Burn Notice (season 6)

Burn Notice (season 6)
Region 1 DVD cover artwork
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	18
Release
Original network	USA Network
Original release	June 14, 2012 – December 20, 2012

The sixth season of the American television spy drama Burn Notice premiered on June 14, 2012 on the cable television channel USA Network.

Cast

John C. McGinley appeared in six episodes as Tom Card, Michael's original CIA trainer.^[1] Taryn Manning appeared in one episode as one of Fiona's fellow prisoners.^[1] Jere Burns and Kristanna Loken returned to the series for multiple episodes as Anson Fullerton and Rebecca Lang, respectively.^[2] Lauren Stamile and Alex Carter also returned to the series as Dani Pearce and Jason Bly, respectively.^[3] Faran Tahir appeared in the third episode as Ahmed, a ruthless Lebanese agent.^[4] William Mapother appeared in the sixth episode as Garret Hartley, a mercenary hired to kill Barry (Paul Tei).^[5] Richard Burgi appeared in the seventh episode as a villain who has targeted Evan (Brando Eaton), the troubled son of Sam's new sugar momma, Elsa (played by Jennifer Taylor).^[6] Angélica Celaya guest starred in the ninth episode of the season as Angela Flores, a woman whose boyfriend is accused of illegally trading weapons on the black market.^[7] Chad Coleman appeared in the tenth episode as Brady Pressman, a CIA operative who, after failing in his mission to capture Anson alive, hopes to set things right.^[7] Also appearing in the tenth-to-twelfth episodes was Kenny Johnson as Tyler Gray, the trigger man behind the death of Michael's brother.

Patton Oswalt and Sonja Sohn each had guest appearances during the winter season. Oswalt appeared in episodes 14-16 as Calvin Schmidt, a smuggler whom the team contacts for help in escaping the country. Sohn plays Olivia Riley, a high-level CIA director who “literally [wrote] the book on counter-intel training and procedures", and she appeared on a recurring basis beginning with the thirteenth episode.^[8]

Production

A sixth season, consisting of 18 episodes, was ordered by USA Network on April 16, 2010.^[9] This announcement came just over a month after the fourth season had completed airing. The season began in summer 2012.^[10][11] Jeffrey Donovan stated in a pre-season interview that one of the show's long-standing characters will die during this season.^[12]

Matt Nix wrote the first episode of the season, his twentieth credit for the series. The episode was directed by Stephen Surjik; it was his seventh directing credit for Burn Notice. Series star Jeffrey Donovan directed one episode as well, his second of the series and first since season 4.

Episodes

In the following table, "U.S. viewers in millions" refers to the number of Americans who viewed the episode on the day of original broadcast.

No. in series	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Production code	U.S. viewers (millions)
81	1	"Scorched Earth"	Stephen Surjik	Matt Nix	June 14, 2012	BN601	3.87[13]
With Fiona in jail, Michael has no restrictions as he chases the dastardly Anson, who tries to distract Michael by sending a troubled assassin with a special operations background to kill Madeline. Once she's safe, Michael secures support from Agent Pearce and the CIA, who now has Anson on their watchlist, as they corner him in a chemical plant. They almost capture him, but have to let him go after he rigs the place to a dead man switch, whereas Sam narrowly escapes when the plant explodes anyway. On the other hand, Fiona is interrogated by Michael's old nemesis, Agent Bly, and, despite her claims she acted alone at the British consulate, he pressures her to implicate Michael in the bombing.
82	2	"Mixed Messages"	Jeffrey Donovan	Alfredo Barrios, Jr.	June 21, 2012	BN602	4.09[14]
To gain visitation rights with Fiona, Michael is reunited by the CIA with his training officer, Tom Card, who assigns Michael to bring down a major drug ring. When the approach reveals a cartel lawyer who knows Michael from a previous case (see: "Fight or Flight"), Jesse ends up being forced to go it alone, and he gradually works his way up the chain of command where he's able to force the number two guy to become a cooperating witness for the authorities. At the same time, Fiona is fighting off prison attacks, both from big-shot inmates and outside forces who extort another prisoner (Guest Star: Taryn Manning) to kill Fiona when she's on kitchen duty, but she survives and, with his mission done, fills Michael in at his first visit. On the family front, Michael's brother Nate returns to Miami after his marriage falls apart.
83	3	"Last Rites"	Nick Gomez	Ben Watkins	June 28, 2012	BN603	4.11[15]
Pearce asks Michael to help her go after her ex-fiancees killer, a CIA asset from a foreign country who's protected by information secured on his home computer. They team up with Jesse to follow the man on a cruise, creating a fake outbreak of a viral sickness and panicking his family in Miami into giving up the files. Meanwhile, after learning she's been marked for death, Fiona befriends the prison's chief distributor of banned goods to help her find out who's after her, and, once she does a favor for her new ally, she asks Michael in his next visit to go after a guard involved in the plot to kill her.
84	4	"Under the Gun"	Dennie Gordon	Michael Horowitz	July 12, 2012	BN604	4.44[16]
Michael and the guys are tracking down the prison guard who's after Fiona, but things get more difficult when Sam is taken prisoner by the man's killer, a former spy named Rebecca (Guest Star: Kristanna Loken) being forced by Anson to do his bidding. While Sam works to shake her off, Michael and Jesse give chase, and are eventually able to convince her that they can work together to help her brother, who Anson is using as leverage against her. Along the way, Fiona asks Michael to track down a package for her new distributor friend, who needs it to keep from being thrown into solitary confinement, leading Michael to use force when her brutal ex-husband refuses to hand it over.
85	5	"Split Decision"	Scott Peters	Ryan Johnson & Peter Lalayanis	July 19, 2012	BN605	4.97[17]
As the team's new ally, Rebecca explains that her brother, an informer on a small-time mobster, is on the run from the man's son, who blames the kid for his father's dying while imprisoned. While working to make the guy believe he has the wrong informer, the team slowly gains Rebecca's trust, allowing them an inside look into Anson's future plans. At the prison, Card comes to Fiona with a deal: he'll get her out, and protect her as a CIA asset, but she has to give up a former associate in the arms dealing business, so she calls on Michael after the guy refuses to meet with anyone else.
86	6	"Shock Wave"	Renny Harlin	Jason Tracey	July 26, 2012	BN606	4.86[18]
With Rebecca's information, and full CIA support, Michael and his team follow Anson to Atlantic City to capture him once and for all. Nate tags along on the stakeout and almost messes it up, so Michael kicks him out, but he redeems himself when Anson leads the CIA on a wild goose chase and Nate's the only one close enough to make the arrest. Tragedy strikes, though, when an unknown sniper kills both Anson and Nate at the handoff, leaving Michael's mother despondent and his life shaken to the core. At the same time, Sam takes Barry to a beach house where he has stored important files for his clients, but their plans go amiss when armed mercenaries sent to kill Barry arrive and trap them inside. While they work to get rid of the pests and escape intact, the British government comes to take Fiona, who's holding out hope that Michael is about to secure her freedom. With help from her distributor friend, Fiona evades the authorities to stall for time and is relieved when she is released into the arms of Michael, who says he needs her now more than ever.
87	7	"Reunion"	Craig Siebels	Rashad Raisani	August 2, 2012	BN607	4.32[19]
Sam's well-to-do girlfriend asks him to help her son, a skillful car thief being bothered by a ruthless loan shark. The team's investigation leads them into a gang war over a mobile drug lab, and, in the end, they just avoid getting caught in the crossfire. Meanwhile, with revenge on their minds, and Fiona newly freed, Michael and the team begin looking for the person who killed Nate, and their suspicions are raised when they find Rebecca has gone on the run.
88	8	"Unchained"	Alfredo Barrios, Jr.	Alfredo Barrios, Jr.	August 9, 2012	BN608	4.04[20]
As he looks for clues to the person who killed his brother, Michael goes to the FBI for help, and they rope him into helping them take down a vicious Boston mobster. Taking another angle, Jesse and Pearce follow up on the gun sale that put the weapon in the hands of the killer, but, when it gets back to the CIA that they used blackmail, Pearce gets reassigned abroad as part of the deal to keep her job.
89	9	"Official Business"	Jonathan Frakes	Bridget Tyler	August 16, 2012	BN609	4.36[21]
In her first assignment from the CIA, Fiona is tasked with helping a fellow asset, who is having trouble accessing information that will put a stop to a prospective black market buy. They're able to break into the seller's heavily guarded safe for the necessary information, but the asset unveils herself as a double agent in the process. Also, a lead on Nate's killer takes the guys to a security firm that trains mercenaries, so they pose as potential customers to gain access to the company's files, going off the books to find the man's name: Tyler Gray.
90	10	"Desperate Times"	Renny Harlin	Craig O'Neill	August 23, 2012	BN610	4.96[22]
Along with help from the CIA, Michael and his team follow Gray to Panama, going to great lengths to fight through his security team and get him in CIA custody. Though they're able to pin him down, he informs them the CIA is coming to kill them and they narrowly escape, but now they're stuck in Central America and are on their own in getting home. In Miami, Madeline goes after Card for access to the file on Nate's death, completely unaware that he's gone rogue and is now trying to sacrifice Michael, too.
91	11	"Desperate Measures"	Stephen Surjik	Michael Horowitz	November 8, 2012	BN611	3.47[23]
Looking for a way out of Panama, Michael and his team hijack a plane, only to discover it's being used by brutal drug smugglers for business. To get their plane back, the gang take Michael and Gray hostage, forcing the two to put aside their differences so they can get out alive. Stateside, the team calls on Madeline to find Sam's hacker friend and infiltrate an FAA office to hide the flight from the authorities.
92	12	"Means & Ends"	Ron Underwood	Jason Tracey	November 8, 2012	BN612	3.47[23]
After the team returns home, their attempts to lie low are put in jeopardy when Fiona's prison ally, now out on parole, asks them to help her shake a dirty cop and his attempts to send her back to jail. They come close to making him reveal his corruption, but, after he suddenly develops a conscience, things come to a head in an explosive confrontation with the gang that killed his former partner. Meanwhile, they decide to use Gray to feed information to Card, who has assigned him with burning down the loft and bringing him Michael's files on Anson, but their meeting ends with both men murdered, Gray by Card and Card by Michael in cold blood for his deviousness.
93	13	"Over the Line"	Marc Roskin	Ben Watkins	November 15, 2012	BN613	3.17[24]
In the wake of murdering Card, the CIA, led by legendary agent Olivia Riley, are hot on Michael's tail. With Sam in her custody, Michael and the rest of the team head to their storage shed to regroup and arrange an ambush, where they reclaim Sam and capture Riley as leverage for their escape. Despite their best attempts to convince her that Card was running illegal operations around the world, she will not be swayed and promises to hunt Michael down for his crimes. During all this, Michael tries to convince his mother to leave Miami so the government can't pit them against each other, but she is determined to stay.
94	14	"Down & Out"	Henry J. Bronchtein	Story by: Daniel Tuch Teleplay by: Daniel Tuch & Matt Nix	November 29, 2012	BN614	3.14[25]
In order to stay one step ahead of Riley, and leave the US, Michael and the team end up at the door of the resourceful Schmidt, who is being hunted by a former Syrian spy looking for one of Schmidt's clients. To get Schmidt's help for his team, Michael has to satisfy the spy's request while also protecting the person's identity, and he almost kills Schmidt in the process. Riley, on the other hand, goes after Madeline to find Michael, even as all the chaos causes Sam to consider sticking around and marrying his girlfriend.
95	15	"Best Laid Plans"	Nick Gomez	Rashad Raisani	December 6, 2012	BN615	3.16[26]
Before receiving their new identities, the team helps Schmidt retrieve a high-tech alarm disrupter from his warehouse to cover his costs. When the gadget is seriously damaged amid a firefight at the warehouse, they work to patch it up in hopes that his buyer doesn't notice, and they just barely get the money when the buyer asks for a test run. Concurrently, with Sam back on the team after his girlfriend convinces him to stick with his friends, Michael asks his mother to find Barry so the team can keep Riley from discovering their plans to leave the country, but he's forced to include his mother in their escape when Riley captures Barry and threatens Madeline.
96	16	"Odd Man Out"	Marc Roskin	Ryan Johnson & Peter Lalayanis	December 13, 2012	BN616	2.86[27]
In order to get microchip implants necessary for their new identities, the team helps Schmidt when the supplier, a rival smuggler (Guest Star: Kevin McNally), comes after him for revenge over a past botched deal. When he pins them in an abandoned warehouse, the crew improvise to salvage both their lives and the chips. Before leaving the country, though, Madeline insists on visiting Nate's grave one last time, despite the danger, and there Michael discovers a note from "a friend" fishing for a chat.
97	17	"You Can Run"	Nick Gomez	Craig O'Neill	December 20, 2012	BN617	3.78[28]
While working to gain passage out of the country via boat, Michael and the guys are ensnared by Riley and the CIA, with Jesse captured and Sam critically shot. With lives on the line, Michael and Fiona team up to keep Sam from bleeding out and to reclaim Jesse, who is being pressured by Riley to give up his friends. The duo are able to find Jesse and rescue him, but Sam is fading, so they rush to a recently disgraced doctor for the surgery needed to save him. Meanwhile, the "friend" turns out to be Bly, who meets with Michael to discuss Card's transgressions and offer Michael a deal to turn himself in, but he refuses and decides to remain on the run.
98	18	"Game Change"	Matt Nix	Matt Nix	December 20, 2012	BN618	3.78[28]
After Riley sends a hit squad to take them out, Michael and his team track the assassins and discover Riley is teaming up with a drug cartel that Michael infuriated sometime before. Recognizing the opportunity to clear his federal record, Michael contacts Bly to help document the proof of Riley's illegal actions, but has to change tactics when Bly dies at the cartel's hands. He pursues the cartel's boat and carefully works his way to the control room, where ends up in a standoff with Riley, a close shave that ends when she agrees to confess to save their lives. Some months later, Michael's friends and family are still in CIA custody, until the day arrives when they are released, and Fiona is particularly shocked and disappointed when they find that Michael is back running special missions for the CIA.

References

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