Burn Notice (TV Series)

No Good Deed (2011)

Jeffrey Donovan: Michael Westen

Photos 

Quotes 

• [first lines] 

  Michael Westen : [narrative]  It's a cliché that spies wear tuxedos in the field. While there's some truth to it, you don't usually wear them to baccarat tables in Monte Carlo. Most of the time you're in black tie, it's at rubber-chicken dinners, political fundraisers, or charity auctions. Not quite as glamorous as the French Riviera, but at least you'll usually get free drinks.

• Max : Uh-oh. Someone's got the thousand-yard stare. What is it?

  Michael Westen : Did you ever read the report I submitted? I know it was long, but we're talking abour four years of...

  Max : *Again* with the people that burned you? Michael, you were there. We broke them to pieces. We ground them into dust. It's over. You won.

  Michael Westen : I guess. But I flagged some inconsistencies the agency should look into.

  Max : Westen...

  Michael Westen : Questions that never got answered.

  Max : Relax... You keep playing The Boy Who Cried, "Shouldn't we triple-check this?" people are gonna start thinking that you're a nut. Because you sound like a nut.

• Michael Westen : Hey! Where the hell do you think you're goin' you weasel-faced son of a bitch!

  Male Thief : Are you talking to me?

  Michael Westen : I know what you're doing, and I really don't appreciate it!

  Male Thief : Excuse me, but I...

  Michael Westen : You have been driving up the prices on me all day! You made me lose the Diamond Creek Cabernet! It's because of you. Because...

  Max : Easy, easy.

  Michael Westen : No, no, James!

  Max : It's not worth it.

  Michael Westen : This is between me and my new pal, weasel-face.

  Male Thief : You're drunk, and you're confused.

  Michael Westen : Am I? Am I! Well, let's just see. Let me see your paddle.

  Michael Westen : [narrative]  Pretending to be a belligerant drunk let's you get close to a target long enough to plant a tracker without them getting suspicious.

  Male Thief : Get the hell off of me!

  Michael Westen : [narrative]  Of course, if you plan on making a scene at a fancy hotel, you'd better be ready to pay the price.

• Michael Westen : [narrative]  Seeing a project through to completion requires a certain level of obsessiveness. The problem is you can't turn it on and off. So you end up doing things no one else can understand, like sticking with an operation long after it's over or trying to fix a car you should have given up on years ago.

• Michael Westen : [narrative]  When in the field, it's the little things that kill you: a getaway car tht won't start, a jammed gun that won't fire, or a maintenance man who won't leave... When setbacks happen, you improvise.

• Michael Westen : [narrative]  It's important to keep your guard up at the end of an operation. Once you've found your target, won their trust, and made a deal, it's natural to want to relax a bit... But the fact is, that's exactly the time to be most careful. When money's on the line and things go wrong, they tend to go very, very wrong.

• Michael Westen : [narrative]  To secure a location, police clear rooms one by one from the ground up. It's a thorough procedure but slow. It gives you the opportunity to cover your tracks, wipe down fingerprints, pick up any shell casings, and steal the office access logs. But it only leaves one option for escaping. So when you back's against the wall and time is running out, there's nothing like seeing an old friend.

  Michael Westen : [narrative]  Rescue line launchers are standard gear for most Coast Guard, mountain rescue, and tactical-assault teams. They use compressed air to throw a line up to 400 feet. Not the type of equipment you use very often, but when you need it, you really need it.

  Michael Westen : [narrative]  Anyone who's ever climbed rope in gym class knows you can't just slide down if you want any skin on your hands by the time you get to the bottom.

• Michael Westen : [narrative]  Intelligence-agency field offices have to find a delicate balance between blending in and providing adequate security...

  Max : Come on, Westen. I got a tee time I'm trying to make.

  [Max uses a key card to let he and Michael go through a door marked "FDA" / "Food & Drug Administration"] 

  Michael Westen : ...which is why, whenever possible, they piggyback onto the facilities of fellow government agencies.

  Max : [holds up, then hands the key card to Michael]  This... belongs to you now. Bosses cleared you for a temporary key card. Keep up the good work, and maybe you'll get a real one.

• Michael Westen : [narrative]  In many ways, the more sophisticated a thief is, the easier they are to find. Anyone who gets a job under a fake name and uses stolen high-security access codes leaves a fat paper trail, which means, if they're smart, they have no intention of hanging around.

• Michael Westen : [narrative]  Criminals who specialize in hacking are a special breed. They have the skills to find legitimate work, but they choose to steal instead. They're all about using their brains to dominate and control... That's why crafting a cover I.D. that will succeed with them is a challenge. They're not looking for an equal partner; they're looking for another loser to sneer at, so that's just what you give them.

• Michael Westen : [narrative]  Vehicle countersurveillance is very difficult if you're trying to be inconspicuous. If you're willing ot be a little more obvious, on the other hand, it gets a lot easier. You can drive in circles, go the wrong direction on a one-way street, or just stop in the middle of the road.

• Michael Westen : [narrative]  Even the most security-conscious firms rarely check their A.C. units for tampering. Access the ventilation system and, with the right hardware, you can spoil an enemy's food supply, sweat out entrenched combatants, or just warm an office enough to make intruders invisible to heat sensors.

• Michael Westen : [narrative]  One way to break into a secure building is to commit a decoy crime first: create an obvious situation that explains why an alarm was tripped and people won't discover the real reason you stopped by.

• Michael Westen : [narrative]  When you don't have time for a thorough search, the next best option is to take what you can on your way out... But if you don't want anyone to know you were there, you're limited to things they won't miss... like trash.

• Michael Westen : [narrative]  People tend to think shredding documents is the same as destroying them. Actually, it's more like taking the pieces from a hundred different jigsaw puzzles and mixing them up. Putting them back together is just a matter of time and perseverance or having access to the right software.

• Michael Westen : [narrative]  When someone's in a killing mood, it doesn't help appealing to their sympathy. You're better off taking their rage and redirecting it at someone else.

• Michael Westen : [narrative]  When you operate in the field, you expect your cover to be tested. To stay alive, you keep your facts straight, your lies simple, and try not to come face to face with someone you've never met... but are already supposed to know... But when that's unavoidable, you stare the stranger in the eyes... and sell your relationship with everything you've got.

• Michael Westen : [narrative]  Once the bullets have stopped flying and the mission is over, the least-glamorous part of a spy's work begins: the debriefings. They're lengthy sessions to analyze mission strategy and discuss operational facts that will go into the field reports. Not the most exciting way to spend a Sunday afternoon, unless something unexpected happens to spice things up.

• [last lines] 

  Fiona Glenanne : Why would anyone kill Max and frame you for it?

  Michael Westen : I don't know.

  Fiona Glenanne : You think it has something to do with you asking him to help you track Eve?

  Michael Westen : There's no way. Something like that takes time to plan.

  Fiona Glenanne : The guy you saw, was there any...

  Michael Westen : It was too fast. I missed him.

  Fiona Glenanne : [pulls out the damaged drive]  Well, we're not gonna recover anything from this key-card log.

  Michael Westen : I covered my tracks... so I covered the tracks of the killer.

  Fiona Glenanne : Your only other option ws a murder charge. It's not your fault.

  Sam Axe : Well, it's official. Someone's trying to frame you. I found this little parting gift on the car that you took to Max's office. Brand-new box missing 13 bullets.

  Michael Westen : [hefting the gun]  Two that killed Max, two I shot into the wall, and I bet the rest are in here.

  Sam Axe : Mike, did Max say anything before he... I mean, anything that can help us figure out who did this?

  Michael Westen : He said to say goodbye to his wife.

  Fiona Glenanne : Michael, we have to do something about that gun.

  Sam Axe : Yeah, and we need to get an alibi for you like right now.

  [no reaction] 

  Sam Axe : Are you listening, brother? We got to get in front of this.

  Michael Westen : I know. I know.

  [Michael grabs his sunglasses, puts them on] 

  Michael Westen : Let's go to work.

• [Michael turns a corner to find Max face down on the carpet] 

  Michael Westen : Max!

  [Michael rushes to his side] 

  Michael Westen : Max!

  [Michael turns Max over, revealing a pool of his blood on the floor] 

  Michael Westen : What happened? What happened? Who did this to you? Who did this to you?

  Max : [groans, sees his bloody shirt]  Oh, my... m-my w-wife's gonna be pissed. You say goodbye for me.

  Michael Westen : No. Stay with me, Max. No, no, no. Max. Max!