Burn Notice (TV Series)

Last Stand (2010)

Jeffrey Donovan: Michael Westen

Photos 

Quotes 

• [recap] 

  Michael Westen : Previously on "Burn Notice".

  Vaughn Anderson : [on cassette tape]  We found a replacement. Name's Westen.

  Fiona Glenanne : I thought Vaughn told you he had nothing to do with burning you.

  Vaughn Anderson : [to Michael]  Here's to your partner. I'm glad we found each other.

  ["Vaughn" / "Guy who burned Michael"] 

  Sam Axe : That thumb drive has the names of all the people that burned you, Mike. It's the key to taking them down.

  Michael Westen : Sam, if Brennen wanted to kill me, he would have shot me when he took the NOC list. I'm just gonna talk to the man.

  ["Tyler Brennen" / "Part-time spy"] 

  Tyler Brennen : [to Michael and Sam]  If Vaughn ever gets a listen to you outing his little secret society, he's gonna kill, well, you and you. The only thing stopping it? Me.

  Sam Axe : We found out where Brennen is keeping that list.

  Larry Sizemore : You son of a bitch.

  [Larry stabs Brennan] 

  Michael Westen : Larry! What the hell are you doing? Now there's nothing stopping Vaughn from coming after me!

  [Sam and Mike pry open the safe] 

  Sam Axe : All that work for one little thumb drive.

  Michael Westen : Vaughn's organization has never faced this kind of exposure before. I imagine he'll marshal all his forces and send them this way. Tomorrow's gonna be a long day.

• [first lines] 

  Michael Westen : [narrative]  In any desperate situation, the temptation is always to act immediately. It's understandable, but unwise. No matter how bad things are, the first step is always the same: assess the threat and figure out how bad things really are.

• Vaughn Anderson : You know what? I'm tired of this coy crap.

  Michael Westen : What's that supposed to mean?

  Vaughn Anderson : I gave you a chance to be my friend... time after time, but that's over now, Westen. Now you're gonna see what it's like having me for an enemy. And so are your friends, and so is your family.

• Michael Westen : [narrative]  Not all hiding places are created equal. Generally speaking, a good hiding place is hard to find but easy to access. On *rare* occasions, for the most sensitive material, you have to go a step further and find a hiding place even you can't get to.

• Michael Westen : [narrative]  Road hazards are a key tool in the spy trade. Whether you're slowing traffic for surveillance, routing cars to set up a tail, or putting yourself in place for an ambush, it all starts with a busted road... For a quick-and-dirty road hazard that doesn't take too long to set up, a water line is best. Water can shut down a road without raising eyebrows; it's just a matter of getting a charge in the right place to bust the pipe underground.

• Michael Westen : [narrative]  Skill will only take you so far in a car chase. The bottom line is physics: machine vs. machine. If yours comes up short in that equation, it's just a matter of time before it's over... If you can't outrun your pursuers, you have a choice to make. You have to decide if your vehicle is more useful as transportation or as a road block.

• Michael Westen : [narrative]  Whether it's the Trojan War, the Battle of Thermopylae, or the Last Stand at the Alamo, many of the famous battles in history were sieges in which small forces took on much larger armies... Unfortunately, sieges don't make good stories because the smaller force won; they make this history books because the little guys fought well, before they died.

• Michael Westen : [narrative]  Combat medicine's not necessarily about long-term healing. Civilian doctors try to immobilize injured limbs to make sure they knit properly. Field medics often have to do the opposite and make broken limbs as usable as possible. Walking on a broken, bloody leg isn't good for you, but it's better than taking a bullet.

• Michael Westen : [narrative]  Eventually, the information spies obtain usually ends up in the hands of a politician. The relationship between spies and politicians is never easy, but they need each other. By themselves, secrets are just words. Covert intelligence is only as powerful as the person who uses it.

• Michael Westen : [narrative]  Different explosives have different properties. Some release their energy in the blast, while others create more heat and flame than force. Bottom line? You won't destroy a lot with propane and canned fuel, but you can put on a very big show.

• Michael Westen : How much do you weigh: about two hundred? Two oh five?

  Michael Westen : [narrative]  To rappel down a building, you need something to slow your descent. Usually that's an anchor point, but a counterweight is equally effective. Although it's not much fun for whomever gets to *be* the counterweight.

• Michael Westen : [narrative]  A typical explosive device is a combination of a high explosive and a low explosive: one starts the reaction while the other supplies the force of the blast. Improvising a low explosive is basic chemistry; improvising a high-explosive blasting cap is high art.

• Michael Westen : [about to embark on a suicide gambit]  And for what it's worth, Agent Porter, I am sorry for what I did to you. I never said it, but I am truly sorry.

  Jesse Porter : Come on, man, just... I signed up to fight the bad guys, right? That's all you were ever doin', so... we're in this together. Are you good with that?

  Michael Westen : Yeah. I'm good with that.

• [Jesse just surrepticiously passed the NOC list back to Michael] 

  Agent : Mr. Westen? We need you to come with us.

  [Fi and Sam step between the Agent and Michael] 

  Michael Westen : Am I under arrest?

  Agent : [shakes head dismissively]  We're not with the police. The car's waiting.

  Michael Westen : What's this about?

  Agent : Just want to ask you some questions.

  Michael Westen : [sighs, looks to Sam and Fi, then leans in to give Fi a long kiss] 

  Agent : Let's go.

  [the Agent escorts Michael away] 

• Michael Westen : [narrative]  As a spy, you're trained to deal with interrogation. You have to learn to let the disorientation, the sleep deprivation, and the brutal isolation just wash over you and try not to go insane. In the end, though, it's not so much the questioning as the uncertainty that gets to you: not knowing what the future holds or if you have a future at all.

• [last lines] 

  Michael Westen : You.

  Raines : Michael. Welcome back.

  [Raines holds out his hand. Michael, slowly takes it and shakes. With a gesture, Raines invites him into the building. They enter. Camera directed at them from above rises up the face of the building, levels out, and turns revealing they are in Washington, D.C] 

• [a paramedic is about to give Jesse a shot] 

  Jesse Porter : Hey, hold up on that, man, I gotta be conscious for this.

  [to Michael] 

  Jesse Porter : I gotta tell you something.

  Michael Westen : What is it?

  Jesse Porter : Your girlfriend is crazy about you. Take care of her, all right?