Burn Notice
Fail Safe
TV Flash files “Fail Safe” as the last listed hour of season 5 — Burn Notice (2007–2013) on USA, season 5, episode 18, aired 2011-12-15, 60 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S05E18: listed hour 80 of 111 in the Burn Notice guide, last listed hour of season 5. It aired 2011-12-15 (60 min). The listed hour before it is “Acceptable Loss” (S05E17). Next is “Scorched Earth” (S06E01).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
Michael receives his biggest CIA mission yet just as Anson's plans kick into high gear in the Season 5 finale. While Michael's on the job, Sam and Fiona keep an eye on Anson but may not be able to stop him.
Viewer FAQ
Where does Fail Safe sit in the Burn Notice guide?
S05E18 is listed hour 80 of 111 — last listed hour of season 5, season 5 episode 18.
When did Burn Notice S05E18 air?
Fail Safe aired 2011-12-15 and is listed at 60 minutes.
Is Burn Notice just mission-of-the-week?
Standalone jobs are the weekly candy; the serialized wound is who burned Michael. Voiceover tradecraft around a grudge that does not close in one hour.
In the series
Why this series still plays
A burned spy narrates tradecraft from a Miami loft, taking odd jobs while hunting who erased his career. Burn Notice is blue-sky USA action with a grudge underneath — Jeffrey Donovan's deadpan, Bruce Campbell's Sam Axe, and weekly how-to candy around a serialized wound.
USA put a burned spy in a Miami loft and windowed tradecraft as weekly how-to candy. Burn Notice (2007–2013) is Matt Nix's blue-sky action brand: Jeffrey Donovan as Michael Westen, Gabrielle Anwar's Fiona, Bruce Campbell's Sam Axe as a cable favorite, Sharon Gless, later Coby Bell. Odd jobs as the A-plot. A serialized burn mystery in the drawer. Voiceover from the loft like a tutorial that happens to have a grudge. Seven seasons, 111 episodes. Rex can keep the living-room spy with a theme song. This one shipped…
Filed against
- Jeffrey Donovan as Michael Westen
Jeffrey Donovan’s Michael Westen narrated tradecraft from a Miami loft on Burn Notice — burned spy, odd jobs, a hunt for who erased the career. Blue-sky USA action with a grudge underneath, Bruce Campbell’s Sam Axe, weekly how-to candy…
- Gabrielle Anwar as Fiona Glenanne
Gabrielle Anwar detonated as Fiona Glenanne on Burn Notice — blue-sky USA action, a burned spy's Miami loft, weekly how-to candy around a serialized wound. Jeffrey Donovan's deadpan, Bruce Campbell's Sam Axe, and Anwar as the ex who made…
- Bruce Campbell as Sam Axe
Bruce Campbell’s Autolycus stole Hercules: The Legendary Journeys like a syndicated comic — 1990s catalog King of Thieves, camp with a chin, then Burn Notice recasting the grin as Sam Axe’s Miami how-to. TV Flash files him as the thief…
- Sharon Gless as Madelaine Westen
Sharon Gless’s Christine Cagney made Cagney & Lacey a once-in-a-generation partnership — two women detectives, badge culture that had to make room, Emmys after a near-cancellation letter campaign — then played Burn Notice’s Miami grudge…
- Coby Bell as Jesse Porter
Coby Bell played Jesse Porter on Burn Notice — a burned spy narrating tradecraft from a Miami loft, odd jobs while hunting who erased his career. Blue-sky USA action with a grudge underneath: Jeffrey Donovan's deadpan, Bruce Campbell's…