Can Michael Westen (Jeffrey Donovan) clear his name and, at the same time, save the woman he loves?

That’s the question viewers are left with as Burn Notice, season five, comes to a close.

An Unexpected Opportunity

CIA Director Pearce (Lauren Stamile) gives Westen the opportunity he’s been waiting for when she assigns him the task of bringing down spy recruiter Reed Perkins (Eric Roberts). She tells him, if he succeeds in this, he will be back in the good graces of the CIA. This is the best chance he has had since he’s been burned to return to the agency.

Plans Foiled

Unknown to Pearce, Westen and Fiona Glenanne (Gabrielle Anwar) have already been working on a plan to clear his name by killing Anson Fullerton (Jere Burns), the man who burned them both in the first place, with a sniper’s bullet.

Unfortunately for Glenanne, Westen backs out of this plot at the last minute and saves Fullerton from certain death, believing there is another way.

A Dilemma to Consider

As he quickly discovers, however, working with Fullerton will not be easy. Fullerton offers him a trade-off of sorts. The deceptive deal is for Westen to betray team and country by burning Pearce and the members of his newly-assigned CIA team or see his beloved Glenanne spend the rest of her life behind bars.

Fullerton is well aware that he is preying on Westen’s biggest fear, that of losing Glenanne.

What Westen ultimately decides to do is attempt to save both his name and Glenanne by downloading the SD memory card from Fullerton into the CIA computer, then return sometime later to wipe the evidence clean.

A Surprise Sacrifice

But the deal Fullerton offers Westen is not true to his word, and Fullerton has a plant of his own in Westen’s team.

By the time Westen discovers this, Glenanne decides the only way she can save what’s left of Westen’s career as well as prevent innocent agents from being burned is to turn herself in.

A Way to End It All

As the episode comes to a close, Glenanne climbs the stairs of the Federal Building and is bombarded with a host of agents and shotguns. As she steps into the building, she turns to take one final look at Westen, who reads a note confessing her undying love for him and asking him to do the right thing and tell what he knows.

Burn Notice returns to the airwaves on the USA Network in summer, 2012.