Burn Notice quotes

[V.O.] My name is Michael Westen. I used to be a spy, until...

UUnnamed

[Over the phone] We got a burn notice on you. You're blacklisted.

[V.O.] When you're burned, you've got nothing. No cash, no credit, no job history. You're stuck in whatever city they decide to dump you in.

Where am I?

Miami.

[V.O.] You do whatever work comes your way. You rely on anyone who's still talking to you. A trigger-happy ex-girlfriend...

Shall we shoot them?

[V.O.] An old friend who used to inform on you to the FBI...

You know spies. Bunch of bitchy little girls.

[V.O.] Family too...

Hey, is that your mom again?

[V.O.] ...if you're desperate.

Madeline Westen

Someone needs your help, Michael.

[V.O.] Bottom line is: as long as you're burned, you're not going anywhere.

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[Opening intro, Season 6]

[V.O.] My name is Michael Westen. I used to be a spy, until...

UUnnamed

[Over the phone] We got a burn notice on you. You're blacklisted.

[V.O.] When you're burned, you've got nothing. No cash, no credit, no job history. You're stuck in whatever city they decide to dump you in.

Where am I?

Miami.

[V.O.] You do whatever work comes your way. You rely on anyone who's still talking to you. A trigger-happy girlfriend...

Shall we shoot them?

[V.O.] An old friend who used to inform on you to the FBI...

You know spies. Bunch of bitchy little girls.

[V.O.] Family too...

Hey, is that your mom again?

[V.O.] ...if you're desperate...

Madeline

Someone needs your help, Michael.

[V.O.] ...And a down-and-out spy you met along the way.

Jesse Porter

That's how we do it, people!

[V.O.] Bottom line is: as long as you're burned, you're not going anywhere.

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I'll see what I can do.

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[V.O.] Covert intelligence involves a lot of waiting around. Any meeting, any appointment, you have to show up early, make sure you are not followed; make sure the area is secured; check out the other guy's advance team and see how well he is prepared. It's good trade craft but it's like hanging out in your dentist's reception area 24 hours a day. You read magazines, sip coffee, and every once in a while someone tries to kill you.

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[V.O.] In a fight, you have to be careful not to break the little bones in your hand on someone’s face. Never happens in movies, but in real life a busted hand will get you killed. That’s why I like bathrooms. Lots of hard surfaces.

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OOleg

You're real Michael Westen, yes?

Yeah.

OOleg

Back home, your story Russian Intelligence tells to scare. They say you're one name for many people. Special Operations team. They think one person cannot make so much problems.

Nope. Just me.

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[V.O.] My mom would have made a great N.S.A. communications operative. Drop me in the middle of the Gobi Desert, hide me on top of the Himalayas, bury me in a goddamn cave on the moon, and somehow, some way, she’d find a way to call me and ask me for a favor. [screams into a pillow]

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Madeline Westen

You know you missed your father's funeral... by eight years.

Well, last time I talked to him he said, "I'll see you in hell, boy," so I figured we had something on the books.

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[V.O.] Thirty years of karate. Combat experience on five continents. A rating with every weapon that shoots a bullet or holds an edge. Still haven't found any defense to Mom crying into my shirt.

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[V.O.] For a job like getting rid of the drug dealer next door, I'll take a hardware store over a gun any day. Guns make you stupid; better to fight your wars with duct tape. Duct tape makes you smart.

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[After Michael almost broke a drug dealer's hand.]

[V.O.] There is a reason spies have a hard time making friends.

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[V.O.] What do you do when an operation goes bad? Not much to do, but smile and try to stay alive.

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[re: Fiona] You sure this is a good idea, you hooking up with her again?

I'm not hooking up with her, okay? I'm not. I need her for tactical support.

[laughs] Is that what they're calling it these days? "Tactical support"?

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[V.O.] Southern Nigeria isn't my favorite place in the world to be; it's unstable, it's corrupt, and the people there eat a lot of terrible-smelling preserved fish. There is one good thing about Nigeria, though: it's the gun-running capital of the world, which makes it a bad place to drive a passenger sedan through a crowded market.

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