Burn Notice (TV Series)

Brotherly Love (2010)

Jeffrey Donovan: Michael Westen

Photos 

Quotes 

• Michael Westen : [to Jeff Taylor]  I know you want to help. I know you love your brother. But if it's your word against Caleb, you will lose. And so will Billy.

• [first lines] 

  Michael Westen : [narrative]  There's nothing more frustrating for a spy than being on the sidelines for an important operation. When you've spent your career in the middle of the action, it's tough to take on a supporting role, particularly when you're stuck helping people pack.

• Michael Westen : [narrative]  Spies don't do well with downtime. Their idea of R&R is "recon and rendition," so they don't exactly cherish days off... especially when it means playing chaperone to your kid brother.

• Michael Westen : [narrative]  You don't always have to rely on trained operatives to gather intelligence. A problem that seems impossible - like finding a single motorcycle circling in a crowded city - becomes much easier if you can hire a hundred people to sit on street corners and record every motorcycle they see for a few dollars a day. Whether it's shop owners, cab drivers, or kids playing in the street, every city in the world has a network of potential spies just waiting to be recruited.

• Michael Westen : [narrative]  Any security-conscious person knows to protect their computer and shred their documents. They tend to forget, though, about the step between computer and hard copy. Most printers store documents in their memory. IIt's a convenient way for users to print another copy and a convenient way for spies to steal information.

• Michael Westen : [narrative]  If you're planning on doing heavy mechanic work in hostile territory, it's not enough to make sure you can't be seen; you also have to make sure you can't be heard, which means silencing your tools. It's hard to concentrate on getting the engine timing right if you're worried about getting shot. In the field, skill with a wrench is often just as important as skill with a gun. When time isn't on your side, you can't worry about passing a government inspection, but you have to do enough to make sure your point gets across.

• Michael Westen : [narrative]  Special-forces squads are built around the skills of the individual members. But no matter how good each member of the squad is, every mission comes down to one thing: how well they work together, because in the end, you don't need a hero to succeed in the field, you need a team.

• Hector Rivera : For your sake, I hope you came here in a 1969 GTO.

  Michael Westen : I prefer Chargers, but I did find your car.

  Hector Rivera : I heard that once already today.

  Michael Westen : Not from me. When I open my mouth, I'm right.

  [Michael hands Rivera a slip of paper] 

  Hector Rivera : This is Caleb's address. You think this is funny?

  Michael Westen : Do I look like I'm laughing? Caleb stole your car and your heroin. Tried to pin it on the Taylors.

  Hector Rivera : You come here without my car, without my product, and you expect me to believe this story?

  Michael Westen : Yes, yes, and no.

• Michael Westen : [narrative]  For a spy, it's often better to steal secrets than pay for them. It saves money and time and doesn't leave a messy paper trail. Of course, anyone who's in the business of selling secrets is also in the business of protecting them, which can make extracting information nearly impossible. Just because your target is willing to share a meal with you doesn't mean he won't put a bullet in the back of your head.

• Michael Westen : Fi, I'm thinking I should talk to Tony Soto.

  Nate Westen : W-wait, what?

  Michael Westen : I did some business a while back with a guy who ran Miami's biggest auto-theft ring. He...

  Nate Westen : No, I know who Tony Soto is. I just- I didn't know that he was friends with my brother.

  Michael Westen : We're not exactly "friends".

  Fiona Glenanne : And Soto doesn't exactly know him as "Michael".

  Michael Westen : [narrative]  Re-establishing an old cover I.D. isn't just a matter of changing your name. If you want access to the contacts that go with that cover, you have to re-create the past. The way you walk, talk, and look has to be consistent with what people remember down to the smallest detail: the direction you part your air, what gun you carry, your brand of sunglasses, even the pinky ring you wear.

• Michael Westen : [narrative]  Sometimes the best way to get past security is to make it seem riskier to keep you out than it is to let you in.

  Burly Goon : Hey, what do you think you're doin', lady?

  Fiona Glenanne : I nicked this baby off Biscayne. Buckwild said to drop it here. I need to get it off the street before it turns into a pumpkin.

  Burly Goon : All right. Give me- give me a minute, all right?

  Michael Westen : [narrative]  The average security guard won't risk angering someone important. At an illegal chop shop, the lady in the $90,000 stolen car is a V.I.P.

• Michael Westen : [narrative]  Intelligence gathering tends to involve a lot of number crunching. Analysts have computers specially programmed to turn raw data into useful information. But as with repairing a radio or dressing a wound, in the field, it's important to be able to do the same work with what you can find in a third-rate hotel room.

• Madeline Westen : Do you mind telling me why there's a gun in his pocket when you promised me...

  Michael Westen : Mom, I really don't have time for this. This job? His idea, not mine. And, by the way, you have two sons. I don't know why you're only worried about him.

  Madeline Westen : Stop whining. I worry about you both, Michael. But only one of you is about to be a father.

  Michael Westen : [startled, clangs tanks together]  Nate and Ruth are having a baby?

  Madeline Westen : Why do you think he was so hot to fly across the country for a job finding stolen cars?

  Michael Westen : He should have told me. *You* should have told me!

  Madeline Westen : I promised him I wouldn't say anything. But now with... Look, Michael, I-I know you're never gonna go for the wife and kids and the house with a picket fence. But I think Nate wants a shot at normal. I'm not sure there even is such a thing, but if he's got a chance, I *don't* want him running around with a *gun*, chasing after *bad guys*!

  Michael Westen : [softly]  I get it, Mom. I get it. If I could do this job without him, I would, but I can't.

  Madeline Westen : Could you at lest make sure nothing bad happens to him?

  [Michael nods]