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Burn Notice Season 5 Episode 12

Dead to Rights

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Episode Summary

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AIRED: 9/8/11

Michael tries to clear his name of Max's murder by taking drastic action. Elsewhere, Larry resurfaces and insists Michael help him with a job

FAN RECAP

Fan Episode Reviews (2)

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7.0

By thefanof, Oct 04, 2011

The season finales of Burn Notice are almost always good and while I won't say that this stopped that trend I will content that this episode could have been considerably better. The agent gave in to Michael's request for one last mission way too early after she was ready to arrest him, and the heist ended way too early in the episode. Frankly, and this is a rarity, but the episode was a little poorly structured. While it had all the elements you love about the show I can't give it more than a 7/10.moreless
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Westen takes desperate measures to clear himself of Max's murder and then is abducted by Larry to help him pull a job.

9.0

By vicbjones, Sep 13, 2011

An excellent piece of legerdemain. Refreshingly, this Burn Notice finale did not feature Westen and crew holed up somewhere against a better armed group of henchmen trying to get at them. The mystery of Max's murder is resolved in the first few minutes and Michael is sent on his way by his angry handler, who's feeling betrayed. Then Michael is abducted by his old "friend" Larry and blackmailed into helping him pull a job.

All the while this is going on, a viewer couldn't be faulted for wondering why the mystery of Max's murder (which had been a plot thread through most of the season) was resolved so quickly and why the writers had moved on to an unrelated plot line so quickly. Also, where was this story with the diplomatic pouch going, especially after the truly shocking plot twist involving Larry's hostage? Well, patience is a virtue, and viewers' patience was rewarded by a conclusion that not only managed to tie the disparate parts of this episode together, but threads from the season as a whole. It also put the "burn notice" back in the series, although the eight episodes coming in November may be a good time to end it. Usually, one has some inkling of how seemingly unrelated plot threads go together, but this time it was a total surprise while making sense in retrospect. It was like watching a Burn Notice in reverse, in which Westen and Fiona were the marks. The best part was the "angry dad" dialogue between Larry and Westen that ran through the episode and tied into the meeting on the beach in the last scene. The weakest stuff was Fiona's reaction to being blackmailed. Somehow, her being reduced to asking "What do you want" didn't seem very Fiona-like (as opposed to threatening to shoot the blackmailer).

While I could wait until next summer to see where the series goes from here, this episode tied up the plot lines from the season so far and left me anticipating the next few episodes.moreless
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Cast & Crew: STARS

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Jeffrey Donovan	Michael Westen
Gabrielle Anwar	Fiona Glenanne
Coby Bell	Jesse Porter
Bruce Campbell	Sam Axe
Sharon Gless	Madeline Westen

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Cast & Crew: RECURRING AND GUESTS

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Jere Burns	Anson Fullerton	Guest Star
Tim Matheson	Larry Sizemore	Guest Star
Andrew Howard	Tavian	Guest Star
Lauren Stamile	Agent Pearce	Recurring Role

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Episode Photos

Bruce Campbell and Lauren Stamile on Bur...

© 2011 NBCUniversal, Inc.
Gabrielle Anwar and Jeffrey Donovan on B...

© 2011 NBCUniversal, Inc.

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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TRIVIA (0)
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QUOTES (4)
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- Michael: (voice-over) For a spy, finding out you've been compromised, that someone has something on you, is the ultimate nightmare. The worst part for someone who has spent a career training for every situation is knowing that there is nothing that you can do but grit your teeth and try to figure out exactly how bad the nightmare is going to be.
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- Larry: You're gonna help me break in to the British Consulate right now.
  Michael: That sounds like a fun way to earn yourself a trip to a much more secure penitentiary.
  Larry: Same old Michael, always such a pessimist.
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- Madeline: Your friends crashed into a CIA convoy for you. Now, you might want to think about that. Look, when you first came back to Miami, you were alone. God knows you hadn't talked to me in ages. You had no friends. You lived by yourself. But that isn't true anymore. You have roots here now. And when anything happens, it affects all of us.
  Michael: I know. But it's over now.
  Madeline: Is it?
  Michael: I hope so.
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- Michael: (voice-over) Stopping an armed convoy is a tactical nightmare. The easily accessible cars, the ones in the lead and at the tail are the ones that don't matter. The trick is getting into position to target the key vehicle before anyone realizes what you're doing. There's no real safe way to do it. Send the lead car into a tailspin while inserting yourself into the convoy, and you can create your own little roadblock.
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NOTES (1)
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- Original International Air Dates:
  Canada: November 30, 2011 on Super Channel 1
  United Kingdom: October 1, 2012 on FX/FX HD
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