Burn Notice (TV Series)

Where There's Smoke (2010)

Jeffrey Donovan: Michael Westen

Photos 

Quotes 

• Michael Westen : [narrative]  In banks and other secure facilities, the biggest threats are the ones you invite in. Getting a job dropping off sandwiches requires fewer background checks than getting a job guarding millions of dollars, but it gives you the same access... plus a tip.

• Jesse Porter : You tell Sarah what an idiot her husband was?

  Michael Westen : No, I think she knows.

  Jesse Porter : Yeah, they always do.

• [first lines] 

  Michael Westen : [narrative]  As a spy, you try to work only with an experienced team. Going into the field with someone who doesn't have the proper training is a recipie for disaster. There are times, though, when having a civilian on an operation is unavoidable.

  Madeline Westen : You want me to help you rob a bank?

  Michael Westen : [narrative]  In those situations, you just have to make your pitch and hope for the best.

  Madeline Westen : I need a drink.

• Michael Westen : [narrative]  Most commercial facilities link smoke and security systems; trigger one alarm and you trigger them all. Smoke alarms work by detecting irregularly dispersed light. Setting one off with a cigarette requires a little time and a lot of lung capacity.

• Michael Westen : [narrative]  When you're working a protection detail, it's all about observation. You're looking for broken locks, blocked motion sensors, the subtle signs that someone's trying to breach security. Of course, some security breaches are lot more subtle than others.

• Michael Westen : [narrative]  It's a good sign if kidnappers wear masks and shy away from cameras. By protecting their anonymity, they protect their hostages. If the kidnapper lets you see his face, he's probably not planning on letitng you live to testify against him.

• Michael Westen : [narrative]  Kidnappers see hostages as commodities. Like a good stockbroker, they'll protect their investment until it's time to cash in... If they see a risk, they'll hedge against it.

• Michael Westen : [narrative]  Creating an explosive device in the field requires a strong knowledge of chemistry and the ability to improvise with whatever equipment happens to be lying around... An old fire extinguisher makes an ideal compression chamber. Add some metal shavings and the right cleaning supplies, and you can serve up a bomb that can blast through a cinderblock wall.

  Fiona Glenanne : Why is it you can never find a good sodium hydroxide solution when you need one?

• Michael Westen : [narrative]  A good smoke signal requires dense, visible clouds of smoke or vapor. You can't just light whatever's handy on fire and hope for the best. Rubber burns with a thick, black smoke that's perfect. Put a burning pile of it in an air-conditioning duct and the house's ventilation system will carry it out where it can be seen from a distance.

• Michael Westen : [narrative]  Alcohol was used as an energy source - and a weapon - long before anyone had any idea what gunpowder was. It doesn't contain enough energy to qualify as a top-grade explosive, but in most situations, it's a lot easier to find a bottle of vodka than a brick of C-4.

• Michael Westen : [narrative]  Handcuffs can be a hostage's best friend: the same steel that locks you up can set you free. Use the cuffs for leverage and apply enough pressure and you can break the weakest piece of whatever you're chained to... But it might not be the only thing you break.

• Michael Westen : [narrative]  Only ten percent of a 60-watt bulb's energy is dispersed as light. The rest is heat. Fill one with a flammable liquid and it only takes a couple of minutes for the bulb's warm glow to turn into burning shrapnel.

• [product placement for the Hyundai Genesis Sport Coupe] 

  Michael Westen : [narrative]  Horsepower and torque are the measure of any sports car, but on winding roads, the key to fast driving is fast braking. Four-piston disc brakes will kill speed quickly and smoothly, allowing you to keep your foot on the gas longer.

• Michael Westen : [narrative]  The security of a safety deposit box is less about the box than what's guarding it. Banks spend all their resources keeping thieves out of the vault. Once you get in, every last dime can be had for the price of a roto-tipped drill bit. Once you've got what you came for, the trick is just getting out before security shows up.

• [last lines] 

  Michael Westen : [narrative]  The life of a spy demands a kind of cool detachment. When your job requires you to keep secrets and break trust, you learn to keep people at arm's length.

  [Michael lingers briefly on a page of the Bible they stole with an inscription, starting with the quote "And the Lord shall raise me up."] 

  Michael Westen : [narrative]  It's one thing to lie to an asset...

  Jesse Porter : [as Michael flips away]  Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait, wait. What was that?

  Michael Westen : What?

  Jesse Porter : Back to the- no, in the beginning. Yeah. The inscription there says, "Simon".

  ["These two testaments of the Word of God belong to: Simon Escher"] 

  Jesse Porter : Who's Simon? Any idea who that is?

  Michael Westen : [narrative]  ... it's another to lie to a friend.

  Michael Westen : I've no idea.

  [freeze, three jump-zooms on Michael to his eyes, then a quick horizontal shutter-wipe to black] 

• Michael Westen : You can beat yourself up about it later, I'll help.

• Michael Westen : [on the phone with Fiona after she's been kidnapped]  Any idea where you are?

  Fiona Glenanne : No, but it's about to have one less wall.