Burn Notice (TV Series)

Friends and Family (2009)

Jeffrey Donovan: Michael Westen

Photos 

Quotes 

• [first lines] 

  Michael Westen : [narration as he swims ashore from his helicopter jump]  As an operative, you get used to being in uncomfortable situations. Whether it's resisting interrogation in a foreign prison, fighting guerrilla forces in a tropical jungle, or swimming 5 miles to Miami Beach in your suit pants - it's just part of the job. What's harder to get used to is going into a situation you don't know anything about. Just because you're exhausted doesn't mean you can stop looking out for trouble. Danger isn't always obvious. It can be as subtle as a glance from a friendly-seeming tourist, a car that slows down at an odd time, or a cop that suddenly seems a little too interested in you.

  [starts running] 

• Michael Westen : You have a slug in your engine block, your team is pinned down, and I'm leaving with your boss. If I were you, I would think about another line of work other than security.

• Michael Westen : [narration]  Just because you can escape from a situation doesn't mean you should. It's a risk/reward thing. Sometimes you have to take your chances... .Sometimes you have to remember it's easier to dodge questions than bullets.

• Michael Westen : So the good news is, I'm being investigated by the cops and foreign intelligence agencies?

  Sam Axe : Yeah, well it's a change...

• Michael Westen : [visit in prison]  My mom, she's okay?

  Sam Axe : Yeah... She's just a little upset about the uh... ya know, the house blowin' up. It's not the whole house. It's just the uh, ya know, the sun room? I mean it came out okay, but I think the bottom line is, you're better off in here until your ma cools off.

• Michael Westen : [narration]  High status cover IDs are rarely effective. Claim to be a big-shot and people get suspicious. Claim to be a big-shot's errand boy and people don't think twice. Act like you don't want to be there, because you're tired, you're under-appreciated, or you're sick, and people tend to trust you even more.

• Michael Westen : [narration]  Like a wedding, an armed extraction requires a lot of planning if you want it to go well. Like a wedding, it's not the sort of thing you want to do twice, which is why you hold a rehearsal before the big day.

• Michael Westen : [narration]  Security levels vary widely for different kinds vehicles.

  [Fiona cuts the chain on a gate] 

  Michael Westen : Garbage trucks, for example, are expensive, but the fact that they're hard to hide and harder to sell, means that you don't find a lot of garbage truck alarm systems.

  [Fiona hot-wires the garbage truck] 

• Michael Westen : [voice-over]  One of the things covert operatives have to give up is the idea of a fair fight. Spies are not trained to fight fair. Spies are trained to win.

• Sam Axe : Mike, your new cover ID. You're Tom Wellington Esquire. Lawyer for a shady international investment group.

  Michael Westen : Wellington?

  Sam Axe : Hey, you wanna pick the name, you gotta go to the meeting. And listen to Barry talk about his skin regimen.

• Marta : I'm sorry about Harlan. He seemed so nice. Like a good man.

  Michael Westen : He was a good man... once.

  Marta : I did not mean to bring you trouble.

  Michael Westen : It's not your fault. Trouble seems to find me without any help.

• Michael Westen : [narration]  The backbone of most hotel phone systems is secured by nothing more than a door and a cheap lock which makes them convenient for people who need to make quick, untraceable phone calls.