dealer is witnessed brutally beating up a man by a single mother. Oleg asks Michael to help the woman, Cara, his best waitress, after she stops showing up for work.
Michael's friend, Bill, asks for the spy's help in freeing his daughter from a prostitution ring. Meanwhile, Michael dodges multiple assassination attempts.
Michael infiltrates a family of gunrunners who are pressuring an airport supervisor and his pregnant wife. The FBI begin to put pressure on Sam to gather more information on Michael.
Michael discovers a surprise aboard a boat he has retrieved from Jamaican gangsters. Meanwhile, a CSS agent urges Michael to stop his investigation into who burned him.
Michael works to rid a community in little Havana of a crime boss, all the while baiting Jason Bly at the risk of his family and friends.
With Michael's assistance, Fiona helps a man who has been framed for the theft of an expensive brooch.
A man's fiancée is kidnapped from the house he is looking after. Meanwhile, Michael is offered information on how he can clear his burn notice.
Michael is hired to track down a woman's estranged husband, who has disappeared with their son. Michael soon finds himself pitted against somebody just as skilled and dangerous as he is.
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.
Michael must rescue Sam from heroin smugglers, who happen to be ex-Special Forces, while also evading agents who are out to get him.
Having been recruited by the people who burned him, Michael's new handler, Carla, tasks him with helping a computer tech, whose wife and daughter were kidnapped, liberate some information that is guarded by mercenaries.
While Michael's new handler asks him to locate a Tunisian counterfeiter, Sam asks him to help a woman who says she is being stalked by a drug dealer, and his mother asks him to join her in seeing a therapist.
Andy, a cell-phone salesman, was conned into investing in a fake Cuban nightclub. Michael helps Andy when the people he borrowed the money from come knocking.
Michael helps a Russian woman, Katya, whose sister was smuggled into the U.S. by gangsters; however, Katya cannot afford their extortionate demands and her sister is being held captive.
Michael poses as a safe cracker to help out a reformed ex-con who is unwillingly part of a heist, and tries to sneak into the heavily-guarded office of his handler. Meanwhile, Sam gets an unexpected proposition from his girlfriend.
When someone's suspected of embezzling from a hip-hop mogul's charity, Michael attempts to trick the thief into stealing a larger sum.
Michael is hired to track down nearly a million dollars worth of pharmaceuticals that were stolen by thieves on their way to Tanzania.
Michael tries to foil a hit that he was hired for by an old spy colleague he thought was dead, which becomes more complicated when he discovers that there is more than one contract out on the target.
Hired by Fiona's boyfriend's friend Henry, Michael poses as a disgruntled bodyguard to thwart a kidnapping plot masterminded by a ruthless man named Lesher.
Michael prevents a man from committing suicide, whose son suffers from a heart condition. He had lost his savings in a scam after investing in a "miracle drug" for his son, so Michael decides to get him his money back. Meanwhile, he has to deal with an explosion at his place and his brother in jail.
Sam calls in a favor and asks Michael to talk to Sean Martin, a football coach who helps impoverished kids. Sean wants Michael's assistance helping one of his players, Corey Jensen, who's being targeted by gangsters.
Michael, under the alias of Miles Parker, is hired by Scott Chandler to investigate strange activity - log-ins at odd hours, unusual computer activity and telephone bugging - at an art gallery. But after being attacked by the the gallery's receptionist, Michael finds himself working against Chandler. Meanwhile, Michael needs to find the person who planted the bomb at his loft, therefor he turns to arms dealer Seymour for help.
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.
Michael takes on a sympathy case for a Haitian man whose daughter was murdered by a corrupt government official he believes is hiding in Miami. Michael gets closer to tracking down the person who tried to kill him.
Michael's ex-fiancé seeks the spy's help in freeing her son, who was kidnapped by a disillusioned ex-spy named Brennen.
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.
Michael is bailed out of jail by an old friend who asks for his help in return.
Michael faces a new foe in Detective Paxson, who has tracked down some explosives Michael has been hiding in a storage facility, forcing Michael to surreptitiously get them out before Paxson gets a warrant. Meanwhile, Michael and team must rescue a kidnapped child by using reverse interrogation.
Arms trader Brennen returns and kidnaps Nate, forcing Michael to help him pull off an elaborate heist. Michael must also contend with Paxson's ongoing investigation.
Michael gets a hold of a crime lord who seems to be the prime suspect in a Miami PD investigation, so he wants to hand him over in return for being left alone.
A paranoid mathematician enlists Michael's help to stop the vice president of a defense firm from selling company secrets; Michael tracks down a new contact in the intelligence community.
When he hears about an operative from his past who is hunting him, Michael turns to a prominent member of Miami's underworld for help; a man approaches Michael with an offer.
Michael convinces an abusive stepfather of a young boy to leave town by telling him he is the target of an assassination plot. Elsewhere, Strickler makes a promise to Michael that he will help him get back into the intelligence community if they can work together.
Barry enlists Michael's help in tracking down his money-laundering client list, which has been stolen by a vicious thief. Michael goes after the thief, only to find that there's a lot more to the situation than he realized. Fiona tries to be supportive of Michael's efforts to reconnect with the intelligence community, but she and Michael find that their differences on the subject may not be reconcilable.
A dangerous man from Fiona's past resurfaces in Miami after years of hiding, with deadly intentions. Teaming up with Fiona's ruthless brother, Michael will do whatever it takes to save her... even if that means crossing a few lines.
When a recently widowed woman hires Michael and Fiona to get her away from a group of violent con men, Michael turns to Madeline for help — but he may ask her to go too far. Meanwhile, a mysterious contact goes to extreme lengths to get Michael's attention.
When Sam gets an unexpected visit from a former Seal buddy asking for help, Michael must infiltrate a protected urban barrio and hunt down a child predator. Michael also befriends a psychotic former spy runner in order to learn more about his destructive plans while in town.
Michael is caught off guard by a visit from his drug dealing neighbor Sugar. But to Michael’s surprise, Sugar isn't looking for trouble; He needs Michael's help fending off a crew of notorious thieves. Meanwhile, Michael struggles with working beside an unexpected partner.
When Michael's old acquaintance Larry shows up unannounced, it is up to Michael to clean up his mess. Meanwhile, Michael's brother Nate shows up with his new wife Ruth.
Sam convinces Michael to investigate a robbery at a chic fashion house, but they quickly realize the world of design isn't always pretty. Meanwhile, Michael and Fiona gain the trust of a Polish intelligence officer to get information on an unlisted "black flight," transporting dangerous cargo.
Fiona deals with a paranoid kidnapper who's hiding a secret. Elsewhere, Michael tries to take down a black operative, but the mission soon gets out of control.
International fugitive Simon is loose and Michael's on the run from the FBI for his role in Simon’s escape. When Simon confronts Michael and threatens to blow up a Miami Beach hotel, Michael must call on his friends and an old enemy to help him avoid disaster and put Simon back in the dark hole where he belongs.
Michael helps Fiona and Sam protect a lawyer against the city's most dangerous biker gang. Meanwhile, he must team up with an unlikely ally to stop a looming terrorist threat... but quickly finds that no mission is without its price.
Michael meets Jesse, a recently burned counterintelligence agent looking for Michael's help. Michael agrees to help Jesse clear his name, but first must get him out of the crosshairs of a ruthless drug trafficker seeking revenge.
When dangerous mobsters threaten a port worker, Michael takes on the case. With Jesse, Michael also looks for intel on an underground-artillery operation.
A hostage situation at a local bank. Meanwhile, Fiona helps Jesse track down information about a recently deceased weapons runner.
Michael tries to find out about Kendra's agenda, while a doctor named Lauren asks him for help when her boyfriend's clinic is targeted by drug dealers.
Sam and Jesse interrogate a captured contract killer in order to find out who ordered a recent assassination. Meanwhile, Michael and Fiona pose as security consultants to stop a notorious antiquities thief from stealing a priceless artifact.
Michael helps an ex-CIA operative who has become a target of Russian spies.
Michael, Sam, and Jesse must try to rescue Fiona when their plan to protect a wealthy business bigwig at his house party go horribly awry. Meanwhile, Michael and Jesse need Madeline's help in order to rob a bank.
Michael wants Simon's help with the cipher he found, so he contacts Vaughn. Meanwhile, Agents Lane and Harris ask for Michael's help.
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
Michael finds the man behind the Bible book code, so he and Jesse try to get him on their track. In the middle of all this, Fiona takes on a client, a woman seduced by a scam artist.
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.
Michael tries to prevent a bombing arranged by a lawyer out for revenge against a local gang. Elsewhere, Michael and Jesse must track down a highly sensitive document that's been stolen.
Michael must work with an enemy to keep chemical weapons out of the wrong hands.
When Nate gets in over his head tracking down a stolen car filled with a drug kingpin's merchandise, Michael brings back an old alias to save his brother's life.
Sam tries to help a friend who's been deemed a dirty cop clear his name. Elsewhere, Michael plans to meet with Jesse's former handler in order to make sure government documents end up in the right hands.
Michael's enemy Brennen and Michael's former friend Larry team up to pressure Michael into killing the individuals on the stolen NOC list. Meanwhile, Sam, Jesse, and Fiona try to help Michael turn the tables on Brennen and Larry.
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.
Before Sam Axe teamed up with Michael and Fiona, he was Commander Axe, U.S. Navy SEAL. The Fall of Sam Axe tells the story of how Sam went from respected Naval Commander to the man of mystery we've come to know on Burn Notice. On what will turn out to be Sam's last military mission, he is sent to the jungles of Colombia to investigate claims of a vicious terrorist organization known only as the "Espada Ardiente" (Flaming Sword). His mission: to determine whether U.S. military aid is necessary to deal with the threat. But when he arrives, things are more complicated than he'd imagined. He receives word that the rebels have targeted a small civilian clinic deep in the jungle. Sam must now save the clinic's doctors and patients from certain death. However, nothing is as it seems and the Espada Ardiente may not be the biggest threat Sam Axe faces.
Michael works with his old agency to go after the people who burned him in a case that leads the group to Venezuela.
Michael has to balance his new agency duties and helping a woman recover her cousin, who is one of many being trafficked into the U.S. by the Yakuza. Against Michael's wishes, Madeline becomes a critical component of the plan to find the girls.
Nate returns to Miami to seek Michael's help to go after a loan shark who's harassing a widow. The guys soon discover that the loan shark is not all that he seems, however.
The team searches for a super-computer to clear Barry's brother of a server heist.
Michael plays a key role in a CIA murder investigation. Meanwhile, the team helps a client who reminds them of Michael — a former army sniper who wants revenge on the men who put his sister on the hospital.
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.
Michael and Sam try to retrieve a boy from an armed compound. Fiona and Jesse babysit a day laborer.
Michael and Jesse go on an extraction mission on a Caribbean island but end up trapped there by mercenaries. Meanwhile, Fiona tries to get information out of an ex by doing a favor for him.
Fiona and Jesse work together for a pharmaceuticals magnate, but soon realize that he is hiding something. Meanwhile, Michael and Sam take on a bomb-maker involved in Max's death.
Michael goes undercover with a group of hijackers in order to assist Jesse with a security job, but he changes the plan when the hijackers take hostages at the airport. Madeline assists Michael by organizing the hostages and trying to lead them to safety.
Michael and Fiona pose as a wealthy couple at a South American resort in order to extract a bioweapons specialist. Elsewhere, Sam and Jesse try to trap Max's killer.
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.
Michael and Fiona plan to abduct a hacker in Puerto Rico in order to obtain his software, but the man has several other enemies to contend with. Elsewhere, Madeline learns to retrieve information from the police under the tutelage of Sam and Jesse.
When gang warfare claims the life of one of Michael's childhood friends, he teams up with the victim's brother to entrap the gang in a weapons scheme.
Michael leads a rescue mission for a scientist abducted by an African warlord, while Sam and Jesse get in trouble during an undercover mission. Meanwhile, Madeline discovers that someone close to her is keeping secrets.
Sam reunites with Beatriz after an attempt is made on her life by a Russian spy, and Michael is forced to trust Anson in order to save her. Jesse and Fiona must travel to the Cayman Islands to track down a banker in order to obtain financial information for Anson.
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.
As the team reaches a breaking point with Anson and his sinister plans, Pearce puts Michael in charge of his biggest CIA mission yet.
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.
After the CIA denies his request to see Fiona, Michael calls upon his old Mentor, Tom Card. Michael offers help on a mission to take down a notorious drug cartel if Card can get him visitation privileges. In prison, Fiona is targeted by a ruthless gang leader, and must turn to a new friend in order to fend them off.
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.
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.
Tom Card, Michael's former mentor, tries to make a deal to get Fiona out of prison and help her avoid extradition. Michael gets some unexpected help in tracking down a vicious gangster.
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.
Sam tries to help his girlfriend's son, who is indebted to a vicious loan shark. Michael and Fiona must pick up the pieces from their last mission.
Michael sets up his own arrest by the FBI as part of a plot to take down a Boston mobster. Elsewhere, Jesse and Pearce resort to blackmail to gain information on a gun sale, but their tactics don't go smoothly.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Michael arranges to be captured by a Syrian intelligence officer in order to rescue an inept smuggler. Riley offers Madeline a deal in hopes of tracking down Michael.
Michael brokers a deal selling an expensive piece of technology to a ruthless thief, but things become complicated when Sam is dragged in as part of a high stakes robbery. Meanwhile, Madeline goes to Barry to ask for a dangerous favor.
Michael seeks refuge in a warehouse when he's caught in the middle of a smuggler's attempt to get revenge on his former client. Survival becomes a challenge as supplies run low and the exits are blocked.
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.
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.
Michael's deal with the CIA sends him to the Dominican Republic to infiltrate a terrorist organization headed by an old contact. Sam, Fiona, and Jesse try to move on with their lives, but are drawn back in when someone starts asking questions about Michael's whereabouts. Maddie tries to get custody of her grandson.
Michael returns to Miami in order to preserve his cover, but Strong puts a damper on his homecoming by forbidding Michael from contacting his friends.
Sam and Jesse travel to the Dominican Republic to help Michael with a high-stakes trade. Elsewhere, Fiona intervenes when a bookie tries to extort Madeline.
As Michael attempts to learn more about Burke's underground network, they are sent to break a prisoner out of a Russian black site in Cuba. In order to help, Fiona and Madeline must frame a corrupt Russian bureaucrat for treason.
Michael meets a former Russian operative who now works as part of Burke’s mysterious organization. In order to get out of Cuba, they’ll have to outwit a bloodthirsty counterintelligence expert who’s locking down the island. Strong convinces Fiona to help Michael’s mission by making her an offer she can’t refuse.
Michael and Fiona pose as hackers at a malicious programming syndicate in order to steal information for Sonya. But Michael’s life gets complicated when working with Fiona again brings back painful memories. Meanwhile, Sam and Jesse help Barry track down a former girlfriend in exchange for falsified documents.
Michael finally meets with the head of the organization he’s been assigned to dismantle, but things get dicey when the leader drugs him at gunpoint in order to learn his deepest secrets. In danger of exposing his cover, Michael soon realizes that in order to protect his future... he'll have to face his past first.
Michael goes after a drug smuggler at the bidding of the organization he's trying to infiltrate. Elsewhere, Fiona, Jesse and Strong visit a mental hospital in a search for more information about James.
The team look for an antidote at the manufacturer's lab in order to save a poisoned Middle Eastern diplomat. Elsewhere, Madeline takes action when she suspects she's being followed.
When Michael discovers an old friend digging up secrets that could expose his cover, he must decide just how far he will go to protect the mission. Meanwhile, Sam and Jesse are thrust in the middle of a street war involving a decade-old murder after Fiona’s boyfriend is targeted by a coldblooded gang member.
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.
Michael must expose his identity to James and Sonya. Meanwhile, Fiona, Sam and Jesse form a plan to retrieve Michael.
Michael must regain the trust of those closest to him in order to finish what he started.
Appearing as a Season 2 Easter Egg, "Boom Notice" is a behind-the-scenes fake episode focused on boom mic operator "Fred". Featuring crew playing parts that may seem somewhat familiar.
