Burn Notice (TV Series)

Good Intentions (2010)

Jeffrey Donovan: Michael Westen

Quotes 

• [first lines] 

  Michael Westen : [narrative]  If someone calls a meeting in a deserted location, they want control. They can tell if you're alone and if you try anything, it's easy to take you out with a sniper. So, if someone wants a chat in the middle of nowhere, it never hurts to bring a sniper of your own.

• Michael Westen : Gilroy's doing this with or without me. We can't stop him 'til we know how he's pulling it off.

  Sam Axe : [covering Michael with a sniper rifle]  Yeah well, you know what they say about holding a snake by the tail, Mike.

  Michael Westen : I think it's a *tiger* by the tail, Sam.

  Sam Axe : Yeah, well either way you let go before it eats your face off.

  Michael Westen : He's here, Sam.

  Sam Axe : Try and stay in the open, will you? I can't cover a moving car. And if that evil limey mastermind offers you a ride, you treat him like a stranger with candy, and you say, "No, thank you sir."

• Michael Westen : [narrative]  Fighting two-against-one is never ideal, but there are ways to even the odds. Jam your opponents into a corner and they won't have the room to use both arms. It's like fighting one person with two angry heads, which makes them easier to engage, and easier to disengage.

  Michael Westen : Didn't go as planned!

  Mason Gilroy : Actually, it went exactly as planned: you still have the money and I have a new toy. How did that case treat you, by the way?

  [the Browning 50 cal. machine gun is loaded in the back, the barrel poking into the front seating area between them] 

  Michael Westen : Handy.

  Michael Westen : [narrative]  It's never fun being used as a diversion, but it is an effective way to get the drop on an enemy with superior numbers and firepower. And it's all about making a clean getaway. If you can't do that, it never hurts to be in an armored car.

• Michael Westen : [narrative]  Operate in the field long enough and you'll find yourself getting tested by very dangerous people... The more immediate and unexpected the test, the more likely they're up to serious trouble, and the more likely they'll kill you if you don't pass.

• Michael Westen : [narrative]  Between matching holograms and color-shifting inks, altering a page in a modern passport is virtually impossible. So, if all the pages are full and you have to adjust someone's travel in a hurry, it's better just to swap out the page entirely. It's as easy as pulling out the stitching in a cheap t-shirt; you just need the skill to put it back together.

• Michael Westen : [narrative]  There's no saying, "I'm sorry," in the field, so if it feels like a gamble is about to come up short, you put on a smile and try to get your hands on a weapon without anyone noticing.

• Michael Westen : [narrative]  The hardest thing to do when an operation goes bad is nothing at all. It's pure torture. But if it's the only way to give a team member a chance at survival, you have no choice but to stand by and watch.

• Michael Westen : [narrative]  Anyone with a little tradecraft knows spilling a drink on yourself is a common excuse to leave a table. To convince a pro it's truly an accident then, you have to sell it with more than iced tea.

• Madeline Westen : [to Sam]  So what, you're gonna plant a bug on Fi, right? Try this: Midnight Shadows. Huh. It's got a nice heft to it. Put something in there, they'll never know it.

  Michael Westen : [narrative]  Planting a surveillance device inside an existing item is all about working with what you have. If the battery necessary to power a bug is too big, you can't use it. A tracker with a ping system, on the other hand, can send your location in bursts and doesn't suck a lot of power, making a terrific accessory for any lady on the go.

• Michael Westen : [narrative]  Like con men, spies know that, in the workplace, a clipboard is as good as a skeleton key.

• Michael Westen : [narrative]  Restaurant kitchens have grease fires all the time. A little oil on a burner, and you clear out a restaurant without raising too much suspicion or causing too much damage... Still, it's best not to stick around too long after you've set a kitchen on fire.

• Michael Westen : [narrative]  The most careful bad guys don't just watch for tails and wipe off fingerprints. If you want to be extra sure you can't be traced, you rig all the evidence against you to go up in flames if anyone starts looking somewhere they shouldn't.

• Michael Westen : There's a risk in being too obsessed with counter surveillance: spend your life paranoid, always looking for threats, and it makes it easy for someone to find them for you. Pros call it "seeing ghosts".

• Michael Westen : [narrative]  Like new parents, spies take preventative measures to ensure a safe environment, only instead of baby-proofing cabinets and electrical sockets, they use more extreme methods. When you're creating an explosion to keep people back, you can't go halfway. It's never ideal, but for their own protection, you have to make sure they know you mean business. Then, the only trick is to set it off without blowing everyone to kingdom come.