Mom, I gotta get to work, actually. Uh, what is it you need?
Well, I can't find my salad spinner.
That is tragic.
All S1
S1 E15Unfinished Business
Zeke is one careful con-man. He's security conscious, he's smart... smooth, too, in a cheesy, Sam kind of way.
Hey, smooth is smooth, baby.
[Michael is undercover when his male mark approaches him.]
Friend, you're ruinin' my ratio. I have a good ratio goin' on, I got four ladies to one Davis. Four-to-one, I like that.
WWaseem
[quoting from Michael's note] "I will be wearing a white shirt and..." [laughs] This word right here? It is a kind of... spicy goat cheese.
I was trying to say "black pants". My Urdu's a little rusty.
WWaseem
At least you got the name of the restaurant right.
[V.O.] To win a negotiation you have to show you're willing to walk away. And the best way to show you're willing to walk away... is to walk away.
[V.O.] Get your hands on any classified document worth having, chances are it's going to be redacted, which makes reading it a lot like watching a movie on an airplane: all the juicy parts are missing but you still get the basic idea.
Do you know what his first word was? It was "Michael".
It was "juice"; I was there, his first word was "juice".
True, but he was looking at you when he said it.
"Daddy"?
Bet you never thought you'd hear me call you that.
[V.O.] One of the hardest things to do in a fight is to make it look like you're trying to kill someone without doing any permanent damage. They don't teach any half-moves in combat training. There are moves designed to kill and maim as efficiently as possible. If those are off limits, one option is open your fist right before a punch lands. Painful, but the force is distributed. Another showy option is a kick to the shoulder. You might break a rib or two; but if you aim right, nobody is going to the morgue.
[V.O.] A fight is one of the quickest ways to tell if someone isn't who they say they are. If you say you are Russian but fight like an American, consider your cover blown, which means you better know Sambo, the mixed martial art of Russia. Of course, you also have to win the fight; a great cover ID doesn't help much if you're dead.
[V.O.] A criminal cover ID isn't just about a new name and phone number; it's about fitting into a culture with its own rules and hierarchies. It's a world where bank robbers are the rock stars, con artists are the snobs, car thieves are the blue-collar guys, and safecrackers are the artists.
[Veronica asked Sam to marry her and Sam seeks Michael for advice.]
Do you love her?
She could be the one.
Then say yes.
It's complicated.
[slowly] Then say no.
[sarcastically] You're a good friend, Mike.
[To escape detection by a security guard, Michael clings to the edge of a rooftop]
[V.O.] Making yourself invisible when you need to is a crucial skill for a covert operative; it sounds exotic but it's not like there's a super-secret move they teach you at spy school that allows you to vanish into thin air. Often it's just a matter of quick thinking, fast feet, and strong fingers.
[V.O.] Tailing a trained operative requires a number of time consuming preparations: everything from acquiring a vehicle they can't recognize or trace to familiarizing yourself with all the local traffic patterns. Of course, since you can never be sure who's a trained op, there's always the chance you'll take all those precautions just to follow a secretary back to her cubicle.
[V.O.] When you work in intelligence, there's no bigger slap in the face than a picture of yourself in the middle of an operation. It's send a clear message: we're one step ahead of you; we're in control; we own you. Mylar balloons and a bottle of champagne, that's just twisting the knife.
These quotes come from Wikiquote's Burn Notice pages and are available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.