Burn Notice (TV Series)

Loose Ends, Part 1 (2007)

Jeffrey Donovan: Michael Westen

Quotes 

• Michael Westen : [voice-over]  When you're communicating in code, sometimes you just have to hope that whoever you're talking to is smart enough to figure out what you're saying. Use a code that's too simple, and it will get broken. Use a code that's too complex, and you're just talking to yourself.

• Michael Westen : [voice-over]  Having a gun to your head is all about timing; finding the right moment to make your move. Best to snap the trigger-finger first. After that, it's mostly downhill.

• Michael Westen : [voice-over]  It's always tough to reschedule a covert meeting. You can't exactly leave a note. So, you have to leave behind, just enough to get them where you want them to go.

• Michael Westen : [talking on the phone with Sam about Phillip Cowen]  He wouldn't just not show. He's watching.

  Sam Axe : You think? Where do you think he would be?

  Sam Axe : [looking around]  I know where I'd be.

• Michael Westen : [voice-over]  The truly paranoid don't go to meetings themselves. They use a cut out, someone unrelated to them, hired to show a pre-arranged sign and deliver a message. The sign is something innocuous, but hard to miss. My favorite is a tourist guide from Madison, Wisconsin. No one will look at it twice, but unless I'm in the Midwest, I know they are waiting for Michael Westen.

• Michael Westen : Hey, Nate, you look clean. You shaved the ferret off your face.

• Gillian : They really tried to kill me?

  Sam Axe : I'm afraid so.

  Gillian : [indicating the plastic explosive]  With that, under my car?

  Michael Westen : Well, yeah. It's a car bomb.

• Michael Westen : [voice-over]  If you want to bug a cell phone wirelessly, you'll need a lot of specialized scanning equipment and a computer to deal with the encryption. I prefer a hands-on approach. You just bug a duplicate phone and swap out the SIM card, so the new phone has the same number. Your target will talk all day certain that no one could possibly be listening.

• Sam Axe : What do you think he wants, Mike?

  Michael Westen : That he wants to meet.

  Fiona Glenanne : So why not just meet?

  Michael Westen : He doesn't trust me. Fair enough... I don't trust him.

• Michael Westen : [pulls his gun as Sam walks in with a bucket of fried chicken]  That'll kill you, you know.

  Sam Axe : Yeah, no kiddin'

  Michael Westen : No, I the bucket of transfat you got there.

• Michael Westen : [voice-over]  The first step in dealing with a covert op, is establishing a way to communicate privately. A code. Could be a key encrypted cypher, but really all you need is a base of knowledge that you share.

• Michael Westen : Shameless, Sam, even for you.

• Michael Westen : [voice-over]  Whether you're protecting a client, monitoring electronic surveillance, or meeting a man who burned you, you've got to be patient. In the real world, covert ops doesn't involve many car chases, or gun fights. Mostly, it's just hurry up and wait. Not too exciting, but you wait, and you watch, and you stay alert, because at any minute, the job can get way too exciting.

• Michael Westen : [voice-over]  There are two basic ways to blow up a car. Use the gasoline in the tank, or provide your own explosive. There're two techniques that use opposite ends of the car, and are disarmed differently. Some people prefer the gas tank, tends to look more like an accident, but is less reliable. Others prefer plastic explosive on the battery, wired to the ignition.