Burn Notice (TV Series)

Wanted Man (2007)

Jeffrey Donovan: Michael Westen

Quotes 

• Wayne Ray : [choking Michael]  Where'd they go?

  Michael Westen : [whispering]  I can't tell you if you keep choking me.

• Michael Westen : Fiona likes to test relationships with the emotional equivalent of artillery fire.

• [first lines] 

  Michael Westen : [voice-over]  Covert operatives have a hard time dating. Even if you find someone, who doesn't mind that you won't talk about your past, or that you carry a concealed weapon, they usually want more than you're able to give.

• Michael Westen : [voice-over]  Even the most careful spy leaves a trail that could get them burned. A patriot making illicit deals for his government looks a lot like a traitor, making black-market sales for his wallet. Somebody upstairs gets the wrong idea, and suddenly you're burned, and out of a job.

• Cristo : I don't know what you're talking about.

  Michael Westen : [sighs]  We gotta do this the hard way.

  [Michael digs out Cristo's cell phone and browses through the contact list] 

  Michael Westen : [voice-over]  Selling stolen goods is all about discretion. You've got to be the kind of person who can keep your mouth shut...

  Michael Westen : "Gerald." He sounds nice.

  Cristo : Wait! What are you doing?

  Michael Westen : Shh, it's ringing.

  Michael Westen : [voice-over]  ... the kind of person who never, *ever* shares the numbers in their little black book.

  Michael Westen : [pretending to be out of breath]  Hey, Gerald! My name's Paco, I'm a friend of your fence, Cristo. He gave me your number. Man, I'm in some legal trouble, man! Can I crash at your...? Huh. That's rude, he hung up.

• Michael Westen : [voice-over]  When you're giving five inches, and a hundred pounds on a well trained opponent, it helps to know the terrain better than he does.

• Michael Westen : [voice-over]  A good cover identity is a team effort. If you want to meet someone, it's a good idea to play a little hard to get. Put people between yourself and the target. Make them come to you.

• Michael Westen : [voice-over]  Just because someone believes you are who you say you are, doesn't mean he'll do what you want him to do.

• Michael Westen : [voice-over]  Clandestine meetings are never fun to arrange. It's a big part of the job for a covert operative, but it's never pleasant... It's not so much the fear of death that bothers you, it's driving to the meet with a bag over your head. Sometimes they wash the bag, sometimes they don't.

• Michael Westen : [voice-over]  The thing about security is, that the very things that protect you, can be turned against you, by someone who knows what he's doing. It's tough to compromise a well thought out security system, but making someone think you can compromise it, well, that's much easier. Take surveillance cameras, for example, you can disable one by shooting a laser at it and overloading the light-sensitive chip. Cheap, easy, and exactly the sort of thing a sophisticated criminal gang, with lots of resources, would do. Leave around some tell-tale signs of surveillance like cigarette butts, a forgotten camera lens cap, and the more security there is, the more likely they are to think they've got a very serious problem. Even the security team itself can be an opportunity. The more employees you have, the more you have to worry about.

• Michael Westen : [voice-over]  Deliver some vague threats, and a few hundred bucks to a security guard, if he's honest, he'll tell his boss, who then wonders who wasn't so honest. For the cost of a nice dinner, you can get a whole security team canned.

• Michael Westen : [voice-over]  One of the dangers of any kind of psychological warfare, is it can be too effective, and send the target into a paranoid tail-spin. That paranoia can be useful... or deadly.

• Michael Westen : [voice-over]  The key to good security, is good systems, consistency. But those very systems make you predictable. Where will you take your valuables? A bank you trust. How are you going to get there? With armed men in a big SUV. When will you go? When the bank is least crowded. All good procedure; all one hundred percent predictable.

• Michael Westen : [voice-over]  If you know someone's going to be at a bank at a particular time, it's not hard to make it look like they're robbing the bank. Shoot out a few video security cameras. Block off the street with a stolen car, like they're preparing an escape route. Fire up a spark-gap transmitter to kill the security radios at the bank, and they'll really look like they know what they're doing.

• Fiona Glenanne : Actually, I have a little errand to run first. It'll only take a second.

  Michael Westen : What will?

  Fiona Glenanne : [cheerfully]  Bagging a bail-jumper. I thought it would be fun!

• Fiona Glenanne : [pulling out a mugshot]  Here's who we're looking for: Thomas McKee. I got a tip about an hour ago that he's staying at the Victor.

  Michael Westen : Fi, I got a feeling this guy's not gonna survive on the lam.

  [Michael points to a car parked on the street, with the license plate "TOMCKEE"] 

• Michael Westen : You've been talking to Fi.

  Sam Axe : If by "talking" to Fi, you mean "listening" to Fi, yeah.

• Fiona Glenanne : I know a few Iranians who are coming into town.

  Michael Westen : Ooh, let's avoid people who use "Michael Westen" and "jihad" in the same sentence.

• Michael Westen : [after delivering a series of blows to Wayne, who shrugs them off]  Ohhhhhhhhh, damn...

• Michael Westen : You're gonna take point on this deal.

  Sam Axe : [sighs heavily]  That means I gotta shave and put on a suit!

• Michael Westen : We'll talk later. My Libyan just showed up.

  Sam Axe : Fine, but from now on, no cover IDs that involve turning down twenty-year-old Scotch!

• Phillip Cowan : [Over the phone]  You want to tell me what the head of the Libyan secret police is doing sending me a fruit basket? I've got the FBI on my front lawn!

  Michael Westen : Yeah? Well, welcome to my world.

• Michael Westen : Can we do it without the head bag? I hate the head bag.

  Anwar : So... this information you have? We are interested.

  Michael Westen : And Phillip Cowan?

  Anwar : Arrangements are being made.

  Michael Westen : [hands over a slip of paper]  That should give you what you need to find the team that blew up your gas supply depot. Don't be gentle on them. They hurt a lot of innocent people.

  Anwar : [wryly]  The security services in my country are not known for being gentle. Michael, if you ever want a job, real work, let us know.

  Michael Westen : I'm flattered, but I've got somewhere else to be.

• Michael Westen : You checked out my situation?

  Anwar : Yes, your own people turned on you. So what? Now you're working for us? Why should I believe this?

  Michael Westen : Your government would like to know who attacked your gas supply depot in Ghadames in 2002. I can supply that information.

  Anwar : And why would you do this for us?

  Michael Westen : The U.S. and Libya have mutual enemies. This would be a win for everyone - well, everyone except the guys who attacked the gas depot.

  Anwar : Why don't I just make you tell me and then kill you?

  Michael Westen : You could do that. The information might or might not check out. Torture is unreliable - as you know - and then you'd have to deal with Fiona, who put me in touch with you in the first place. More trouble than it's worth, trust me.

• Anwar : All right, what do you want?

  Michael Westen : I'm trying to get in touch with the man who burned me, N.S.A. officer Phillip Cowan. I just need you to mention him as a friend when you know the Americans are listening.

  Anwar : A friend? And say what?

  Michael Westen : I don't know. Have the head of your secret service send him a fruit basket. Be creative. He'll want to know what's going on, and in no time, he'll figure out it's me.