Burn Notice (TV Series)

Broken Rules (2007)

Jeffrey Donovan: Michael Westen

Quotes 

• Michael Westen : [voice-over]  As cover ID's go, I prefer rich businessman, or international playboy to crazy thief. But if the situation calls for it, you do what you have to do.

• Michael Westen : [voice-over]  There's no substitute for improvisation. Even the best plans can't anticipate everything. You'd better be able to roll with the punches.

• Michael Westen : [voice-over]  The term "shock and awe" gets misused a lot these days. It's a popular name for a military tactic known as "rapid dominance". Whether you do it with a thousand pound bomb, or with a can of turpentine and a power drill, it's all about being spectacular. Kill the electronic brain of any late model car, and it's dead; won't start, windows won't open. Then, you can pretty much do whatever you want.

• Michael Westen : [voice-over]  Being a spy, you have to get comfortable with the idea of people doing bad things for good reasons; doing good things for bad reasons. You do the best you can.

• Michael Westen : [voice-over]  Any employer is looking for the same things. Are you willing to go the extra mile? Can you take the initiative, impress them?

• Jason Bly : [gloating about his rental car upgrade]  Man, I have to say, Miami's treated me pretty well.

  Michael Westen : That makes one of us.

• Michael Westen : [voice-over]  For anyone who works in covert ops, names have a special power. Knowing someone's real name, who they work for, you've got something on them. 'Out' a spy in the field, and you could get him killed. 'Out' a bureaucrat in a restaurant... and you'll just piss him off.

• Michael Westen : [voice-over]  The longer you run from the police, the more certain you are to get caught. There's a small window of time after a chase begins, before backup arrives, before helicopters are deployed. If you want any chance of getting away, you'd best use this time to find some place secluded... and bail out.

• Michael Westen : [voice-over]  In intelligence work, surveillance is called coverage. It's like basketball: you can run zone defense, or man to man. Man to man's risky. Follow someone too long, they're going to get suspicious. Zone is usually the way to go. Stay put, and let targets come to you; less obvious, easier on the feet, and you can catch up on your celebrity gossip.

• Michael Westen : [voice-over]  Explaining the rules of covert ops is always a challenge. It's a world where good guys look like bad guys, and two wrongs do, in fact, make a right.

• Michael Westen : [voice-over]  Piss off a criminal organization and you could end up dead... But, if they don't kill you, they've got plans for you.

• Michael Westen : [voice-over]  They say you only get one chance to make a first impression with an employer. Doesn't matter if you're a store manager, or a strong-arm guy, you've got to put your best foot forward.

• Michael Westen : [voice-over]  In any new job there's always friction with your co-workers. They're wondering if the boss likes the new guy better, if he's going to make them look bad. In some jobs, that could get you a dark look in the break room; in other jobs, that could get you a bullet, in the back of the head.

• Michael Westen : [voice-over]  Military fire bombs are typically white phosphorous or chlorine tri-fluoride. These are remarkable effective, but they're also unstable, lethally toxic, and hard to find at the grocery store. The main ingredient in a homemade firebomb, on the other hand, is Styrofoam. A military demolitions expert can put something together in a few hours; an IRA-trained guerilla can do it in twenty minutes, give or take.

• Michael Westen : [voice-over]  In any kind of covert, intelligence operation, it's important to be careful of what you wish for. The information that you fight so hard to get, may be everything you wished for, or it may just make your life more complicated.