Burn Notice (TV Series)

False Flag (2007)

Jeffrey Donovan: Michael Westen

Photos 

Quotes 

• Michael Westen : [voice-over]  A basic rule of covert ops, is let someone else do your dirty work. Let someone else find the guy you want to kill. It's a great technique... as long as you're not the someone else.

• Michael Westen : [voice-over]  Shoot a propane tank and you'll just get a big cloud of cold gas. You need an open flame, and real good aim.

• Michael Westen : [voice-over]  One of the things you learn in training is to avoid situations that cut too close. If you had a rough childhood, a situation with an abusive father and a vulnerable kid is gonna make you angry. That could be motivating. But it can also be dangerous.

• Michael Westen : How's my Mom?

  Sam Axe : Locked up cozy and tight with a cigarette and a shotgun. Ready to kill anything that comes through the door.

• Fiona Glenanne : Doug is sleeping peacefully.

  Michael Westen : You gave him something?

  Fiona Glenanne : Maybe. Well half of something.

• Michael Westen : [voice-over]  Just because there are no windows or doors doesn't mean there are no exits. The thing to look for is an air conditioner unit, that's where the wall is weakest. Also people watch doors, they don't watch air conditioners.

• Michael Westen : I can't talk about this now.

  Fiona Glenanne : Why not?

  Michael Westen : Because I have a hard time focusing when I'm in handcuffs!

• Michael Westen : [voice-over]  It's impossible to stop a a good assassin from finding an opening, and taking the shot. The best you can do is to control where the best opening is, and sometimes, that's enough.

• Michael Westen : Did you ever think about leaving, mom?

  Madeline Westen : What?

  Michael Westen : Did it ever get bad enough with dad that you thought about leaving?

  Madeline Westen : [pause]  Of course I did. I wanted to keep the family together, Michael. Through the good and the bad.

• Michael Westen : [voice-over]  Remove the trigger bar spring from a SIG-Sauer P228, and you've got a 9mm semi-automatic door stop.

• Michael Westen : [voice-over]  Corporations need spies just like governments do. Of course they're not called spies, they're called security consultants. They are basically mercenaries with nice suits.

• Michael Westen : [voice-over]  In some situations, a tactical retreat is your best option... A guy with a gun, is a guy with a gun. You can fight him and risk someone getting shot, or wait for back-up.

• Michael Westen : [voice-over]  Assassination is one percent shooting, ninty-nine percent preparation: anticipating moves, devising approaches, recruiting sources, finding the perfect opportunity so the bullet's almost an after-thought. Usually that's when a target's on the move, when there are too many variables to control them all... There are ways to lessen the risk: an armed escort, taking an unpredictable route to your destination, having back-up in a trail car. But ultimately, as long as the assasin knows where you're going, they have the upper hand.

• Michael Westen : [voice-over]  Facts are the hallmark of a good false identity. It's harder to create history, than it is to alter it. Plus, the more truth to your lie, the easier it is to remember.

• Michael Westen : [voice-over]  A fake identity is known in the spy trade as a "false flag". Used to be you could make your own documents with a printer and a laminater. These days though, ID's have magnetic strips, holigrams, and infrared water marks. You need a pro.

• Doug Baker : [ducking gunfire]  Shouldn't we call the park rangers?

  Michael Westen : Unless the park rangers have been issued body armor and high-caliber weapons, we're on our own here.

• Michael Westen : [as Jumbo swings his gun toward Fiona]  She's pregnant!

  [Jumbo swivels back toward Michael, Fiona knocks the gun out of his hand, and the two run for it] 

  Fiona Glenanne : Pregnant?

  Michael Westen : It worked...

• Michael Westen : Where is that box you used to keep all my stuff in?

  Madeline Westen : The memory box?

  Michael Westen : Sounds about right.

  Madeline Westen : I don't remember.

• Evelyn : I can't believe you found them so quickly. That's amazing.

  Michael Westen : My friend Sam may have bruised a couple of federal statutes along the way, but nothin' a gift-wrapped bottle of tequila can't smooth over.

• Sam Axe : [holding up a kevlar vest]  Here you go, Doug: my lucky vest.

  Michael Westen : It'll look great over my shirt.

  Doug Baker : Thanks.

  Sam Axe : It's a little worn, but it'll do the trick.

  Doug Baker : Are these... bulletholes?

  Sam Axe : Yeah, I broke it in for you.

• Evelyn : Now, be honest with me: if circumstances were different... do you think we could...?

  Michael Westen : Not in this lifetime.

  Evelyn : Perhaps the next one.

  [she throws herself off the roof] 

• [repeated line] 

  Michael Westen : Doug, I need you to stay away from the windows.

• [Jumbo points a gun at Michael] 

  Jumbo : The F.B.I. comes around every now and then, asking about you.

  [He holds up a flyer with Michael's name and mug shot on it] 

  Jumbo : This, uh, this is you, isn't it?

  Michael Westen : [leans close to the flyer and squints]  Uh... kind of hard to tell from here.

• [Jumbo holds a gun on Michael while calling the F.B.I] 

  Jumbo : Look, pal, I'm as sorry about this as I can be, but a fellow like me doesn't stay in business long if he doesn't throw the F.B.I. a bone or two now and then. And let's face it, you're just a big old soup bone, aren't you?

  Michael Westen : I'm flattered.

  Jumbo : Yeah, you're gonna be my "no hassles for a year" ticket.

  [into phone] 

  Jumbo : Yes, Agent Alleron, please. Just tell him it's Jumbo.

  [pause, then irritated] 

  Jumbo : Well, how many Jumbos you think he knows?